E's Birthday!

Fresh back from a happy 4-day-3-night trek up Gunung Rinjani, E oozed a post-workout glow. We took E out to her birthday dinner at iO Italian Osteria.

Couldn't believe we only ordered three savory items- farmers' salad of grilled vegetables, porchetta stuffed with wild fennel, and tagliolini with prawns and lemon. Much admirable restraint shown. Little did I know that the girlfriends were saving stomachs for dessert. Fainted when three desserts arrived- lemon meringue tart, gluten-free chocolate cake, and a pistachio tiramisu.

E has sternly told us not to get presents, and certainly no flowers. We ignored her. She doesn't mind flowers, but she simply doesn't want us to get it from the shops because she thinks flowers wilt so quickly and are such a waste. So S gathered the flowers from the market and put them together into a beautiful bouquet full of spring colors and vibes. E had fewer objections to this hand-assembled bouquet. Heh.

Had to get her one of her favorite Taiwanese illustrator Jimmy Liao's recent release 'Four Seasons', 幾米的《四季》. Was hoping no one had gotten her the book yet! It's an interactive book where one could cut out and paste the characters at various junctures and make them into your own story. How very fun!

The art pieces depicting the stories have been shown in book fairs and museums, but there're infinite possibilities for the story development and setting. It took the illustrator years to decide how best to portray them. If you're familiar with his work, then you'll see the girl and the dog, and the main characters from 《我的世界都是你》'All of My World Is You'.

Many birthday blessings, dearest E. I love our random-ness. Go climb more mountains, metaphorically and literally.