21st birthdays are one of the most anticipated and highly celebrated events of one's life. Naturally when those born in 1988, meaning me and my bunch of classmates turn 21 this year, it would mean there's a hell lot of buying and giving to do. And gatherings as well.

Today I attended a dinner gathering with some of my JJC badminton teammates, and Xiao Jun was commenting on how she felt the pinch this year with all the presents she had to buy. Which in the end, led into a debate between her and the other guys on why one should or should not buy presents.

I have to admit, some of the things that the guys said were right. You don't have to force yourself to buy the presents for someone if it would cause you to live in near poverty for a few days. Surely your friend would not want that and would understand your reason for not giving a gift. The thought is supposed to count. If the friend actually criticizes you for not giving one, perhaps he or she is not worth the effort of being given one then.

To be fair, let's look at the other side. Not doing such things may cause others to view you as a miser, or to think that you don't care about the birthday boy/girl. All in all, nobody wishes to have negative views from anyone who doesn't have a complete picture of the situation. Tongues can wag, gossips can fly, although I would comment that friends who would know each other don't mind really, and near strangers would not bother unless they are trying to backstab or spread a negative image of others. But wouldn't you want to do something nice and get a meaningful gift to someone whom you are close to, especially on a 21st birthday?

As a means of ending the above debate, you can just make hand made presents. But I guess some don't have the time, or feel that their skills are inadequate. Well that's why there are gift shops everywhere. *shrugs*

All in all I say, it's just a matter of how one feels about getting the presents. Some don't mind any as long as the person is there to wish them happy birthday, some feel that it's an important part of a birthday, somewhat like tradition. For ME, I wouldn't mind if I had no presents. But OF COURSE I would love receiving one! :D:D:D:D And even more so if it's a present that I WANT! :D:D:D:D::D:D:D:D:D:D:D::D:D (note: advertising coming up soon)

Therefore, I have brilliantly come up with a plan to save everyone from the headache of thinking of what I want for my birthday! This idea came up to me from spending one *toot* *toot* *toot* day trying to think of a nice gift for my dear friend Zhi Yao, trawling through an entire shopping centre and coming out absolutely empty handed. You have to thank him for this, he's a great motivation for this idea of mine. And this is especially essential for my boyfriend HOHOHOHO!!!! *evil laughter in the distance*

Of course he can claim that he has no money and wants to feed me duck rice for my present... CANNNNNNNN. *glint* HOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!!! *more evil laughter in the distance*

Yee Loong was like commenting, why do you want a gift list? The fun is in being surprised with the presents ma. Well true enough, I love surprises, who doesn't? But there are 2 kinds of surprises, one real and one fake. Let me give you an example. Giving my boyfriend red underwear would constitute as a good surprise. Bright red ok, not dull. It's a lovely surprise indeed, one that would give me a really good laugh and fun. On the other hand, if my boyfriend was given a diary for a birthday, hmm yes surprise indeed, but I can't say that I would laugh that much wouldn't I? I might just say, "Oh thanks!". End.

Simply put, I like creativity and innovation in my presents. I wouldn't mind even the cheapest toy, as long as I find it really quirky and funny. But if you are afraid that you might let me down, you can just follow the safer option of choosing from the list. And you probably don't need to complain or fret so much over having to think of what to get.

Actually the list is already up there like, eons ago. Hahahaha. Well I've only updated it with one extra wish, not much. But generally I love figurines to bits, especially the ones that appear in the anime series that I love. What anime series are they, what models I love, I leave it to the people who want to get me a present in future to guess! Maybe that would constitute as a nice surprise :D But I sure won't mind a PS3... HOHOHOHOHO. Ok la joking. It's quite a waste to get PS3 just to try out FF13, bo hua leh.

Labels: random stuff, thoughts, updates

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