Surprise!

Man, i really have to take my hat off to Azrul. His ploy to surprise his girlfriend for her birthday was so grand and so well lied about, she had simply no idea at all that something special was waiting for her around the corner.

First, it started with the story of Azrul and me going off for a vacation, and that he forgot all about her birthday. It was nonsensical of course, and any girlfriend in this wide world would have blown up instantly, but she was surprisingly cool about it.

Then her girl friends step in to organise a girls' 'night out' for her; brought her on an adventure "no questions asked" tour to Borders and along Orchard, before finally settling into Grand Copthorne Hotel - where Azrul, his younger brother and me have been setting up the room, practising our acoustic performances, and lying in wait.

A couple of her other friends have arrived before hand and we all chose our spots to hide. Azrul was to be seated in the middle of the room with the birthday cake for the initial surprise, and the rest of us on the second round.

The gals came up and opened the door...

'Surprise!' Azrul shouted. From where i am behind the curtains, i could already sense the shock in his girlfriend upon seeing Azrul in the hotel room. Then upon a code word, all of us appeared; to more shocks and laughters. It was such a lovely feeling to be involved in something so exciting.

She was just too lost for words and stood there giggling for a long while. It was difficult for her to even remember that a birthday wish was required before blowing out the candles. The birthday song was brief, so as to make time for the main performance that was coming up.

After all the guests were seated comfortably with their slice of the chocolate brownie cake, the three musketeers picked up their instruments - 2 guitars for the brothers and a Madur [Nepalese Folk Drum] for me. We played and harmonised to the acoustic tunes of 5 of her favourite songs, barely put together an hour ago. The audience and the performers were savouring every bit of the show as we grooved along to the rhythym of the songs.

As the night grew deeper, the skyline was lit by a thousand bright lights, and the party was near its end. For the day's hard work, everyone received a hug from the birthday girl; except me! So unfair! = ( Maybe she was afraid that i'll crush her? Haha.

I really felt happy for Azrul and his girl as they held hands all night long, and for all his efforts, and money, the night was worthed it. I was simply glad to be there to do my small bit. To be honest, i was half worried that we couldn't pull it off. We didn't find a hotel room till 4:30pm, 'cos the original hostel that Azrul fancied charges by head and stictly no visitors were allowed. What nonsense! That restriction alone would simply defeat the purpose of holding a small private party. To top it off, the 3 of us have never rehearsed together and i have no clue what songs were to be played barely 12 hours ago. The party was suppose to begin at 6:30pm and we were running out of time! But that was also part of the excitement - the excitement of unpredictability. In the end, we pulled it off; the show was good and the surprise top class.

I simply have to hijack this idea man, it's too good a plan to go down without an encore. Thanks Azrul!