This year is my first Birthday Festival that is a fortnight long. Normally it is for a week (I like birthdays). There’s a public holiday this Monday so it is the perfect justification for extending the celebrations over a longer period.

It started last weekend in Singapore. Mr Shallot competed in the half-Ironman. My part was the sweet chilli crab at Jumbo. The week was then quiet until Thursday when a former work colleague, who now lives in Singapore, came to HK for a visit.

I took her to Red (an outdoor bar overlooking the Harbour) to have our first cosmopolitans since living in Asia. We use to do this occasionally after work in Sydney on a Friday. I was expecting a semi-late night with her but was informed that she needed to meet some other friends at 7.45pm at Frites. She asked me to walk her there given that she doesn’t know HK at all. I figured I had nothing else to do so why not. Mr Shallot was out at another friend’s birthday and our fur kids were being looked after.

I escorted her to the restaurant and as we were getting close, I thought I could see Mr Shallot standing out the front talking on his phone. As we got closer, it clearly was Mr Shallot. I was thinking this was nowhere near to where I thought he’d gone for drinks. Mr Shallot told me that his friends were upstairs and why don’t I wish a “happy birthday” to the birthday boy? Having no compelling reason not to, all three of us tramped upstairs.

As a Belgian Beer Hall, there were long bench tables and chairs. Other past and present work colleagues greeted me and there was no sign of the birthday boy. I then realised this was for me, the birthday girl. Over mussels, beers and great conversation, I realised a couple of other things. This is the second surprise birthday Mr Shallot has organised for me and a majority of the guests are people that I’ve worked with. I decided I need to widen my circle of friends and join some sort of club / organisation. I have no idea what kind of club at this stage so this requires some research. The other thing I realised is that Mr Shallot is very good at still surprising me.

Friday was my ‘real’ birthday. Mr Shallot even joined me taking our dog for her morning constitutional which is a big sacrifice for him as it’s his sleep in day. We arrived home and I opened the cards from my Mother-In-Law and niece while he prepared breakfast. I then opened his gifts. We are heading to Macau next weekend to see the latest Cirque production (this had been my birthday gift to him) and he gave a stay at the Venetian. He also gave me a Swarovski crystal ornament. There’s something about the precision of glass cutting that appeals to me and after seeing the Waterford crystal factory (one of the Best Women lived in Ireland for awhile) I’ve developed an even greater appreciation for the detail.

I then went to work to find that one of my team had baked an orange cake while another gave me a card. We went out for lunch at one of the nicer restaurants with another colleague who shares the same birthday. It was a very relaxing work day and I did manage to get some work done. One of the recruitment agencies that I use also sent an intricately arranged bunch of flowers that came in its own vase – very impressive.

Friday night was the birthday boy’s real party. We went there for a beverage and then headed out for my birthday dinner. We ate at Zest on a recommendation. All was right in the world.

Saturday we had birthday drinks with Mrs Wave and unfortunately the Wallabies lost. Sunday evening we are going for a hike to the rock pools with Mrs Wave and a few other dog people. The dogs have a great time swimming while we picnic. I’ll be taking my leftover birthday cake.

The birthday festivities then continue onto Monday. This year is the first public holiday declared for my birthday. I’m sharing it with the mid-Autumn Festival but that’s ok. Mooncakes and lanterns are all around at the moment and it looks fabulous. I think it’s unlikely that there’ll be a public holiday for me next year so I figure that I should make the most of this one!

* Thanks to Kool & The Gang for the title to this post.