Happy Birthday Lynn...

By Frank

It's Lynn's birthday! Exact date won't be reveal though for her privacy. And the Platinum Runners had things in store for her.

And so the planning was done a month plus back. All the Platinum Runners including Geraldine who is down at down under had a part to play in this master plan. Multiple e-mails were sent out, with most of them excluding Lynn in the mailing list, while some others with her in it to make the "play" authentic. And I had the "honour" in playing the role of the "baddy" for being the one to tell her the white lie of that the dinner is for our Platinum Runners first anniversary. SO SORRY Lynn. But probably a coincidence too, as most of us met each other around this time a year ago.

When everything is agreed on, the hunt starts for a restaurant. Knowing Lynn loves Japanese food, I used the power of the World Wide Web to search for restaurants following the advices of especially the food bloggers. In the end, after much scouting around and paying a visit to each restaurant shortlisted, Yuzu at Gardens Mid Valley was selected. And the best thing about it was, a private room was given. Then it was the birthday cake's turn. A bakery called San Terri, famous for their New York cheesecake was the one I found. And how can the birthday girl go without flowers? This was a tough one. Having zero knowledge on it, I had quite a tough time selecting the flowers to match the occasion. In the end, Calla Lilies stands out from the huge variety I went through.

Then came the day. Rushing from work and from the launch of the Standard Chartered KL Marathon on a very wet morning, I collected both the cake and flowers to be delivered to the restaurant itself. Had some briefing with the friendly staff there for the actual "play" tonight. I was getting very nervous as the clock ticks, fearing some accident spillage of any information.

So in the end, it all came down to dinner. 7.30pm, Yuzu at Gardens Mid Valley. Luc was a no show though due to work commitments. It took us some time to place our orders as everything on the menu looks fantastic. With the help of Alex the captain on duty, we managed to do so. Took a while for our orders to arrive but it was all worth it. Everything was fresh indeed with the sashimi just arrived from Hokaido the same morning, according to Alex. We even ordered Tora Fugu (puffer fish). Being adventurous, we tried this poisonous fish. And hey, we all survived! Haha...

Fresh sashimi and oysters from Hokaido...

Puffer fish attack...

We continued chatting as we help ourselves to the variety of food as they slowly arrived keeping our topic to running, running and more running. Just had to keep ourselves occupied to prevent any accident of spilling the beans out.

Cameraman with the birthday girl...

Then came our set meals which was HUGE. The guys all ordered set meals while Lynn ordered a grill swordfish ala carte set. Filling our stomach to almost the max with a little space left for the cake, I signalled to Jamie that it's time for the finale. I excused myself quietly to the counter to let Alex know and out came the cake and flowers. While the waitresses presented the cake, I presented the flowers while Jamie fired away with his new camera. The moment the birthday song was sung, Lynn looked surprised and at the same time stun too. The element of surprise worked! And my hats off to the waitresses for they sang the birthday song loud and clear.

The star of the night...

Birthday girl with her birthday cake...

Birthday girl with her birthday dessert...

Receiving the cake, making her wish and presenting Lynn with the flowers, we ask for a speech but she was too stunned to give one. Hehe... With the cake filling our tummy's to the max and making us real guilty with all the calories intake, we chatted a while more, having some photos taken before making our way home as all are running the next day to burn all the guilt off.

From all of us, Happy Birthday Lynn...

And so, the "play" finally came to a successful end. No Oscar award for best actor or actresses though. I hope Lynn enjoyed it as much as we all did in planning it. And before signing off, many thanks to all Platinum Runners for bearing with me all the e-mails and stuff and not forgetting to the staff from Yuzu for their patience in listening. Last but not least, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Lynn!