A girlfriend and I have birthdays about two weeks’ apart (hers comes first) and for some strange reason, this year, when asked what she’d like to receive as a present from me, she said she wants a long love letter telling her in specific detail how awesome she is. (@_@) Challenge accepted! So I wrote a long A4-sized letter to her, highlighting the adjectives that describe her awesomeness and also did a fair amount of doodling on the ‘card’. Friends I’ve showed my *ahem* ‘artwork’ and letter to said they were impressed by the effort put in, AND some even requested for the same for their birthdays! Hello? Where’s the originality and exclusiveness then? 
No can do. And so… now that October’s my birthday month *rub hands in glee* my pal asked what I want for my birthday and I said she can paint something for me to hang on a wall at home OR (if that’s too painful) she can write me a poem lah. She decided to paint.
And so… Arteastiq it is. We popped by the Plaza Singapura branch this afternoon around 2.30pm. You can see in the picture above our completed artwork. Mine’s (obviously) with the Hello Kitty, and hers is a gangsta bunny with what I believe is a middle finger gesture but the artist herself says it’s not, and that it could very well be pointing to the word “awesome”, and that art itself is always open to interpretation. Middle finger say middle finger lah… simi open to interpretation (@_@) ???
Anyway, we both had the iced lychee tea…
Unfortunately, the iced lychee tea is no longer good. My pal says it tastes different. As for me, I think I’ll have to try the teapot version before I can confirm that it is no longer extraordinary. Anyway, you get a free drink when you come paint here – you’ll have to top up for certain beverages though.
At the start… I wondered if Pikachu was in prison:
But I like the pink! Each easel has its own set of paints – and somehow my pal had all the nicer shades and colors!
Her work and the inspiration:
Mine’s just all flowers, and Kitty, and a mantra I try to live by:
Art jamming actually requires a bit of planning. Because I’m right handed, I did my painting from left to right, so I’ll always have blank canvas to rest my hand on as I painted. I’d learnt to paint roses at some workshop a long time ago, but I’d quite forgotten how to do those, and it only all came back to me towards the second half (on the right) 
And while we were painting, we couldn’t help eavesdropping on two young girls who were chatting SO LOUDLY in a highly-annoying version of American-accented English. They are from China, as I learnt from hearing them chat. And from where I was seated, I could see them, their mothers, as well as the paintings the girls did (and I took a picture when they stepped out to call their mothers to come in and admire their work). My pal, who wasn’t able to see the girls from where she was seated, but could certainly hear them, was wondering where those two are from as the accent was weird. She was shocked when I told her they’re PRCs.
The cardboard frame / carrier / holder we got to take home our canvases in broke before I even reached my place. Arteastiq?? Please look into this.
Art Jamming on a Monday seems to be the most ‘worth it’
After the art jamming sesh, we had dinner at MOS Burger and then popped by Plaza Singapura’s Dessert Marketplace. If you don’t already know, PS is celebrating its 45th birthday and at the atrium there are 4 dessert-themed areas where you can get many pictures for IG. Outside the mall, there are games stalls and some food booths. If you spend $45, you get free entry for the picture-taking spots or for the games or a $5 F&B voucher.
I’d bought a copy of the Her World magazine earlier this month and kept the special card within which allowed me to get a $5 voucher in exchange, without having to spend that 45 bucks.
Since IG’s not my thing, I gave these a miss:
Sadly, there was only ONE F&B booth open at dinnertime today. And it was the drinks stall. However, it has cute egg bottles. Pay $6 and you get your choice of drink served in it.
I picked the pink one (duh!) and had Earl Grey Milk Tea (with pearls)…
The drink didn’t taste very good and the pearls are a little too tough, and there was so much ice, BUT we didn’t buy this for the drink, did we now? 
~
If you’re still left wondering what 33-year-old women want for their birthdays… simple! Just ask them!
It’s probably not money (which teenagers and those in their early twenties would appreciate) so an angpow’s probably an “Oh! Ok, thanks.” sort of gift. I think very few of us would be broke before month-end.
We probably won’t appreciate shopping vouchers either. And definitely not stuffed toys.
As we get older, I’m afraid we get harder to impress.
This year, I got a few birthday greetings (on FB and Whatsapp) and the one which was most memorable was a voice message from my pal, Andrew. He always does things differently from other people.
And I think I’ll be following Andrew’s lead and sending voice messages from now on. Don’t do what everyone else is doing. Be different. Be awesome, as my pal (G) says.