The Present

Kenneth Cole's mother's birthday lunch is this Saturday. I'm in a fix.

Girlfriends in such situations are usually on thin ice. You can't show up without a present – that's just rude. You can't show up with too fabulous a present – that just seems like you are trying too hard and the rest of the family members may hate you for making them look bad. You've also had enough dinners at auntie's place to make a decent showing. But you've not taken enough showers at her abode to go overboard with cake, balloons and flowers.

Make that thin ice with a hairline of a crack.

So in such situations, I do what most other girls would do. Nope, not straight to KC to ask what the mum would like. Predicted that he would say no need to get anything lah, (which he did when I did ask him). I asked everyone else first.

Friend #1: Buy dung-gu (mushroom). Dung-gu good. She the housewife type right? Pick the nice, big, juicy looking ones.
What do I know about picking dung-gu? Auntie will probably out-expert me in the field of choosing good mushrooms. Kind of lame if I pick out the bad ones right?

6th Sense: Tonics. Tonics hamper. Huge tonics hamper.
I had to reject this given that Chinese New Year is already over.

Lara: Eu Yan Sang vouchers
Should have gone to her straight from the start. If anyone can be diplomatic about such things, it would be her.

Wowed by this simple but effective suggestion, I texted KC. To which he replied Good idea. Can I get the same for your mum too? (My mother's birthday is incidentally, this Sunday) *rolls*

~SeamonkeY~