'Compensation' For Old Age

In the book Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction, the diarist Adrian Mole laments at his 34th birthday the fact that he is nearly middle-aged and that from them on it was a "pathetic slide towards gum disease, wheelchair ramps and death".

It is true - alas. I am now 35. And horrifically depressed because of that. But last week, in sympathy with my plight, my friends tried their best to console me in the only way they knew how - by feeding me.

First, it was Jac (angel is she) who parted with .004% of her monthly salary to buy me a US Dry-Aged steak...



Then, it was my colleagues who bought my manager and I birthday cakes? Did you know that we shared the same birth date? Or that he is 7 years older than I? He doesn't seem to perturbed about that fact though...




And they didn't stop there, a few of my closer colleagues brought Mr Manager and I out, first for dinner at Raffles City, where we ate 'local' food, including fish head curry, at a place which had the word "Grandma" in it. Not too bad, really. Not bad at all.






If that was not enough, they later brought us some 68 storeys up to sip champagne at City Space. The view was stunning but I did not take any good pictures of it.




If life is a journey and growing old is the arduous stretch of it, then having friends around you is what makes it worthwhile nonetheless.