The Duc Pond

Quiet Birthday
My plan for my birthday wasn’t very elaborate. I have a lot of work to finish at the office, so I would have been content to stay at work until 8 PM, then head to Amber’s place to have a quick, simple meal. Bedtime shortly after that so I could get to work early on my off-Friday (my schedule is such that I get every other Friday off) and get some more work done.

Amber insisted on going out to eat at Vietnam Palace (a great Philadelphia Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown), though, so I made sure to leave work by 6:30. I still envisioned a simple night. A pleasant meal followed by a relaxing night at her apartment. But it wasn’t to be!

Shocker
My brain works very slowly sometimes. As I step into the restaurant, I recognize Brian’s fiancé Suzanne. What a strange coincidence, I thought. I glance to my left and there’s Dave. Still processing the circumstances, I hear over a dozen voices yell out, “Surprise!” all at once. Finally some cognizance of the situation. Before me was a table full of friends. To my left was another table with friends, my mom, my dad and my sister. I was stunned!

Awesome
Let me tell you, I love this girl. It was completely unexpected, and very well planned. 14 friends and family out in Philly on a worknight, and I had absolutely no idea whatsoever that it had been planned. In fact, I was planning my own get-together for that Saturday to see The DaVinci Code and have dinner at Mikado.

Getting everyone there was an organizational feat in itself, but Amber produces another surprise: answer a short quiz about Duc and those who get the most correct can win a goody bag of prizes. I’ll post the quiz later, but let’s just say it was no easy test. Brian, Alice, Chris and my sister walked away with goody bags containing things like duck flip flops, duck socks, rubber ducks, and Batman Pez dispensers. At some point I also notice that each table has a variety of devil ducks spread around. Nice touch!

Naturally, we order our food, eat and enjoy each other’s company. At the end of our meal, another surprise!

A beautiful vegan 1-up mushroom multi-layered chocolate and vanilla cake! Everyone delivered a beautiful rendition of the happy birthday song, and we quickly tore into the cake, which was as delicious as it was cool-looking. There was much interest in the creator of the cake, and pictures of her work can be found here: www.lotuscakestudio.com. 13 of the 16 people there weren’t vegan, but regardless found the cake to be amazingly good.

Let’s not forget the cool swag associated with birthdays. Shortly after midnight Amber presented me with a great calendar with photos of us for every month. Before dinner she gave me a much-needed portable HP inkjet printer (I haven’t had a printer since I moved into my condo over 2 years ago). At dinner my friends and family gave me great greeting cards, gift cards to Starbucks and Barnes & Noble, 2 bottles of sake, and New Super Mario Bros. for DS. Every one of these gifts fits me to a T.

It’s getting very late, but I just want to thank everyone for coming out on a work night to celebrate my birthday. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it, and how much I enjoyed hanging out with you!

And of course I must thank Amber, who went through considerable effort inviting people, ordering the cake, preparing the quiz, putting together the prize bags, making sure the tables were decorated with rubber ducks before everyone arrived, and otherwise doing a great job of planning and keeping things secret. I love you babe!

Please check out photos of the event right here.