- nagano chapter: the secret santa -

currently listening to – Rolling Star (YUI)
mood – starving. nobody wants to lend a corner for me to cook. that’s why im blogging.

on the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me~…




a phone bill in an envelope~...

which says “you’ve spent 12k with your mobile in December and you’re advised to start being stingy on money again”.

whatever. I didn’t actually receive my bills on Christmas (there’s no way I could. I was just too far away to check my mailbox). just felt like saying it. but the numbers are true. 8k was claimed to be spent on international calls, which was unavoidable since my parents couldn’t call me through my room phone during my trip around the kantou region for almost 3 weeks (calling from my mobile costs shit a lot, as you can see). the remaining 4k… probably most of it is for the basic charge and a tad bit for music downloads.

*****

12am. though it’s just a few minutes after the things that happened in the previous post, it should be considered as another day… the long awaited CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!! I don’t know why am I so happy about it (as I have never really celebrated Christmas before), but seeing that many people around me were very excited about the event (though they were the ones sleeping and we poor souls were demanded to wake them up when it’s time), it’s best to go with the flow, no?

so the exciting present giving ceremony began, with the participants crawling to the living room at such a graceful speed that those who first reached the room (including me) were starting to tremble in the cold. the heater decided to act funny during Christmas, to create some atmosphere. we had no choice but to wait under the not-so-warm blankets for everyone to gather in the room…

then, we chose a starting person to guess her Secret Santa – the one who bought her presents for Christmas. when the Santa of the first person was found, it’s the Santa’s turn to guess. and so on. was very triumphant when my Bruneian friend couldn’t guess who’s her Santa even after her third attempt. at last, she pointed at me questionably, and being a nice person, I handed her the presents without taking my own sweet time. just as I thought, she went, “EEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?????!?!?!?!?!?!”

darn, im MEAN. muahahahahahahaha……..

as I’ve mentioned in the previous post, it was a thrilling (?) experience trying to buy a present for this friend. BECAUSE. simply because… we were together throughout my Tokyo – Nagano – Tokyo trip. the moment I saw the name which I drew from the pile of paperbits, I knew I would have difficulty accomplishing my task beautifully. there are many sharp minds around the world. and I know exactly how sharp my friend is. so, to spice up your life, sometimes you need “tactics” in facing these people. I first discovered that about my special tactic when trying to buy my ex-roommate (when I was studying in Singapore) a birthday present.

“patience and a wise choice of words”. the objective of this tactic is to lure out the answer you want from your target, without directly asking the question. there are many ways to do it, depending on the situation… basically I depend on my luck. and often enough, answers come to me even if I didn’t mention or do anything.

my opportunity came when we were in Tokyo Disneyland. a vast variety of souvenirs, yes. was hesitating between a few accessories (even thought of NOT buying any presents from Disneyland coz it’s too obvious) when my friend caught sight of a pair of earrings which she was interested (but didn’t buy). to spot your target’s needs is relatively easier than to obtain them. it took me a while to make up my mind before I actually went and get the accessories.

then, there’s the “suspicion” problem. to prevent yourself from looking suspicious, you have to make yourself a false proof. and it so happened that my mom’s birthday falls on the 23rd of December. a couple of days after the purchase of the present for the Secret Santa event, we went shopping in a department store. hinted to my friend that I need to get a present. but a present for WHO, I did not state. since I was the only one who knew about my mom’s birthday, I suppose that my friend took it as a present for the Christmas party. furthermore I hinted that this person (didn’t say it’s my mom) is “clumsy” and “I don’t really know her preferences”. and it so happened that these statements suit one of our friends in the Nagano gang. long story short, in the end, I bought a square plate with Christmas designs, right in front of my friend. by then, I was 70% sure that my plan worked efficiently.

lastly, but the most important thing, to remember to bring the “fake” present to Nagano. otherwise all my stupid efforts would be wasted. had to sacrifice some man power in carrying it all the way to Nagano and then back to Tokyo, which was a little annoying there.. in any case, my initial plan was to use the wrapping paper and the ribbons to finish up my “real” present (yes, that Disney shop didn’t provide wrapping service). bought some origami papers (initially I thought of making a Christmas card) as well as tapes (staplers would be too ugly). however, after some consideration, I chose to wrap the accessories with the origami papers and the ribbons only.

I apologize for making this such a long-winded story.. this is to clarify your doubts, and by saying “your” I meant people including the person who received the present, and whoever who’s wandering why did I take all the trouble tricking the others. don’t worry, normally im not that calculative.. and usually I don’t use that much brain cells. it’s just to make the Santa thing more fun (kinda boring if I had passed the present without doing anything right??). you know my usual status is “blur”, if you know me by person. :D

meanwhile…

I got MY Christmas presents too. presentSSSS – a letter, a lovable-looking tiny frying pan, and a big mug cup with spoon. when choosing each person’s Secret Santa before the holidays, I submitted my name as “J. K. Rowling”. well…. because… im known as that sometimes (?)……….. so the point is.. my cute Santa played along with me and wrote me the letter.

Dear Miss Rowling,

I really love your book. It’s great. Out of all the “Harry Potter” characters I love the Weasley twins best. They are incredible (children’s way of saying “incredibly”) clever and wicked! I really love the part when two of ‘em ran away from Hogwarts to build their own joke shop. Anyway, can you make Dumbledore back alive in the 7th book? PLEEEASE… Thank you =) By the way, I hope the frying pan and the cute mug gives you the inspiration to finish writing the 7th book =)

Fred & George

how lovable.. *awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww*

I really love the mug. using it everyday.. the letter, I have it hanging against the wall in my room. whereas the frying pan…… well, I guess someday I’ll use it. when I feel like eating pig-faced pancakes or fried eggs?

all in all, 2 of my closer friends – my Bruneian friend, and my Santa herself – got tricked by their shopping partner. that is, they got their Secret Santa right beside them when buying presents, but didn’t notice it. everyone was happy with their presents (I hope), and we all fled back to bed at the speed of light once the session was over. finally, it’s bedtime..