Dear whale,

You thought I’d make you a website for your website, and… you were right.

But not entirely right, because this website is nothing but a step in the journey — a landing pad for what’s to come.

I’ve given much thought to how to best celebrate your 30th birthday. It’s just a number, yes. But I like numbers.

We’ve experienced so much together since August 11, 2019, haven’t we?

We’ve had maaany dinners with friends — and discovered that our home fits 18 people!

Some of those dinners required massive, hours-long cleanup efforts…

…which is OK, frankly, because they always lead to good laughs, family, stories, and, more often than not, inappropriate comments from your dad (I suspect that is what’s happening here, judging by his reaction).

There’s so much more — it’s hard to curate. From watching sunsets in Mendocino,

to riding bikes in Amsterdam.

Or doing nothing at La Fortuna — for 3 days straight!

And you can’t forget the (very) random moments, like going to a ranch in Sebastapol…

…where you showed me, for the first time, your true skills as a photographer.

We even have fun at 11pm weddings! (though it sometimes requires breaking the law for some late-night skinny dipping)

It is important to note that this August 2019 to August 2020 time period was also punctuated by many, many learning experiences. We’ve learned to make cheesebread from the master herself!

We’ve also learned that we are great at surviving the most daring conditions! Like overconfident sailing students.

And Pilipino tuk-tuk drivers.

And worse yet, roommate Alex’s driving!

We were so happy when we reached our destination alive — so much so that it deserved its own high-kick.

As well as a hug of relief.

You and I also had many family moments. Like spending a day with your aunt and cousins in Spain.

And meeting your mom in Berkeley.

And being paranoid with Carla, who isn’t technically family, but I also didn’t know where this photo would fit in the story.

We’ve been so good this year, we even tolerated Russian Alex’s bouts of photo-taking — sometimes, good ones come up!

By the way, I just figured out that our birthdays have exactly 200 days between them. I don’t know what this means, other than serving as a hook for me to talk about my own birthday, which you turned into such a special occasion!

Ah, I miss Hong Kong!

And I miss Spain!

And I want to work on more art projects with you, even if you believe the project will go nowhere.

I even miss you sleeping on the ground after hitting me! I’m lying — I don’t miss that at all. But I blame it on the quarantine.

The quarantine is devastating, but, at least, it forced us to go on a roadtrip.

Wait!!!

I can’t believe I’m doing this again! I ALWAYS go on these tangents (and start looking at photos) whenever I try to get anything done. Sigh. Photos are not what this site is for!

Ok, before I get distracted again, let me get straight to the point. Instead of giving you a gift, I am giving you a full 7 days of surprises. But there’s a catch. You have to decipher the surprise before it can materialize.

I’ve left some clues here. Whenever you decipher the charade, tell me the answer and we’ll proceed with the plan. The only exception is day 7: nothing to guess then.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

By the way, did you notice there are 30 photos on this site?

With much love,
Monster