LOVE, Kloudiia

What a day 22nd March 2007 had been.

To use the word eventful to describe yesterday seemed to be rather inadequate. What do I mean? Well, read on and find out what happened to me on this very important day of my life.

1. The world crashed!

No, the sky didn’t fall as what Chicken Little observed. But my laptop crashed! Yes, on the same morning of my book launch when I needed to use it for my speech that night.

I prayed, very, very hard – not for my laptop to revive from the dead, but for me to save all my working files! Not having the habit to do daily back up does have a price to pay. I’m really glad and fortunate that the only price I paid was the anguish and anxiety that flooded me for that one hour when I desperately used all methods to save my files, which I did after successfully logging in using the Safe Mode.

2. My speech wasn’t ready

And so were my slides! So, after getting them retrieved from my laptop, I had to work on them immediately and do my rehearsal. I didn’t complete it of course.

Battling the thought of “How can this be happening at a time like this?” I had to stay focused on nothing but my speech.

See, never leave things to the last minute.

Then, I hurriedly rushed off to do my hair and makeup, in preparation for the evening…

3. Where is the cab?

By the time I’m done with “packaging” myself for the event, my dear godbro smsed me to say he wouldn’t be picking me up (as was originally planned) from where I was, as the sky was threatening to unload some drops of water, so he had to reach the venue before that happens to unload my books so that these babies will remain clean, and importantly, dry.

Mentally navigating the territory, I really couldn’t find my way to the taxi stand! Arhh how could I get myself lost at a time like this? In the end, I kind of wandered a little while, starting to panic when I accidentally passed by Intercontinental Hotel. Aha! There’s a taxi stand there! So I pushed through the doors and started praying (again!) for an available cab.

My prayer was answered. Not only I got one, it was a white mercedez-benz ha! A nice comfy ride ensued…

4. A moment of decision

By the time I reached, I’ve already got some early guests! Laptop (kindly lent from my boyfriend) wasn’t here, so there goes my last chance of a rehearsal.

So it came down to a moment of decision – to hide in some corner and practise my less-than-prepared speech, or to just mingle with my guests and let things run and my thoughts flow in my book talk.

I decided on the latter. I decided too that I am going to allow myself to relax and have some fun. Of course, it helps that almost all the guests are my friends, people whom I know already, except for those readers who came for this event after placing their order during my soft launch.

5. The microphone failed

Yes, the cordless microphone set I borrowed didn’t work on the system there. Are you thinking what I think you are thinking right now?

Of course we tested it before! What are you thinking of? But, we tested it at home.

So, without alerting me and making me panic as well, my sister and her friend went to save the day, which they did beautifully with a last-minute set that came just 15 minutes before my speech started.

Bless them really. Though the sound wasn’t very stable throughout the talk, but I was really grateful I had that. Otherwise, it’s no joke to address an audience for 45 minutes using my built-in mic!

6. And, finally…

My first book – “The 69 Love Notes – Secrets To A Loving And Lasting Relationship” was launched! To the cheers, blessings and well wishes of my guests who were there to give me support, and to join me in the celebration of this meaningful and special occasion.

Even though it seemed like a series of unhappy and unexpected incidences took place, somehow, it never really bogged me down or dampened my spirits.

I guess I was committed to having a good time for myself and my guests. So, I maintained my state pretty well, or so I judged (not sure how others will rate me though )

7. Last but not least, credit goes to…

All my friends who have contributed their time and effort to make this event possible. I’ve thanked them yesterday evening, and I’d like to show my appreciation once again in my blog.

Official sponsors are

Settlers Cafe, Central outlet for the venue

Lightalks Photography for the photographs

Art of Media for organising the event.

Friends and family were also there to lend a helping hand. So nice, isn’t it?

I really appreciate all your help! I even got a bouquet of flowers from my two best “sisters”. They are my long time buddies from my secondary school days.

8. Now, make a wish…

Yesterday also marked the beginning of my support for the Make-A-Wish foundation. I pledged to donate 50% of the nett proceeds from that evening’s sale to them, as my first form of support to this organisation.

More on this foundaiton in a later post, but if you can’t wait to know more about it, and what it does, in what way is it so relevant to my mission and purpose in life, please visit their website http://www.makeawish.org.sg and discover these answers.

Whoa! That’s my report for the day of my book launch. Eventful? I would think so. Meaningful. I would think so too.

Memorable? You bet! For a long, long time to come!

9. Now comes the last bit of miracle

I prayed for a miracle yesterday when my laptop crashed. For me to save my files, which I did.

I guess the real miracle happened 36 hours later. My laptop had, miraculously revived! Whew, luckily I haven’t started reformating it, otherwise it’ll be a new chain of headaches once again.

Is computer that unreliable? Or was that a strike to protest that she’s been working too hard? Well…

So friends, we cannot choose to have life’s events happening the way we want them to be. But surely, we can choose to respond to them the way we want it to be!

I will be posting some photos from that event later on to share with all of you.

“The 69 Love Notes – Secrets To A Loving And Lasting Relationship” are sold at major bookstores in Singapore. If you are single and looking for love, or if you are a dating or married couple, this book helps you to understand the inner workings of a relationship, how the man and woman thinks and behaves and shows you the way to a happy, loving and lasting relationship through 69 little secrets, nicely and individually wrapped for you.

[tags]book launch, The 69 Love Notes, loving lasting relationship, love and marriage, kloudiia, author, dating & relationship[/tags]