Surprise Surprise!

One of the reasons why we at RedRibbon Days love what we do is simply because we are passionate about making people happy. It gives us much satisfaction to know that we can also give that ‘power’ to the buyer of a gift - to make the recipient feel like he or she is the most special person in the world. Every now and then we have customers who come to us asking us to help arrange surprises for their loved ones for their birthdays, anniversaries, proposals or even just because. We’ve arranged many special surprises from proposal in the sky to a private picnic by a waterfall to something simple like a delivery of 20+ balloons to that someone special. It’s a really great feeling to know that we’ve made an impact in someone else’s lives and to know that what we do creates unforgettable memories.

So when we’re always behind the scenes of scheming a surprise, it truly is a pleasant surprise when you yourself become the recipient of one.

Two weeks ago I turned 21 (for the 8th time) and I really didn’t expect anything because you get pretty bored turning 21 years old 8 times, so there’s nothing really new actually. Hehe. But at RedRibbon Days, no one’s birthday will go unnoticed. The girls here will make sure that being born is an occasion that definitely needs to be celebrated. So on 13 August, Friday, I came to work as usual, and first thing I noticed when I walked in was that my room somehow looked ‘merrier’ than usual. First thing that came to mind was, ‘Err, is it Hari Raya already?’.. haha then as I came closer, I noticed the big ‘Happy Birthday!’ banners and the fancy decorations. Then everyone suddenly screamed out HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!.. it was a great way to start the morning so I was already thankful for the lovely surprise. Then suddenly everyone came up to me and passed me a ‘crown’ which says ‘Hari Jadi Ayam’ (loosely translated ‘Happy Birthday Chicken’ – I’m hoping this is because I’m born in the year of the Rooster and not anything else haha) and a sash saying the same thing. I was told to wear this the whole day. Hahahahah, ok at this point I thought, oh well, it sounds like fun and there’s no harm wearing this the whole day. So with just a pinch of hesitance, I wore the ‘chicken’ accessories and thought that I actually looked good in it. So I wore it for the rest of the day. Ahahha.

The surprise doesn’t end there though. Apparently, celebrating a birthday also includes having to embarrass yourself. So I had a ‘task’ – which was to parade in my new ‘outfit’ to other offices in the building and collect 10 business cards. On top of that, I forgot that we had a meeting with a vendor, so I was in a meeting complete with the outfit. One of the ladies even wanted to take a picture with me. I felt like a celebrity for a while. Hahaha. The rest of the day was as awesome. We had KFC for lunch, a yummy birthday cheesecake, an embarrassing session of me parading in other people’s offices and a lovely RedRibbon Days experience from everyone at the office – ‘Contemporary Japanese Cuisine for Two’. I personally haven’t tried it but we’ve been receiving rave reviews about this experience. All of our customers who have been there loved it so I can’t wait to enjoy it too :) If you don’t believe me, here are a few pictures to prove the day of my lovely but embarrassing yet fun Birthday at RedRibbon Days! Thanks guys, I had a really fun day!! Love you all xoxo



The next day on my actual birthday, hubby then apparently planned a surprise for dinner. I thought I was going to have a typical birthday dinner with my parents and I was told some cousins will join. At that point I found it a bit weird, because it rarely happens – cousins joining in on a family dinner. But I thought, hey maybe I’m extra special this year. Ahahah. Turns out when we arrived for dinner, hubby conspired with my close friends instead and I was greeted by birthday screams! OK, this I did not expect because my hubby never ever surprises me or even attempts to surprise me so when he managed to pull it off, I was more surprised than the actual surprise! Hehehehe. It was so sweet. Before dinner, I actually told him I wanted to hang out somewhere else when we’re done, so that’s why he gave excuse of my cousins joining. Haha. It was a lovely night and I couldn’t have asked for more. :)

Theme for this year is '21' and headgears..haha

So here's to surprises and making people happy; delighting them in ways that make them feel special !

Happy 2nd Anniversary RedRibbon Days!

On 19 June 2010 RedRibbon Days turned TWO. Yes, 2 years old! Still a baby but we all can't believe how much RRD has grown. I still remember we almost forgot our 1st year anniversary because we were all so busy but RRD has grown so much since then that we can't afford to not celebrate us turning 2 years old.

We lined up a few celebrations on Friday and Sunday. It started from Friday lunch with our traditional sunrise duck rice feast. We're making it a point to have this for lunch on each anniversary because this was suppose to be our lunch during the day of our launch back in 2008, but we were so busy preparing that we didn't have time to eat and it went to waste. So it sort of has a sentimental value to all of us - and not to mention it is definitely one of the most yummiest duck rice i've tasted :D

And after our lunch we enjoyed a big cake and popped a champagne. What makes it more special this year is that our team has grown with 2 additional ladies who we are glad to have onboard. Shiva and Theing, thank you for your support and for believing in a small company like us. But we hope that both of you stay long enough to be a part of our BIG team and vision we have planned. - in the very very near future!

It was a bit difficult to concentrate on work for the rest of the day last Friday. A lot of fond and bittersweet memories suddenly came into mind from day 1 that RRD was established. We've probably said this a million times but it's hard to believe that we just started from Sherin's dining table in her house a couple of years ago to a team of 5 dedicated ladies with many more coming..i know it's a bit cliche when you read about stories such as this, but when it happens to you, sometimes it feels a bit surreal.

Anyway, we left office at 6pm sharp to continue on to dinner at Vincenzo. It's nice to have the team at one table, catching up on each other's lives and not to mention the current World Cup which is going on. I ate so much that night! The food was fabulous but most important of all was the great company.


Took a break on Saturday (from all the eating!) and continued with the final celebration on Sunday as a team - High Ropes Adventure! I think this was one of the challenging experiences I've ever done! Starting off by climbing up a 17m ladder was already a task! Imagine having to go through various obstacles on tree tops while trying to face your fear of heights. Nevertheless, nothing beats the feeling of satisfaction after completing the whole course. And I'm so proud of the team as everyone completed the whole course! No chicken exit for anyone! Good on you girls! A shame that none of us brought a camera to take pictures of us doing the experience as we were afraid we wouldn't have time to take any and it's true. Each of us were too focused on completing each obstacle that I don't think we would have bothered taking pictures. But here's a group picture we managed to take at the end. Next day all of us we had sore arms and legs but it was all worthwhile! What was supposedly a challenge between the Directors and Staff ended up into a personal individual challenge for each of us as everyone turned out to be a winner :)



It was a fun weekend and we look forward to many more annversaries. To Sherin and MingNe, words cannot express how extremely thankful I am for being such great partners and friends. Thanks for your understanding and patience and here's to many many more anniversaries. It's an honour to be a part of your dreams and to help you guys make it come true.

To the Shiva and Theing, we hope you will last long enough to see RRD bloom and grow :). Thank you for your support and for believing in us.

And to RRD, I can't wait to see what the future has in store for you ;)