02B1C: Remote Birthday

Metro Manila Community Quarantine - Day 772

Today is Tobie's birthday! And despite the distance, we were able to have little celebrations on our own to help mark the day.

As is the requirement for surprises between us, I came up with an idea for a birthday gift rather last-minute, which is the only way to avoid him "detecting" that I was hiding something from him. It also helps that I just happened to be in another country entirely as I figured out this plan. 

The idea was to commission my cousin (-in-law? Is that a thing we say?) for a Tobie-inspired art piece. He does some great gaming-related art and I figured we could come up with a fun concept together. I wanted to find an alternative to Pokemon since Tobie never got into the franchise and ended up pitching an Okami-inspired companion for him plus finding a way to integrate our other geeky interests.

The final piece turned out pretty awesome and I'm super happy how things came together. And I was able to "give" the gift pretty much at midnight as we were on a call together watching My Love From The Star together. So right after we recorded me singing Happy Birthday via video call and him blowing out his cake, I made him check his Messenger for a surprise. And Tobie was able to spot all the little details we worked into the design, so that really worked out. 

But we totally need to have a "proper" celebration when I get back from Singapore. I need the works - a nice meal we didn't cook for ourselves, maybe yet another cake, and of course a fun night at O Bar with good friends. Everything! Just a little longer.