For a Birthday Boy

Today's 11 Aug. 2010 - it's a date not to be repeated. The reason is it's my birthday and it's a public holiday in Malacca; today's the beginning of Ramadan, the fasting month for Muslims. How many people are privileged enough to have their birthdays fall on a public holiday? Well... it's a special day for me, or is it? It's even more special because for the first time ever, my parents and my aunt stayed overnight at my place just for my birthday.

Pre-birthday dinner

I'm kinda traditional when it comes to celebrating birthdays. I'd like it to be celebrated (if there is one) on the day itself, but this year it's celebrated a day before (which was not a holiday) to cater to those who are unable to attend the dinner - it's always dinners for us. It's fine with me.

Well, I'm not too excited about the celebration. To me, as long as you remember my birthday, I'm happy enough. No need parties, birthday cakes or gifts. A personal call would be really appreciated. See how simple I am? It's just gonna be another ordinary day anyway, at least for me. I donno about you guys who'd go partying the whole night long, and extend through the next day. OK, food time. Here's what we all ordered at this renown Thai restaurant:

That's edible raw leaf with rubber bands...
err.. I mean carrots below each one

Every one's favourite: Pineapple fried rice

Crispy rice dipped in spicy sauce with meat

Spicy fried rice

Stir fried traditional noodles: BEFORE

AFTER: Notice the glass containers with chilli powder, sugar,
pickled green chilli, sugar and ground nuts. Mix them all
into the noodles

The German Black Forest cake: Simply delicious

The bill - minus the cake - came  up to about RM140 (approx. US$40), which is rather inexpensive for seven people. Dad foot the bill. Thanks a million dad.

The Gifts

My brother and his wife presented to me a gift which I opened only this morning. I didn't wanna open it yesterday as it was not my birthday yet. I felt the gift, and I immediately knew what it was.

Well, I guess this is better than studying for a Master's degree
- which I've miserably failed

Both of them are pious Christians, and they've seen me in church, so it's only appropriate that they bought a religious book to help me learn more about the Bible. Thanks, I'll read it for sure. I've got cash gifts from my parents, my aunt and my brother's mother-in-law who was at the pre-dinner celebration too.

The Greetings

Let's see who did not wish me a happy birthday. Hmm... well, no need to be too bothered about it. I won't be offended though I wouldn't feel "nice" about it. It won't make me lose sleep anyway. Thanks to those who wished me. My best friend Yen sent me a card, but well... since our postmen are so efficient, the card never arrived. My ex-girlfriend also sent me a birthday greeting. My ex-wife probably thought I've committed a serious crime and I'm now in jail, so no need to send a card to a criminal.

The Ambience

The restaurant had a cozy feeling, and the deco makes you feel like staying on a couple of hours. Every one was happy including me though I wish there's that special someone to spend the night with. The food was good. The birthday song made me feel like a kid again, or made me feel like a golden citizen... the candle blowing and cake cutting were symbolic. What did I wish for? I can't tell, and I can't remember either.

And Today...

... the actual day of my birthday, I'm all alone at home. I had breakfast with my parents and aunt at the Yong Tau Fu shop nearby, then they went home. I foot the bill - RM18.80, no problem. Not only that, I went to office (on this public holiday) to get something urgent done because the deadline is tomorrow, but I won't be in town. Why didn't I do it earlier? 'Coz I got the e-mail only yesterday evening!! I've tried real hard to feel good as it's "my day" - well, it hasn't worked. I guess I'll just go eat my take away lunch and watch TV.

On the positive side: I celebrated my birthday yesterday, so cheer up, for Christ's sakes!
On the negative side: - don't be so negative -

Happy Birthday Mom (Part 2)

As promised, here's the post on my mom's birthday celebration. We had to celebrate her 70th birthday a day later to accommodate those who are not from town. I had two surprises for my mom. First, I got her a flower-cum-fruit basket, specially ordered from a florist to be delivered on the day of her birthday. I've never done this before, and she never expected her rebellious and stubborn son to do something this noble. I figured, she's been there for me from the time I got the divorce (especially) till now, and she's been suffering emotionally too. Therefore, I did what was right. I made that choice to make her happy on her birthday - and she was happy to receive it.

Flowers and fruit for mom

Meaningful words carefully chosen

Here's the second surprise. My siblings and I wanted something special. What I did was I tried to insist that all her sisters come for this celebration to give her a surprise. Well, only one could make it as the others had to be away that day. To fill the void, I included other relatives from KL and Seremban. They came just before dinner. There were a few exchanges of phone calls between me and my aunt to ensure they arrived before my mom did. It went well. I didn't want to have it at a hotel - that's too common, so I made reservation for 14 pax at a bistro instead.

The Chosen One - good ambience

The birthday girl finally arrived at about 7:15 PM, and was so surprised to see her sister and relatives there. There were hugs and greetings. It was nice :)

Arrival of the birthday girl, hugging her youngest sister.
It was a big surprise for her.

I also instructed my brother to get her a birthday cake a couple of hours earlier.  Gosh, I almost forgot about it as my mind hasn't been stable lately with work and other personal stuff to think of. My brother got a cake and I told him to get seven candles to represent her age.

The Food

We ordered ala carte, so it took a while for all of us to decide what to order, but I agreed to have the chef's recommendation (below) for all of us:

House Specialty
Seafood Platter: lobster, oysters, slices of salmon etc.

There was plenty of food in the end till we filled ourselves to the brim, but there was wastage too because I "cleverly" ordered two seafood platters; I didn't expect the others to order heavy meals too. Never mind, as long as everyone's happy there.

The Atmosphere

One word sums it all: electrifying. Everyone was chatting and playing with my little nephew, and I was busy taking photos and experimenting with my camera (missing some good shots in the process). The waiter was helpful too, and he helped us take a snapshot of the entire group.

I call this eating to order - let's eat!

The in-house entertainer singing the Happy Birthday song
That's a surprise to me too as I didn't ask for it :-)

The whole gang - all 14 of us
(I'm somewhere there)

The Verdict

It was a first for me organising a birthday event almost all on my own from making the reservation to making sure that guests arrived before my mom did. Credit goes to my brother too for reminding me a few things and helping out a bit. I'm glad it turned out well. Food was abundant, but not everyone liked the taste. A bowl of "laksa" was wasted. My heart sank a bit when I saw wasted food. Either the guests had a very small appetite, were too picky or the food was just not up to the mark. All guests went home after dinner including those who came from out of town. The price? That doesn't matter. What matters most is that mom had a great time.

Let's see what we have in store for my parents next year.

Happy Birthday Mom (Part 1)

I went to work early today like I always do, but it's a special day - not for me. At approx. 8:00 AM, I picked up the phone to wish my mother a Happy Birthday. Dad received the call, and as usual, he assumed it was my brother who called. Mom thought so too until I told her that I was on my way to an invigilation duty. "Oh, Kevin... I thought it's..." :-)

Never mind, that tells a lot about me, huh? Anyway, it's really common for people on the phone to mistakenly think that my brother's voice is mine. Even when they see my brother, they'll ask him "You're still working in KL?" or "You were in Sarawak last time, right?" Gosh, we're not even twins, though both of us wear glasses. Just look for my dimples - would anyone like to kiss them - and right away, you know it's me!

We're celebrating mom's birthday tomorrow when my sister comes home from the BIG CITY. I've a surprise for mom today, and tomorrow. So, I shall tell you more a few days later. Keep your eyes peeled for the next post! By the way, I'm unable to blog for a while as my notebook is out of order.