No more packets of sweets and chocolates for the classmates.
No more fanciful birthday parties where all your relatives are invited.
No more shared presents by groups of friends.
My 21st birthday, honestly, wasn't the way I wanted it to be initially. It just... got big.
It was like ages that I had my last bday party, and my mum thought it will be good to have one for family and relatives to gather. Not being very close to my aunties/uncles and cousins, I decided to invite my friends to the party as well... and it was just hard to leave anyone out. Then came the catering, big birthday cake to serve everyone... and the fun of decorating the place. Yea, it just got rather big. Really, I would have enjoyed it equally if it was just a simple dinner with my family.
These days, birthday "celebration' is not that important to me anymore. Clearly, there is nothing to celebrate.
Rather, i feel this day is an annual re-assessment of your life.
What makes me happy is not someone gathering everyone else (who otherwise might not actually have remembered), then calling you up to see which day you are free so that we can gather for a meal and have a drink, simply because somehow it was done for everyone in the group the last couple of years or so. And I rather not meet up this way, cos I dun really see the point, when there is not heart in doing it. Its not supposed to be a ritual.
But when people do remember (on their own, not through facebook or friendster or through someone else) and simply send you a text message or even bother to take time off to spend time with you, its heartwarming. Simply because you know you are not forgotten, and there are people who do care.
It doesn't have to be a fancy dinner, but the company and sincerity, are the most important.
And this birthday, I had the best times with my family, Ah C's family and of cos, my dearest girls!
And special mention to the girls who had an unexpected lunch with me at the Moomba Tuckshop. Cos the company was great, the sandwiches and salads was great (i love sandwiches and salads!) and I love my brownie with matchsticks 'birthday cake' =).
Had dinner with my family at a fish steamboat place near my house... which my mum had been finding an occasion to have for some time. The food is not nice as before but the night was special. Just when we were about to go home, it started raining really really heavily and we had to walk in the rain. So I shared an umbrella with my mum while my dad had one to himself. I dun know how to describe, but being able to hold on to each other, watching out for each other under the pouring rain.. I have not felt so close to them in a long time. Others may have very close relationships with their parents and be able to tell them everything. But somehow, my parents are not really the mushy kind whom I can tell discuss everything with. They just care in a different way. So, yea, that meant alot to me. And my brother got me a timex digital watch which is really useful to me at this time as I am training up for the Stand Chart run in Dec. I was actually quite surprised and touched that he got me something that I needed and wanted, without me saying a word.
Ah C's family brought me to Swenson's for dinner on a Sunday evening. They were telling me to try something else, afraid that its boring for me, but I love Swenson's! Particularly for their baked rice, crayfish pasta and rodeo wings. And I must say I really appreciate the fact that they took time off to have dinner with me the last two years even when Ah C is not around. Oh... and they got me a Pooh and friends ice cream cake!
Yea, and just Sunday, I went to Canele at Raffles City to try out their famous desserts.
The crepe was not bad at all!
I dunno why, maybe I have been trying quite some famous and good cakes recently, the ones at Canele didn't really make an impression on me. Still, they looked good..
Tracing back a little, my st nicks clique came over to my house for a pot luck session just before Tiffy anf Joyce went back to Ireland and Shanghai respectively. And Tiffy bought these cakes from Gobi dessert (located at the Central Mall)...
I quite like the strawberry shortcake cos the sponge cake is very soft.. the other good one that I tried was from The Patissier's. Though they are quite different in texture, because the one from The Patissier's had more alternating layers of biscuit crumbs and sponge cake.
It will probably be another year befor I see these girls again. Hopefully I have the chance to visit Joyce in Shanghai this Oct/Nov if I ever get to go there for my work!
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