 | Further to the Photos; | Jul 19, 2005 |
|  | 9th January 2009
It has been a tradition since our days in Assomull & Partners to celebrate our birthdays together, it being a mere 10 days apart. This year's dinner was slightly different in that we did not have the complete set of Assomull's Angels. Again. This time, both March Babies were unavailable so Shah and I took the liberty to meet up according to our schedule and cravings. Not easy, though, because try as we could to be different, we still ended up at Sakura International Buffet. This time, at Clementi Woods Park.
Each year, Shah's gift would consist of two parts and almost everytime, one of it will arrive only after our scheduled dinner date. This year, however, I did my shopping well in advance (like a month in advance, hurrr) and so everything was nice and ready by today. But where I was ready, it was her turn to give me two parts of a gift where one of it was unavailable by today. The only difference was that it was intentional for she wanted to present it on my birthday itself.
I had a good time today, and the pouring out of our troubles as well as all that laughing really made for a carthartic night.
[Photos taken via our respective phones.] |
| | 11th October 2008
It was a day set aside for family and friends who wished to come over. Tiring as it was - hey, my parents and I were up since 4 a.m. cooking and cleaning - I wouldn't mind doing it more than once a year, because catching up and seeing everyone enjoy your cooking and hospitality is certainly worth it all. |
| | 5th October 2008
My family and I concentrated on visiting relatives in the Woodlands area that day; but because I wasn't in much of a photo-taking mood, most of the time Baby Lumix was in my bag and forgotten. Whoops! |
| | 4th October 2008
The day we went visiting with my maternal relatives.
[From Embah's to my fifth aunt's (Aunti Idah) to cousins' - Kakak Juli's then to Kakak Mariana's - to seventh uncle's (Uncle Dzul) and, finally, second uncle's (Uncle Din).]
Six houses in twelve hours. It is no wonder we were so, so deflated by the end of the night! |
| | 1st October 2008
[From my maternal grandmother's (Embah) to paternal third uncle's (Pak Ngah / Tuk) to paternal fourth uncle's (Uncle Man).]
Photos were for the first half of the day only, before Baby Lumix died on me. |
| | 21st October 2007
My second uncle and family were unable to come over the day before, so they dropped by today, sans Abang Izwan. With this last set of photographs, I declare it to be the last of my Aidilfitri celebrations for this year. It has been a meaningful one and I hope it'll get better in years to come. (: |
| | 20th October 2007
The day my relatives and best friend came over. Asyraf's friends gathered here as well, before making their own visiting rounds. As fun as this day has been, I must admit that hosting is a very exhausting job and I salute those who do it on a regular basis. |
| | 19th October 2007
The day my former primary school teacher invited us over to his place. 'Twas an interesting night of laughs and reminiscing. |
| | 14th October 2007
This year, my paternal relatives did not gather at my place as was the usual tradition. Instead, we went visiting with my maternal relatives.
[From my eldest uncle's (Uncle Din) to youngest uncle's (Uncle Qarnain) to seventh uncle's (Uncle Dzul) to fifth aunt's (Auntie Idah) to fourth uncle's (Uncle Hussein).] |
| | 13th October 2007
[From my maternal grandmother's (Embah) to paternal grandfather's (Tuk) to paternal grandaunt's (Nenek Maznah) to paternal third uncle's (Pak Ngah) to paternal second uncle's (Pak Lang) to paternal fourth uncle's (Uncle Man).] |
| | 24th September 2007
The first of several Iftar sessions to come since Ramadhan began.
The night of laughs - I teared alot that night, just laughing hysterically - began with dinner at Manhattan Fish Market and ended with dessert at Coffee Club.
Photographs courtesy of Andrea and Roselyn's digicam. |
| | 31st August 2007
Three months after we first met.
Credits to:
- Joanne and I for organising this (hurhurhur!);
- Shafik and Adrian for being such darlings to help out with the running of errands prior;
- my cousin, Andrea, for the cookies; and
- my younger maternal male cousins and youngest brother for being the initial chefs that night (until they abandoned us for bowling and scary movies thereafter. -.-)
Not many photographs were taken because, well, I forgot of Baby Lumix's existence alot of the time? Yes, yes, that was how much fun I had anyway; especially with the reunion of people from my past, coupled with new faces (since the last time we met) to boot! |
| | 29th June 2007
I had taken the whole day off work for my monthly medical appointment and decided to spend the rest of the day after that with my cousin (yes, that same one whose aim in life is to exasperate me) and his girlfriend, Roselyn (who had both taken either half the day or whole day off JUST FOR ME!). This, as opposed to bumming around at home or going back to work as I usually did.
I met Roselyn at around 10 a.m. at the Raffles MRT station where we had smoothies at Coffee Club before I made my way for my 10.45 a.m. yoga class, leaving her to the rest of the smoothies and my cousin's PSP. An hour and a half later, I met her again and we both waited for my cousin's arrival; taking several shots while chatting and bemoaning my cousin's tardiness - "Hey, I [sic] got meeting okay?!" was his excuse.
Having not decided a lunch venue, we decided to go wherever our feet took us, much to Redza's extreme horror for we took a long 'leisurely' walk from Raffles Place to City Hall and, thereafter, to Bugis. Finally, our feet could take it no longer and we decided on lunch at Fish & Co.
After a nice, extended lunch, Redza decided that his shirt was getting too uncomfortable for him (the poor boy was perspiring bucketsful!) and we browsed the whole of Bugis Street for a t-shirt. Sadly, none caught his eye and it was decided that we made our way to Orchard to try our luck. So in an attempt to flag a cab, we walked the whole stretch of road to Burlington Square and, thereafter, Serangoon Road before we spotted the nearest train station and decided to board the train instead.
It was at Cineleisure that we finally found the perfect t-shirt at [insert name of sports shop here]. With his purchase, he gleefully ordered us to make an appointment at Supercuts while he changed into the newly-bought t-shirt. He finally emerged looking much more comfortable and proceeded with his haircut while us girls passed our time reading magazines and chatting. A good hour(?) later, my cousin was all done with his haircut; and looking mighty tidy in a combination of a comfortable t-shirt and neater 'do.
The rest of the day was spent at Far East Plaza where Roselyn had her manicure done and I had a lovely pedicure ("buff but don't shine, please; no polish, too!")/massage of my foot, which was very heavenly considering that we had spent half our day out walking under the sun.
We were supposed to end with dinner but I had to rush off so... next time, yeah guys? And thank you so very much for that day of laughter, childishness and, above all else, pure unadulterated loveliness.
[Photos courtesy of Roselyn's Canon Ixus] |
| | 31st May 2007
My maternal aunt turned 55 (we think) on 28th May but since it was a weekday, my cousins and I decided to spring the surprise party on her on 31st May 2007 instead, it being a public holiday.
My task was, amongst others, to lure Bibik out of her house so that the others would be able to go over and start setting up.
So the day began with Bibik and I checking out Tampines Mall and Century Square to "look for a perfect pair of jeans to replace my dangerously loose one". We spent about two hours scouring the two malls and after rejecting several, I eventually settled on a low-waist boot cut from Giordano. Since the whole process did not take as long as I had estimated, I pretended to hesitate and contemplate buying the pair although I had already fallen in love with it. I finally could not pretend any longer without being too obvious so I bought the said pair of jeans.
Thankfully, my aunt wanted to rest her feet so we decided to take a break at the foodcourt in Century Square. As my aunt was ordering some drinks and snacks, I contacted Liyana Z to find out the progress on the other side; and it was further established that since her family and mine were the only ones there, I would take my time finishing our snacks before deciding on the next move.
It was probably the first time that I took a good half hour finishing up two pieces of traditional cakes but since my aunt knew that I had already eaten breakfast, she assumed that I was not that hungry to begin with (although breakfast was about four hours ago).
Thankfully (again), my aunt wanted to buy some fruits so I suggested the supermarket instead of the fruit stall near her place as she initially intended. On our there, I contacted Liyana Z again and was told that her family and mine were still the only ones there. I was laughing internally at the typical tardiness of my relatives and skipped over to my aunt.
"Bik," I nudged her cheekily. "Let's go to This Fashion at Paya Lebar. I think I want to buy some tops lah."
My aunt simply shook her head and smiled; and we made our way to Paya Lebar.
Upon reaching, I saw so many tops I took a liking to but was resisting buying any. In fact, my initial plan was to take my time checking their clothes out, pretend that none interested me and then slowly make our way back as soon as Liyana Z informed me that all our relatives were already there, and had started setting up.
Everyone who knew me would know how much I hated trying on clothes, so it took some cajoling from my aunt to try out the few tops I had picked out. In between all that, there was a messaging marathon between Liyana Z and I as we updated each other on the progress at each side.
(At this point, I was already afraid of being too obvious but Bibik still did not suspect a thing even when half the time I was on the phone.)
I was in the midst of trying on the clothes I had picked out, and was admiring myself (and contemplating buying one), when Liyana Z sent me the much-awaited message - "They're all here! You can come back now. TAKE CAB!" My heart gave a leap of joy and, in my excitement, I decided to buy one of the dress-top and skirt I was trying out previously.
Knowing my aunt, I knew that there was no chance she would agree to us hailing a cab home even if I offered to pay for the ride. Nevertheless, I decided to try my luck and as expected, I got a lecture about not wasting my money and saving up for my future. Heh.
So under pretext of wanting to show off my new purchases to my grandmother, I hurried my aunt and we practically brisk-walked from This Fashion to the Paya Lebar MRT Station, and from the Tampines MRT Station all the way to her place; all the while updating Liyana Z every five minutes of our current location.
When we were at the bus stop near my aunt's place, I slowed down our pace and called Liyana Z. Over the din in the background, I told her where we were and she excitedly screeched to the others, "Shhh, dah sampai, dah sampai (have arrived, have arrived)!" After which she told me to take our time coming up while they light up the cake.
So under the pretext of having stones in my slippers that were causing blisters (the lamest excuse, I know), we took all of five minutes examining for them (non-existing) stones before we took the lift back to Embah's.
Needless to say, the surprise was more of a success than we had all dared imagine; for when Bibik unlocked the door, she was stunned to see all of them there. And even more stunned was she when everyone broke out into a birthday song (to a point where she went, "Huh, what's going on? Whose birthday?" Hurhurhur).
The next few minutes after all the excitement had died down were spent with my eldest aunt, Tante, reading out a very touching speech that Om had written for Bibik and which got almost all the females in the family tearing and blubbering. Heh.
To end off, the rest of the day was filled with good, home-cooked delicacies and much family-loving. What more can I ask for (except more of such loveliness, I guess)?
[Photographs courtesy of Liyana Z.] |
| | 10th May 2007
What began as a daydream for Joanne and I came into place this past Thursday when, two to three months earlier, we decided to quit playing the "what if" game and start putting our plan into action - sourcing out the classmates of twelve years ago (oh, thank you, Friendster for kickstarting this aspect of our project) and coming up with huge ideas for the reunion before finally settling on a simple dinner first.
Fast forward to 10th May 2007 at Tampines Mall's Pizza Hut.
'Twas a night of, amongst others, reminiscing (where laughter was in abundance here) and catching-up. Quite unfortunately, the night grew old far too quickly for us. But no matter, for another gathering is in the works even as I am typing this, nu?
Oh, and thank you, Mr Norshafik, for that treat which got us all by surprise. (:
I actually have much more to say but Multiply is being a huge pain and this is the fourth time I'm typing all these out. I have ceased to remember what else I'd meant to say, save for the fact that I went home a happy, happy girl all thanks to the success of this dinner. And no, as much as an emotional wreck I can be when it comes to reuniting with the gems who made up my past (especially if said meeting is a good twelve years since we'd last properly met), I did not tear. At all. Really, really!
Anyway, photographs taken were via my Baby Lumix (which had been hibernating at home for way too long now) and, as always, served me well. But sadly, photographs taken are only a handful for we were all much too engrossed chatting to pay heed to that silver thing sitting prettily by my side. Heh. |
| | 4th May 2007
My cousin had taken the day off from work today so I took the chance to whine to him about my piling workload and lack of social life these days when he, probably getting tired of my whining (or maybe just missing me a great deal), asked me out for dinner after I was done with work. When told that I had planned to work until very late, he exclaimed [sic], "Still must eat RIGHT?! I fetch you from work and we have dinner."
And he was for real.
So that evening, after ensuring that I was done with my meeting, he gave me a call and subsequently waited for me in the office while I tied up whatever loose ends I had. Seeing my extremely harried and, ultimately, painfully stressed face, he convinced me to have a long dinner and not go back to work as I had intended to.
"After all," he said. "You want to come back tomorrow (and it's not like you can work well in that condition anyway)." True that.
And so we had a leisurely dinner at Swensens and thereafter walked off our bloatedness to and around The Esplanade; after which we ended the day with a short walk to Raffles Place MRT and boarded the train home. Short and impromptu though the night was, I screamed in laughter and sighed in exasperation like I hadn't done so in days (my cousin's a natural clown, even as he successfully irritates me), had meaningful talks and indulged in sinful food.
Next up, a date with The Original Six (Cousins); ooh la laaa!
(Photographs taken were via my Sammy Baby and even then, only when we were almost done with dinner.) |
| | 24th March 2007
The weekend began on a frustrating note as I spent a good hour on Saturday morning settling some issues of of overpayment to Courts, a furnishing and furniture retailer. Suffice to say, they finally admitted to their above error and promised to reimburse whatever excess payment my parents had made to them. Having settled that, I made my way to work to clear a few things I had not been able to the day before.
Truth be told, I was really lethargic that day, having had only a few hours' of sleep the night before and thereafter beginning the morning on a vexatious note. Hence, I was clearing my files at what seemed like the rate of a snail; all the while envisioning my comfortable bed at home. God only knows why I did not give up and immediately head for home, considering my unproductive mode. The only thing that kept me going was the notion of meeting up with my beloved Assomull's Angels and executing the surprise Shah and I had planned for both March babies.
When I was finally done at work, I made my way home and caught up with a few hours' of sleep before getting ready for a meeting with the girls.
Despite being woken at intervals to the various messages received on my mobile phone, I still felt refreshed when the alarm rang, and hence took my time picking out my clothes. I was taking a leisurely shower when I received Shah's message that the jelly she had made for Geetha and Jo's surprise did not turn out right. That was when I hurriedly got dressed and made my way to Lot 1 at Choa Chu Kang to meet with Shah and get a cake from Polar or Royals, whichever was available.
In my haste, I totally forgot about my handphone and realised it only when I was already at the train station. So I headed straight for the nearest public phone to inform Shah and confirm the exact time and spot I was to meet her. That done, I proceeded to board the West-bound train that had pulled up and made my way to Choa Chu Kang where Shah was already waiting for me. It took us about half an hour to scout for the perfect cake and have them personalise the same; and when everything was done we were already running late. Also fearing that we may bump into either Jo or Geetha onboard the train, thus ruining the surprise, we made our way to Vivo City in a cab.
Once there, we scoured Vivo City for the perfect place and laid out the place. Shortly after, Geetha called to inform Shah that she was already at the train station. As Jo would not be arriving for awhile, we decided to have Shah bring Geetha around the mall while waiting for Jo's arrival so both could be surprised together. So there I was, roasting under the hot sun for about an hour and trying to start the lighter. I must have lost 3 kilograms just perspiring, I thought in amusement and giggled at my own joke. (Thinking back, I bet anyone watching me would have thought that I was due for some mental treatment soon, sheesh.)
When I finally spotted Shah with the other two, I hurriedly lighted up the candles but, no thanks to my skill (or lack thereof), they just would not light up. Frustrated, I ran towards the girls and secretly passed the lighter over to Shah. Due to the strong wind that day, Shah was unable to light up the candles either so the unlighted cake was brought up to Jo and Geetha, with a short and interrupted birthday song. We then spent a hilarious moment with Jo and Geetha trying their turns to light the cake for the sake of the camera. Long story short, we finally gave up doing so and happily had them cut up the cake, with each girl declaring a huge portion for herself and none for Shah and I - "Wats hates chocolate and Shah is pregnant so we get half the cake each!"
After spending a good half hour screaming (from the red ants), laughing (from each others' antics) and posing for the camera, all four of us stumbled into the cool comfort of Vivo City and made our way to Earle Swensen's for a late, late lunch.
Aside from the filling meal that we had from our main course and the salad buffet, we caught up on so many things and spent a good time during that period just teasing one another the way we used to. When we were done, we got permission from the accommodating staff to have our cake, while I had another round of salad, and halfway during that I took out Geetha and Jo's presents where we had an entertaining time presenting them with their gifts and having them pose with it. It was nice to see that they loved the perfumes we had bought them - "Still" by J.Lo for Geetha and "Escape" by Calvin Klein for Jo – and even nicer to note that they enjoyed the surprise we had planned for them earlier.
I know I have said it before but I am always glad to say it again. I love my girls. The way we can click even after not meeting for weeks or even months. The way we can call each other names and yet nobody gets offended; that we know it is all in the name of fun. The way we can (usually) get the staff at any eatery we go to put up smilingly with our antics. The way we can scream in laughter and be trigger-happy as if the world revolves around us. And the way we always de-stress with the love and companionship each time.
Thank you, my darlings, I had a ball of a time.
(Photos courtesy of Shah's digicam as my Baby Lumix was with my youngest brother at the time.) |
| | 22nd February 2007
Azizah turned twenty-four on 15th February 2007, but with so much cropping up and tons more getting in our way, we only managed to celebrate a week later.
We satisfied her craving for both chocolate and ice-cream by having the chocolate fondue from Haadgen Daaz, which was choked filled with four flavours of ice-cream, pastries and seasonal fruits to be dipped in melted chocolate. Although not much of a fan of ice-cream nor chocolate, I did enjoy myself. And why not when I got to catch up with my favourite girlfriend over sinful food therapy.
What followed was supposed to be a shopping spree as my birthday gift to her but both of us felt sick, probably from an overdose of sugar, and only managed a few steps of window-shopping before we called it a day and hailed a cab to bring us home (wherein Azizah promptly threw up into a small plastic bag conveniently placed in the corner of said cab).
Bad end to an otherwise good day, and I still owe her that shopping trip but hey! This just means another reason to meet up very soon, yes?
Happy (Belated) 24th, baby girl (: |
| | 14th February 2007
As I had to settle my brother's school stuff, I decided to take the whole day off but I was done much earlier than I thought. So I went ahead to meet up with Liyana B, who had taken half the day off from work that day.
What began as a day to clarify things and relax ourselves from the stresses of life, turned out to also be a very, very exhilarating day with friends who make up your past.
For the gist of it, we started with high tea at the Carousel (Royal Plaza on Scotts) to shopping at Far East Plaza, and thereafter fetching Dzul, one of my juniors from polytechnic, from his office and waiting while he wrapped up the last bits of his work; and finally walking all the way to Coffee Bean at Boat Quay for the final touches to an already great day.
The bottomline is, laughter is the best medicine and a clear air is always, always lovely; what more the rekindling of a friendship.
Thank you, darlings, for the extremely lovely day out.
(Photos taken are via my Sammy Baby since I had left Baby Lumix at home.) |
 | My 24th | Jan 14, '07 11:59 AM
for everyone |
| | 13th January 2007
Months of planning came down to this one day and despite the glitches that came with it, all of it was overcome so much so that even when things did not go according to plan, the whole function was just as crazy and fun as I had imagined, if not more.
Everything started on Friday where, at the advice of my parents, I had taken the whole day off and spent the whole morning running errands. I met my favourite girlfriend, Azizah, and my cousin, Abang Redza, at the Tampines Interchange where we proceeded to NTUC to purchase a whole trolley-full of products, amongst which were snacks, cartons of drinks and various barbecue items. Having gone through the list and ensuring that we had purchased everything we needed, we brought the items to the taxi stand and snagged a cab in about 5 minutes.
First stop was my maternal grandmother's (Embah) place where we had left our bags of clothes and other items previously purchased before we made our way to NTUC. All of these were brought downstairs and placed into the boot of the cab where the kind taxi driver was obligingly waiting for us. We thereafter made our way to Aloha Changi to check into Netheravon Bungalow A. Amidst the heavy rain that marred visibility some, we managed to find our way and without much hassle, checked into the bungalow.
The next hour or so was spent sprucing up the place and checking on the inventory items as listed out in the guide. In between all that, my seventh uncle, Uncle Dzul, dropped by after work to see if we were doing fine and to ask if we needed anything else. When he was satisfied that we were fine, he made a move and soon after, along came my youngest brother, Asyraf and his friends, Agust, Fahmi and Ryan, with the rest of the purchases we had done prior to today. The boys helped to set aside everything they had brought and thereafter made themselves comfortable.
While the boys played the games that they had brought along - X-Box, poker cards and Scrabble - Azizah and I prepared some snacks for everyone; and after much deliberation, we decided to order from Canadian Pizza as well. With all the food that we had prepared or ordered, Abang, Asyraf, Azizah and I played Scrabble while the others either played Taiti or Abang's X-Box. It was a nice and relaxing way to bond with my best friend and family while allowing time to pass us by.
Soon after we were done with a round of Scrabble, my younger brother, Farhan came and after fussing around him for awhile, I received a call from my friends, Liyana B and Siti, who had lost their way. Heh. Some vague directions from a direction-idiot like me later and the babes finally arrived. They explored the whole chalet upon arrival, after which us girls settled down for some chit-chat while going through the intended itinerary for the next day. They also passed us the balloons that Siti had collected from fellow AJClubber, Jolene and a box of nicely decorated cards meant for the lucky dip. Since they had some time to spare, Liyana B and Siti also explained to us how they intended the lucky dip to be held. The four of us indulged in more mindless chatter before Faizal, Siti's beau, came to fetch the two of them home.
A few hours later, my parents surprised us by dropping by that night, instead of the next morning, with the hi-fi set and more snacks my father had brought from home. Azizah made my parents coffee while I put away the things they had brought and we, together with my cousin, thereafter had a nice long chat at the dinner table until close to midnight when we were jokingly counting down the seconds to which I would turn 24. And then I received a chorus of "Happy Birthday" from everyone around me, with the younger boys not looking up from their X-Box while saying that.
The rain finally let up at around 1 a.m. and my parents, cousin, best friend and I explored the area. After walking around, we agreed that the chalet I had booked was a good choice for it had a huge outdoor and was convenient because it was very near the bus-stop. Uncle Dzul dropped by again soon after, with his two elder sons - Erwin and Erdie - who were staying over as well; Erwin with his electric guitar which the younger boys had fun taking turns playing, which led me to declare that if ever the hi-fi let me down tomorrow, I had a backup band because all of them were able to either play some kind of musical instrument or sing.
By close to 3 a.m., I was very tired and the ladies in the house made our way upstairs for a sleep.
The next morning after morning prayers, I went down only to be greeted by Asyraf and his friends's playing of the X-Box and electric guitar, who had apparently not slept the whole night. Azizah and I then proceeded to make breakfast of tuna sandwiches and made the younger boys have breakfast immediately after they had had their morning prayers. We then forced them to go to bed because it was going to be a long day ahead. After breakfast, my parents, Abang and Azizah set off for Sheng Shiong at Loyang to stock up on more charcoal, chicken, cup noodles and packet drinks, while I stayed behind to pump up as many balloons as I could and clean up the place.
They were back in less than an hour and, just then, Erdie and Erwin woke up and I set off to make more breakfast. While doing so, Azizah and I discussed and decided to buy brunch for everyone around because the cooked food would arrive and we would begin the barbecue only in the late afternoon. So after preparing breakfast for my younger cousins and pumping up a few more balloons, Abang, Azizah and I walked down to Changi Village to buy brunch only to be greeted by empty stalls and workers cleaning up the hawker centre. And as if to magnify our disappointment, it started to drizzle.
After much deliberation, we decided to take a bus down to the Bedok Interchange to buy brunch and, since we were there, stock up on more paper plates, cups and cutleries.
It was a long and cool bus ride down to Bedok and so I caught up on deprived sleep in my journey there. Upon arrival, Abang told me that his girlfriend, Roselyn, was also at the Bedok Interchange and would assist in carrying some of our purchases so he went off to meet her while Azizah and I went to the hawker centre to buy brunch - Nasi Lemak for the younger boys and Abang, Nasi Briyani for my father, rice with two chicken dishes for Farhan, Mee Rebus for my mother, Embah and fourth aunt (Bibik), both of whom had just arrived at the chalet and Mee Soto for Azizah and her family. Just as Azizah and I were about to make our way out, Abang called me over and introduced me to Roselyn and, after a few minutes of chatting, we made our way to purchase the paper plates, cups, cutleries and, as instructed by my mother a few minutes before payment, a packet of rubber bands.
We then took a cab to Azizah's place to collect the portable barbecue pit and she waved us off after confirming the time she would return to the chalet with her two younger sisters. All through the journey back, I was watching the sky wearily and praying for good weather for the rest of the day, even as I was chatting with Roselyn. The rain had let out into a drizzle when we arrived and we happily carried our purchases back to the chalet.
We were greeted with a chalet abuzz with activities and I was pleasantly shocked to see that the table had been nicely laid out by my parents and Bibik, with the chairs arranged around the room by Erdie and Erwin. I was even more touched when I went upstairs to wake the younger boys up, for the room they were in was filled with black and blue balloons, all blown and pumped up by Agust, Asyraf, Fahmi and Ryan, who had woken up much earlier than I wanted them to. I made them stop whatever they were doing and to have their Nasi Lemak before continuing with their delegated duty and they happily obliged, helping themselves to the packet drinks stocked up in the refridgerator. Erdie and Erwin joined them shortly and after making sure that they all had their share, I made my way out of the room and helped with the hanging of the balloons in the chalet.
Abang, having had his share of Nasi Lemak, was cleaning and thereafter setting up the barbecue pit with Roselyn's help. Everyone was forcing me to eat something "before I fainted", a blatant exaggeration because I was nowhere near hungry then. But my father still fed me a bit of his Nasi Briyani and I had a small bowl of Mee Rebus that my mother had set aside for me.
After brunch, Asyraf and his friends continued blowing and pumping up the rest of the balloons while Erdie, Erwin and their youngest brother, Erfan, helped to hang the balloons outside the chalet since the sky had cleared. When they had finished blowing up the balloons, Asyraf and his friends threw out everything and it was such a gorgeous sight to have black and blue balloons falling out of a window.
Shera arrived then, with the kofta, which were actually Turkish meatballs and, of course, my music! Since I had brought two radios, I carried the smaller one outside and Shera blasted Backstreet Boys' (BSB) music while my father switched on the hi-fi, which was indoors and we blasted BSB over the hi-fi as well. Soon after that, Shah arrived with the cooked food and Nisha's potato salad. She then set up the cooked food on the table while Shera transferred the potato salad onto the aluminium tray.
As the sky had cleared and the sun was shining beautifully, my father, Abang and Roselyn set up the official barbecue pit that was situated outdoors and started to barbecue the chicken wings while Agust, Asyraf, Fahmy and Ryan barbecued the sausages on the indoors portable one. Soon after, they got bored barbecueing indoors and carried the pit outdoors and placed it beside the official one. In between the hilarity and frustration that ensued while they were trying to start up both pits, I was forced to start dressing up with everyone's assurance that they will handle everything. So I handed my phone over to Shera to answer my calls for me and reluctantly went up, with Shah escorting me to ensure that I would not get distracted.
When I was finally all dolled up, courtesy of my mother, I made my way down to check on the favours and everythng else that had arrived while I was away. Liyana B arrived a few minutes later with a poster and she and my father helped to hang it at the entrance. Amidst the disappointment, frustration and stress of the many things that did not turn out as expected, I managed to find calm in Shera, Shah, Bibik, Liyana B and, of course, my parents who advised me not to let it get to me and just have fun; letting them do the worrying for me. Of course, I took a deep breath and kept their advice in mind, promising everyone and myself that I would enjoy myself no matter what.
At close to 5.30 p.m., Siti arrived with Faizal and both she and Liyana B prepared the items and wrapped the gifts for the lucky dip, before going out to buy more things they thought were needed and batteries for my outdoors radio. Azizah then arrived with her sisters, Diana and Syafiqah, and they checked out the barbecue pits, trying to see what was wrong. They managed to get a small fire going so Azizah helped with the transferring of the fried beehoon and fried rice into the aluminium trays while Bibik helped to fill up the barbecued food into the respective trays.
Sadly, Agust, Fahmi and Ryan had to leave so I took photos with the boys who had so willingly helped out and gave each of them a hug each, before making them eat a little something and sign a guestcard each. I was really sad that they were unable to stay longer because they had been of such great help throughout so I gave them another hug and sent them off with a favour each.
Geetha arrived after that and after introducing her to Abang, because they shared the same birthday and lived around the same area, I showed her in and both Shah and I started chatting happily with her. I had them help themselves to the food and was happy to see that they did just that. Kartini arrived soon after and she and Shah chatted as if they had known each other forever. Just then, my greeters and Faizal came back from running their errands so I had them fill themselves before they were to do their job since I figured that they would be so busy, they wouldn't be able to grab a bite later. As they were eating, my paternal cousin, Khairul, arrived with a tray of kuih bingka, which was lovingly baked by my aunt, who also called to check if I had received it in good condition and also with a declaration that I couldn't get it at any other bakery nearby, heh. After checking out the place, Khairul went out again and this time, he helped with the barbecueing and, to quote Abang, Khairul should have come by much earlier for he is so much more experienced in handling barbecue pits than any of us put together. Suffice to say, we got more food barbecued with him taking over as the chef. So with Abang, Asyraf, Khairul and Syuhadak, another paternal cousin who had arrived earlier, at the pits, the barbecueing was done in full force.
By 6.30 p.m., I was fretting for no one else had turned up and I was so worried that the overcast sky would really make for a heavy rain. But I needn't have worried for the sky cleared and the bulk of my guests arrived around 7 p.m. My maternal cousins, Abang Izwan and Liyana Z, arrived around that time with the video camera and after having their meal, Abang Izwan started his duty as the videographer for the day. By then, the party was also in full force, with BSB playing indoors and out, my former primary, secondary and polytechnic schoolmates hanging out and the food and drinks having to be replenished each time (thank you Azizah, Bibik and Mama). I was also running in and out of the bungalow, mingling with all my guests and making sure they were being attended to, though I reckon I wasn't doing much of a good job because I know I missed out chatting with some of them for long periods of time, in particular, my primary schoolmates, which was a waste because I so very much wanted to catch up with them.
Sometime around close to 8 p.m., Shera, Siti and Liyana B, switched off the indoors hi-fi set and laid out the Twister mat. After calling out for volunteer players for a good five minutes, they finally pulled me in as an enticement - "It's time to beat the Birthday Girl!" they exclaimed. And so, they managed to pull out Hartini, Jo, Shah and Shahid, with Erfan volunteering himself when we had already started the game. But even with everyone helping him out, Erfan was the first to be out, with me being the next and after a hard battle, Jo emerged the winner amidst claps and cheers from us Assomull's Angels. A few more guests came when they started the second round so I had to run out and greet them and mingled with everyone else who had happily parked themselves outside to watch the game that was going on. This time, Haryadi emerged victorious and we returned to regular programming as the indoors hi-fi blasted out BSB music again and the guests went back to chatting and eating.
I was chatting with some of my polymates when I noticed Siti going around and whispering to all the guests who were indoors and suspected that they were up to something. Hence, when I was also asked to go outdoors, I initially refused for fear that they were going to make me do something embarrassing. But me against my party planner and the two greeters? No chance of that. So I stood outside with everyone looking gleefully on and refusing to reply on my insistent queries of, "What's going on?"
My question was answered when Siti climbed a chair and told everyone there how I had blatantly refused a cake prior to this but they are surprising me with a small one nevertheless and I could not do anything about it. So on the count of three, she made everyone sing a birthday song and out came Liyana B and Shera with a small cheesecake, courtesy of Siti herself, with three sparklers ablaze on it. I was so shocked and touched at the same time, I actually teared and Azizah ran over afterward and jokingly dabbed my face with a serviette. I was then made to give a speech and because I was still so surprised, I began with a, "Wow!" and a pause. And then thanked my parents, firstly, for allowing to have the party (to which my mother said, "Very well-said!", heh) and started to name those who had helped but my mind was still in a whirl and so I thanked everyone in general who had a part to play in making the party a success. After all that, everyone was asked to crowd around me and a group photo was taken, thanks to Abang Izwan and Shera for being the official photographer and videographer for that.
Most of them had to make a move soon after that and as I gave out the favour, some of them squealed and awed at it - cupcakes with the individual band members on it. While some had to leave, others stayed on and made themselves comfortable. I also received a few more guests after that and tried to maximise my time by chatting as much as I could with everyone there. At around 9.30 p.m., I held the lucky dip which turned out to be a hilarious one, with everyone pretending that they had heard me calling out their number and wanted to claim their prize, or kept shouting out their number in the hopes of influencing fate to have me pick out theirs. Eventually, the third prize went to my youngest maternal uncle, Uncle Qarnain, second prize to Saliha and first prize to Jolene. After the excitement had died down, I was told to pick out four more numbers as volunteers to a Twister competition and, as luck would have it, I picked out Khairul's, Haryadi's, Shahrom's and Erdie's number (all four were rigged, actually, hurrr) and, after much excited squealing (by me), Erdie was the first to be booted out and Khairul finally emerged victorious, winning a lucrative cash prize.
The rest of the night whizzed by in a blur as I jumped from one group to another to mingle and thereafter took a break for a good fifteen minutes in one of the air-conditioned rooms before resuming my duty as a host, playing sparklers with the younger cousins and revelling in the craziness that was going on.
After seeing off every guest who had to leave, I was about to return to the room to rest when the table that was laden with presents caught my eye and so I excitedly sat beside it to open up each and every gift there, with Saliha and Liyana Z watching and snapping away. With every present unwrapped, my squeals got more excited and my awe grew more... awesome? There was a break in between where I had to see Liyana B, Siti and Saliha off and then I resumed the unwrapping of gifts, with Liyana Z beside me, capturing every shot she could. As far as I could remember, I received the following:
1) A bouquet of flowers from Marilyn and Geryl;
2) A 3D Disney globe from Marilyn and Geryl;
3) A whooping (accumulated) $240.00 worth of Charles and Keith vouchers from Aimee and ZX, Azizah and Kartini, Jonathan and Philana, Marilyn and Geryl, Suziyantie and an unnamed source;
4) A Backstreet Boys' Chapter One CD from Aimee and ZX;
5) A book each from Saliha and Sani; and Haryadi and Claudia;
6) A book voucher from Darnyza and Khairun;
7) A box of sweets from Precious Moments from Darnyza and Khairun;
8) A black clutch bag from Kakak Juli and Dina;
9) A gorgeous brooch from Alice;
10) A box of Disney face towels from Joey;
11) A Baby Pooh Bear from Renny, Jolene and Eddy;
12) A necklace with an "I" pendant from Renny, Jolene and Eddy;
13) A cute mini pouch from Anita;
14) A wallet from Comoditee from Bibik and Tante;
15) A box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates from Rozan;
16) A giant Pooh Bear from Abang Izwan and Liyana Z;
17) A gorgeous purple notebook from Abang Izwan and Liyana Z;
18) A pair of black, glittery slippers by Mphosis from Liyana B;
19) A mug from my cousin, Nurul;
21) A Burger King doggy bag of the Backstreet Boys, imported directly from USA, with a Backstreet Boys' keychain and VHS tape from Shera;
22) A gorgeous bling bracelet from Ana@Buffyana and another gorgeous pink-and-silver one from Fadzilla;
23) Health products from Yoke Wah and Neil;
24) Borders card from Shayuslyn and Shahrom;
25) Two boxes of chocolates from Royce from Kakak Mariana and Abang Rizal;
26) Two gorgeous watches, a blue one by Casio from Erwin, Erdie and Erfan; and a pink one from Kak Mai, Kak Khai, Kak Ita and Faris;
27) Two perfumes, an Escada: Ibiza Hippie from my Assomull's Angels (Geetha, Jo and Shah) and a Ferragamo: Salvatore from my second cousin, Lyn; and
28) Last, but definitely not least, a whooping (accumulated) $400.00 from my parents, Embah, Shahid and Hartini, Mr Choo and Cindy, Eeling, Ngiap Tong, Ms Kam, Pauline and Xiang Ting.
I was stunned at the number of gifts I had received and, amidst the pounding headache that I had been trying to ignore since 9 p.m., I was only able to sit on the sofa and thank God for all these; and then I began wondering with Liyana Z, "Wow, how do I bring back all these?"
After kidding around with my cousins who were indoors, my headache got so bad that I went into the kitchen to look for an extra cold drink in a bid to get brain-freezed, thinking that maybe that would numb my headache. Just at that moment, Abang came in and asked me why I was frowning when the party was such a success and when I told him that I could faint anytime with the pounding headache, the darling whipped out a Panadol Extra from his bag and made me rest in the room, chatting with me for a good two hours until my headache subsided.
And so, to end the night (morning, rather, since it was already 3 a.m.), Abang, Khairul and Syuhadak barbecued more food and the four of us chatted until close to 4 a.m., before we decided that we were very tired and made our way to bed.
I slept that morning, an extremely happy and thankful, albeit seriously tired, girl and in the words of my parents and my cousin Redza, it is times like these that make you realise the people who really care - my close friends and family. For these are the people who so unconditionally helped out without so much of a complain and went all out to ensure that the whole event went without a glitch.
Thank you, all of you and with this, I would like to end with a formal gratitude to the following people (in chronological order of the planning):
1) My parents, for allowing me to have this, firstly, and most importantly, for being so involved in the planning right up to the end of it;
2) My dear party planner, Shera, for being so patient, advising me throughout and organising the party as well as contributing the delicious kofta which I ended up keeping for myself;
3) My best friend and assistant party planner, Azizah, for sponsoring the chalet and barbecue items, always being there for me, doing more than her fair share and bascially being my sanity, together with Shera, throughout the craziness that was the planning of the party;
4) My online buddy, Dizzy, for designing the invitation card, which everyone loved, by the way;
5) My good friend and fellow Assomull's Angel, Geetha, for going through the trouble of booking the chalet for me;
6) My good friend and fellow AJClubber, Jolene, for trudging down to Bugis amidst the heavy rain to buy me the black and blue balloons;
7) My juniors, turned good friends, Liyana B and Siti, for being in charge of the entertainment and doing a darn good job of it, advising on the decoration prior to the party and helping with the running of the errands as well as volunteering to be my greeters when I was at a loss to find a replacement;
8) My cousin, Abang Redza, for being my sanity with his calmness throughout the glitches that came with the planning of the party, helping out more than he had to and being one of my chefs during the party, without taking a break even when he was tired.
9) Nani of Minicupcakes, for the favours which, although was an extreme disappointment because it was nothing like what I had requested for, contributed to the theme of my party;
10) My youngest brother, Asyraf, my cousins, Erwin and Erdie, and Asyraf's friends, Agust, Fahmi and Ryan, for helping with the logistics, decoration and barbecueing of food while they could;
11) My younger brother, Farhan, whose stern presence deterred the neighbouring group of Mat Moto (motorcyclists) and whose comical antics provided the much-needed laughter that Friday night and Saturday morning;
12) My eldest and fourth maternal aunts, Tante and Bibik respectively, for their ideas, huge basin of marinaded chickens and the laying out of the table prior to my party;
13) My cousins, Khairul and Syuhadak, for volunterring their services as the impromptu chefs and not taking a break until the end of the party;
14) My cousins, Abang Izwan and Liyana Z, for bringing along the video camera and taking turns to be the videographer for the day;
15) My good friend and fellow Assomull's Angel, Shah, for her father's fried beehoon and rice, as well as collecting the potato salad, courtesy of a former colleague, Nisha;
16) My primary schoolmate, Kartini, for helping out with the cleaning up for the duration of the party;
17) My former colleague, turned good friend, Nisha, for sponsoring the potato salad; and
18) Last, but definitely not least (not in any way at all), my darling paternal aunt, Auntie Sawiyah, for her kuih bingka and my beloved maternal aunts and uncles for buying any items that we had left out, providing desserts because they wanted to and basically ensuring that the whole event went smoothly without so much as a glitch.
Thank you; I love all of you (:
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And now, I present you the photographs taken from my Baby Lumix's point of view, which was usually handled by Liyana B since I kept leaving Baby Lumix all over the place.
(More photos at Kak Khai's, Kartini's, Shera's [more links to be updated at a later time] ) |
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