Birthday Meals with Family

I had a simple birthday on the 26th of June. Although this is a significant milestone, at 75 years old, I didn’t have a big dinner to celebrate as most Chinese people would have done.

My son had suggested that I return to Kuala Lumpur to celebrate together with my siblings but I demurred. It would have been a hefty expense which I cannot really afford as airfares and taxis from the airport are expensive.

Besides, hosting a multi-course dinner at a restaurant in KL is expensive especially where at least 3 tables would be required to accommodate my relatives. Not all my family members would be present, as my elder daughter doesn’t have anymore leave and she certainly would not be able to fly to KL.  Neither would my son and his family be there. So to me, it would not be meaningful.

Instead, I opted to have a quiet day at home, having lunch with my granddaughter and hubby at a restaurant known for its good food. We ordered the mandatory birthday noodles,

                                                                 sweet and sour pork,

                                                        Hong Kong Kailan with prawn,

                                                     deep-fried chicken with apple sauce.

Then dinner was at another restaurant together with my daughter, granddaughter and hubby. It was raining quite heavily and the traffic was heavy. So, it was quite a while before we reached the restaurant. The simple food turned out to be tasty although the crabs were not up to expectation.

 Deep-fried tofu topped with minced pork & pickled lettuce

                                      Soupy spinach with century egg & Chinese wolfberries

                                                    Crabs cooked with spicy curry paste

                                               Chicken skin stuffed with pork & prawn paste

After dinner, my son and his young children called to wish me happy birthday. Earlier in the morning, he had sent me a video of his children singing Happy Birthday Grandma. They were so cute! I was very touched, listening to their young voices singing to me. That made my day!

Later that night my younger daughter called from KL to wish me too; so did my nephew and nieces. My siblings had called earlier in the day and a few of them whatsapped their greetings.

I ended the day watching a Chinese serial on Astro, reading the subtitles since I’m not familiar with the language. It was a good day. Quiet and ordinary without any fuss.

I can say that I had a very happy 75th birthday with my buddies and friends taking me out and feting me with delicious lunches, spending time with me, not forgetting the many, many friends who wished me on Facebook and on other social media platforms. I am truly blessed and I thank the good Lord for his Love and Favor. God bless my family and friends too.

Another Birthday Treat

Another two friends took me out the day before my birthday. I'm so lucky!!

We had lunch at a restaurant recommended by a mutual friend. This place is in a shopping mall and serves dim sum. They had never been to this place so we opted to give it a try.

The food turned out to be good, slightly tweaked, so that they weren’t the typical dim sum available elsewhere.

As usual, we chatted more than we ate. I guess, being senior citizens, our appetites have diminished and we no longer consume large amounts of food. Hence we usually go for dim sum as the portions are small and we just order what we like.

After lunch we took in a movie, Blue Tears, which was filmed in Miri, Sarawak. It’s a local production and we wanted to see how it would compare with other films. It turned out to be quite funny.

Unfortunately, there were only five of us in the cinema, us three seniors and a young couple. I guess the local folks have yet to learn to support the local film industry.

My 75th Birthday

My birthday falls on 26th June. I never thought that I would reach this milestone for the women in our family pass on before this age. Praise God that He has let me reach this number and to go beyond.

A few days before the 26th, my buddies treated me to lunch at our favored restaurant. We like this place because it has a nice view of the marina and a pleasant view of the gardens. Besides, it is easy to find parking.

We had fun chatting about the latest happenings in our country. Yes, last month we had a new government! And our prime minister is the oldest in the world!! People power overthrew the embarrassing kleptocracy that had made our country the laughing stock on the world stage.
In between the food that we enjoyed, we laughed and giggled, age not withstanding.

Noodles is a mandatory dish for any birthday so we had noodles which was cooked with scallops and prawns. It was delicious!!

The other dishes were a vegetable and dim sum.

When it was time to bring out my birthday cake, it was a surprise that the waitress had brought it out, already with the candles burning!! So many candles that I couldn’t blow them out at one go.

The last candle was determined not to go out despite my attempts to blow it out. In the end my buddy Nary had to help me, so between the both of us, we blew it out!!

 The cake was a carrot cake with walnuts. Very tasty indeed. 

Thank you, buddies, for a beautiful memorable birthday treat.

I feel so blessed and loved.