"Haaapppyy Birthhhdaaaayyy!" is something I love hearing and saying. I get super excited when someone’s birthday is nearing and of cos I look forward to mine as well. (Ask me if you wanna know when is that auspicious day 😝)
Birthdays are usually that one day when people are extra nice to you, those who don’t talk to you throughout the year will ping you and probably catch up with you for a bit. Families get together, you might be treated to a feast, you’ll get cakes, some get you gifts, some would surprise you and some would drop you a wish on Facebook. Thank God for Facebook, it’s definitely a big fat help in remembering birthdays. 2020 and 2021 may have changed the way we celebrate birthdays due to the pandemic/lockdowns but hey, there’s always a way - video calls, door step deliveries etc etc. So, no excuses ok, a safe celebration is still possible.
Most families, commonly celebrate the 1st, 18th and/or 21st birthdays very grandly. 1st birthdays are pretty obvious why and I’m guessing the 18th and 21st are because it marks the beginning of adulthood? I really don’t know. Simply "tembaking" here. But in my home (to date), we celebrate everyone’s birthdays, no matter how old we are - we kind of got stuck to it like a tradition. It’s fun and by the end of the day we’re usually stuffed with lotsa food.
Here’s a pic of me on my 1st birthday drowned by all the colorful balloons. So cute, huh! 😝 I wonder if they got this pic in one take. No smartphones in the 80s, only film cameras which means no checking if the pic turned out well, right? Now with smart phones, we would take a hundred shots and still not be happy with it! 😂 Cos it has to be a perfect one for the Gram or Facebook.
During that era (30 - 40 years ago), birthdays meant time to have KFC! We would all gather at home and have buckets of KFC. That was luxury food for us back then. I don’t know how many of you will be able to relate but we never got bored of it. The KFC tradition lasted for quite some time till...hmmm how shall I put this...till we outgrew the size of the chicken pieces? 😅 It’s so small these days, right? We also had homemade tuna sandwiches & akarka (better known as agar agar), it was our birthday combo meal. 😂 And of cos the most important item - Birthday Cake! Nancy Chong cakes were our family’s favorite & I think the whole of Ipoh’s favorite too. She was the Queen of Butter Cakes and this was my No.1 carved cake by the late Nancy Chong.
Hmmm, have you realized when people age, they don’t really look forward to birthdays anymore and most of them say "Oh, it’s just another day." Not for me though. I love organizing surprises and celebrating birthdays. Whose? Those related to me by blood (No choice, right? Oopss - no lah, I love you guys ok even though you people are weird), the very very very special ones (Simply cos their existence means a lot to me) and mine of cos (Duuhhh)!
But why, why the hype and what’s so special about Birthdays? Well, it’s simple. "Birthdays act as a reminder. An important reminder of your mortality. Because you are mortal, you need to celebrate and enjoy every moment of your life. It’s ticking away - it doesn’t wait for you!" - (Quoted from a Mystique) You will never know when is your last Birthday…So, the older you get, you know what to do!
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