Daddy's 60th Birthday

What is love? No words can define it. It's something deep, so deep, so unfathomable. no one can do without love, for love brings about supreme fulfillment in one's life. for me, my life revolves around the 2 most important people in my life. the 2 people whom I love dearly with all my heart and soul -- Daddy & Dearie -- The image of total perfection. Well Almost.

In less than 2 hours time, it'd be daddy dearest's 60th bday. I threw him a surprise party for him on Sunday. (He pretended not to be surprised when he arrived with everyone screaming "happy birthday" in the background....haha..he looked adorable trying to cover up his stunned feeling) The planning n preparation was no joke. Had to invite all my immediate uncles and aunties, plan the menu, order the longevity buns. On the day itself, had to wake up extra early to go marketing. Came home to clean up the raw stuff, later collected more raw stuff from C (who got me a good deal! Thanks!), then collected the ee-fu noodles (A musthave apparently for oldies having bdays), then collect the longevity buns and finally come home and start cooking from 4+ till 7pm! The "thens" seem endless! It's not that I'm lousy and inefficient, it's just that I've only got one pair of hands!

Painstakingly printed and cut out the night before! Apparently, it's tough finding a happy birthday streamer banner. Somehow when you need stuff, they simply don't appear!

The gruelling process of marinating and preparation starts......

The above is from 2 cans of 红烧fatty pork. I placed it in the fridge to "freeze" the fats. It hardened and looked like jelly! ewwww.....

Custom-made this peach blossom Longevity Bun for daddy. I din realise it'd turn out so ching cheong (Traditional looking) But I guess it's meaningful.

All in a hard day's work. There's more dishes which I didn't manage to take. In the top left corner, there's a big pot. Was really trying to squeeze my way through to take a photo of it, but alas! it was gone b4 I could take a pic! Nevertheless, it's my maiden attempt at SHARK'S FIN! Sorry to those environmentalists! The feedback varied. Some said it's just nice..some said it wasn't salty enough. Tasted real good and salty before I added the cornstarch and egg. :-(

One of daddy's favourite dishes -- Braised Fish Head. Real fresh and cheap. The head was only $10.50. But of coz I added loads of other stuff. All in all, the dish would probably cost $20. Definitely cheap compared to the local coffeeshops/ restaurants!

Ordered a tray full of chicken wings from my favourite stall! A total of 28 for 17 pax and only 6 was left over! Was trying to make warm and crispy again after collecting it at 1pm, however, the standards of makeover was rather disappointing.

Everybody. The air was thick with excitement.
The traditional cake cutting ceremony. A surprise awaits.......
Viola! MiNI LoNGevity BUNS! SO adorable right? there're 9 in each pregnant bun. The outer dough was rather wasteful coz it looked to unglam to be eaten. The mini buns were really adorable. Custom made from the supplier of hotels. Didn't disappoint but wasn't exactly mind-blowing.
Chocolate Praline cake compliments from Cousin P. Thanks!

Happy family. Was overwhelmed with emotions when I saw the sincere smile plastered on daddy's face. After the cutting of the bun, he said "i hope u won't put candles on the buns and make me blow"....I told him "nah...wont do such a thing"..I thought he really didn't want to blow the candles but when the cake was lit, so was his face! What an actor! haha



My happy family!
My loves -- Parents!

The little rascals


Dessert time! DURIAN! The best, from Balastier @ $12 per kg.

It was hard work and my back's aching terribly, but ultimately, to see the sunshine in Dad made me really happy. There's no vocabulary for love within a family, love that's lived in but not looked at, love within the light of which all else is seen, the love within which all other love finds speech. The love is silent.The love of a family is life's greatest blessings. I wish our family can be closer, but we aren't that "open" with our emotions as our Western counterparts. A pity. Treasure those around you.
Wishing daddy a prosperous and healthy life ahead!