About the birthday...

The birthday celebration was simple but a very good one.

I wanted to be memorable and it did turn out to be memorable.

Though it was a public holiday (because of Deepavali), I still got out of bed early as I agreed to have lunch with Kok Kuan and Norman. The former is going through a cooking phase at the moment. He asked Norman for a chicken rendang cooking lesson. It was a special chicken rendang, since it was to be cooked the Peranakan way given that Norman is a Peranakan.

Prior to heading to Norman's beautiful home, Kok Kuan and I drove first to to Kovan to pass by the wet market to buy the ingredients. After a quick breakfast, Kok Kuan headed to the fresh meat section while I looked for one corner where I could wait for him. Haha!

From Kovan, it was a quick drive to Norman's home in Tampines. It was my first time at Norman's place and I was absolutely amazed at how beautifully done it was. The flat was decorated with beautiful Peranakan pieces.

Close to noontime, Kok Kuan and I headed to Tampines Mall. He needed to buy some drinks. I wanted to buy my birthday cake (LOL!) and fetch HB Boy from the MRT station. HB Boy had no idea it was my birthday. Lol! I dunno, I wanted him to be surprised I suppose.

Once Kok Kuan bought his things and I got my cake, the three of us headed back to Norman's place to have our yum lunch!

It was a wonderful lunch as we listened to Norman talk about his family and his interesting hobby of tracing the family's Peranakan line. Being in his home felt like visiting a private museum. In fact, Norman gave me and HB Boy a tour of his home and talked about the pieces on display, how he acquired them, what the story was about each piece.

The only other agenda for the day was to meet up my gang for dinner at Char along Guillemard Road.

Since I had a few hours of free time before dinner, HB Boy and I went on a mini-date. Haha! From Tampines, I took him to The Coastal Settlement for coffee and to try out the cookies that Kok Kuan baked for me. After that, we boarded a bus not knowing where it was going. It led us back to Tampines. The next hour or so, we walked around Tampines area. Our last stop was Bedok Reservoir, which is one of my favourite spots in the entire island.

By the time we left the reservoir, it was almost 7. Thankfully, it was easy to get a cab and I made it to Char just in time for the 730 dinner reservation. HB Boy, on the other hand, headed back.

The cast at the dinner included Richie, Mon, Tipz, Ian, Chris and RKGreg. MkSurf8 and Jon were both in Manila. It would have been great if they were there, too. Maybe next year? Hehe!

We all enjoyed the famous Triple Roast platter - roast pork, char siew and roast duck, as well as a few other dishes. The guys gave me pressies and birthday cards, which I really liked! Haha!

Stuffed from dinner, we headed to Richie and Mon's place for dessert and more chitchat. Finally called it a night around 10PM.

It was a very simple birthday celebration. I'm really glad though to have spent it with good friends. I'm always grateful for the friendships formed in Singapore and the friendships that started way back in Manila.

Oh, my Mom and my two bros also had a celebration at our home in Manila. That was really thoughtful of them!