Birthday!

Short note: Just to let you know that there was a problem with blogspot for a couple of weeks and that I could not receive comments sent in. Before I could figure out what to do, the problem fixed itself. But the comments got lost in the process. Hope everything is ok now.

So yah, where was I? Talking about birthdays. I am not much into them. But my kids (I think Joni started it) thought they should make my 50th a big do.

In case you're thinking that was last week, it wasn't. I am only now blogging about the party cos I thought I should save the memory before it goes.

They even had a theme for it. Like a Grammy Awards Night. I was told little.

I received a call - "Mum, quick! Silver or gold?" So I said, "Gold".
(I thought they were talking decorations - turns out I had just chosen the colour we were all supposed to wear! Or we were to wear something to do with stars - some interpreted that as the ones in the sky)

Partners-in-crime, Tammy my youngest, and Joni my eldest..


I was asked for a guest list. Which went longer and longer like my twice-a-month grocery list so it had to be cut down. My only specification was: NO PRESENTS. But - what I really wanted instead was for my friends to do a song, dance or skit. Anything that would make the night memorable! And what a night it was!

Here'ss what welcomed us into the multi-purpose hall (we were staying in an apartment at that time)..

The stage was an area cordoned off with black tape - a brilliant idea!

On the walls were several hand-painted mock frames with photos of ahem birthday girl through the years...


Even the floor tiles were decorated with golden stars where names of celebrities were written..


Ummm....that's my son, Darren (D.O.N.'T ask)..


Here's where guests signed in as they arrived....that's my brilliant Korean ex-student, Isabelle
(I will blog about her one day).


Umm...the birthday girl. ahem. Yes, that's golden glitter in her hair.


I loved that the whole affair was casual so we could all let our hair down....


The M.C. for the night was Darren. Honestly, sometimes I think my children were just born to be on stage...


He wrote a song for me (altogether now: awwwww..).
But for some reason I can only remember one line that went something like "though you sometimes get on my nerves..." (altogether take back that awwwwww).


And let our hair down we did. Here are some of the older f*rts having fun:


Jessie and Sharmini


My husband Paul, and Eng Hoe our longtime friend - we've known each other since ...oh...the Jurassic Era...(Eng Hoe has the kind of smile that looks like it will just crack his face in two)

Paul, Eng Hoe and Franklin



This guy, who came as The Joker, sang a song with Tammy, my youngest...(that's Josh, can you guess?!)


This group plonked me down on a chair and made me watch their medley of golden years songs...

This was their starting pose (that's me, bracing myself -you'd close your eyes too, knowing the kind of things these guys could come up with...)


"You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you...."

It gets worse....
It really does.....




My friends from New Zealand, Tony and Maria, doing a number...


Here are Koreans singing a Korean song! (the one on the right is my ex-boss and the one on the left was my student, a Jackie Chan look-alike. He's actually been stopped on the street for an autograph...)


See?

He's a terribly shy person so I was exceptionally touched that he actually belted out a Korean pop song for me!!



Even my Japanese student sang, "Sukiyaki" in Japanese. She insisted I back her up!


"The charms of Sukiyaki
The arms of Sukiyaki
Are all I long for
Since I left for Nagasaki
Why did I roam
Far away from home
But I know that she will wait for me..."

Those are the lyrics. Reeeeally!!

An item performed by some very talented guys that involved beatboxing and thigh-slapping.
(By the way, all except one of these guys are still single and available)...



Nya from Nigeria (in all her golden head-to-toe glory) did a dance while Fudge from Zimbabwe
sang.


At some point of the night, I decided to kick off my shoes..



And let 'em have it! (actually, st*pid shoes were mad ill-fitting)


Val: My ex-boyfriend told me one day that I couldn't sing.
That's why he's my EX-boyfriend.

There were games where props were given and participants had to let their imagination go wild..

I think this was a house-fly?


Heard of a ham sandwich? I think this was a samwich.



Food, except for some pizza, was all home-made by the Lims...

Look at that glorious grin by Sin Yee when she sees food.

My Indonesian friend Gaby with another glorious grin (her favourite slogan? "what's yummy goes to tummy")..


Chief cook, Sarah Lim (you're the sweetest!)..

ummm.....is that the pizza you bought, in your hand?!

Home-made carrot cheese cake by the Lims (there were three in all - and yes, were is the correct tense cos they were missing by the end of the night)


An assortment of guests..

My Chinese son, Kevin (this one I 'adopted' whether he wanted to be or not). And my Botswanian son, Boago (this one adopted me as his mother whether I wanted to be or not)..



Yes, it was truly a Grammy night to remember.

Can't wait for my 60th :)




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From India to China

February 1st, 2010


So there we were in this little town in the south of India (see blogpost dated January 6th Shooting Stars). When told leather goods were cheap in India, we got excited. Except that there were very few shops there selling leather anything, ok?

My Hero finally found a leather belt which he (actually, I) felt he should get. Cuz all he has are three belts in three different colours. black, blacker, blackest. How boring, boringer, boringest is that? You will read more about our colourful differences in a later post (all together now........ oooooooooooo, can't wait!)

Anyway, Hero likes shopping for himself like I like shopping for curtains, y'know?
So he (actually, I) find him a belt. great. looked so good. smelt good, too. Yes, I smell belts to determine if they're really leather. Heard of wine-tasters? They smell the wine first, too. No....I din't taste the leatherlah. honestly, can't believe you guys would even think that.

The logo was nice!


Of course, donno whether the camels were symbolic of India or that it meant it was made of camel hide.

(as you can tell, this photo was taken by me, shadow and all. din't I tell ya I ain't no camerawoman)















quite impressive, right? the card, not the photo-taking.
















And I loved that there were no mistakes in the wording. YES! Nowhere did I feel the need to underline a word and write spelling! across it.






highest space quality



















hey, wait a minute....refined stying? sighhhhhhhh
spelling!

















Yes, a simple, brown, leather belt.





And I was done with Hero and could totally focus on teendaughter's and my bangle-scrutiny.








When we got back to Malaysia, I was re-checking the price of the belt. Turned the tags around and found...
























SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH!
Can anyone tell me what a China-made belt was doing in a tiny town in India?



Not that I have anything against made-in-China things, y'know....
Like teendaughter said, "Look around our house, Mum, probably half of what we have is made in China whattttttt. so what's the big deal?"

Huh? Really ah? Now a comment like that would surely make me do a Sherlock Holmes, ok? Do we really own that many China-made things? Do you? Unfortunately, most of what we own had already lost their labels. But I love every one of these, which I think are made in China.


dinner plates - these, definitely made in China




















see?













my sequin shoes which has the word
JinQishi inside















my fit-the-pieces-together wooden house
(which I painted white). so cute! I wanna put a
light bulb in it so it can be lit up in the dark but I
donno how.













my fountain! love it! see what happens when you tell people just what you want for your birthday? you get what you want!











super comfy walking shoes probably to be used
for taichi which is beyond my understanding
(taichi, not super comfy)
















and I LOVE this Red Indian couple! When I saw them at the shop, I'm a-tellin ya, they were just calling out to me - smoke signals and all.. reeeeally! They just looked so Pocahontas-ish.












and the lady's face is so forlorn,
like their love just wasn't meant to be, y'know?
awwwwwwwww.....I mean, look at her!

GEEZ, I'm getting corny.

Anyway I just had to buy them. That is so un-me. I hardly EVER buy anything on a whim.

But I just couldn't leave them there, could I? (there were about 6 other pairs just like them but just ignore that fact cuz that wouldn't make for an interesting story, would it?)

And that's about it! Those are my made-in-China-I-think goodies. So far, none have broken, spoilt, faded, split, chipped, cracked, ... And every one of 'em is treasured, ok?

Now, as far as made-in-Malaysia products are concerned....ummmmmm...there are some really hopeless things out there.






Like this...















But we're not going there.


BUT, just like made-in-China stuff, there are some precious made-in-Malaysia products, too.







Name: Joanna Lynne (wants to be called Joni)
Delivered: 21st December 1985




















Name: Darren Ashley
Delivered: 12th July 1988












Joni and Darren























Name: Tamara Jayne (wants to be called Tammy)
Delivered: 8th April 1994
















Tammy and Joni





















So far, none have broken, spoilt, faded, split, chipped, cracked ...












And every one of 'em is treasured, ok?