4 decades old!

Last updated: 31st March, 2020, 11:40 PM

It took more than a couple of months to plan his birthday surprise. I need to make sure that everyone would have fun, including the pioneer generation 😉. An overnight stay across the border or the nearby island sounds nice but not everyone can make it so I keep it within the Lion City. But, where can we go or what can we do? Hmmm… 🤔

I finally decided to treat everyone to a buffet lunch (or dinner) but still unsure which resto to go. Considering most of them are not big eaters, I need to make sure the foods are really tasty and value for money. I love the naan and butter chicken from The Landmark but they’ve been there before. Carousel doesn’t have many Asian food varieties, I haven’t tried Tiffany (not sure what they serve and whether they’re delish), Straits Kitchen is a bit pricey (well I do have a budget 😁), and Rajah on 21 is not very spacious. There’s 1 more option and I think this is the most suitable – Asian Market Cafe!

I decided to book 1 night staycay at Swissotel The Stamford so that I can decorate the room and surprise the birthday boy. Cik Kam and Huda wanted to join in the fun and asked me to book a room each for them. I’ve decided to go for old-school rock-and-roll theme and ordered the decors online (thank you Sac!). So, the plan is to bring the kiddos to the hotel sans le hub, let them swim at the hotel pool, decorate the room by myself, meet le hub and the rest at Asian Market Cafe for dinner, go up to the hotel room and SURPRISE!!!

Well, the plan went (halfway) well. I didn’t expect him to be up early so we ended up going to Swissotel together. We bunked in Huda’s room and I secretly took my room keycard. I told him that I’m going out for a while and zoomed next door. It took me 3 hours to blow up the inflatable microphones, guitars and Happy Birthday lettering, fill the goodie bags, and decorate the room. I headed back to her room before going down for dinner.

We were not aware that there’s National Day Parade (NDP) rehearsal. Thankfully Cik Kam suggested to pay a nominal fee to upgrade to a higher floor.

We got to witness the fireworks upclose! It’s like the country joined me to surprise the birthday man. The time is 8.25pm and it’s time to head down.

It was the Middle Eastern theme at Asian Market Cafe so apart from the tantalizing Japanese, Malay, Chinese and Indian cuisines, they also serve lamb kouzi and some Arabian desserts. For me, I just aim for the fresh oysters and salmon sashimi. Other foods that I tried are Satay, laksa, chili crab… Yummy! Yum! Yum!

Once everyone has feasted, I paid the bill and we all go back to our room. By that, I mean Huda’s room hehe. I asked hubby to proceed because I need to buy something. Little did he know that I actually went to our own room to prepare for the big surprise. Huda was my liaison and coordinator. Once I’ve given her the go signal, she gathered everyone to come to our room.

~~~SURPRISE~~~