June 13

I celebrated my 37th birthday on June 13. This year was really a different celebration cause we were away on holiday. We took the kids to Krabi, Thailand for the school holidays. Initially we had planned to come back on Friday which was June 12 but the kids were having so much fun we decided to extend another day. But something happened June the 13 which will make my birthday a sad one from now on.

We ushered my birthday with a great dinner of lobster and mussels. DELICIOUS! After all, the reason why we like going to Krabi so much is the excellent food and fresh seafood. This time around two other families went with us and each had 3 kids. The kids made it all more fun with their laughter and cries of happiness at seeing the pool and the beach.

Bob had organised a birthday surprise for me. Did not expect it at all, it was really sweet of him. With the surprise came a bouquet of roses too. Can you imagine ... after all these years .. I got a bouquet of ROSES, red too! We have a Thai friend, Rath, and his daughter's birthday in on June 12. So it was a sorta joint celebration. Melissa's was her sweet 16 and mine sweet 37 (!!!!!). The cake was chocolate (but of course) but it was really rich despits its texture.


My birthday cake with not enough candles! Melissa and I blew them out together and we cut the cake together too. I really was surprised and that will make it memorable.

See all those candles. I guess Bob couldn't decide whether to celebrate a sweet 16 or a not so sweet 37th birthday!

The next day (June 13) we got up really early to start our journey home. Am a little sad we spent my birthday on the road but it was a great day nevertheless, with more great food! We stopped at a beach (forgot its name now) which is about an hour from the Wang Kelian border.

My birthday lunch was:

Tom Yam Seafood ...

Fried sotong ....

Telur Dadar, which I must add is a must have at EVERY meal. The way they fry it there is really different. Oily and delicious ...

Fried Siakap with Thai Sauce. This was my birthday dish for the day and I licked the platter clean ...

The contented birthday girl with her dearest husband ...

Ah! How could I forget to share with you the pre birthday meal of lobster cooked two styles. I had baked with cheese and fried with chilli ...

The mussels with cheese ...

I could have had more but I really had to control it. The seafood there is really fresh and quite cheap too!

While we were enjoying the holidays in Krabi, my aunty Mak Lang ( she is my mom's 3rd sibling) was undergoing an operation to drain out blood and liquid from her lungs which had collapsed from cancer. The operation was not so succesful as they were not able to drain all the liquid out and the chances of it being flooded again was definitely there. She slipped into a coma and passed away on my birthday at 6.31am. I could not make it back on time of course. I was sad of course as I had been close to her, especially growing up. She used to be the headmistress at Tun Fatimah in Johor Baru and we used to go for holidays there a lot. Will definitely miss her.

Now my birthday's will always be tinged with sadness.

Al Fatihah ...