Birthdays in the family

There is nothing better than birthday cake. It's like a slice of concentrated love with buttercream frosting.
Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka and Toshihiro Kawabata, Animal Crossing: Wild World, 2005

November 14th is always a special day in my family. Its my husband Alfred's and our second daughter Ashley's birthday. Eversince the kids turned double digit, they dont want to have anymore 'birthday parties'. Nowadays, birthdays are celebrated mainly dinner with family and a few close family friends. This year, Ashley picked Souled Out, one of our favourite restaurants. A table with an outdoor seating arrangement was pre-booked with everyone looking forward to a wonderful evening... As usual, aunty Melein baked the cake as she always does since my kids were 1yr old!!!

Alas the weather that night was not cooperative; it rained cats and dogs. It was disappointing since everyone loves the ambience of outdoor seating. Nevertheless, we had to relent and reluctantly moved indoor. We were however pleasantly surprised that the cosy ambience of dining indoors was what were much needed after all.....

Predictably most diners with tables reserved for outdoor dining had to be relocated indoors which meant having to wait for quite a while for a table. Whilst waiting for our table we ordered a couple of appetizers; cheese nachos and fried ikan bilis; which were very tasty.

We had our table ready an hour later and some of us decided to scale down on the main course after the appetizers. The food at Souled Out were as always nicely presented and appertizing.

As evidenced from some of the food we had that night, one thing is for sure, local cuisine still ranks high with us...

Kill two birds with one stone

That's a famous saying which means, "To solve two problems at once".

How many times have we all thought about that. Countless times perhaps in whatever it is that we are doing. I am sure almost everybody loves shortcuts; if we can accomplish two things at one go, why not! More time to go shopping, golfing, meet with friends for that very much needed cuppa, surf the net, play computer games, do this and do that. Basically it adds a little more time to our hectic life. How wonderful it is if we can always "kill two birds with one stone".

Nay! "Kill two birds with one stone" does not work the way we intended it to all the time. Especially when it involves teenagers! Sometimes we go out with friends who have teenage kids, hoping that our kids will somehow hit it off and be pals like their parents. Honestly, c'mon! we want to chat and drink in peace... we were hoping you kids will click and amuse yourselves.. pi main jauh-jauh! No, they are not amused; At all! The trouble is, teenagers doesn't believe in the concept of "kill two birds with one stone" or to achieve two objectives with a single effort i.e. parents having fun and kids get to know new friends. Our kids chides us everytime this happens. They tell us thank you, but they are quite capable of meeting friends on their own. It was much easier when kids were aged 5 and below... they look forward to playdates! Now they want to be left alone with their ipods, their handphones and their laptops.

What can we say.... kids grow up and then they have their own lives to live... Alas, life is like that....la vie est comme ça....

What is in a name?


Plenty! Hi.. my name is EMILY OCTAVIA. Some friends know me as Mary. How is that so? My daughters ask me that same question everytime friends from my hometown calls me Mary.


It probably started the day I was born. I believe that my mom when asked what the baby’s name was had said “Emily” with that heavy Kadazan accent which came out as “Ih miree”. Thus Mary was born!


I come from a family of six, two boys and four girls. Safe for the two youngest siblings, we all grew up calling each other nicknames like ako basal, ako kici, Al and Didi. During my childhood, I remember being always called Mary or at home, Didi. Not until I was twelve did I find out that I am actually, EMILY OCTAVIA… now ain’t that swell?


How did I find out? My standard 6 class teacher had to fill an official form for students taking the standard 6 exam. Everybody had to bring along their birth certificates for verification. I remember reading the birth cert and wondering why there isn’t Mary mentioned anywhere. Then Ms Catherine called me up.


She asked me “What is your name?”.
I said “Mary”.
She said “Why do you say that is your name?”.
I said “Because that’s what everyone calls me”.
She said, “You are not Mary! You have a beautiful name, EMILY OCTAVIA. Use it from now on!”.


Thus how I discovered my beautiful name…


People tend to give neighbours and friends nicknames whether they like it or not. I know mum doesn’t like the name that people calls her behind her back! Of course there are nicknames given to a person that personifies that person’s character and it is endearing to some degree. Nevertheless it is time to stop giving silly nicknames and use that persons actual name, don’t you think?.... there are many people whose nicknames stuck to them like gum and nobody remembers the actual names anymore.

Growing up in a village has its ups and downs and having that familiarity is a blessing and a curse. Sad, but that’s how life is; La vie est comme ça!