My Dad and his 70th birthday party!

My Dad turned 70 yesterday, wahey!

Though if you talked to him about it, he’d sniff and go into a rambling of how nobody knows his REAL date of birth. It was 19th November, then it was 20th November. And at one point in his childhood, it was sometime in August…

So we stuck to what we know. I called him on his birthday to wish him a good one. True to my Dad’s stoic character…

Me: *sings the entire happy birthday song*
My Dad: … what else do you want?
Me: HAHAHAHAHAHA NOTHING BYE!

The big birthday bash was 2 weeks ago in our hometown, Batu Pahat. Most of our relatives and my Dad’s close friends were able to make it, much appreciated!

My friends Joyce and Shirley came to Batu Pahat to join the celebrations. Naturally I got them to work 😛 <3 My Dad's 70th Birthday Party - preparing
Getting things in order

Earlier I asked Melissa to help with the birthday banner. Being the creative, artsy type that she is, she handmade the big HAPPY 70TH BIRTHDAY words.

I’d printed photo collages, mostly of my Dad being happy (?!). Mel framed these, which we stuck to the feature wall. Very nice!

My Dad's 70th Birthday Party - deco
A reminiscing time for all.

One of my high school seniors, Feng Nee has set up her own business making and selling specialty cakes in Batu Pahat. So the cake stuff, that’s her responsibility! 😀

Each guest would get a cupcake topped with fondant of ‘longevity’ and peach. The main cake has monkeys (because my Dad was born in the year of the Monkey), peaches (longstanding Chinese symbol for longevity) and our surname in Chinese, written in the traditional way.

I love our surname, so much so that I know how to write it in Chinese!
#yesibasicallycannotwriteinchinese

If you’re looking for DELICIOUS specialty cakes in Batu Pahat, go for Serendipity! Everybody LOVED the cake and cupcakes, and the design was simply too precious!

My Dad's 70th Birthday Party - cake
The cake and cupcakes added to the party atmosphere.

In between dishes, a few of my Dad’s closest friends went up to talk about my Dad. Mostly about his ‘cool’ character and their friendship of 50+ years. They were gracious and said some very nice things. It was also refreshing to get their perspective as friends, as we’re so used to him being ‘husband’ or ‘father’.

By the way, my Dad refused to sit at the main table. When he arrived at the restaurant, he headed straight to his friends’ tables and refused to move, hahaha!

My Dad's 70th Birthday Party - speeches 01
Some of my Dad’s oldest and closest friends

My aunt, who’s possibly the closest with my Dad as they lived together for a while also said nice things about him. Among all his siblings, it’s likely that my Dad conversed with her the most.

My Dad's 70th Birthday Party - speeches 02
My aunt, our family friend and my eldest sister were not microphone-shy.

Then everybody toasted to my Dad’s good health!

My Dad's 70th Birthday Party - toast
A roomful of relatives and friends to celebrate my Dad’s birthday, yay!

It was a really fun, enjoyable party. During the planning, I could swear that my Dad got mildly enthusiastic in preparing the guest list! So out of character for him!

It was even more special that my Dad and his friends got together that day, as one of them just recently left us. I really appreciate that they have the memory of this occasion where they were wholly together as a group.

My Dad's 70th Birthday Party - friends
Good friends, good times 🙂

My family really came together and pulled his party off. Thanks yah! Especially to those footing the major bills *cough* generous sisters *cough* 😉 😛

And my friends who came and helped out! Gracias!

My Dad's 70th Birthday Party - Suanie, Joyce, Shirley
We should take a photo like this every year until we’re 70 or dead

Here, have a photo of my Dad blowing the candles on his birthday cake.

My Dad's 70th Birthday Party - blow candle

And of my wonderful, wonderful parents! Semoga sihat sejahtera selalu.

My Dad's 70th Birthday Party - parents

Thank you everybody who came. Thank you for taking the time to wish my Dad a happy birthday. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, your presence livened up the party and made it a fun one. Thank you.

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Comments

  1. Your Dad sounds like a Klingon.

  2. He looks mildly pleased in that last photo 😀
    mela recently posted..discussions and solutionsMy Profile

  3. thanks Suan for any the troubles to get everyone gathered.
    It was a memorable occasion.
    We know who to look for if we have any celebration ):

  4. Hi Suan,
    I plan to organise a birthday dinner like this at batu pahat. Similar like this.

    Can you let me know where is this place ? Please.

    From harry

    • Hi Harry, we had our lunch at Restaurant SY at Taman Setia Jaya. They have private rooms to fit up to 10 tables comfortably. The rest: decor and cake, we did it ourselves.

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