The Youngest Turned 21…

My family celebrated my brother’s 21st birthday this evening at my clubhouse with our relatives & a large group of my brother’s friends.

When my Mum first told me that we are going to celebrate my brother’s 21st birthday on 1st Jan 2006, I was shocked at the news. It’s not that I had anything against celebrating my brother’s birthday, but I was seriously stunned coz I never expected years to pass so fast & suddenly being mentally ‘zapped’ into the realty of my own younger brother turning 21 so soon!

It was quite a mental struggle in the beginning, just trying to adjust to this fact. I didn’t know whether to feel happy about the youngest in my family turning 21. Coz to me, this gave me the impression that my family isn’t a young family anymore. It’s a maturing & grown-up family of 4. There are no kids, no school issues, and the irrelevance of student prices & concession fares that have no application nor implication of us anymore. Suddenly there is no distinct ‘barrier’ to age & way of doing things in my family… coz everyone is an adult. And I bet it’s even scarier if my parents ever see it the way I do…

To facilitate this gathering, my family booked the two BBQ pits at the clubhouse roof top & the karaoke room that is one level below. This birthday celebration must have cost almost $1,000 in total, inclusive of the $809.55 10-course ala-carte for 55 people. I was so shocked when my Mum told me about the cost.

Ala-Carte Menu

1. Curry Chicken With Potatoes
2. Grilled Chicken With Teriyaki Sauce
3. Sambal Prawn On Banana Leaf
4. Egg Beancurd With Sea Asparagus
5. Broccoli With Mushrooms
6. Fish Fillet With Pineapple & Plum Sauce
7. Steamed Mini Soon Kueh With Sweet Sauce (BF)
8. Hong Kong Fried Bee Hoon
9. Beancurd Jelly with Longan
10. Fruit Punch

Yet, I’m glad that it was a rather interesting & experiential time for all who were there. Even the ‘Select Catering Services Ltd’ deliveryman must have had quite an experience himself, coz quite a few incidents happened tonight.

Firstly, it started to rain heavily just 15 minutes before the catering deliveryman arrived. And mind you, it had already rained earlier in the morning. My Mum was worried that she kept peering out of the living room window, just looking at the falling rain.

Secondly, the deliveryman called my Mum at about 5:30pm to say that his delivery trunk couldn’t enter into the condominium entrance because of the car-park height restriction for vehicles. Needless to say, he had to call from the guard-house coz the security guards wouldn’t let him in.

My Dad went down to see how we could get out of this fix. A few minutes later, I came down to assist, only to find out that I was instructed to watch over the delivery truck, coz my Dad managed to talk the security guards into letting the deliveryman drive in, but not enter the condo car-park area that held the vehicle height restriction of any vehicle that is more than 2.02m in height.

Since my Dad had to show the deliveryman how & where to go to set-up the ala-carte at the roof top BBQ area, so there I was, standing next to this huge almost 3-meters tall delivery truck that had stopped right at a corner of the vehicle round-about road… constantly having to keep an eye out for incoming & outgoing vehicles. Plus, I felt kind-of silly holding a red colored umbrella when it had suddenly stopped raining.

As I stood there keeping watch & at the same time feeding mosquitoes due to the rainy weather, I started to wonder if I should have worn shoes instead of sandals (I think I got a bite on one of my left toe)… followed by feeling awkward about the odd stares from passer-bys whom I wasn’t sure if they were wondered if I were the truck driver or some lonely condo resident tasked to guard this huge truck, loaded with crates of food inside.

Soon, I wondered if this was something that I shouldn’t be doing, coz I’m the customer, so why am I guarding the delivery truck of the deliveryman? We are paying him leh! While in the midst of this perplex thought, my Mum called & asked me not to be silly & guard this truck… & come up & help set-up the place. As I walked towards the clubhouse, the deliveryman stopped me & said that it would be safer if I stayed & watched over the food inside the truck.

Again, even though I agreed to help watch, I wondered if this is what I should be doing. As I continued guarding the food, I started to ask myself that if the food or wooden tables got lost, is it supposed to be my fault or the deliveryman’s fault? I have never heard of any deliveryman asking the customer to keep watch over his truck! But in the end, I decided to stay & keep watch, coz it’s my brother’s birthday & I decided want things to screw up, if there were even any possible for the food to get stolen.

When I finally got to the roof top, I saw that the tables & food were partially laid out in the roof top balcony. I don’t know why, but once the deliveryman left… soon after, it started to rain again! So, a few relatives & my family had to carry the food trays & wooden tables into the small corner to protect it from getting really wet. It was a messy situation coz the place was just set-up & there we were, beginning to re-arrange everything because of the new falling drops of rain… It was quite a pathetic sight to see us getting a little drenched in the slight drizzle, while moving things here & there… while my brother’s friends slowly started to arrive.

I could see that my Mum was upset that it kept raining, then stopping, then rained again… a few times today already. Stacy was around, so I asked her to bring my brother’s friends to sit at the karaoke room first, coz we had to wait for the rain to stop first. At that time, my grandparents & a few relatives were there at the karaoke room too, keeping out from the rain.

Just when we thought that the rain was beginning to stop, we started to put everything back into the balcony area, with the help of some relatives & even more of my brother’s friends who had arrived to see this absolutely drenched BBQ pit roof top balcony & found themselves also trapped at that small corner to keep out of the pouring rain.

I felt bad to see some of my brother’s friends helping out, coz their attire got a little bit wet from the rain too. And I’m sure my Mum wasn’t happy at all. I could just speculate her sighing inside her heart again & again.

Finally, with most guests sitting at the clubhouse sofa area & the karaoke room, it started to rain again & again, we had to bring the tables & food trays into the small sheltered corner of the balcony. This time, my brother & his friends came along & started to re-organize the seating arrangements at the balcony, shifting even the balcony heavy tables, chairs, dustbins, etc. My Dad, Uncle Lawrence & I even attempted to shift the small umbrella shelter that was hanging above the balcony tables & chairs… but it was too heavy.

So after getting drenched again, we finally re-structured the whole balcony into sheltered places & unsheltered places. The food trays had to be spread out around the balcony, on tables where there were overhead shelter & arranged whichever chairs that were more or less dry from the rain… & put the already drenched chairs aside in the falling rain. It was really a drenched & messy sight.

Btw, during this period of time of rain & no-rain, I had to make a trip back home once to collect more things & even had to walk all the way to the other side gate to open the side gate for one of my brother’s friend to come in. For the trip home to collect things, thankfully my Aunty Catherine helped to drive us to & back, even though it’s just a 1 minute drive. But for the task to fetch my brother’s friend from the side gate, I had to walk there by foot… only to find that there was no one there, then called my brother & got told that his friend found his way in already.

Finally & thankfully, the rain stopped & the guests began to start eating & chatting. I had just eaten a bit, when my Mum shouted to me to go out to the NTUC supermarket along Siglap Road, to buy more paper plates! Apparently, the caterer didn’t give enough paper plates, though the plastic forks & spoons were sufficient. This time, thankfully my Uncle Robert drove me there, while I rushed in to buy a pack of 50 paper plates & rushing back to the car, coz he couldn’t find parking space along East Coast Road.

Later on my cousin Sylvester & family arrived… of coz; my aunty couldn’t come along coz she’s ‘somewhere else’. During the course of the evening, I managed to catch-up with Sylvester quite a bit & asked how he’s doing & how his Mum is coping. I didn’t know that the place that she’s in; pays her 30 cents for one day of work inside! According to my cousin, it’s a new policy just put in place to help these people start off, upon leaving the ‘place’ after several years. We talked quite a bit more this time round & I’m really happy to learn about the updates of his job. Hopefully & probably, there might be Shooting Stars – Season 2.

After the rain had stopped, the rest of the night went smoothly. I chatted with several relatives & I felt happy interacting with them after so many months. My Mum’s side being a very huge family, most of us normally get to meet, maybe once during Chinese New Year.

I took several photos (including some sneaky ones) during the cake-cutting & eating part of the evening. I’m really glad that the photos turned out quite alright, considering that it’s quite dark at the roof top & the place had just gone through a series of rain throughout the day. Plus, one of my aunties commented that the photo shown in the digital camera LCD screen is very sharp. =)

Just to side track a bit, I’m still keen on pursuing my interest in photography. I love photographing scenery coz it just makes me marvel at the immense beauty of creation that only a creative & majestic God can create! And even photographs can’t capture the entire beauty of the entire scenery… not even if it’s a video clip. One has to be there to witness it for himself to really appreciate its wonder…

Anyway, I had a chat with uncle Neal from Christ Methodist Church too. Initially, it was VERY, very weird & awkward coz both of us didn’t know what to say. He looked a bit lost & I was completely lost. Quite different conversational ‘frequency’ between a practicing lawyer who also occasionally lectures at NUS law faculty, with a commoner lad who speaks plain Singaporean English, with a typical Singaporean ascent.

Uncle Neal is from England & as always, when I speak with foreigners from the US or Europe, I tend to switch my English ascent a little bit, to try & blend in… but I think this time it didn’t work out well at all… coz I didn’t sound English nor Singaporean at all. It was very weird… but I did my best to communicate. Language, ascent & conversational ‘frequency’ aside, it was still a fruitful chat & I’m glad to have spoken & gotten to know him better, especially when I didn’t get to relate to him when I was at CMC during my younger days. By & large, what encouraged me to carry on a meaningful conversation with all awkwardness with uncle Neal, is because I could tell that he’s very interested in relating with me, even though we were almost complete strangers, who just recognized each other by our looks. I thank God for this opportunity tonight…

After most of my relatives left, as per usual, my group of aunties & uncles will gather around & chat about stuff… so I brought my younger cousins – Melody, Melinda & Abel back to my house to see my hamster & play PS2. It was a good & fun time together… & I managed to snap a few photographs of them playing too!

Through this experience, I began asking myself if I actually do have a softer & fun side inside me, in terms of relating with children in their primary & secondary school level. I found it amusing when Melody commented that she finds me very ‘young at heart’ for my age… considering that I’m more than a decade older than her & even much more older than the other two even younger cousins whom I have brought back to my house to play.

I deliberately danced to the music of the PS2 game & they laughed at me. And I laughed at myself too! I kind-of like this feeling of mingling & having recreational fun with young teenagers… not those who are too young, like in lower primary, but probably those in upper primary till secondary four. I wonder what do these thoughts mean… would I ever become a teacher, ever in my life? Hmm…

Actually, I already am… in my church Youth Ministry. But I find the culture of the YM quite different from the way I am… & the way I behave ‘young at heart’. I find that only my CG can respond to my nonsense & all the other CG youths can’t. It’s strange… Hmm… maybe it’s a personality thing… I’m not sure…