Photo 1: You can tell that the guests were very appreciative of “Buffalo Wings” and packets of Yeo’s lychee drink. Just listen to this bare-bodied boy describing his experience to his friends. These “young gentlemen” certainly have a big stomach even for the adult menu.Being a young parent and full of enthusiasm, I enjoyed being the events organizer. Hosting a house-party required a lot of efforts unlike hosting at MacDonald’s. We actually did it once at MacDonald’s over in East Coast Parkway. Though it might have been a good decision considering there was no need to worry about the after-party chores, clean-up and washing of dishes; something was missing. Maybe MacDonald’s looked too commercial or the ambience was missing.
Almost every year since the age of pre-school till PSLE, we made sure our boys invited their classmates, their “best friends and “best cousins”. We never dressed up the house with balloons and birthday banners, never hired a magician nor gave away goodie bags. There are some lessons to be learnt here because it is all about the basic tenets for sincere friendship.
Photo 2: I never knew when it comes to entertainment, girls were like boys. The girls could even square up to the boys over NINTENDO. I dread watching that girl holding the plastic cup. Will my carpet get stain?Typically a good children house party should have dishes suited more for children than for adults. We complemented the food caterer with our own selection of fried sotong balls, buffalo-wings, and pork sausages, inevitably producing a future class of obese young adults. Of course you had to order the birthday cake from Lana’s Cake Shop at Greenwood Avenue. The children enjoyed the sweet and moist Lana’s chocolate cakes until Sweet Temptation came along. When I later saw the same bunch of children in their JC Year, many had flaps around their bellies and had thick arms.
Good indoor entertainment was very important. This was the age of the VHS tape recorder. Instead of playing Micky Mouse and Donald Duck stuff, it was the time for a selection of MASTERS OF THE SEA UNIVERSE, CRASH DUMMIES, TRANSFORMERS and TEENAGER MUTANT NINJA TURTLES; recorded straight from the regular TV channel. Besides spoilt for choice of TV action-movies, there would usually be some wise kid who “pretended he was some action hero” and went around prancing as well imitating the voices of their favorite heroes. “Aidoh, please don’t crash your head into my TV”, said my wife.
Photo 3: Water-snooker was a popular apparatus and I was “praying” this girl would not do it in the house. I wonder what the boys were up to. There was so much giggling. Did they find the PENTHOUSE magazine?When it came to playtime, there was neither private boundary nor adult initiatives needed. Kids made their way into my “office”, jumped on the bed and powered on the Apple Mac. There was one time some kids “played water” in the toilet until I found they filled several condoms with water. “Uncle, how come this balloon very special one. Can grow to be very B-I-G like this………(using two hands to demonstrate the length). Some more don’t plomp! Why ah?” Now this is a very intelligent question coming from a girl.
Photo 4: Outdoor fun late in the afternoon. Those sweaty bodies made their way into my apartment, again heading to my “office” or wherever there was an air-conditioner.I was fortunate to live in a condominium but mine was no “District 9 or 10”. You see our condominium did not have fabulous facilities like tennis courts, jacuzzi or a swimming pool. All we had were the sand-pit, sea-saw, merry-go-round, slide, monkey-bar and tree-house, very much like those you find in a HDB estate.
Things began to wind down by 7.00pm when parents arrived to pick the children. It was time to head home after a long afternoon of fun and excitement. I wonder how many of them can remember this birthday bash at a classmate’s place because many came from Tao Nan Primary School. They should be approaching their 30s now.
Photo 5: ONE FOR THE ROAD, as they say. This photo was for a small group because I couldn’t find the rest. I am sure 25 kids turned up but I counted 12 here.
19 comments:
Peter, you gave the kids condoms to use as party balloons? You certainly start them young on the basics of responsible sex.
*sob sob* .. so heart-warming, I didn't have such parties.
by the way, what was blancoed on the bottom right of the photos?
peter, lana's cakeshop is still around, at the same address. my favourite is still choclate cake.
Talking about celebrating our birthdays when we were young, my memory drew a blank. I thought maybe my aging brain is not functioning well and therefore rang up to chun see to verify. He too replied in the negative. It was not surprising that during our kampong days each of us, including our parents, was engrossing our own personal activities, and therefore forgot about our own birthdays. Eating out was then a luxury which we seldom indulged in, except on one occasion when my father and his siblings celebrated my grandma birthday in a chinese restaurant (tai tong) located inside the former 'happy world' in geylang. It is in later years when we have grown up that we celebrated our parents birthdays as well as ours.
Yeah, I forgot to mention that my mother was a firm believer of DIY. She would stock up the fridge with ingredients and if anyone wished to eat anything, he should cook for himself. In doing so, she would have more time to play card games with her neighbours. Such arrangement enables my younger brother david to be a self-taught cook ably dishing out a plate of nice fried rice or tasty meepok (full of lard). For myself, I was the only one who didn't know what were inside the fridge. As a result, now david has put on a lot weight while myself remains status quo (weight wise) like in the old kampong days.
When we were kids - perhaps up to Sec school, the word 'party' never existed in our vocabulary. That's why I remember clearly the only party I have ever attended. I think I will blog about it as a follow-up to this post.
Peter, I think I can claim authority for some of the content.
The cartoon should be "Masters of the Universe", the one with He-Man. I think Masters of the Sea not filmed yet. :P
That one not water gun but popper gun from ghostbuster for shooting the mash-mellow man toy.
Icemoon - u r right. Popper Gun. The water snooker had a thick barrel. One day I must blog about my son's toys. Many of them in good condition and in original box wrapping. I told them to give away to the less fortunate or the Salvation Army but they so reluctant to do so. Maybe they can pass down to the next generation.
Actually those action hero figurines not cheap. I remember getting them at wholesale price from Mattel Toys @Midlink Plaza. One piece = S$12++.
I have never seen carpet or rugs in Singapore during the 50’s, 60’s or 70’s. How times have changed! I guess tastebuds do change according to the level of our economic well being. Like Zen and Icemoon, I don’t recall having birthday parties when we were kids. The same with our neighbours too. Maybe it wasn’t the trend during the 50’s and 60’s or perhaps it was a matter of affordability. Our parents were too preoccupied with work and living within their budgets. This is especially the case with big families.
You are blessed Peter, remembering your birthdays. The only celebration I had was when I was 21. I received a blue Shaeffer's pen with a large nib and a white dot on the cover, my only birthday gift from the family. But it's one I never forget.
Cheers.
There is Japanese story told of a woman whose husband was killed in the war and she had an infant son. She sold all furnitures to provide her child an egg a day 'so that he could go to college (Note: the japanese consider egg to be a brain food). The boy grew up to be an intelligent boy and did go to college in the post war years. So peter got an egg (haw pao tan) with black sauce, for his birthday 'feast', was not that bad after all.
Our friend not only got brains; but also got musclesok.
Zen
See what happens when you consume too many eggs. Very high cholesterol!!!!
Peter - As chun see cleverly put it, you have already achieved the goals of having brain and muscles. Therefore you can now go slow on eggs, maybe one haw pao tan per year during your birthday will do.
You are lucky to have a birthday party (even solo). In my case I have no birthday party until all my children got married. Now we celebrate every family member's birthday annually.
Just wish to say that it is never "Tao Nan Primary School", but rather "Tao Nan School".
To enjoy the kids about ballons for the birthday party as mentioned by Vic, the undressed (on top) by the kids for comfortably is not adult for restriction...just go ahead the food for fun to celebrate themselves ; )
Hi Peter.. Happy Birthday dear. So you had fun on your birthday or not?? By the way didn't you cut the cake??
Thanks Yang for reminding me the proepr name for the school.
To Bali Resort: I wonder is that you Carol. If it's you have you settled down already in Ubud? Send me the photos of your Balinese villa.
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