My aunt who is my mother's eldest sister, the second child of either sibling, my mom was the 8th is someone who is dear and close to our hearts. My mother and her sister were best friends and inseparable. I remember growing up, my mom and this aunt whom we called "Ah Yi" would always spend a lot of time on the phone with each other, considering phone calls were expensive in those days and Ah Yi stayed in another state called Malacca, chatting and sharing a lot of things with each other. They would go on holidays with each other ever so often, and when we were back to their hometown, a town called Muar, in the state of Johor, down south of Malaysia, you could see their closeness.
Ah Yi has always been very nice to my family and we often spend a lot of time together as her children, my cousins, 4 of them were around the same age as my siblings and me. We would play around the house and do stuff together when our parents were busy chatting. These cousins stayed at my family home when they were students studying at a nearby university and then worked closely at the home. We really are very tight and frequently meet up for meals or on random occasions.
So, on the 23rd of July, Ah Yi's children decided to surprise her for her 70th Birthday. This is their second time doing it, the first being 2018. It was a successful one! They hired a hall at a nearby restaurant to where they live in Malacca and had 7 tables for guests. Yup, my mom's side of the family is a huge one! Not all of them were invited, if it were so, it would have easily been 15-20 tables.
We were told to arrive by 12pm and the guest of honor will arrive by 12.30 pm. They had a simple decoration set up at the stage area where we would be taking photos too. An array of food was displayed in a buffet style by the restaurant were in sight too which gave out a lovely aroma as we were all so hungry, and so ready to just eat! My cousin even hired an ice cream vendor who came in his motorcycle and ice cream box into the hall. Getting it into the hall was a feat as it wasn't light and the doorframe wasn't that wide for it to come through. However, with the help of many mighty men, it managed to come through and everyone had an amazing time just enjoying free-flow ice cream. They also got a draught beer supply who came with two kegs of Carlsberg beer. Boy, that was one of the best draught beers I ever had as it was ultra smooth and the temperature did not affect its quality. No idea how and why but it was just a pleasure to drink. We drank quite a lot because 2 kegs are the minimum order, and 1 keg is almost 60liters which means we had almost 120 liters of beer to finish. It was mad! No one was tipsy or drunk. That was the amazing thing, lol!
Anyway, asides from all that, this was the first huge gathering we had from this side of the family since the pandemic in 2020 when we met last in Ah Yi's house for Chinese New Year. Oh, did I mention, that she cooks AMAZING food as well? Just like my mom! We had so much fun laughing and just laughing.
Here are some photos of that day:
My brother, husband and I together with Ah Yi
My husband and I joining in the fun of "yam seng"
Ah Yi at 70, still so vibrant
Everyone loves ice cream!
How the ice cream made it into the hall
Simple decoration for the day
Just to hype each other to down beer to finish up the kegs
Cousins of the same generation
Our parents
my family! OMG! I just realised, my dad doing the Korean love sign!
My husband in charge of the popper when Ah Yi walks in
My husband teaching my brother how to use it, my brother failed! He pressed the wrong thing
Standby.....
This is us! Ah Yi's children & spouses
