Coming from an unsuperstitious and non-conformist family, we celebrated Brian's 9th Birthday on the 26th of May, 9 days after his actual birth date. This was actually for the benefit of all the 'kiasu' mothers who wanted their children to finish their half-yearly examinations. Their philosophy for their kids - Work (Study), Play comes Later or sometimes Never.
Brian, being Brian, wanted a "Ninja Turtle" theme but (phew!) I managed to manoeuvre his mind set to a Peter Pan cum Pirates theme party. Trust me, Brian, being Brian, it was not easy. I had to put up with the humps and grumps but I, being me, had my ways. Oh, Ninja Turtle was not bad, really, but the real reason why Peter Pan and the Pirates were pre-decided on was actually due to the fact that Rachel and Eunice went to the U.S. and bought a Peter Pan costume for Brian. This being a done thing, I just had to persuade Brain that Peter is much more macho than some humpback turtle thingy...
Planning took one solid month. Goodness, what a blessing the Net has become. We managed to get tons of ideas from it. Rachel got Brian and Mae-Z to help paint the cartoon characters. Sharon, Eunice and I helped too. We spent two afternoons painting 10 cartoon characters. The ship, which was made from 2 cardboard boxes, was done with the help of Eunice, Sharon and Adele.
The invites were one of a kind. I got this idea from the Net. It was a torn, burnt and coffee stained paper with a map printed on it. This map was inserted into a bottle provided by Chin Yih, Adele's husband.
The day finally came. It threatened to rain with dark clouds looming above us. We got the children to pray. It drizzled a little and after that, the sun smiled on us.
A big banner, made by Rachel, with the words "WELCOME TO NEVERLAND" greeted the children as one by one, they trickled in from 5.30 pm.
Some of the kids came dressed to complement the theme. Brain, of course, was Peter Pan. Mae-Z was a piratess (she said that she was too "old" to be a sexy Tinker Bell), while Alisa was dressed in blue as Wendy. Joelle came in a lovely pink dress with fairy wings and Sze-En came as Tinkerbell. Ezra, Brian's good friend, came in a crocodile costume but he was ill and had to go back early.
After handing their presents to Brian, the kids signatured their presence by finger drawing on a book and initialling their names. They each received an eye patch as their door gift.
We got the children to settle down to play the very first game. To get them into five groups, we printed out pictures of animals whereby they had to imitate the sound of the animal to find their groups.
Four groups got to participate in the games planned. The fifth group was for children ages 5 and below. I guess we didn't prepare appropriate games for them. So they had to be with their parents.
The treasure hunt didn't go off that well because the children got all the clues mixed up and some groups went off with other group's treasures. But, all is not lost for there is yet a
nother, this time, bigger treasure to be found. We assembled the children at the car porch, gave them the final clue (which was purposely kept back to the end of the hunt) which leads to a 'sack' filled with good stuff. Within minutes, Alisa and her group found the sackful of treasure which was hidden in the teepee (wigwam) at the Indian Camp. Three cheers for Alisa and her group!!
After the hunt, the children went off to play some other games. The first was Walk the Plank. This proves to be a piece of cake for the children, except for Mae-Z who was wearing her mom's high-heeled boots. 
After that, came the water balloons and water pistols. The children REALLY loved this game. The girls were in the card board ship, holding on to their water balloons while the boys were at a distance with their water pistols. No one won but they had fun playing with water. Thomson was seen helping the girls aimed a water balloon at one of the boys while Jason was standing at one corner, debating whether he should join in the fun.
The next game was balancing on the plank while hitting an opponent with floured stockings. I got this idea from the Net (where else?). Not all the children were as adventurous as Justin, but those who were willing to 'fight' him were effortlessly swept off and down by him. His father, Michael Ong, also had some fun in this game. Justin was truly the under 12 titan for the day. 
Because of the sweat and water and flour, I had Brian changed into a pirate costume. He became Captain Hook when we sang the birthday song. I made the ship cake which everybody commented was something unique. Food was pizza, sausages for the children and catered food for adults. 
After filling their bellies, the children were asked to hit the pinata which I made. We started off with Joelle, since she's one of the youngest there. By the time Brian hit it, the pinata was almost coming apart. Samuel and Justin were the last to hit and they broke open the pinata completely with one blow!
The party continued even after the children went back at 8pm. It was of course, a more subdued party where the adults sat at the patio, talking and reminiscing, eating leftover cakes and washing it down with a good cup of coffee, courtesy of Thomson.
Overall, it was a fun and successful party. Of course, at the back of Rachel and Eunice's mind, plans for celebrating the next birthday, which is Mae-Z’s, is already taking shape.
- Submitted by Chris -
We from the Yeoh Clan can never pass up an opportunity to convene - breakfasting at Ah Seng's coffee shop, bonding at mahjong sessions after lunch, chitchatting (or gossipping?) over tea, catching up during elaborate dinners, or laughing together over coffee at suppertime. At times, we planned ahead for holidays together, either with a larger group at church camp, or just among ourselves.
