The actual day of my birthday happens to fall on Mother’s day too! This isn’t the first time that I’m sharing my special day with my mama. In the future when I have my own children, I may need to lay out some rules like.. If mum’s birthday falls on the same day as Mother’s day, she demands for double presents! :P

Every gathering with family is a special one. Lots of fun, laughter, screams (from watching horror movies or playing stupid games) and… all the juicy gossips we get to hear. This year though, I’ve had the privilege to invite some friends over for dinner too! I rarely have birthday celebrations at home, the last I remembered was when I was maybe 8? I had friends and neighbours over and we played games and had cake. This time, I had family, friends and a neighbour over too!

These group of friends were what Fadhullah (the neighbour) referred to as the ‘Unusual Suspects’. Well he’s right… we almost have NOTHING in common except for the love of travel. They are amazing people who have stuck through loads of picnics, overnight cycling, parties and travel adventures.

The best part was, most of them except for Fadhullah (pink t-shirt) and Arafath lives in the west side of Singapore, hence I was really grateful they were able to make it! Arafath (blue collared shirt) was the last to make his entrance, having arrived freshly from his weekend trip in KL, I thought it was awesome of him to show up, albeit late. HAHA.

Because I am away a lot of the time, I cherish all the time I get to spend with the people that I love. Even seeing them for a teeny while makes me happy. Just like I haven’t got to see Vada (turquoise shirt) and Ming (black polka dots) in a long, long time because their work schedules are so demanding, I was glad they were able to make it.

When my friends left at half past 10-ish, I thought the party was half over. While still waving them off at the door, I was distracted by something my aunt said and turned around. Suddenly there was a commotion outside. I turned just in time to see the lift door open and… Ummar Hasim got pushed out into the corridor. Before he could do anything, our friends in the lift pressed the door close button fast enough and truly, he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

Now that’s one friend I hadn’t expected to see.