Fire Up the Grill

It's Julien's birthday party this Saturday and we're having a barbecue! Woo! It's funny how Julien thinks he has not much friends here, yet 20 people have already rsvp-ed on the invite! My first time organising such a huge party, apart from our wedding (but the hotel took care of most of the stuff), and I'm wondering how much food is enough to feed 20 people for a barbecue?

I found this wonderful website where I could order everything and anything; food, sauces, drinks, mesh, charcoal, fire starters, tongs, trays, cups, plates, serviettes, trashbags, etc. They even provide staff to grill the food for you if you pay extra! Awesome. We figured it's more fun to cook our own food.

I just got my order confirmation (excluding cake of course!). It's going to be GREAT!

Category	Items	Quantity Per Pkt	Pkt Ordered
Raw Satay	Raw Beef Satay	50	1
Raw 3 Joint wing	3-Joint BBQ Original	20	3
Raw Kebab	Herb Spicy Lamb	10	1
Raw Kebab	Kebab Chicken Breast	10	1
Raw Kebab	Rosemary Lamb	10	1
Raw Fresh Fish	Stingray (Sambal)	10	2
Raw Prawns	Large Black Pepper Prawns	20	2
Raw Prawns	Large Butter Herb Prawns	20	2
Raw Vegetables	Butter Sweet Corn in Foil	10	1
Raw Kids Favorite	Hotdog	10	4
Cooked Food	Fried rice	serves 10	2
Cooked Food	French Loaf	serves 10	3
Cooked Food	Nonya Chicken Curry	serves 10	2
Salad & Dessert	Longan Honey Sea Coconut	serves 10	1
Sauces	Fresh Lime	1	3
Sauces	Sambal Chilli (200g)	NA	1
Sauces	Satay Sauce	NA	1
Accessories & Charcoal	Spoons (16cm)	45-50pcs	1
Accessories & Charcoal	Forks (16cm)	45-50pcs	1
Accessories & Charcoal	Charcoal (3kg)	NA	2
Accessories & Charcoal	Bowls (11cm)	50pcs	1
Accessories & Charcoal	Wiremesh (45cm x 60cm)	NA	2
Accessories & Charcoal	Large Tongs (38cm)	NA	2
Accessories & Charcoal	Aluminium Tray (A3)	1	2
Accessories & Charcoal	Fire starters	40pcs	1
Accessories & Charcoal	Foam Box (47.5x 35x35cm)	1	3
Accessories & Charcoal	Aluminium Tray (A4)	1	2
Accessories & Charcoal	Cups (7oz)	50pcs	1
Accessories & Charcoal	Ice Cube (5kg)	1	2
Accessories & Charcoal	Plate (18cm)	50pcs	2
Accessories & Charcoal	Trashbag	5pcs	1
Accessories & Charcoal	Serviettes	50pcs	2
Drinks	Packet (Chry)	24	1
Drinks	Bottle Mineral water	24	1
Drinks	Packet (G Tea)	24	1
Drinks	Cans (Coke)	24	1
Raw Otah	Raw (S) Otah	50	1
Raw Satay	Raw Chicken Satay	50	1
Raw Chicken Chop	Chicken Chop BBQ	10	1
Raw Chicken Chop	Chick Chop B/P	10	1
Raw Squid	Sambal Sotong in foil	10	2

Oh Bebe!

'It'll be fun!' so an old friend of mine said. And it was!

My first time at a fashion event, and the dress code was: chic. What's that? I googled chic wear under images, and nothing really interests me. So I decided between a dress or a two piece ensemble. Couldn't decide. Called my friend up and she said to wear what's comfortable for me since she was going to be really casual. The word casual to me, goes hand in hand with slippers or flats. Thank goodness it was a fashion event because there were all sorts of people dressed to different degrees there! Maxi dresses, cocktail dresses, some really casual, many in work wear, some for the event wore their bebe dresses too.

It was a pretty cool set up since there were different stations where you could do a makeover with the make up artists, another where a stylist would do your hair, manicure station, and even a neck and shoulder massage station! Good stuff, but the queue was so long, I decided to just drink and make merry with my friends.

There were many interesting people I saw there though. One being Wykidd Song the designer from Song+Kelly. Love his collections. Just a bit pricey for me. He was wearing a black v-neck t-shirt tucked out over blue jeans that he rolled up to his ankles, and matched that with a pair of black leather lace shoes. Eccentric but somehow he managed to pull it off! And that's what I meant. Everyone was dressed in a way that expresses who they are, and I love it! Another guy I saw wore a green low v-neck t-shirt that heavily exposed his chest, a black vest over his t-shirt, worn out torn jeans, and green sneakers. There were also some weird matches that night like this guy that wore normal work wear, only his shirt had big bold words printed on it. Absolutely awful.

Really interesting.

Having a Kid

.... is Life Changing.

That's what a good friend of mine told me today, as he was cutting up a hash brown to bite sized bits for his one-and-a-half year old daughter, while I gaped at him with my mouth wide open, one part of my brain telling me this guy sitting in front if me is not the friend I used to know. What happened? Can having a kid really change someone that much?

Before I even begin telling you how much of a father he's become, I feel a need to first tell you how he was. This friend of mine, was a Casanova, and he knew it. He was only interested in one thing. Girls. I used to not be able to have a proper conversation with him because he was always spacing out each time a "cute" girl walked by! Having said that, he is a friend I used to hang out with a lot, and I was his Aunt Agony, whom he would pour out his woes to about the many girlfriends that he was kind of seeing, and the stress of having to juggle so many girls at once. Rolls eyes.

Anyways, since our wedding, I have sort of lost touch with this friend. We just stopped talking for some reason. Maybe because I was busy with my new life. It was only just recently that I heard from another friend that he has a kid and that he was married. Hm... Something's fishy. If he were married, I'd bet my last penny I would be invited. His daughter is now one and a half, but he didn't get married that early. Something just doesn't add up. And it didn't, after he had filled me in. But that's not important. What's important is that he's happy. What's even better is how much he has grown and matured since having responsibility over his daughter!

Today, we had arranged to meet so he could fill me in on the past year, and also to introduce me to the new love of his life, his daughter. What a darling she is!!! Kids are the most honest little beings on earth. They're so pure and simple, and that's what makes them so loveable. You don't have to pretend when you're with them. You're just yourself and they accept you just the way you are. That's why I love being around kids. Life is just simpler when you're around them.

At first my friend was wanting to meet me for something simple, maybe at a hawker for some eggs and toast. But then he decided last minute Macdonald's would be a better choice for his daughter - Air conditioned, with a playground outside. Power of love? As we parked, and got ready to get out of the car, his daughter thought he was going to leave for work and waved and said "bye bye daddy." Squuuueeeeeeeaaaaaall!!!!! Awwwww how cuuuuuuute!!! I told my friend. He just smiled, all proud of his daughter at how her cuteness could bring an adult female to her knees.

Over the course of breakfast with my friend and his daughter, and observing them, I realised how much he has changed for her. Little details like making sure I sat beside her while he went to order food, cutting up her hash brown for her so it's easier to feed herself, showing off all the new kids applications he has on his iphone his favourite being ba ba black sheep, and showing me all the pictures of his daughter he has dedicated a folder for in his iphone. One moment that warmed my heart so much was after he had cut up her food for her, she put her little hand on his, leaned toward him, and whispered "thank you daddy", before she gave him a peck on the cheek. Her cute factor is just off the charts! So was my squeal factor.

It's amazing how my friend is not afraid to make a fool out of himself as well just to show me how his daughter reacts to certain things. Like how he pretended to slowly motion his finger toward his nostril, wanting to do a huge digging and discovery, and when she realised what he was wanting to do, she gave him a shy smile, held his finger and slowly put it on the table, away from that nostril and said "daddy no no".

He was also telling me how he doesn't like or want to club anymore. How he thinks it's boring to spend his time this way, and how much he misses his daughter after a while, and all he can think of is to go straight home to see her, which he did after a couple of minutes at the club. Amazing! We used to club till the wee hours of the morning! And now he's telling me he wants to go home because he misses his daughter! What's great about this change is that it's effortless. He doesn't do these things because he has to, but because he WANTS to. What a great place he's at right now, and I'm really happy for him. What an AMAZING girl! She is the only girl I know who truly stole his heart.

Julien and I love kids. But like this friend of mine, we're both kind of afraid of the uncertain of having one. Watching this live testimony in front of me with his little angel reassures my heart in some way though. Maybe we're going to be just fine.

All in good time. At least this idea doesn't seem that uncertain to me anymore for one. Progress!

Congratulations P! I'd help babysit her anytime!