Happy Birthday, Sierinna!
Happy Birthday, Sierinna! Eight years ago my sister, Helen and I were on a long distance phone call while she was having contractions in the delivery room. I told her not to push the baby out, to wait until the next day so baby Sierinna and I can share the same birth date. She couldn’t wait of course! Sierinna and I share a special bond and we have a lot of fun activities together. Shane and I always try to be in Malaysia to celebrate her birthday.
How an 8 year old Malaysian girl celebrates her birthday
Today, I want to share with our readers how an 8 year old Malaysian girl celebrates her birthday. Our birthday girl has a birthday countdown since new year and the night before she has a hard time going to bed in anticipation of her special day.
Birthday morning
Birthday morning sees Sierinna gets up earlier than usual and receives hugs and kisses that she wipes off immediately. ‘Amah’ (grandma in Hokkien dialect) gives her an ang pow (red packet with money) and she video chat with relatives calling from overseas. She is already dressed and can’t contain her excitement because we (Helen, myself and Sierinna) are going shopping for her presents.
Shopping for Presents
Our favorite shopping mall is 1 Utama and the first stop is to get some candles for Sierinna’s birthday cake. She gets to choose the candles she likes while mummy is browsing through some baking utensils. Uh oh…this is dangerous because Helen has the tendencies to shop for a very long time. We give mummy (Helen) time to browse and head to AEON BiG food court for an early lunch. My niece loves the Japanese Karaage popcorn chicken and I go for sushi. Helen is finally here with a sheepish grin and a shopping bag.
Toys”r”Us
Sierinna loves Toys”r”Us. She loves to browse through rows and rows of toys and play games available for children in the store. Today, our birthday girl gets to pick a toy and she has her heart sets on the Lego Friends series. Which one? This is quite a difficult decision to just pick one. She dawdles between 7 sets, picking one and then deciding on another after careful consideration. I can see her brain smoking! LOL 30 minutes later she makes up her mind and pays at the cashier using birthday monies she gets from everyone. Then mummy wants to look for shoes and alarm clocks for her brothers. Oh boy! I forgot to tell you – Helen’s boys and our mom didn’t join us because they know how long she shops!
Back in the house
3 hours later we are back in the house and Sierinna happily opens her Lego set and starts assembling the blocks. After that she helps mommy bakes her birthday cake. She wants chocolate cake with a lot of colorful sprinkles on top. She decorates the cake and arranges the candles with a little help from me. Now we just need to wait until her papa gets home so we can go out for dinner.
Choice of dinner
Birthday girl gets to pick where to go and eat for dinner. Sierinna’s choice of dinner venue is McDonald’s and her favorite spicy fried chicken. Her brothers are not complaining because it’s their favorite fried chicken too. It’s a treat for everyone. Back home, we light up her birthday cake and sing to her. Sierinna says it’s the best birthday ever and the best chocolate cake in the world! She gets to stay up as late as she wants to and plays with her new Lego Friends set.
Happy 8th birthday my little bug-a-boo. This is how one Malaysian girl celebrates her birthday in a suburb of Subang Jaya, Malaysia.
Check out our Lifestyle Living in Malaysia section for more stories of our family activities.