36 candles...

The cake shop knew better.

It sliced two years off my age and gave KH 36 candles instead of 38. So there were 36 candles blazing away on the cake as my kids sang happy birthday to me. Not KH's fault, but I felt kinda shortchanged. I am not the sort of woman who is coy about her age. I rather enjoy my years and I'm proud of every strand of grey I have on my head, preferring to fob off my hairdresser's pleas to please colour/highlight my hair to hide the grey. What's the point? I prefer to wear the grey as a badge of honour - marking the years of my life. And these have been blessed happy ones. We are going to grow old, like it or not, and no amount of botox, lipo or tact, will deny that passage. The smiles will show how young we are.

Yesterday started with a phonecall from my mom. "Happy returns of the day!" she chorused.

"Thanks mom!" I say, pleased to hear her voice. "Wouldn't be here without you!"

"It was right about now, right?" she said. It was 9.45am then.

"Yes mom, almost there. Born at 10.19am!" I said. "You would have been in second stage now, pushing already!" And we both laugh.

Birthdays are happy days for mothers too as we remember how we birth our children. 38 years down the road, and my mom has not forgotten any detail.

She remembers that of all 3 of her children, I was the only one that came 'naturally' without being induced. I was her 'midnight run' to the hospital. And I was breech until almost the very end, turned by the estimable W.C. Cheng himself. That, of course, was before the discovery that ECVs didn't make as much money as C-sections - hence TMC now having the dubious honour of being the private hospital with the highest C-sec rate in the nation!

But that aside, it was my birthday and one that both my mother and I celebrate. And as it is every year, I thank her for giving birth to me.

After that, it was a flurry of SMS birthday greetings from dear friends old and new, and one prized one from my gal pal Gayle in Bangkok who reminded me "not to pig out!" Thanks pal.

But pig out, unfortunately, I did. On caviar, oysters on the rocks, foie gras, slipper lobsters, sushi, sashimi and other delectable yummies at Equinox with a good girlfriend of mine who took leave to spend the afternoon with me. We had a gorgeous lunch 70 storeys high up in the air, marvelling at the landscape far below us, lunching on good food and conversation. How nice it was to kick back in lovely surroundings and talk about anything under the sun - men, babies, children, our worries, our hopes, work, Singapore Idol and so on...

We spent the afternoon drifting among the racks at HMV, That CD Shop and Borders - our favourite places - in search of good books and good music. I couldn't find Phoebe Snow and the song 'Something Real' in all these places. Would you believe they didn't carry stock! And Snow is a critically acclaimed musician who known for her folksy-blues, jazzy renditions. Before the likes of Jewel, there was Phoebe Snow and even HMV didn't carry her! But when I went home after parting ways with my friend, I received a call - she had gone on to Gramaphone at Paragon and tracked down a copy for me, bless her!

Back home, my work-laden KH came home early despite bad deadlines (though I know he stayed up later till 1am to finish his work while the house slept), with cake in tow. The man kept going out to the gate watching for something it wasn't until 10pm that I finally knew why. A van pulled up and KH called gleefully, "Something for you dear! Come and see!" It was a lovely big bouquet of lilies and roses. The children were in awe and hopping with excitement.

I was touched - it has been years since I received flowers from him. A rare moment of romance! He deserved a kiss and as I gave him a peck on the lips, the girls watched giggling and fascinatedly while the boys went: "Ewww!!"

Its been a good day. One of the nicest birthdays. I'm glad I am 38. Two years before the big 4-0. I'll be ready.

And looking forward to it.