Freddie turns 30!

At the beginning of July, Freddie, our compound caretaker, turned 30. On that day we decided to host a bungkai to celebrate. The Wildeboers were away, so there were slightly less people than normal, but plenty of food, as usual :)

I've not quite managed to figure out exactly how people here celebrate their birthdays, but I know it's very, very low key compared to our Western style. Usually just a birthday hand shake, some well wishes and a prayer for the future (and maybe a facebook message or two for those who have Internet) pretty much sums it up. Most people wouldn't have cake, as they don't have access to ovens and the ingredients for baking a cake are out of the price range of family budgets.

Since 30 is quite the milestone, I told Freddie that I would take charge of his celebration, as it's too special to just ignore. The fact that his birthday fell on a Friday was quite convenient -  Friday night is always great time for a party.

So my cake baking skills were tested again :) I sure have made and decorated a lot of cakes in this country!! Not having had a huge amount of experience in this area, I decided to opt for the standard number on the cake trick. It turned out pretty well and Freddie told me it was the first cake anyone had ever baked for him. (Thankfully I didn't know that until AFTER I had baked and decorated his cake. Would've really put the pressure on otherwise!). That's 29 birthdays he celebrated without a birthday cake. As in, no birthday cake when he was a kid. As in, no looking through everyone's favourite Women's Weekly cook book for weeks choosing the cake that you 'want' your mum to make (even if it means she stays up to 2:00am the night before to get it finished). Kinda puts it into perspective when you think about the amazing cakes our mums (and mums today) make for their kids. And the incredibly intricate preparations that are made for birthday events, sometimes to the point that it would be very helpful to have an event planner......! Sure did make me reflect on things a little bit.

Here's some photos of our night of fun, fellowship and festivities. Enjoy!

The cake :) Now, the 3 isn't as perfect as I would like it to be. It was harder to draw with icing than I expected and since I'm not practiced in these things, I just did my best. I considered wiping it off and starting again, but then I reminded myself that I'm working on teaching myself not to be a perfectionist. So, I went against my will and forced myself to use this opportunity to practice! Freddie didn't seem to mind....

The birthday banner Louisa and I made. She did a great job! 

Three of Freddie's girls - Louisa, Francine and Alou

The birthday boy with some of the feast :)

5 candles - one for each of his girls (his wife and four daughters)

Freddie was really happy and wanted a special photo of himself with his cake. I printed this one for him so he can show his family. We ate some of the cake that night and the rest he saved to bring to church on Sunday to share with his relatives. It was really touching to see how much Freddie appreciated it. And that was before we brought out the gifts we had bought him!