A Thank You Note

Hubby and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary on the 1st of March this year. That sounds like a lifetime but actually feels like the blink of an eye. Time does fly especially when we are taking care of 5 lively children. 

We had a lot of plans as to how to spend this special day but then everything changed when Heather, our eldest daughter decided she would be home for the occasion. She started planning last year when she realised she couldn't be home for x'mas or CNY. She wanted it to be a surprise but realised she had to let one of us in on her plans to make sure we do not fly off to somewhere at the time. She decided to surprise her daddy as he has always been the one giving surprises. So I was made to conspire in my own surprise anni celebration. I didn't anticipate this job to be sooo difficult...I had to turned down a culinary trip to Changmai, a visit to NZ to see Don and a Rod Steward concert in Singapore!! And my hubby was getting very upset as the date approached and I was refusing to go anywhere he suggested. I was bursting to tell too when the younger siblings asked when the che che be home but I had to keep mum.

Anyway, back to the surprise, the look on hubby's face when he spotted Heather in the car after I picked her up from the airport was worth all the torture. Now I understand why he loves to give surprises, the pleasure was all ours...the planners. 

We spent one night at the Kinabalu National Park as this was the place where we first met more than 35 years ago. Our honeymoon 30 years ago was, yes, you guessed it, here too. This has to be our favorite place on earth. 

The surprise gift Heather presented us was most touching and couldn't have been more appropriate-- a dinner by a French chef. 

For Kevin, it was like a dream come true whereby he got to work closely with a chef (he called himself sous chef for that day) and he got to ask the chef all the culinary questions he needed answering so much so that William let him on to a secret. If he ever get a chance to dine at a top restaurant in Paris, Tokyo or New York, keep all these questions flowing, the chefs might think he is a Michelin inspector and he just might be lucky enough to be served the best meal they have to offer. He even got the chef to teach him how to sharpen all his knives. 

I was told to go do my nails, pamper myself and only come downstairs when the guests arrive. I was also told not to take any pictures. So I had to steal all these pictures from hub's camera. One shot I would love to have taken was my three girls serving the seated guests. They were so good! Thank you, girls.

    

The chef at the market and....

all the hard work that went into making the most enchanting evening...

Thank you, Heather for your love and thoughtfulness. William, thank you for so generously sharing with us some of your culinary secrets and artistic skills. 

Go to Terri for the night's food review as she summed it all up perfectly. For us it was an eye-opener as far as entertaining at home is concerned. Simplicity is the keyword but having a chef certainly helps. 

I felt so inadequate as I had so limited equipment and kitchen utensils for them to work with but look how far a little creativity can get you. They sourced all these from my kitchen,  store room and garden. 

And turned an ugly duckling into a swan... a beautiful table setting...

To our dear family and friends who shared with us the lovely evening, thank you for making this a truly memorable anniversary. 

We would have loved to share this occasion with all our family and friends, however the logistics and location would have made it impossible to make it the intimate, memorable and culinary experience that it was.   

We are deeply grateful to God for all these years we are permitted to be together. No words are ever adequate to express our deep gratitude.