Phew! Alas, it's finally done and over! I'm so tired from last night's party. My family hosted a birthday party for my niece. It's her 1st birthday, so we decided to make it big by having a buffet dinner. There are a lot of people that we want to invite so buffet is the best option without having to cook and prepare like mad!

I have been planning this for months, from searching and surveying which caterer to book for food, which bakery or pastry chef to custom-made the birthday cake. You must be feeling strange that aren't this supposed to be the parents' task to plan for their baby's birthday party.

My brother and sister-in-law are not very tech-savvy and have no clue where to find these resources so they have asked for my help to plan for them. Who knows? Maybe after this experience, I could take birthday party planner as my side job to earn some extra income. Hahaha.

Let's start with the caterer. I searched and read so many websites of different catering companies, paying attention to what the reviews from the customers say about their experience with the catering company. I even posted a question in a Facebook Group, asking people to recommend me a good, reputable caterer. From there, I eliminate one by one until I am satisfied with the best.

Once I'm done picking that particular catering company, I observe their Facebook Page everyday to look at the photos they posted and I realised that this catering company is quite popular and they have hosted many opening ceremonies of big companies besides those house-warming and birthday parties.

Thereafter, I informed my brother and sister-in-law about this catering company and from there, we contacted them for more details on the menu and pricing. We are given a long list of food to choose from and I quite like the variety they offer. For each item, you are given six options to choose from. For instance, fish, you can choose from Tomyam Fish Fillet, Sweet & Sour Fish Fillet, Buttered Fish Fillet, Bean Sauce Fish Fillet, Kam Heong Fish Fillet, or Thai-style Fish Fillet. 

Below are our choice of menu for the party:

The buffet spread

The seating area for the guests

Two workers from the catering company came around 5:30pm to set up the tables and arrange the food. They have set up the canopy one day earlier in advance. Very efficient and fast. The workers stayed for three hours from the dinner time we set which is from 7:00pm to 10:00pm. By that time, they would start to clean up their trays and other equipments and left us with the food, tables, and chairs. They would come another day to collect the canopy, tables and chairs.

How about the food taste? Most of the guests commented that the food was good and tasty. My family and I were satisfied with the quality of the food too. Since we have ordered Ice Kacang ABC, one of the workers was in-charge to handle the ice shaving machine to prepare the dessert for our guests.


Catering company: OTK Food & Catering Services

Website: www.otkcatering.com

Email: otkcatering@gmail.com

Phone: 012-228 8749 (Nicholas)

Let's move on to the cake.

Using the same method as how I choose the caterer, I searched a few individual pastry chef on Instagram. Most of the cakes are too small for 100 guests, therefore I tried to find a cake house which is nearby my house. We went there to ask for a quotation and I'm happy that they have a lot of designs to choose from.

Prior to that, we have already decided to order a birthday cake in the shape of number 1 with a Mickey Mouse on the cake and below is a photo of the cake.

Apart from the buffet, the guests also applauded that the cake was nice, soft, not too sweet. Some asked me where did I order the cake. If you're interested, below is the location and contact number of the cake house.

Cherries Cake House

Address: 38A, Jalan Temenggung 19/9, Bandar Mahkota Cheras, 43200 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia Phone: 012-979 8862


Overall, the party was a success! We were tired at the end of the day but it was worth it. Thank you all for coming to join us to celebrate the baby's 1st birthday. We appreciate each and every one of you for spending your precious time with us.

A special thank you to my Godma and aunty Jane Ni for the lovely dress and all the balloons decoration for our birthday girl.



Disclaimer: This is NOT a paid nor a sponsored post. The views expressed on this post is solely my personal opinions.

I have met some school teachers whom never allow their students to read fantasy books. Why? One told me that the language they use in fantasy books are not proper English with words and character names that are created on purpose for the story. Another teacher said it is not healthy for the mind to read something which is not realistic.

This group of adults believe that children who read fantasy books would most probably delve into a sense of escapism, the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy.

Stories with magic spells, dragons, goblins, fairies would only encourage the young minds to escape from the reality world and to believe in those non-existent entities. I have read articles stating teachers in UK claimed that children who read fantasy books would develop difficult behaviours.

I am not here to agree or disagree on this topic for I'm not an expert in children's psychology and behaviour and I have yet to find any studies regarding this subject with substantial results. The reason I am interested in this topic is because I am concerned on the books I choose to buy for my niece to read.

As Neil Gaiman once wrote that there is no such thing as bad books for children because every now and then, it's fashionable for adults to criticize and declare certain books to be bad for children. Speaking from my personal experience, I grew up reading Enid Blyton, but do you know that she was once declared as a bad author and some parents banned their children to read her books.

What about you? Do you believe there are such thing as a bad author or bad books? Were you discouraged from reading a certain type of books when you're young? From my perspective of views, I tend to seek children books which are not only easy to read but stories with moral values for the child to learn the difference between good and bad behaviour.

For now, I would pick children books with more colourful images and not too many lines on each page for my niece because at this stage, I just want to instill a reading habit and the love for books. I want her to get attracted to books first, to encourage her to the wonderful world of fiction.

I will end with another quote from Neil Gaiman.

"Do not discourage children from reading because you feel they are reading the wrong thing. Fiction you do not like is a route to other books you may prefer. And not everyone has the same taste as you."

Any parents/teachers out there? What do you think of this topic?


P/S: If you would like to donate or sponsor some children's books to my niece, please email me at jhtanjhtan@gmail.com OR leave a message at my Facebook Page which is shown in the side column and at the bottom of this page. Just click on the icon and LIKE to FOLLOW my Facebook Page. Thank you for your support.

There is a Chinese belief that on the baby's first lunar birthday, the parents will place certain objects on the floor and let the baby crawl towards those objects and the first object the baby grabs will determine his/her future career.

My niece's first lunar birthday falls on the Gregorian calendar date of 3rd April 2017 and we placed objects like books, money, calculator, pens, ruler, and a toy piano and we let her crawl and see which one of the objects she will grab. 

Each object represents a type of profession.
Book = Scholar, Publisher.
Money = Investor.
Calculator = Accountant, Auditor.
Pens and ruler = Teacher, Writer, Author, Artist.
Toy piano = Pianist, Musician.

Let's see which one caught her interest. We were all so excited and anxious in waiting for her to reveal her choice.

Her first choice was the books and when we asked her to grab a second time, she grabs another book. Wow! It seems like she's really fond of books like her uncle (ME!!! Hahaha!) Book bears the meaning that she will become a scholar or publisher in future. Woohoo!

Look at the excitement and joy on her face the moment she got the book!