(18 Aug 13 Sun) Bday celebration on a private yacht to Lazurus Island!

It was a secret surprise birthday celebration for papa's 32nd birthday. He had always wistfully mentioned that he would like to hire a yacht to bring the extended families out to sea...well, so far, he had not taken any concrete action so the bargain-sniffing mama spotted a Groupon deal for a 4-hour cruise that could accommodate 18 pax (well the cost set mama back quite a bit, alas...) and set the plan rolling...

Mama surreptitiously informed Ah Gong side, mama's extended family and three dear friends of papa - Uncle Huimin, Hao and Erwin, the notorious nonsensical bunch. Would have been great if mama could invite the other dear friends too, but could not do it since the boat was not that big!

We told papa the night before that there would be a big surprise awaiting him the next day. We prayed for balmy weather and slept soundly.

In great anticipation, papa asked where we were going. mama instructed him to go wai po's house. He thought we were dropping you two off so we could go on a date. ha. When I told wai po about what he thought, she retorted that she would definitely not do that lor. ha that we had to ask ah ma to take care of you two if we wanted to sneak out. ha.

The weather could not be more perfect. It was 1.30 pm and the sky was bright and cloudy so it was not hot at all. Wa, look at the lives of the rich and famous...private yachts, posh apartments overlooking the sea...heh...in jest, wai po said xiaoyi could snare a rich man and live here. Then she added cheekily that xiaoyi was not that pretty to attract a wealthy man and she would be better off waiting for xun xun to get married to one...hahaha

  Our yacht! Rented from White Sails.

Checking out the cosy boat...it looked rather small at first sight. It seemed a tight squeeze to have all 18 pax in the cabin. Good thing there were open areas on the deck and and upper deck where one could feel the breeze in the hair and admire the blue blue sea...

 papa and mama felt very blessed indeed. We had fantastic extended families and friends who had gone though thick and thin with us...

how dull would life be without such fair weather, ahem, all kinds of weather friends who never fail to be encouraging and supportive and cheer us up with some corny jokes and gibberish talk!

San Yi snapped this for er yi. What a romantic moment...

rollicking good time

San Yi Zhang wanted to attempt a "titanic" pose with san yi who resolutely refused him...ha...so he did it on his own instead...

There were even two rooms for resting...we did not use them at all though...

It was a short half an hour jaunt. We reached Lazurus Island and went to explore it. Erm..nothing much actually...it was all rustic and undeveloped. There was only a strip of white sandy beach...

Wai gong did not want to sit on the log and instead squatted on the sand. So queer... ha...

Mr Lo and his four beloved beautiful daughters...

After lunch, the guys had a dip in the sea...I wondered what they talked about and asked papa when we were on our way home. He replied that they talked the usual nonsense lor. ha.

Pretending to sift the sand to look for diamonds!

So good to have siblings who could help to look out for the kids while we took a breather...

Er Yi Zhang had especially worn this shirt for the trip! HA. Check out the bad english.

This photo reminded me of the taiwan trip we had with godma a few years ago. We went to a public hot spring together. There was two pools - one hot and one freezing. The guys were crazy, they went into the cold one and then jumped into the hot one, it was winter then, you could imagine how chilly it was!

Ah Gong gazing out to the infinite sea...

San Yi found a spoon and started scooping sand and made these funny looking poop-like things...she was amused by it and I was amused by how easily amused she was..

Wai gong and tong tong were trying to build a sand castle!

Xiaoyi took the camera and did the classic "self photography" that all the teens did nowadays...

the adventurous tong tong ventured really far into the sea. he was very precocious for his age, he really knew and appreciated outings!

xy yiyi made a mermaid tail for xun xun

san yi zhang was so weary that he decided to take a nap on the beach...

When mama was growing up, I would look at the adults in awe and hold them in such reverence and thought they never made mistakes and had no sense of humor or fun... that their lives were just about being serious and work...haha...i always regarded wai po as the matriarch who tolerated no nonsense, i only viewed her in the role as a mum...when i grew up, i started wondering about her other facets...did she talk nonsense with her friend? Did she have a funny bone? Well, I hoped you gleamed a different side of papa and mama through reading the blog...maybe you would find traces of similarity and be bemused by the silly things we thought, said and did...that you discovered we were not that different from you now, that we once were young and "happening" (ha, our slang for "hip")

papa's friends were VERY obliging in letting mama take photos of them... The very sculpted hunks...ahem..used to be sculpted...

Trying to simulate a manhunt pose...

And flexing the muscles...hahaha...

 While they were whiling the time away in the water, mama's sisters came up with this evil plot of hiding all the slippers. The interesting thing was, we actually stumbled upon a lost pair of slippers, which must have been left behind because they were so well hidden that the owner could not find them!

We had an enjoyable time when the guys combed the sand to find the missing slippers...how juvenile and yet wickedly ludicrous the game was...

Uncle Huimin trying on the abandoned slippers...

Very cleverly hidden,  San Yi Zhang put a decoy nearby and making the actual hiding spot as flat as possible...

We went back to the boat and discovered we could actually kayak! The daring xun and tong had no qualms in trying it out with papa!

 Finally, the last item to tick off the list. San yi had kindly sponsored the scrumptious decadently chocolate cake from Four Seasons. Very moist, succulent and yet not cloyingly sweet.

You loved birthday celebrations...heh...

Alright...birthday song!

oooo, chocolate!

Lounging on the sun deck on the way back. How fast time flew!

 An awesome day. We could not ask for better weather or company. God was sooo sweet so sweet. What a wonderful birthday celebration, certainly one that we would remember for years...well, papa was really on cloud nine. heh...mama told papa that he needed not plan something big for her birthday...heh...what more could one ask for when God had blessed us with so much and surrounded us with love, joy and friendship...which was akin to having a piece of heaven right on earth right now.

Blessed birthday, hunny. Blessed blessed birthday.