It was planned that we would have a quieter celebration this year.
Not that celebrations had been boisterous previously, but we thought we might keep it a bit more low key this year.
So we did.
There was a card, of course.
As was a gift bag containing little presents that (in The Parent's words) could be scented, could be eaten, and could be used.
One of the things we decided to keep was the presence of coffee, and cake to be had after our dinner.
Except that The Parent decided to switch it around a little.
So, instead of the usual sliced cream cake that I'd been getting for the longest time, I got these from Bengawan Solo instead.
Memory is a funny thing.
All along I'd bought creamed cakes because they were reminiscent of the coffee cakes, pandan cakes, yam cakes and fruit-topped cakes which we'd been having throughout the years.
But I hadn't remembered just how well liked kueh lapis, cheese cream pandan Swiss rolls, and marble butter cakes were too.
There're some things in life, I suppose, that are like new discoveries.
You never know what you ought to expect.
It's a good thing thus that life doesn't always throw you too many changes all at once, and you get to keep some patterns- even if for the sake of convenience and slight familiarity.
Like a meal of cabbage, vegetables, hard boiled eggs, tofu, brinjal and chili bought from the economy rice stall downstairs and steamed in the rice cooker.
And like having our regular cups of coffee with the slices of birthday cake.
