100 Days of Happiness – Day 38

Today was Daffa’s 5th Birthday and he was so excited! As expected he ripped open his present in one rough scoop, which made me laugh as we had watched the lady take almost half an hour to wrap it last night at the store. Yes, it looked beautifully wrapped, but seriously, Matahari gives their staff a two day training course on wrapping kids gifts! I have never known a child to appreciate the wrapping of a gift, perhaps the perfectly folded pleats made it 1 second more difficult to pull apart with all the tape, but it was soon thrown on the floor and he ran away to show his mum his new gifts while screaming in happiness.

He came back and spent the morning playing with Samudra before we joined his family and friends at KFC in Cilandak for his birthday party. Well, I know that Indonesians have big weddings, but it seems they also have big kids parties! There were his 40 classmates plus their parents, and lots of kids from the neighbourhood with their siblings and parents too. It was SO LOUD and funny! Daffa had to sit up the front while everyone sat in rows facing him, singing and giving out gifts… and his present table was overflowing. The kids didn’t run around playing together, instead there was a lady on a microphone talking very loudly and giving each child a present and holding some competitions, one of which was to see who could scream Daffa’s name for the longest into the microphone!! Poor Samudra wasn’t coping too well with the super loud noise and all the attention of ladies wanting to hold him so I had to keep wandering out into the mall for a little quiet time, before he had absolutely had enough after Daffa blew out his birthday candles and we had to catch a taxi home.

What a funny experience, a kids birthday, Indonesian style!

I hope you had a fun day wherever in the world you are too.