Birthday treats! My treat or your treat?

Dear SG,

You know how during your birthday on Aug the 9th, you set up this big party called "National Day Parade" at the Marina Bay and invited heaps of people to celebrate your birthday? Birthdays are certainly a big thing for everyone and that got me comparing the differences of having a birthday in SG and in NZ.

In SG, whenever there's a birthday, we'll have gatherings of families and friends, getting together to celebrate the once a year event in the honor of the birthday person. Usually it's a lunch or dinner celebration, where we'll find a nice spot of place to sit down and catch up with one another. Preferably, a place where we get to enjoy some delightful cuisine as well. Usually the birthday person will get a free treat, cost bore and shared by everyone.

I've been working in an office environment in SG for around 9 years. From my personal experiences, everyone will contribute a token sum of money to get the birthday person a gift or a birthday cake. (unless that person is really unpopular which is pretty rare... I hope) Sometimes, the person with a birthday will bring in some tasty snacks or treats to show their appreciation afterwards but it's not expected and it's optional.

So far, I've been working in NZ for the past 3 months, the culture here is certainly different. If it's your birthday, it's a culture expectation for you to bring in some cakes or food as a treat for everyone in the office. Isn't it interesting? And it seems that most folks will apply for annual leave if their birthday falls on a working day. They will bring the cakes in a day before and share it with everyone, then they will go on leave on the actual day.

My birthday is still a few months away but I will be ready for it now. I wonder if the folks in my office is adventurous enough to try a new type of cake, our Pandan Cake! haa.... or Kueh Lapis? Some parents in Victor's school was so curious about the Pandan Cake that Ann put into his lunchbox. They asked him why is our cake green!!! haa.... But they don't seems very eager to try it though. hee... Gosh, they don't know what they are missing.

Here are the 2 cakes you won't find in New Zealand. Photos from Bengawan Solo Cake Shop in Singapore. Boy do I miss these yummy cakes....

Pandan Chiffon aka Pandan Cake

(I bet everyone will also wonder why there is a hole in this cake! kekeke...)
Read more about this cake @Wikipedia

Kueh Lapis aka Thousand layer cake (千层糕)

(And why this cake has so many lines? *grin*)

I'm so ashamed I've taken these cakes for granted when I was living in SG. Dear SG, I will never take any food in Singapore for granted again! I Promise!

with love from NZ,
J

P.S. I've only had 3 months of working experiences here and only in one NZ company, I may have assumed too much, please pardon me if I am wrong. :)