The room is filled with excitement. A birthday vibe buzzes through the living room of our temporary apartment. Nomi turned six, and she’s telling everyone she meets, just in case. And today, for the first time she can remember, she will finally have almost her entire family gathered to celebrate this special event with her. She couldn’t be happier!

Mummy on the other hand, got slightly stressed. A delayed container was the cause of this. Not only did we have to move the party from our new home (where it was originally planned), to our small-ish apartment in The Hague city center. Also, this kind of ruined her plans of making her middle one the most stunning castle cake you’d ever seen. So, when it became clear the move would not happen as planned, I had a little chat with our middle one, you know, just to manage expectations. I told her we might have to get a store bought cake for her this year. Her eyes turned a little sad, but all she said was: “I understand, mummy, I’m sure that will taste good too”. So, we started looking at the most delicious cakes online and although the chocolate ones seemed appealing to her, her face turned grimmer by the minute. I asked her if she was ok and she said: ”yes mummy, I really understand you cannot do this, but I really like your cakes and was sooo looking forward to my princess cake. But I guess I can wait until next year”.

…

There was a little pang when she broke my heart there. So furniture or not, I decided to at least give it a try. No castle, that would’ve really been pushing it, but I produced the largest cake our tiny microwave combination was capable off and decorated it with whatever cake stuff I brought in the air freight. A Cinderella carriage Belle style was the result and the look on her little face said it all.

So now we’re in anticipation of the guests. For the first time not celebrating it by the pool, but in good company of our family. And to make up for our losses, the neighborhood committee decided to throw Nomi a Chinese New Year’s festival, so I’m typing this while listening to various chimes of Gong Xi Fa Cai music. If we turn up the heating a little, it almost feels like being back “home” in Singapore. And good news, we received word that our container got the “all clear” from customs, so hopefully we can start building our "new home" in Rijswijk next week!

But wherever we’ll be, we’re wishing all of you, and especially Nomi, a prosperous new year! Gong Xi Fa Cai