Have you ever heard of a Watermelon Rose Cake?

I haven’t.

When a former colleague told me that she and her fiancé wanted to make one for me on my birthday… I couldn’t say no. You might remember I previously wrote an embarrassing list of birthday gifts I’d like to receive. I mentioned that experiences trump actual gifts. I love uniqueness. I love new experiences.

Well, here it is. A watermelon rose cake! Baked by the two lovely ladies of My Bake Shoppe.

I can double confirm plus chop that this cake was devoured within a minute by myself, my housemates, and two guests. I don’t have a clue how it was possibly made. How can one plant the juiciest slices of watermelon within the inner layers of this cake… and NOT crush the delicate watermelon. It’s not too sweet, not too sour… it’s like April 25. A perfect date. It has strawberries. It has bits of rose petals. It has pistachios for some added crunch. It’s made with LOVE.

I had picked it up at Jo and Co’s void deck together with my other former colleague, Ge. Ge is my neighbour here in Pasir Ris Grove. So she picked me up so we could both collect our watermelon rose cakes.

As a bonus, I got to see Jo and Co’s dog Fendi. ❤

I can’t thank you both enough for the cake. I highly recommend it to friends who want to try an icy dessert treat!

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That same afternoon I invited two good gay friends to join me for a prayer circle a simple pre-birthday celebration. The pandemic protocol at the moment is to limit house guests to two.

I didn’t want to trouble my housemate-chefs to cook. But I couldn’t help it. Bother them I did.

I REALLY WANTED LUMPIA.

What is a Filipino birthday gathering without lumpia? Housemate D also prepared his signature belly-chon, pork sisig, and leche flan. Housemate G added aglio olio pasta. PJ helped tremendously with preparation, the canapés (these were bacon-wrapped mushrooms, fried chicken)… and of course the lumpia.

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Guests J and G brought apple cider and pink Magnum ice cream. J brought Mario Party too. G gave me a bag of my favourite Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies.

I love Mario Party btw. Oh, to be 16 again… far from the need to adulting.

We played several rounds of Mario Party before I had to understand I couldn’t kidnap my friends on a Sunday night. Like my housemates, they had work the next day. Adulting.

Happy to picture these two with plates of Filipino leche flan. I can’t think of the Singapore equivalent.

My housemates also gave me a chocolate cake from Awfully Chocolate. I can’t believe I’ve turned 36. It’s sinking in. It isn’t sinking in. I don’t know why the days, months, and years… are starting to blend into each other. Damay-damay na ‘to… also turning 36 this year is Lana Del Rey, Bruno Mars, Carly Rae Jepson, and Ciara. I’m a year older than Lady Gaga. I’m now twice the age of Olivia Rodrigo.

I didn’t want to move into August without catching up on pending stories from July. This birthday gathering preceded an entire week off from work. I’ll share my birthday staycation story next.

Thank you for the birthday greetings. ❤