Dad had no idea Hubs and I were at the restaurant waiting for him, to be there in person to celebrate his 80th birthday which was actually on 14 November. He was in shock, stunned, deliriously happy... all in one. Hip Hip Hooray, we pulled it off!
Let's rewind to a couple of weeks before 10 November, which we had booked our tickets to fly home to Kota Kinabalu to surprise Dad. I had to seek for expertise, Zain and Rachel, (my partners in crime and bestfriends in life) to make sure this surprise will work for sure. Rachel had to clear her calendar and she was in charged of the video. Zain had to do the bulk of the work for me as I wasn't in town to help.
Zain managed to invite Dad to dinner without creating any suspicions. Since it was close to Zain's birthday too, he just used that as his excuse. Zain also had to kidnap Mr Teo along to dinner as I wanted him to be with us also for the celebration. Moreover, Mr Teo is one person I always try to have a meal with whenever I am home. He has been my lecturer, colleague, mentor, and now a great friend.
It was set. Friday evening at 6pm at Welcome Seafood Restaurant. Now all I worry about is the timing.
We arrived in KK at about noon. Got lunch and then went on a hunt for a party shop. Refused to go to a nearby mall as I thought my parents might be there. Found a party shop near our house. Great!
Timing was good so far. We had about an hour more to kill. Called Rachel and we met at a nearby cafe for a drink. We literally hid there until it was time to drive to the restaurant.
At the restaurant...
Timing was PERFECT! We were all ready and waiting for Dad and Mom to arrive. Chatted a bit. Rachel became restless. Zain called Dad. He was just at the traffic light, arriving in 5 minutes. Zain immediately said, "I am going out to wait for him" and Mr Teo followed him.
Dad and Mom arrived. What do we do? What do we doooo? O M G. I was like a jumping monkey. Rachel was at the window, taking video clips. Dad was slowly walking towards the door. QUICK! Under the table!!!
We jumped out from under the table, Hubs and I, with gigantic grins on our faces. Praise God for Dad's strong heart. I guess it was not fun being Dad at that moment in time but it was fun for US!!! Dad was flabbergasted for a bit. Then realized we were real. Then he found his voice. And the first word that came out of his mouth was "Heyyy."
Hugggggs to Rachel. And of course, selfie time.
Rachel being selfie-goofy too!
