I was invited to what I thought was my first ever Singaporean baby shower today.
I say “what I thought was” because I really thought it was, until I saw a basket of red eggs on the baby shower spread and remembered that I had already been to one years ago.
Red eggs are served in Chinese baby showers because the colour red is associated with luck and happiness, while the rounded shape of the eggs symbolises harmony, unity and new life.
But let’s backtrack a bit. First – Singaporean baby showers are different from what I’m used to, which are western ones, because the Philippines is heavily influenced by the west.
Carly (who is British) and I had both asked our Singaporean teammates when Evelyn’s baby shower would be, because we expected it to happen before the baby came out, as is the western custom. But our Singaporean teammates were confused as to why we were asking, because apparently in Chinese custom, they hold the baby shower one month after the baby is born. The origins of this custom come from ancient Chinese culture, when infant mortality was high. It actually makes sense.
Evelyn invited us to the baby shower shortly after she gave birth to Baby Natalie, so on the day of, Yan Ming drove us to Evelyn’s condo, where the party was held. Evelyn said they had decorated the function hall themselves. So pretty!
Baby Natalie was parked in front of the table in her stroller, ready to be fawned over by her guests and to have her picture taken.
She slept peacefully through all the hubbub. Man it must be fun to be a baby!
There was a lunch buffet outside, so we went out to eat and hung out near the pool.
Unlike western baby showers, there are no other activities like games or opening presents in front of everyone. So after eating, catching up, and cooing at the baby, we bid goodbye. Evelyn handed each of us a box as a parting gift.
There were pretty desserts inside. 😃
On the way out of the condo, we had a funny experience with Carly’s uber driver. She booked one and we passed him on the way out so YM honked at him to get him to stop so Carly could board his car.
For some reason, though, we seem to have lost the ability to articulate, so while the driver looked at us in confusion, wondering what on earth we wanted from him, we tried to communicate to him by pointing at Carly and other sign language. It took us a full minute to finally explain ourselves. With words.
WHY?!? 😅
We’re all projects and reporting people who talk to people daily for a living, for goodness sake!
Well that was a fun experience, I gotta say!
I wanted to go to the Paylah Palooza afterwards but the heat just drained my energy and I fell asleep at home instead. I’ll try tomorrow coz I really want to get my hands on those unicorn merengues!
Love this post. Of course, you may remember that I have three half Singaporean grandsons! My son’s family visits Singapore every 2 years but I have never heard of this custom. Personally, it makes sense to hold the shower after the baby is born. It used to be a custom (at least in the U.S.) to not know the sex of the baby, something modern moms are doing again, I’ve noticed.
Love this post. Of course, you may remember that I have three half Singaporean grandsons! My son’s family visits Singapore every 2 years but I have never heard of this custom. Personally, it makes sense to hold the shower after the baby is born. It used to be a custom (at least in the U.S.) to not know the sex of the baby, something modern moms are doing again, I’ve noticed.