On Birthday Cakes

This is my 18th birthday cake (last year) ! Pics below are from my 19th, just yesterday July 31

Birthdays come only once a year, and the best part about birthdays? The cake, of course!

Since I was a kid, I always looked forward to birthdays (July 31st!) because of the cake design. I've had all sorts of wonderful characters in my birthday cakes such as Cinderella, Little Mermaid and even the Powerpuff Girls. I'd always be the one to choose the design and it would always make me super happy!

As years pass, the cake designs on my cake have been changing as well. No more silly figurines. No more extra lollipop candies on a stick. Well, at least, that's what they wanted me to have. So for the next few years, I would oblige to having simple (but nummy) strawberry cakes. No more special toys for me. I don't remember much about those birthdays.

Now doesn't that say something?

Then I realized that just because we're growing older, doesn't mean we have to grow up. Who ever said that I had to stop liking cartoons once I reach 18? Whoever said that I couldn't have pink fluffy cakes with Disney Princesses on top anymore?

My childhood is something I wouldn't give up so easily. I might end up not giving it up at all. But that's ok. Because being a kid at heart can bring you a lot of happiness in life. Remember how it was to be carefree and alive; when nobody cared how long you'd spend on your dollhouse? Or when the only decision you had to face was which outfit to have your Barbie wear? It was the most joyous feeling. I can still remember a lot about those times. Sometimes, people ask me how I can remember those little things from way before when I was still a child, and not remember what I just said a few minutes ago. It's quite simple actually. Those memories stuck because they meant something to me. My Aladdin playset was more than just a stupid toy; I've had countless adventures and struggles (the way I had to switch Genie's head all the time. phew!) with it, and by doing so, I not only kept myself busy, but allowed my imagination to flow.

People dread birthdays as they grow older because they know that they are just that: getting older. But do we really age with time? Do the number of candles in our cake tell us how old (or young) we really are? Are years even important in the end? You already know, of course, that the answer to that is that it does not. Age is merely a number. In some other planets, you could be a million years old already (taking into account the number of revolutions it takes to the sun) and still it makes no difference. What matters is how we are inside; how we still see things, how we feel and how we are like. You don't count in days but in dreams. It doesn't matter how many days have passed, what matters is how many dreams you've realized.

And you know what's the best part about birthday cakes? You get to wish every time you blow the candles out.

*Edit August 2: I've been looking at past photos and found loads of pictures of my past cakes. I want to share them here but I'll just post a new blog for that. Keep a look out!*

*Edit November 30: I keep on forgetting to put a link here. Here's an entry about my childhood cakes!*