I was born a couple of days after Christmas and for my last birthday, my family and I were on vacation in the Dominican Republic. I had never spent a birthday on the beach and that is exactly what I wished to do. After doing some aqua Zumba in the pool and eating lunch at the beach restaurant, we headed off to the beach to spend the afternoon enjoying the views and swimming in the ocean.

I even managed to do a little reading while my husband went to confirm our flight and do our online check-in.

After spending a wonderful afternoon together on the beach, my family and I headed back to our hotel rooms to get ready for our dinner reservations. I had chosen to eat at the Italian a la carte restaurant – a far cry from the buffet that we normally dined at on my birthday. When we arrived at our room, my husband and I were surprised to see the banner placed on our door.

We were especially delighted with what we saw on the bed:

I had to call my daughters to come over quickly and see what had been done.

While leaving, my youngest happened to glance in the bathroom and called us over.

The bathroom looked so pretty and I could not contain my delight at seeing the drawn bath – I really felt spoilt!

Of course I had to take a bath – and switch on the jacuzzi jets! I still managed to be ready on time for our booking at the restaurant – though only just! On arriving at the restaurant, I was in for another surprise:

On the beautifully decorated table, I saw a birthday card written to me from the concierge and the people who had organised all of these wonderful surprises.

The day could not get any better! As you can imagine, I was grinning from happiness. After a wonderful meal, I was gifted with the last surprise of the evening: the waiters sang happy birthday to me and presented my with a delicious cake that had been made especially for me.

My 2019 birthday is not one that I will forget quickly. It has certainly been the best birthday I have ever experienced.

What has been your most memorable birthday celebration?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2020

(This post is linked to Becky’s Square Challenge.)