你的美丽其实並不是社会大众去定义，而是你的自信跟你的灵魂去定义你的美丽。我想跟大家说，原本的自己是最美，你不需要迎合这世界的规则跟标准而去改变你 － 康熙来了 dated 11 Mar 2015.

Last year I threw a party at Westin with the theme NUDE/BIRTHDAY SUIT; friends came wearing tan-colored clothes. This year, I extended a similar theme, BE YOURSELF, because becoming yourself is the hardest and most dangerous thing to do, but also the most beautiful and most worthwhile.

For such a theme, I wanted a fuss-free, cozy party at home where intimate friends and family could laugh, dance, sing; where they could use their hands to eat chilli crabs like savages, stuffed their faces with har jeong gai, and smear their lips with salted egg yolk sauce.

I could, I suppose, buy food from the cze char near my place, haul the heavy food for 9 persons, and trudge all the way home. But it was my birthday and I didn’t want to perspire in this humid inferno.

Hello, Food Panda! It is the largest biggest food delivery service and is expanding rapidly in over 40 countries around the world. SO MANY RESTAURANT OPTIONS.

The process of ordering from Food Panda is intuitive. Use the app or the net. The app doesn’t allow pre-orders, and since it’s my party, and I’m kiasu, and I wanted to pre-order, the mobile-friendly site works for my purpose.

Even using a mobile phone to surf the website is comfortable and easy to use. Key in your postal code. Restaurants nearby will pop out. Select a restaurant to check out the menu.

Select from the drop-down collapsible food menu, and pay using credit cards, Paypal, or cash. Success!

I was waiting for the confirmation email and SMS but they never came. So I being kiasu and kancheong called the customer service hotline. And they informed me that because I pre-ordered a few days in advance, they would send the order to the restaurant only on the day itself, to ensure that the restaurant won’t forget the order. Sure enough, on the day itself, at 4pm, I received an SMS and email confirmation from Food Panda, saying my orders were confirmed, to be delivered by 7pm.

For the past 5 birthdays, I ask my friends not to buy me presents; I ask them for angpows and all proceeds go to charities. Last year, we collected $500 for charities. In total, we estimate that we donated $2000-$3000.

This year, in addition to my friends’ donations, I’ll donate Food Panda’s advertorial fees (after deducting the cost of the meal, which I ordered and paid myself incognito to give a fair account of the delivery service) . Thank you, Food Panda, for your donation.

Written by A. Nathanael Ho.
This is an advertorial.