What it would have been...

I wanted to be positive and say at least the taste was good and everyone came to me to tell me that the cake was pretty.

I wanted so much to smile and be able to say, "Yeah." But I can't.

And I can't because :

1) I have been planning for this cake for more than a year;

2) I was promised and assured that I would get the cake I wanted for Cheryl;

3) I was not informed before hand that something had cropped up and the Cake people couldn't deliver the cake as promised.
4) This was not the cake I wanted.

Sometime in February last year, I emailed all the possible cake shops I could find in Singapore and asked if they could do a carousel cake for Cheryl. They all said they did not have the cake separator I wanted and so they would not be able to do it.

Then Aunt Di tried to order it online for C but that couldn't happen because the online stores do not delivery to Singapore. Finally after sourcing for months, Aunt Di managed to place the order from a shop in Singapore that supplies baking stuff. We were happy that at last we would be able to finally get our hands on it. But the wait for the separator turned from weeks to months and it was only in January this year that the store finally called and said that it was in.

Phone calls to cake shops didn't stop and as C's party drew nearer I started planning again.

When Aunt Di told me that Cake Avenue has it, I was thrilled! But it was a promise that never came through. When I placed my order for the cake, I asked again if they were using that particular cake separator and they said "Yes".

My final email to them was on Thursday evening asking for the time of delivery. On Friday, I received nothing although C's party was on Saturday.

As we checked in on Friday to the chalet, and with no Internet access, I couldn't possibly read emails but I did give the good people at Cake Avenue a call at 1030 am on Saturday morning. However, they failed to inform me of a very big problem. Apparently, the cake separator had been used for a previous order and the customer who promised to return the separator had not. Cake Avenue could have told me this when I made my order on 22 March. I would have been more than happy to bring down the cake separator for them.

They could have told me still on 27 March; last email from them before the shocker at the party itself.

I only saw their email on Sunday evening when we were already home. At 12.30pm, Cake Avenue sent me an email to tell me of their problem. Sigh... what was the purpose? To cover their mistake?

Maybe you feel that I am making a really big deal over nothing; it's just a cake!

But Cheryl is only going to be 3 once.

But she will have many more birthday parties!
Yes, but how many carousel cakes can I get her?

Will I get her another carousel cake? A proper one this time round?
Maybe in another 3 years and hope that she has not outgrown it by then.

I am really peeved! I guess any one will if they have planned this for more than a year and have a bombshell dropped on the day of the party itself that what they have planned didn't materialise.

This was what I had wanted it to look like although I didn't expect it to be an exact replica but it turned out very differently.

(picture on the left : courtesy of coolest birthday cake.)

The colours were pale; the wordings flimsy. Does the cake look like it was made by professionals?

I will never order anything from Cake Avenue again. Thanks for everything ... more importantly, thanks for making me feel less of a parent.