Happy Birthday To You
Happy Birthday To You
Happy Birthday To Lisa and Helen
Happy Birthday To You!
We were born and bred in Middleton, Manchester above a takeaway. Word of mouth spread quickly through Middleton that our mother, Mabel had moved to Mills Hill and our gran, Lil’s curry was available once again. Business grew as swiftly as my mother’s stomach ballooned. She would serve the customers and waddle around the shop. As before the business became part of local life and the customers noticed that my mother was pregnant they took an interest in her welfare. Some even knitted and little socks and baby cardigan sets which they gave to her as presents. On some days, it seemed as if everyone was as excited about the new arrival as she was.
When my mother was close to due date, my parents had no idea they were expecting twins. I was lying behind my sister Lisa so they had quite a surprise when we turned up together. They had only seen Lisa on the scan. My mother gave birth to Lisa in the Royal Oldham Hospital, eight miles away from Manchester on 13th October, just after lunch. I came into the world second, two minutes after her.
Despite the shock of taking home two children rather than one, my mother said it was great to have twins. I looked after Lisa and Lisa looked after me. When I cried, Lisa would calm me down by stretching out a tiny arm in comfort me. We shared a bed, then a room and even a study desk, until we were in our late teens. As we grew, we would remain as close as only people who have a shared the same womb could be. We kept each other company at school and when we were old enough to work in the shop too. And now we’re business partners in Sweet Mandarin.
Like many Chinese children, my childhood revolved around the family business. It was a way of life. If you are born into your obligations, you do not know any better. All I knew was that we lived in the shop ate from the shop and worked in the shop. There was nothing else.
Sunday was our day off and this was spent either at a Chinese restaurant having a family meal or at another friend’s shop so my parents could talk with their friends about how business was and how they could improve the takings. My father tried to enroll us into Chinese school on Sundays, We hated it. But luckily Sunday was the only day the shop was closed and my parents were prone to oversleeping. We often moved the clocks forward so the alarms went off too late! As they never woke in time so we missed the classes. Eventually my father exasperated by our determined stone walling of Chinese school, cancelled our subscription and enrolled us into the local orchestra instead. Hence occasionally, you might have to put up with me playing the violin to you in the restaurant!
We just want to thank God, all our family and friends and customers for celebrating our birthday with us at Sweet Mandarin. Be blessed and God Bless You Always.
Love Helen and Lisa
To book a table at Sweet Mandarin email sweetmandarintables@gmail.com . Our opening times are Tuesday – Sunday 5-10pm.
Sweet Mandarin is a Chinese Restaurant in Manchester which serves delicious Chinese cuisine and exotic cocktails. We make our own sweet chilli sauce, bbq sauce, sweet & sour sauce which you can buy from Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Ocado, Booths, Wing Yip and Chi Yip. Sweet Mandarin Chinese Restaurant and Cookery Schoolcan cater for the gluten free, dairy free diners. We are a short 15 minute walk from the Manchester Arena. We are not based in Chinatown, but based in the trendy Northern Quarter near the Arndale Centre, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Debenhams and Primark. The nearest hotels to us are the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn Express, Premier Apartments, Blue Rainbow Aparthotels, Light Hotel and Hatters Hostel.