birthday treats and eats
My birthday worked out fine in the end. It was pretty low-key, which was what I wanted, and I got to eat a lot of yummy food, which is also what I wanted. I also woke up early to get a headstart on the laundry (in our household, if you don't keep an eye on the laundry pile it turns into a bogey and eats you alive), which is not quite what I wanted but you can't win them all, I guess. J asked me what I wanted to have for lunch and I couldn't quite shake the image of crispy fried chicken out of my head, so we went to Popeye's at the Flyer, which is much more accessible for us than going all the way to the airport.
After gorging on fried chicken and salt, I nixed the idea of actually going onto the Flyer itself. It's almost thirty dollars per person, and there isn't even that much to see, what with the haze and the construction all around the Marina Bay area. Much better to wait until the Gardens on the Bay are completed, at least there'll be a reason to go up for that. I'm not blowing sixty dollars for us to go on an overpriced ferris wheel to look at a bunch of construction. We wandered around the shops below the Flyer though and on a whim and after at least twenty minutes in the shop I walked away with a nice pair of Ray-Ban sunnies, my first proper pair of sunglasses in... forever. I'm really very pleased with this gift because scroogey old me would never actually pay for a proper pair of sunglasses, especially when there are so many non-branded lookalikes out there in the market. But they fit well, look good, and I know I'll wear them almost every day when I go out with The Bun for our walks.
In the evening we dropped The Bun off with my mother and headed off to that decadent Japanese dinner I'd been looking forward to, at Kuriya Penthouse in Orchard Central. J and I had been loyal customers at Kuriya at Shaw House for the longest time, but that restaurant has now closed and morphed into an omakase-only, chi-chi place at the rooftop of Orchard Central. The meal was just the thing to lift me out of my mopey mood: wonderful food, excellent service, and four hours of lounging around drinking our way through two small bottles of wine and enjoying every mouthful of food.
Since this meal was omakase ["as you please, chef"], every course they served was a pleasant surprise, and there was always a nice tingle of anticipation in the air. Highlights: a large chunk of uni [sea urchin roe] atop a seaweed tofu concoction, tasting exactly of the sea, but sweeter; a wondrous fresh and sweet tomato, perfectly ripe and a great palate cleanser; a broth with fresh bamboo and clams, simmering with a flame below so that one could dip raw firefly squid in it to cook; and dessert, which came on a trolley piled high with fresh fruit and parfaits, all for the taking. We had two slices of fine musk melon each and three plump and sweet strawberries, served with a drizzle of condensed milk atop. From the moment we stepped into the restaurant and sipped our complimentary glass of champagne to the end, when the bartender came over to entertain us with magic tricks, we felt pampered, relaxed, and enjoyed every bit of the meal. It was just what I needed, and it really hit the spot for me. It helped also that later on, when we brought The Bun home way past his bedtime, he very cooperatively turned over in his crib, rubbed his eyes a bit, and went straight to sleep for the rest of the night. That was the cherry on top.
The next day I had dim sum at Imperial Treasure with my family. More great gifts: a set of Biotherm skincare from my sister (who knows I'm so scroogey about splashing out on stuff like this) and an X-Mini hamburger speaker, a nifty little thing that fits in the palm of my hand, hooks up to my iPhone, and delivers great sound. This means The Bun and I can listen to good tunes over breakfast; no longer are we slaves to the (awful) radio waves!
A birthday is always so much more than presents and good eats though. I am glad everything turned out low-key, I am glad to have received stuff that I actually wanted, and I am glad to have all that I already have - good health, family and friends, and people who love me as much as I love them back. No more mopeyness; now it's time to gather my best buddies and eat up a storm with them!
After gorging on fried chicken and salt, I nixed the idea of actually going onto the Flyer itself. It's almost thirty dollars per person, and there isn't even that much to see, what with the haze and the construction all around the Marina Bay area. Much better to wait until the Gardens on the Bay are completed, at least there'll be a reason to go up for that. I'm not blowing sixty dollars for us to go on an overpriced ferris wheel to look at a bunch of construction. We wandered around the shops below the Flyer though and on a whim and after at least twenty minutes in the shop I walked away with a nice pair of Ray-Ban sunnies, my first proper pair of sunglasses in... forever. I'm really very pleased with this gift because scroogey old me would never actually pay for a proper pair of sunglasses, especially when there are so many non-branded lookalikes out there in the market. But they fit well, look good, and I know I'll wear them almost every day when I go out with The Bun for our walks.
In the evening we dropped The Bun off with my mother and headed off to that decadent Japanese dinner I'd been looking forward to, at Kuriya Penthouse in Orchard Central. J and I had been loyal customers at Kuriya at Shaw House for the longest time, but that restaurant has now closed and morphed into an omakase-only, chi-chi place at the rooftop of Orchard Central. The meal was just the thing to lift me out of my mopey mood: wonderful food, excellent service, and four hours of lounging around drinking our way through two small bottles of wine and enjoying every mouthful of food.
Since this meal was omakase ["as you please, chef"], every course they served was a pleasant surprise, and there was always a nice tingle of anticipation in the air. Highlights: a large chunk of uni [sea urchin roe] atop a seaweed tofu concoction, tasting exactly of the sea, but sweeter; a wondrous fresh and sweet tomato, perfectly ripe and a great palate cleanser; a broth with fresh bamboo and clams, simmering with a flame below so that one could dip raw firefly squid in it to cook; and dessert, which came on a trolley piled high with fresh fruit and parfaits, all for the taking. We had two slices of fine musk melon each and three plump and sweet strawberries, served with a drizzle of condensed milk atop. From the moment we stepped into the restaurant and sipped our complimentary glass of champagne to the end, when the bartender came over to entertain us with magic tricks, we felt pampered, relaxed, and enjoyed every bit of the meal. It was just what I needed, and it really hit the spot for me. It helped also that later on, when we brought The Bun home way past his bedtime, he very cooperatively turned over in his crib, rubbed his eyes a bit, and went straight to sleep for the rest of the night. That was the cherry on top.
The next day I had dim sum at Imperial Treasure with my family. More great gifts: a set of Biotherm skincare from my sister (who knows I'm so scroogey about splashing out on stuff like this) and an X-Mini hamburger speaker, a nifty little thing that fits in the palm of my hand, hooks up to my iPhone, and delivers great sound. This means The Bun and I can listen to good tunes over breakfast; no longer are we slaves to the (awful) radio waves!
A birthday is always so much more than presents and good eats though. I am glad everything turned out low-key, I am glad to have received stuff that I actually wanted, and I am glad to have all that I already have - good health, family and friends, and people who love me as much as I love them back. No more mopeyness; now it's time to gather my best buddies and eat up a storm with them!