Birthday 2006

Time. It stops for no man. To my dismay, time would not make an exception for a lady either. Drats. Hehe. The time of the year has come... as Christine puts it, she has started calling me 'Obasan' cos I turned a year older ahead of her by a few months. 7 months to be exact. So what better way to commemorate this occassion by pampering myself with retail therapy and a manicure session!

I took a day off work to sleep in and relax. However, my friends thwarted my plans to sleep in a little longer today. My mobile phone was buzzing with smses of birthday blessings, wishes and greetings. I felt happy at every message and thank everyone of them personally for remembering. The very thought that friends remembered my birthday made me euphoric. But alas.... being woken up from my slumber was the price I paid for popularity! Just kiddin.. hehehe..Tried as I may, I could not return to sleep. So I got up, freshened myself and prayed to God, thanking Him for this day that He gave to me. I continued praying for other friends and people that came to my mind and dedicated the day and myself to Him.

Afterwhich I did some reading of the bible and then tried to finished up the book Memoirs of a Geisha which Angie has lent me so I can passed it onto Liz. I glanced up at the clock and saw oh gosh, time has wheezed me by. Once more I forgot time does not stop nor slow itself down for any man .. nor woman. Quickly, I made arrangements with Serene and prepared to meet her in town.

In town, I bought myself a pair of shoes and a necklace (which I have no idea how am I gonna match it or use it later.. but I am sure one fine day I would find use for... somehow, hehe) and by this time Serene had arrived at the shoe shop I was in and had not noticed her arrival. I laughed when I finally saw her and we head off for a light bite. I couldn't eat as I had a dinner appointment that night. Since I brought my baby along and have never taken a picture of Serene, I decided I will take a picture of her and blog here. Hahahaha.... if you're reading this babe, please feel honoured! =) I know you will. Lol.

Now tell me, does this woman look anywhere like a mother of one? Unbelieveable. I think she slams Marie France down. And of cos the picture below is the birthday girl herself. Please pardon how sickly she looks as she just recovered from a bad bout of inflammed tonsils and fever. I could only have yoghurt though I was famished (I have not eaten all day when at home earlier as I was too caught up in my reading) as I was going for fine dining later.

After more shopping, I went for my dinner appointment at Au Jardin. I like the ambience and of cos the food. Treated like a princess I was by the serving staff and here are some pics of the food that I had:

The first dish that was served to us, aside from the seaweed crackers and a selection of different breads to go along with butter, was this 'sample dish' which we didn't order but the restaurant offered. Spoon had smoked salmon, the shot had (Check this out!) watermelon foam with tomato juice (Woooo!), the quaint little flowery like cup was steam quailegg, finished with a delicate stick of fried fish. I think this sample dish especially the watermelon foam and tomato juice is FANTABULOUS (as how usually my colleague, Yan, puts it).

Birthday girl with the botanical garden behind me.

The hors d'oeuvres that I had my eye on was foie gras (love it!) done in 4 different styles. Clockwise from the top right hand corner was Foie Gras caramel custard, duck rilletes & foie gras terrine, salt cured foie gras and my personal favourite which is the roasted foie gras with mango cubes. I love foie gras!!!

For entrees I had the Courgette (also known as Zucchini) Flower, crispy courgette flower with crab and tomato:

My main dish was Wagyu Beef Rib Eye, pan grilled to medium rare with truffled mashed potatoes bordering ther beef rib eye, topped with a selection of vegetables. Pretty isn't it?

Finally, I reached dessert and had Guanaja Chocolate - warm guanaja chocolate with pear sorbet and a chocolate biscuit filled with nut choppings. Delectable!

That was birthday 2006 for me. =)