Full Circle - the day the sun moves to the same position as when one was born...
I started writing this piece more than a week ago.... that's how lazy I've been :p
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I have so much to be thankful for...
A huge bouquet of flowers arrived for me on Friday afternoon, with a note saying
"Yann - my sunshine... Happy Birthday wth lots of love!! XOXOXOXOXO"
No name, no clue, not even the florist had an inkling of who the flowers were from, "the person paid cash and left"... A bunch of colleagues came round to hassle me on the mystery "admirer", if I knew... I'm normally pretty good at guessing but this really baffled me! Some time later, I received an SMS from SJ saying that she hopes I like the flowers! HAH! A phone call confirmed that the bouquet was from a whole bunch of them: Patricia, Shwu Jen, Geraldine, Sandra, Winnie & Grace! The very same girls who came round to "hassle" me too! Naughty naughty! But I must say I was really caught off guard, and their generosity was very very appreciated.
Found out that a fellow colleauge had his birthday the day before mine! Made him down a flaming lamborghini. Good fun Friday evening... and it was just the beginning...
Met Yan at Cityhall, who led me to the mystery place for dinner! Turned out to be Hog's Breath at Chjimes and I was surprised by who turned up!
Yan set the theme as "Cats" so I received a cat balloon, a cat book, cat purse, cat undies, cat pictures among a photo collage, scented beausouis soap, and a cat hug from Nabi & Karla! And not forgetting Steph's RACE TURTLE! It's SUPER CUTE! Nabi & Karla LOVE the Race Turtle 'cos they kept trying it sniff it, bite it, paw it! Thank you everyone!
The whole group took a nice stroll to Bar & Billiard Room for drinks. It was funny to watch the guys (Danny, Robert, Raymond, Marc & Tien) play billiard among themselves harharhar!
And then on my birthday....
Wanted to have dim sum, so Yan dated me out. It turned out that Addie & Robert came too! (Before that Tien & I watched "The Departed", but I felt "Infernal Affairs", the chinese movie that "The Departed" was based on had a nicer, more artistic, more subtle touch. The chinese actors could bring out the emotions better.)
And the nice little surprise was the 寿桃树. Minimum order of 八个小寿桃 will get you the tree! So Cool!
That's Robert monkeying behind the tree...
The tree in full view!
Do you notice anything interesting at the foot of the tree?
寿桃 - 象征长寿安康之意
A close up gives you 大白菜!!! Now everyone knows 大白菜 do not grow at foot of trees... but let's check on the symbolism...
大白菜象征着一个年代，一个贫乏且朴素的年代。或者说，是一个仍然在延续的记忆
??!!!??!
A further check gave me
【功能】 ①清肺热、通利肠胃，肺热咳嗽兼有便秘者；②生津止渴、消食下气，治热病津伤口渴，食滞胀满。
【宜忌】 适合于大多数人食用，但胃寒及肺寒咳嗽者不宜多食；腐烂白菜含亚硝酸盐有毒，不能食用。
Whoar!
That was lunch on my birthday. Yan & I later walked around abit, and then it was dinner.
Tien had a "surprise" dinner planned. But when we were about to leave, he said....
Tien: I have to tell you where we're going 'cos I don't know where it is...
Yann: harharharharharhar!!!
So we went to Oso @ Tanjong Pagar
There's Valet parking at Oso, but we didn't need to as we arrived in style by our impeccably convenient public transport - CAB.
Oso is dimly lit and transports one to a different place altogether. The low lighting was dim enough, yet not too dark to the extent of not being able to see what one is eating... nice balance. I like how the flickering shadows that the tealight candles cast on the walls dance. The tables were a tad too close together I find, so if I were to laugh insanely and fling out my hands, the guests from the table next to us would get a rude shock. *claustrophobic* Luckily, Tien didn't tell me any 欠揙问答题 then so I was quite demure.
Starter was Foie Gras
yum yum
Tien had Pork with something.
I had Squid Ink Risotto.
Food was nice! But portions weren't huge, though I must say it was enough.
Dessert was Panna Cotta
Cutely presented like Tofu cubes
And Tiramisu!
That was REALLY nice!
And we went home to watch 大长今 after that harharhar!
Felt like brunch the next day, so we headed down to Marmalade Pantry @ Palais Rennaisance. That's Tien's Poached egg with Bacon & Corn Beef Hash
I had Blueberry & Banana Pancakes with Creme Fraische! These were light and fluffy. Better than the ones I ate at Cedele @ Wheelock. PS Cafe had crispy surface ones (suspected to be almost fried in butter on one side), if you prefer those that is. But I like light & fluffy ones. :)
Now that's a long Birthday Celebration isn't it?!
So what have I gained in this one year? And what have I given off in this one year?
:)
I am thankful for everything that I have, for all the friends I have, for the family that I have, for the life I have.
posted by Yann @ 9:19 AM
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