Boomerang

The girls were so sweet to celebrate my belated birthday over Sunday brunch at Boomerang, Robertson Quay. Initially, the plan was to go to Epicurious but a long queue had already formed when we got there, and truth be told, we found the chill factor missing. So we headed over to the Aussie-run Boomerang instead, which was a stark contrast to Epicurious in terms of their clientele. Over at Epicurious, we saw lots of locals but at Boomerang, the crowd was predominantly ang mohs. In Lei's words, "it didn't feel like Singapore".

I liked the ambience at Boomerang. It was stylish yet casual - great place for friends to catch up over some brunch and wine. What I didn't like, however, was the obvious superior service rendered by the predominantly Filipino waitresses to their preferred clientele, the AMs. We sat there for a good 10 minutes with no one bothering to hand us a menu. In strolls Jamie Ong (she is so gorgeous) and AM friends, and they were served iced water and given the menu pronto.

Food wise, nothing to boast about. The Wagyu burger was dry and not that tasty.

The Aussie breakfast plate (I forget its name now) was pretty good, I loved the thick beef sausage and you can never go wrong with bacon!

But the best item had to be the thick, spongy pancakes that were so so yummy!

Despite the mediocre service and average food, nothing could dampen our spirits on a cool, breezy Sunday!

xoxo

Honest juice from Cold Storage, Taka. The labels are so nice, makes me feel like trying them all!

Seriously creamy ice cream, also from Cold Storage, Taka.

1 year older, none the wiser

I grow a year older today.

Birthday celebrations officially started last Tuesday with my dear pal CX at Marmalade Pantry, Ion. I was a big fan of MP - used to frequent the one at Palais Renaissance but due to their limited menu, I stopped going there a few years back. To my delight, the food is just as good as ever; I had the aglio olio sakura ebi cappellini which was very simple but unusual. Think fried "hae-bi" spaghetti drenched in olive oil - yums! CX had Thai basil rice, which she enjoyed too. MP was having a drinks promotion so I ordered a glass of lychee Bellini to accompany my meal for only $6/glass. Ladies will be happy to know that they offer a 20% discount for ladies night...I am not sure if every night is a ladies night so best to call up and check.

Second celebration was a family night out at our favourite western restaurant in JB - TGIF. Daddy, little bro, P and I indulged in the Jack Daniel's back ribs while Hayden had a medium-rare JD steak. I never used to be a ribs person, but I'm now a convert! The meat fell off the bone at the slightest tug and every mouthful created an explosion of taste and flavour! P and I were debating if the TGIF or Applebees ribs tasted better. I'd say TGIF wins because of that special sweet JD sauce! The bros had very thoughtfully bought me a Baskin Robbins chocolate ice cream cake in the shape of a heart, which I heart!


Sunday night was a BBQ party at an ex-colleague's lush pad @ River Valley with the SATC gang. Dear S has an awesome electric BBQ pit that churned out well-roasted meat that retained all its natural juices. We had beef, pork, banana leaf otah, sausages and chicken wings, all browned to perfection by none other than chef J - crispy on the outside, succulent and juicy on the inside. All that sinful food followed by the highly-raved about cake from Swiss bake - Paradiso and ice cream from Udders. Thank you dear friends! :)


Monday was dinner with my dear P. Since it was my birthday, P acceded to my whim to watch Despicable Me (he usually avoids cartoons). I loved it! I think P loved it too as he was smiling a lot during the show and laughing away at the cute yellow characters. Very good cartoon that will definitely make you laugh, unless you have no sense of humour! Movie was followed by dinner at Kuriya dining @ GWC - pricey but very very good quality Japanese food. To me, one of the finest and comparable to our excellent dining experience at Sumitomo building, Tokyo in 2008. Sweet P presented me with a wad of Singtel vouchers, and set his rule that the vouchers can only be used to purchase the iPhone! Ahhh, what a dictator, so looks like I'll be jumping on the iPhone bandwagon shortly!

Double celebration - Part 6

Just when you thought the revelry had ended...haha. Ok, I promise this is the last instalment.

Today was a small and cosy affair at Cindy's place. Main event was to coo over the little precious, sub-event was to celebrate Cindy's upcoming and my belated birthday :)

We were looking forward to a nice round birthday cake but godma bought 3 slices instead (hee!). They were all yummy nonetheless!

With Cindy Mama

Godma with the real mama

Little precious Aiden! He's so cute!

Bonding with Godma

Mama I love you!

Guess who's making him smile??

It was really really hard to get focused shots of the baby coz he was moving around so much!

She remembers - Part 5

She's my dear friend cum ex-roommate from uni who remembers my birthday faithfully every year..almost. This year, she was late in her bday wishes, so I punished her by making her buy me sashimi. We had tuna belly, salmon and scallop sashimi, which were all so good. The tuna belly literally melted in my mouth...ooh la la! :)

Chill out at Coffee Bean after dinner!

Puffer pig 1

Puffer pig 2

We are friends! :)

With the crazies - Part 4

As David Gates proclaimed in his song, "If a picture paints a thousand words".....

Minori Restaurant @ UE Square

The Birthday gal was the 1st to arrive at the secret destination...

.....and was kept waiting for....20 minutes...before the rest of the crazies appeared.

Presenting: The Uglies...

and....The Good-Lookies!

The Hungry Wongs busily scan the extensive menu for yummies.

On your mark, get set, let's attack!

Sashimi frenzy!

Oh man, we didn't order enough!

Chomp chomp chomp! What's next?

Finishing the remnants of the kimchi pork. "I won't even let one tiny morsel go unscathed!"

Getting high on Miso! Taaaaaaaa!

After 3 rounds of food, the verdict?
P/S: Check out the expression on Miss Wong's face! Priceless!!!!

2 thumbs' up - We like!

Chocolate Factory @ Robertson Quay

Surprise for the bday gal - Yummy cakes!

Happy Birthday to me! My bday wish......?

Beauty of great stature: Bride of Gulliver

Her nemesis: Petite pretty princess of Liliput

The 2 undiscovered Ancient Beauties of Asia

It was getting late...time to say goodnight!

Happy Birthday to me - Part 3

Spent the entire day with darling P! First, he made me go soppy with a card (yea I know, I am so easy to please...). Then, he surprised me with a bday present, when I wasn't even expecting one (I swear!). And best of all, he painstakingly lined up a whole itinerary aimed to relax and pamper me! :)

We are happy and running late for our spa appointment!

Our destination - Spa Sauvignon, a redwine-themed spa sanctuary on No. 71, Bussorah Street (opposite Hotel Parkroyal and the Concourse).

This is where we had our massage (separately of course!)

Sipping on red wine after our treatment.

The masseur was really quite something. She skillfully kneaded and eased all the knots in me till my whole body went limp. Though it hurt quite badly at times, the whole experience was so deep and penetrating that I felt myself drifting off to zzz land.

After the movie, we rushed down to Lido to catch the premier of Harry Potter - Order of the Phoenix.

Verdict? So-so. The movie itself was bearable, though Harry, Ron & Herminone looked overgrown. I thought Ron looked pretty goofy and cute though *giggle* And what's up with Harry and his tight-fit tees? What irked me most were the unruly, juvenile and undisciplined school kids in the same theatre. At the start of the movie, some of them, presumably belonging to a Harry Potter fan club, screamed "We love Harry Potter!!!!" Oh man, this is not some concert where you can scream your heads off can! Throughout the movie, these kids kept walking around, scrunching plastic bags and generally creating a din in the cinema. The girl next to P kept lighting up our area with her handphone and some idiot behind me was kicking my chair intermittently. It was horrible and P never wants to watch a movie at Lido again!

The white, faceless and not very photogenic guy on the right of Sirius is none other than the incredible Dumbledore!

Pasta buddy - Bday Part 2

Dinner treat from CX, the Italian Mama and my Pasta Buddy. We were contemplating Russian food, but as usual, we could not resist the temptation of hot, savoury and tasty pasta! In fact, we used to frequent "Pasta Fresca" when it was still around at Shaw Centre. When our regular haunt closed down, we were devastated. CX somehow had the power to curse any stall/restaurant/cafe she frequents *kidding*

We decided to give "Spageddies" a shot, since we couldn't remember the last time we ate here!
Shining (i.e. oily) happy faces!

The Tomato Tri-colour Fusilli with breaded prawns that I ordered.
It was mediocre.

Watch CX struggle with the cream fetucinni with grilled chicken.
She got sick of it after 3 mouthfuls?

Despite the lacklustre food (and stomachache for me), we were still smiling!

Earlier in the afternoon, something really funny happened. One of the partner's secretary was carrying a huge box of cake and I had a fleeting thought that MAYBE that cake was for me! Haha, yes you can say in the most disgusted voice you can muster, "Dream On!" The cake was actually for my partner, the biggest shot in the office. While they were singing the bday song, I happily substituted her name with mine......