Celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary last Friday in a rather quiet and simple fashion. Had planned to try out the Spanish restaurant - Tapas Tree - at Changi Village but it had to be postpone due to unforeseen circumstances because our dear Vicki is never comfortable being home alone, especially so on rainy days, so there you have it, we stayed in with our dear friend. There she was happily munching on her treats while we chomped down the following...

Fiery buffalo wings from Jerry's Grill. KF Seetoh rated this dish 'die die must try'; and we further reiterate it with 'die die also must order'. It's by far the best I've tried.

Gourmet wood fired pizza from Spizza. Our order for the evening was Elisa. This is as best as we can get near home.

What is a decent meal without a nice bottle of wine? Before, I disliked Shiraz, but Nick has managed to reintroduce Hubby & I to this dark skin variety of grape. There is a lot more juice in grapefruit than meets the eye.

Great food is like great sex. The more you have the more you want. ~Gael Greene

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The F1 Grand Prix fever in Singapore may have died down weeks ago but another fever started, right here! Presenting to you my very first F1 accessory. How cool is it... If only they have a baby version for doggies, I'll definitely get it for Vicki - She is of course not pleased that this huge piece of thing but I needed a model other than yours truly ;P

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After about 2 weeks of anticipation our orders shipment finally arrived, but my dress was missing in action so I'm back to costume searching (again). It's fun but the ones I fancy are either out-of-stock or one size too big. The party is 1.5 months away and I'm still searching for the perfect outfit. Urgh!! It's so frustrating...

Carol said it's pricey to order but if I'm paying about the same to rent a one that has been recycled countless times and have to put up with the smell of mothballs, I rather pay for a brand new. I'm sure it costs more but definitely worth it.

Selamat Hari Raya Adilfitri

After weeks of craving we finally made our way to Geylang Serai for our all time favourite, Ayam Pecek. Discovered it 4 years ago and have since been eating it faithfully every Ramadhan period, but the ones this year is by far THE BEST! The wings were meaty and juicy and the lemongrass in the dipping sauce added an extra punch to the already delectable dish. Sedap!

Spent the evening of Hari Raya at thy royal palace - The Meadows. No show on the festive makan, instead we had a good spread of snacks. In addition, to mark the festivitiy, I ordered a blackforest cake from none other than Pine Gardens... alcohol free.... Ok.... who am I kidding right? When I called to place an order the staff on the other line was cool about it until when she asked for the wordings on the cake. She repeated twice to me there's alcohol content despite my assurance. It's only when I further assured her it's for a modern Malay family then it was case closed. However, that was not the end of it... upon collection of the cake another staff member looked a little stunned when she saw the wordings on the cake and I had to assure her once again and repeated what was told before. Hubby said I should have pulled a fast one on them and insisted that I've placed a special order without alcohol and then watch them scramble... that would be funny. Having said that, I do appreciate their professionalism - Caveat Venditor was well practiced here.

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Yesterday was also Children's Day and a very special one for new parents, Karen and Ronnie as they welcomed their first child, Rachel. Visited Baby Rachel today and she was so adorable. Dunno why but moments like this never fail to inspire me to re-visit my maternal instincts. No comments. We shall see about that.

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Exam is slightly less than 4 weeks away and I've yet to start on the revision. Old habits never die. Keep telling myself I will do it tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after... Not much room for procrastination, gotta start real soon.

Forumula 1 Weekend

As of yesterday, 27 September 2008, I'm a converted fan of F1. Thanks to Sis, Hubby and I attended our very first F1 race, what's even better (besides the free tix) is that it's the world's first night race held right here in our homeland. Before, I used to think it's boring and meaningless watching the race, but not anymore. On the contrary it's quite an experience - the noise of the engine though deafening brings the thrill to another notch and as the drivers were racing for the finishing line it was adrenaline pumping moments for the spectators, or fans per se. And I'm now officially one of them. In spite of the blazing sun and in between breaks we had an enjoyable time watching the race.

The Singapore Grand Prix ended a while ago and I'm a tad disappointed Lewis Hamilton of McLaren didn't win the Singapore race. However, he is way ahead in the championship lead and looks set to win for this season - touchwood - if all goes smoothly at the remaining 4 races this year. This being his 2nd F1 race, Hamilton is already making news. You go man!

Some photos to share...

Formula 1 pass aka tickets. It comes in a set of 3 - one for each day.

The entrance

Some other races were held in the day. This was taken before the Porsche race.

The grand stand was filling up just before the qualifying race.

One of the F1 driver negotiating a sharp bend which was where we were seated.

2009 is said to be the year of the Lean Cow, therefore it's recommended that offices and houses have some form of greens - paintings, ornaments, plants, etc. - because you need to feed the cows and grass is their staple diet.

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Today when I casually mentioned to Hubby and YL (seperately) that it's the year of the Ox next year, and it's my year, both responded with, "Oh! You are 36 next year"??!!! Hmmm.... me and my big mouth.

Singaporeans are queueing again. But this time it's not for collectibles, rather, they are trying/hoping to collect money, if any, from the troubled insurer, AIA. This morning as I stepped out of the MRT station I was received by a long queue of people waiting to get into the building. I thought you only get to witness such a scene on TV... There were people of all ages, races, some casually dressed while others look like they took time off from work. The collapse of Lehman Brothers is a rude shock to many - first thought that came to my mind was, who's next? I hope AIG will pull through this one or you have another pool of jobless folks on the ground. We'll know soon.

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Mom was admitted this morning for her procedure. Sis was with Dad when I called. Mom was wheeled in at 9:30am and they only saw the nurse at about 2pm. Thankfully, everything went well. I remember the last time when Mom had her Angioplasty I was alone. It was a much shorter wait but any wait outside the operating theatre is a long one regardless. Although there's only 1 per cent risk but you don't want to leave it to chance.

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Conversation with the taxi driver on my way home from the hospital.

Driver: Why are you in SGH?

Me: Visiting my Mom.

Driver: Heart problem?

Me: Yes.

Driver: Operation huh? I was a patient of SGH few years ago for 5 days. Doctor wanted me to undergo angioplasty but I refused, and I told her I'm afraid to die...

Me: Oh....

Driver: I started attending medical healing at a church in Tampines St 82 and I've recovered... Won't allow doctors to poke needles into my body, etc. I read some where people die later from too much dye used during the procedure...

Me: .......

Driver: I believe only in Jesus Christ... I believe only in my Jesus Doctor... Want to bring your Mom there? I can help.

Me: It's ok. We're fine.

Driver: Really. I can help. Gimme your number and I can contact you.

Me: Hmmm.... it's ok.

Driver: Believe me. Jesus Doctor can help your Mom.

Me: I'M MALAY, sorry, cannot attend church service/healing

....... silence........

911... A day to remember for all...

For everything there is a season,

And a time for every matter under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;

A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

A time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to seek, and a time to lose;

A time to keep, and a time to throw away;

A time to tear, and a time to sew;

A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate,

A time for war, and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

The same day Champion and another ex-colleague, ML celebrated their birthday. Apparently it's the first time Champ is in town for his b'day hence we made an effort to throw him a party - 2 to be precise; lunch & evening drinks. I can tell he is one happy person that day and it's the least we can do for him. One of the guests commented that a good leader has followers, and I would like to add, "A good leader inspires, influences and motivates people to achieve constructive change. They make a difference and facilitate positive change." I was too shy then to voice my views, rather I choose to pen it here.

The latter part of the party was equally fun. The evening saw bouts of ideas, suggestions and jokes being shared and exchanged across the table. Although it was all fun there had to be ONE dull moment. Because when asked for his opinion he had this to say, "It's for me to know and NOT for you to find out"..... There you have it, another Flipper moment.

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On another positive note, I scored High Distinction for one of my individual assignment. I'm still basking in the joy of the news. Thanks Sis! You were there when I needed help (to login to the portal). You made my evening.

It's Ramadhan month again. We "break fast" at Charsiew's kampung on Saturday. Before that Hubby & I made a trip to Kampung Glam @ Jalan Sultan to get some food. Compared to Eunos it's about one ninth of the former's scale and what was disappointing was I didn't get to eat Ayam Pecek. Nevertheless, we made 2 food discoveries, a nasi padang outlet - Sabar Menati Restaurant on No. 48 & 50 Kandahar Street. They are known for their beef rendang. It was indeed good but a tad salty for my liking. FYI, Anthony Bourdain was one of their many celebrity customers. The other (can't remember the name) is best known for their tulang but we didn't get to taste it yet. Akan datang.

Sumptious spread. Charsiew prepared 2 dishes, Ayam Masak Merah & Fish Sambal.

My all time favourite - Petai

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It's been some time since we caught up with Chee Meng & Bee Kuan. We take turns to buy dinner. This time it's our turn to pick up the tab and it was at the House of Lobster @ Simei ITE. We were busy chatting and eating away and forgot to snap photos, but still manage to take a shot of their house specialty, Lobster porridge - picture speaks a thousand words. The broth is so flavoursome that I will finish every drop of it, nvm if I'm already filled to the brim. Unfortunately, they have closed the outlet at Simei (Sep 7th to be exact) and will focus on the other surviving branch @ Woodlands ITE. I wonder why choose to open outlets in ITE? Cheaper rent? For sure you won't find many students lunching there.

'Worries go down better with soup' ~ Jewish Proverb