It is the weekend again!
Goodness me! I had a packed schedule today. I had earlier arranged to meet Hamtaro, Eddie and Eddy for breakfast today. We were supposed to meet at 9 am at Kallang MRT station and from there, we would take a bus to the Toa Payoh Interchange. Guess what? I was up till 4+ am the night before and as such, I struggled to get up this morning. Oh dear! I woke up at 8.30 am. There was no way I could get ready in time and rush to Kallang MRT station by 9 am. I would need to be faster than a speeding bullet to achieve this!
With a sigh of resignation, I sent an sms to Hamtaro to reschedule the appointment to 9.30 am. Notwithstanding this, I ended up rushing out of my home at 9.20 am. No prizes to you for guessing what I did next. Yes, sigh, I resorted to the age-old solution => hail a taxi!
When I finally arrived at the Kallang MRT station, I wondered whether I would be able to recognise Eddie and Eddy. I had not seen them in about 6 years. The last time I saw them, they were so young. Well, I would have to say that although I managed to recognise Eddy (who is now in primary 5), I could barely recognise Eddie (who is now in Secondary 2). The boys have grown up!
I gave the boys some Want-Want snacks that I bought from Watsons on 18 July 2008 and we boarded SBS Bus No. 31 towards Toa Payoh Interchange. We had agreed beforehand that we would have breakfast at McDonalds. May I share a secret with you? I have not eaten at McDonalds in a long time and I felt like a child being given a treat! Hamtaro, Eddie and Eddy ordered the Hot Cakes Meal whereas I ordered the McGriddles Meal. This was the 1st time that I ate the McGriddles. It is very delicious! Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photograph of our breakfast (I had brought along my digital camera).
After breakfast, the boys proceeded to Popular Book Store to browse the story books while Hamtaro and I adjourned for... you guessed it! More drinks! On our way to the cafe, we passed by a law firm. I look up at the signboard and gave a shout of delight! My friend, Glamour Puss, works at this law firm! I could not resist taking a photograph of her firm's signboard. Hey, GP, we have not met up for lunch near your office yet, but at least I know where your office is now. Let's catch up soon!
The cafe that Hamtaro brought me to is located at the bus interchange. It was crowded. We found an empty table and carried out standard protocol - "chope seat".
Before you start thinking that we placed packets of tissue paper on the chairs, let me assure you that we were more professional than that. Basically, I sat on one of the chairs at our table and guarded the chair opposite me like a mother hen protecting the chick. Heaven help the person who tries to take the chair away as a spare chair for his/her table! There was an old lady sitting at the table next to us. She smiled at me and then remarked that the cleaners at that cafe do not wipe the table whenever they remove the cups/plates from the table. When I heard that, I quickly removed my arm from the tabletop and placed them on my lap. After having had Cappuccino at McDonalds, I opted for black English tea at the cafe.
Hamtaro and I had a lovely time chatting at the cafe while waiting for Eddie and Eddy to join us. She had given them 1 hour to browse the storybooks at Popular Book Store.
At the next table where the old lady (who spoke to me earlier) sat, another old lady approached the table, struggling with her coffee cup and food. I quickly took from her the coffee cup and helped her to place it on the table. It turned out that she was a friend of the 1st old lady. After the 1st old lady left, the 2nd old lady interjected at the moment when I asked Hamtaro what "YANDAO" (a Hokkien word meaning "handsome) is in Teochew (yes, I have been going around asking people this question. I was waiting to tell Hamtaro the punchline, ie. that there is no equivalent word in Teochew because all Teochew men claim that they are handsome (which, as you know, is farther from the truth. I know of Teochew men who are not handsome!), so there is no necessity for a Teochew word for handsome). She said that the word is "nia", which means "good looking". However, according to her, there is no Teochew phrase for "good looking man" or "good looking woman". Instead, the Teochews would say, "That man is good looking." or "That woman is good looking.". Fascinating....
Alas... all too soon, the outing with Hamtaro, Eddie and Eddy was over. We took a bus back to Kallang and I boarded the MRT train to meet Da at Kembangan MRT station. We went to a coffeeshop at Jalan Tua Kong for lunch. If you have not tried the food there, you should. It is not the coffeeshop at the beginning of Jalan Tua Kong. You will need to drive further in. It is after you go past Elite Terrace.
When we got home, my exhaustion caught up with me and I took a quick nap before we went out again, this time to meet WC and SC at Odeon Towers for dinner. We had not yet decided where to eat yet. We only agreed to meet at the lift lobby.
When we parked our car at the basement carpark, I noticed the car that was also parked at the same carpark the last time that Da and I took Da's nieces to Hanabi Japanese Restaurant at Odeon Towers for dinner. Yes, it is the "Pokemon car"! I think the owner of the car must have a fondness for Pokemon, to spray the entire car with Pokemon images. If you look closely at the dashboard, you will also see Pokemon figurines and soft toys displayed neatly in a row. This reminds me of something. Years ago, I had a client who bought her young daughter to our office. The daughter was holding a soft toy. I smiled at the child and said, "Pokemon". She looked at me in disdain and said, "No. Pikachu!" Goodness me! How was I to know that "Pokemon" is a generic word for the character and that each character has its own name? I guess it is something like "Smurf". You have "Papa Smurf", "Baby Smurf", etc.
As you would have probably guessed by now, we ended up eating at Hanabi Japanese Restaurant. The restaurant was very crowded and we were fortunate to be allocated a table when we arrived. WC and SC had just returned from a 3-week trip to United States of America and they brought along a laptop containing digital photographs taken during the trip. We had a lot of fun looking at the photographs. The West Coast of the USA is certainly very scenic. It brought back fond memories of the times when my family used to visit the West Coast of USA in the 1980s and my father would rent a car and drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The coastal drive is very beautiful. I would encourage you to visit the West Coast of USA. If you are not comfortable doing it "free and easy", by all means do sign up for a packaged tour.
As usual, we were too enthusiastic and over-ordered the dishes at Hanabi Japanese Restaurant. SC was busy ordering various hand rolls when the waitress who was taking our order looked at her in shock and remarked, "That is a lot of rice.". It turned out that the waitress was correct. We ended up with so many hand rolls that we got full quickly and struggled with the rest of the dishes! Having said that, it was a very enjoyable dinner and we were happy to catch up with WC and SC. We had not seen them for some time. We even discussed arranging for a gathering of "the gang" (WC, Da and several other guys have been friends / schoolmates since primary school / secondary school). I look forward to that.
Goodness me! I had a packed schedule today. I had earlier arranged to meet Hamtaro, Eddie and Eddy for breakfast today. We were supposed to meet at 9 am at Kallang MRT station and from there, we would take a bus to the Toa Payoh Interchange. Guess what? I was up till 4+ am the night before and as such, I struggled to get up this morning. Oh dear! I woke up at 8.30 am. There was no way I could get ready in time and rush to Kallang MRT station by 9 am. I would need to be faster than a speeding bullet to achieve this!
With a sigh of resignation, I sent an sms to Hamtaro to reschedule the appointment to 9.30 am. Notwithstanding this, I ended up rushing out of my home at 9.20 am. No prizes to you for guessing what I did next. Yes, sigh, I resorted to the age-old solution => hail a taxi!
When I finally arrived at the Kallang MRT station, I wondered whether I would be able to recognise Eddie and Eddy. I had not seen them in about 6 years. The last time I saw them, they were so young. Well, I would have to say that although I managed to recognise Eddy (who is now in primary 5), I could barely recognise Eddie (who is now in Secondary 2). The boys have grown up!
I gave the boys some Want-Want snacks that I bought from Watsons on 18 July 2008 and we boarded SBS Bus No. 31 towards Toa Payoh Interchange. We had agreed beforehand that we would have breakfast at McDonalds. May I share a secret with you? I have not eaten at McDonalds in a long time and I felt like a child being given a treat! Hamtaro, Eddie and Eddy ordered the Hot Cakes Meal whereas I ordered the McGriddles Meal. This was the 1st time that I ate the McGriddles. It is very delicious! Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photograph of our breakfast (I had brought along my digital camera).
After breakfast, the boys proceeded to Popular Book Store to browse the story books while Hamtaro and I adjourned for... you guessed it! More drinks! On our way to the cafe, we passed by a law firm. I look up at the signboard and gave a shout of delight! My friend, Glamour Puss, works at this law firm! I could not resist taking a photograph of her firm's signboard. Hey, GP, we have not met up for lunch near your office yet, but at least I know where your office is now. Let's catch up soon!The cafe that Hamtaro brought me to is located at the bus interchange. It was crowded. We found an empty table and carried out standard protocol - "chope seat".
Before you start thinking that we placed packets of tissue paper on the chairs, let me assure you that we were more professional than that. Basically, I sat on one of the chairs at our table and guarded the chair opposite me like a mother hen protecting the chick. Heaven help the person who tries to take the chair away as a spare chair for his/her table! There was an old lady sitting at the table next to us. She smiled at me and then remarked that the cleaners at that cafe do not wipe the table whenever they remove the cups/plates from the table. When I heard that, I quickly removed my arm from the tabletop and placed them on my lap. After having had Cappuccino at McDonalds, I opted for black English tea at the cafe.Hamtaro and I had a lovely time chatting at the cafe while waiting for Eddie and Eddy to join us. She had given them 1 hour to browse the storybooks at Popular Book Store.
At the next table where the old lady (who spoke to me earlier) sat, another old lady approached the table, struggling with her coffee cup and food. I quickly took from her the coffee cup and helped her to place it on the table. It turned out that she was a friend of the 1st old lady. After the 1st old lady left, the 2nd old lady interjected at the moment when I asked Hamtaro what "YANDAO" (a Hokkien word meaning "handsome) is in Teochew (yes, I have been going around asking people this question. I was waiting to tell Hamtaro the punchline, ie. that there is no equivalent word in Teochew because all Teochew men claim that they are handsome (which, as you know, is farther from the truth. I know of Teochew men who are not handsome!), so there is no necessity for a Teochew word for handsome). She said that the word is "nia", which means "good looking". However, according to her, there is no Teochew phrase for "good looking man" or "good looking woman". Instead, the Teochews would say, "That man is good looking." or "That woman is good looking.". Fascinating....
Alas... all too soon, the outing with Hamtaro, Eddie and Eddy was over. We took a bus back to Kallang and I boarded the MRT train to meet Da at Kembangan MRT station. We went to a coffeeshop at Jalan Tua Kong for lunch. If you have not tried the food there, you should. It is not the coffeeshop at the beginning of Jalan Tua Kong. You will need to drive further in. It is after you go past Elite Terrace.
When we got home, my exhaustion caught up with me and I took a quick nap before we went out again, this time to meet WC and SC at Odeon Towers for dinner. We had not yet decided where to eat yet. We only agreed to meet at the lift lobby.
When we parked our car at the basement carpark, I noticed the car that was also parked at the same carpark the last time that Da and I took Da's nieces to Hanabi Japanese Restaurant at Odeon Towers for dinner. Yes, it is the "Pokemon car"! I think the owner of the car must have a fondness for Pokemon, to spray the entire car with Pokemon images. If you look closely at the dashboard, you will also see Pokemon figurines and soft toys displayed neatly in a row. This reminds me of something. Years ago, I had a client who bought her young daughter to our office. The daughter was holding a soft toy. I smiled at the child and said, "Pokemon". She looked at me in disdain and said, "No. Pikachu!" Goodness me! How was I to know that "Pokemon" is a generic word for the character and that each character has its own name? I guess it is something like "Smurf". You have "Papa Smurf", "Baby Smurf", etc.
As you would have probably guessed by now, we ended up eating at Hanabi Japanese Restaurant. The restaurant was very crowded and we were fortunate to be allocated a table when we arrived. WC and SC had just returned from a 3-week trip to United States of America and they brought along a laptop containing digital photographs taken during the trip. We had a lot of fun looking at the photographs. The West Coast of the USA is certainly very scenic. It brought back fond memories of the times when my family used to visit the West Coast of USA in the 1980s and my father would rent a car and drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The coastal drive is very beautiful. I would encourage you to visit the West Coast of USA. If you are not comfortable doing it "free and easy", by all means do sign up for a packaged tour.
As usual, we were too enthusiastic and over-ordered the dishes at Hanabi Japanese Restaurant. SC was busy ordering various hand rolls when the waitress who was taking our order looked at her in shock and remarked, "That is a lot of rice.". It turned out that the waitress was correct. We ended up with so many hand rolls that we got full quickly and struggled with the rest of the dishes! Having said that, it was a very enjoyable dinner and we were happy to catch up with WC and SC. We had not seen them for some time. We even discussed arranging for a gathering of "the gang" (WC, Da and several other guys have been friends / schoolmates since primary school / secondary school). I look forward to that.
After dinner, we all had an attack of "msg overload". We decided to adjourn for after-dinner drinks. I suggested the Y Y coffeeshop located at Purvis Street and we proceeded there.
When we arrived, I saw a couple at another table eating toasted bread spread with peanut butter. My favourite! It looked so mouthwatering and I was so tempted to order it. However, I was so full from the dinner that I reluctantly settled for a hot drink. I have to say that their coffee is rather strong.
All in all, it was a wonderful day. I had the opportunity to catch up with old friends and to renew acquaintances. I thank the Lord that my life has been so blessed.
1 comment:
Did the old lady attempted to whack you for trying to snatch her cup of coffee?
hey, why you like the YY coffeeshop so much? Try the freshly made donuts if you ever get a chance. for a mere 60 cents, you get a very mouth-watering donut. Maybe you wanna consider working at my co.?
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