Special day

What a wonderful day this has been!

My work day started quietly. As I was engrossed with a file, I suddenly heard singing. Two of my colleagues walked into my room, singing "Happy Birthday" and carrying a floral arrangement (see photograph below). The lovely flowers and adorable soft toy (remark: to all my colleagues and friends who told me that they wanted the soft toy, the answer is "NO WAY, IT'S MINE!") were ordered by Da for special delivery to me this morning. Thank you, Da! Mwah! Mwah! You're the best!

I was on leave this afternoon. As Da would only be able to get off work around 8 pm today, SC and I had arranged for a "tai-tai" afternoon. We started our escapades by meeting up at International Plaza ("IP"). More specifically, SC drove by IP and picked me up from there.

We had arranged to go to SC's gynaecologists' clinic at Singapore Shopping Centre ("SSC") at 2 pm. As we were early, we had a quick lunch in a cafe at SSC before we proceeded to the clinic. The receptionists/assistants at the clinic were very friendly and chatty. SC and I had to weigh ourselves. Phew! The only weight I put on since 7 November 2008 (when I last weighed myself) was my lunch today (or so the clinic assistant kindly consoled me). As for SC, she pulled a face when she discovered her weight. It's okay, girl. It was probably your lunch plus the excellent buffet spread at AH's and JL's wedding on 8 November 2008!

SC's gynaecologist is a very chatty and friendly person. He has an interesting sense of humour and is able to tell a joke with a straight face.

After the visit to the gynaecologist, SC and I proceeded to the next stop - Innovative Chiropractic. Yes, we had arranged for another manual lymph drainage ("MLD") session with the therapist. I had my MLD session while SC had her session with her chiropractor. When I was done, SC continued with her MLD session while I... erm... started browsing the health magazines over there and copying recipes that caught my eye. I have a query - if I do not have a food processor, can I use a blender instead? Or would a chopper be more appropriate? I have a Moulinex chopper and a Moulinex blender. When I bought them at a departmental store in Vivo City a few months ago (to replace the set that I have had for more than 10 years), I did see a Moulinex food processor being sold but I decided not to buy it as it is more common to use a chopper or a blender in Singapore.

After a most relaxing therapy session, SC and I proceeded to Great World City and SC showed me the cart where the products from the Dead Sea in Israel were being sold. The salesperson there is an Israeli and he is the manager of the Israeli company that manufactures and exports the products to Singapore. After listening to some sales pitch and engaging in some bargaining with the manager, SC and I decided to buy the shower gel and the facial peel (which is a scrub and works along the lines of the "marvel gel"). The manager gave us a body butter each as a gift. In addition, he also gave SC a hand cream (as she had introduced a new customer, namely, me). If the design of the labels on the products that you see in the photograph below look familiar, it is because SC had previously given me the sea salts and body mud from this range.

All that bargaining had made us thirsty, so SC and I proceeded to Cedele bakery for some refreshments.

We were tempted to order some of the mouth-watering pastries that we saw on display but decided against it as it was close to dinner-time.

Instead, we ordered a pot of tea each. SC ordered the white pomegranate while I ordered the peach and ginger tea.

Shortly after 8 pm, SC and I picked up Da after his work and we made our way to Changi Airport Terminal 3 ("T3") for dinner. I have never been inside T3, save for the time (in May 2008) when some colleagues and I used the sky-train and travelled from the departure lounge in T2 to the departure lounge in T3 for a quick look before boarding the aeroplane for the flight to Hong Kong for our firm trip. I thought that T3 is the budget terminal but I was told that we have another terminal which is the budget terminal.

When we had parked the car at T3, we proceeded to the Crowne Plaza Hotel, which is located at T3.

We wanted to eat at the Chinese restaurant located at Crowne Plaza Hotel. Does the logo of the restaurant in the photograph below look familiar to you?

Yes, we were going to have our dinner at the Imperial Treasure Restaurant. WC was not joining us for dinner but SC was giving us a dinner treat from her and WC.

This restaurant is renowned for using herbs in their cooking.

The manager gave some recommendations as to which dishes to order. While waiting for our dinner, we sampled the appetisers.

First up, the herbal soup. We found the soup very light and refreshing.

As is common nowadays for soups served in Chinese restaurants, the ingredients are not ladled into the individual soup bowls. Instead, the ingredients are placed on a separate plate. One of the ingredients tasted like abalone but is apparently not abalone. The manager did give us the name of the ingredient but the three of us are not exactly very proficient in the Chinese language, so we did not know what the ingredient was.

If you think that the dish below is claypot beancurd with pork loin, you are 2/3 correct. Beneath the beancurd and pork loin are actually two very large pieces of fish. The fish was very fresh.

No Chinese dinner would be complete without vegetables. We ordered the "dou miao" with the large leaves. There is another variety of "dou miao" that has small leaves - these do not taste as nice as the "dou miao" with large leaves.

The final dish that was served has a very interesting name - "concubine chicken". I do not know the reason for the name of this dish. It was served with a condiment comprising chopped spring onion in light oil (which tasted like olive oil). I am not very fond of spring onion. However, if you were to eat the chicken with the condiment, it gives the dish a very refreshing taste.

Unbeknownst to me, SC had ordered a "shou bao" in honour of my birthday. When the dish arrived, the manager gave me well wishes for my birthday. No wonder we had to wait a while for the "shou bao". Not only was the "shou bao" warm, the bean paste filling ("leng-yong") was hot. What a lovely way to end the meal.

I had a very wonderful birthday celebration this year. The celebrations started on 9 November 2008 (lunch with my family), continued yesterday (when my colleagues gave me a surprise birthday celebration during Bosses Day lunch) and onto today (outing with SC and wonderful dinner with Da and SC). Da and I have not even gone for our candle-light dinner yet (which we intend to have this friday, saturday or sunday - big hint, Da!). At the rate I am enjoying my birthday meals this year, I have to pay more visits to the manual lymph drainage specialist and drink more herbal tea / Chinese tea / green tea / fiber drink to aid digestion!

I thank Abba Father that I am very blessed with good health, a loving family and wonderful friends and colleagues. The Lord has been faithful to His promises to His children and I know that He will continue to bless me so that I can be a blessing to the people around me.