Life's little blessings

I love saturdays.... if I do not need to work, that is.

Yesterday, I contacted my beautician and made arrangements for a facial today. I have 2 pimples on the right side of my face that are large and painful. Despite the last minute arrangements, my beautician managed to squeeze me in for a facial... at 9 am! Goodness me! Yawn! Do I need to wake up so early in the morning? Sigh... I guess so. The pimples have been bothering me for a week or so already.

As I started the facial session so early, I managed to finish by 12.30 pm. As Da would only finish work at 1 pm, I decided to go to my office to water my plants while waiting for Da. The timing was perfect. Da would only be able to meet me at 1.45 pm, so I did not have to rush.

We met up and made our way to our regular Saturday haunt. You guessed it! In the old days, we would stare at each other on a Saturday and ponder over where to go for lunch. Nowadays, we have an unwritten agreement to eat lunch at one of the Hainanese coffeeshops along Purvis Street on Saturdays unless we have other plans. Today was no different. As we ate at Chin Chin Restaurant the last time that we were at Purvis Street (p.s. I would recommend their mutton stew - it tastes like an Irish stew, only an Asian version of it!), we decided to eat at Y Y Ka Fei Dian ("YY") today.

On our way to YY, we walked along Beach Road. At the traffic junction, I looked up and saw a building that is very familiar to a good friend of mine:-

I am tempted to say more. However, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!

YY was crowded when we arrived. Fortunately, we managed to get a table near the cashier and under the ceiling fan. Excellent! It was cooling and we could "people-watch". The staff who was in charge of making the drinks was a like a robot - she went about her duties non-stop. It is a testimony to the amount of business that YY has.

We pondered over the menu and decided to order:-

(a) chicken with yam

(b) mixed vegetables

(c) bittergourd omelette

Of course, no meal at YY would be complete without "after-meal drinks and snacks". We ordered our usual - coffee, hot lemon tea, donut and peanut-butter toasted bun. Yummy!

After lunch, we proceed to the National Library where I returned the books that I borrowed and promptly borrowed some more books. The library was so crowded that people were sitting on the carpeted floor, either reading or quietly discussing school work / projects. I could not find a seat, so I sat on the carpeted floor and finished reading a book during the time that I was at the library.

As we walked towards the bus-stop opposite Peninsula Plaza (where we could take the bus back to Da's office where the car was parked), I could not resist taking a photograph of Capital Building. Gone are the days where movies used to be screened there.

All too soon, it was approaching dinner-time. ET had sent me an sms this morning to ask us to join the family for dinner. When we arrived at their home, we had a pleasant surprise. Ben was there! Ben is a poodle and he belongs to Big Foot. Big Foot is currently away in Bangkok, playing golf, so the job of baby-sitting fell on The Three Musketeers. Ben had not been feeling well lately, so he sleeps with a blanket at night. Such a cutie!

ET had prepared bak kut teh for dinner. It was a delicious meal. There was also the family's renowned fruit salad. The recipe is quite easy, actually. All you need to do is to get the canned cocktail fruits, drain off the syrup and place the fruits on the plate. Place cooked prawns (halved) on top of the fruits. Top with mayonnaise and you are ready to tuck in!

Boo-hoo! No English Premier League matches tonight! The World Cup Qualifier matches are being played instead. Not to worry. Manchester United is playing away to Liverpool on 13 September 2008. It should be a good match, watching the Red Devils beat Pool!

After dinner, we ate mooncakes that Da and I bought from Holiday Inn Atrium. Tiki and I could not resist arranging the mooncake slices and taking photographs of them. The rest of the family had to wait till we finished taking the photographs before they could enjoy the mooncakes. The verdict? The mooncakes are delicious!