23 December 2006 ~ Makan Marathon

There was to be a 'GE/HTV' gathering (organised by Leng, Cheng & Der) on 29 Dec; but since so many people cannot make it, Leng decided to have a mini makan gathering with the usual jing gang on 23 Dec. Was supposed to meet at 12pm; everyone was late (except for Leng, Cheng & Mich). Ram & I reached Heeren around 1240, & Hiao was just on his way to order food; didnt want to be bitched at, so i guess he just arrived too....

Denise came 10mins after us; El & Fa reached around 1pm. We ate at Vi'lage; used to be Marche. Food was ok; I had a double smoked salmon & hunter sausage with rosti. Ram ordered his seafood platter. Cheng brought brownies made by her friend. it was so good, i think she can sell them.

Mama came much, much later. Of course, there was the usual bitching & bantering between Hiao & El, but that was nothing unusual. Mama now smart; she learned to hold her tongue so Hiao have no cause to bitch her....El, please learn from Mama!

This is where the nightmare begun....They went with me back to RC (collect my laptop. need to work from home), then we went to Bras Basah (El running some errands). After that, we adjourned for desserts at Liang Seah Street. Mama complained hungry, so we had light snacks @ this HK cafe. Drinks are ok, but the food sucks. We ordered 'bo luo pao' (very dry), fried chicken wings (not nice), french toast with ice cream (so-so), thick kaya toast (normal lor)....

Cheng went off to meet her friends for steamboat after that. We took toilet breaks at Bugis, walked a bit & finally ended up in Rendevous Hotel for dinner. Ate at this really fantastic peranakan place. Whoa, the curries are so shiok! Our only gripe is that its SO PRICEY! 6 of us ended up paying $98 for 2 different chicken curries, sambal squid, curry vegs & 6 plates of rice...

What with the buffet in Shangri-La, makan marathon yesterday, & i'm going Genting the next couple of days (more food!), I really need to do a big time detox...

VRP Christmas Dinner

We went to 'The Line' @ Shangri-La for our Christmas dinner on 21 Dec. The place was bustling with people when we reached around 650pm. When GC & Bambi reached around 7plus, the place was packed to the brim.

Food choices was aplenty; Ah Ga dashed off to her tandoori chicken, naan & prata section while Bambi, Karen, Jo & I went to the seafood section. Snow crabs, giant prawns, scallops, huge osyters, crayfish greeted our eyes. So many choices..... I went for the sashimi 1st. Chef recommended me to try the 'fresh juicy scallops' & promised that i will not regret it. So i tried lor....took the scallops & my all-time fav swordfish. The sashimi was sooooo fresh! & the chef was right; scallops tasted really good.

For my 2nd course, I tried the snow crab but skipped the osyters & prawns. It was steamed without condiments, & the flesh is succulent & sweet. Next, I went for the roast chicken, turkey ham & parma ham. Nothing to rave about though....they taste the same to me anywhere...tried a bit of Bambi's tandoori chicken & had 3 sticks of satay. Not bad, quite tasty.

The dessert selection is quite good, though i would prefer more variety. I tried the tiramisu, blackberry souffle, a tiny but very sweet cup of choco with expresso, a stick of fondue(d) strawberry, a piece of handmade choco with hazelnut praline, & mango sorbet.

When I was at the ice cream counter, i remembered Kiesan. He knew that I loved ice cream & desserts, so he brought me a treat at Cold Stone ice cream while we were in US last year. The year before, he brought Mich, WM & me to a Cold Stone joint & that's where I got hooked on it. At 'The Line', they also gave their ice-cream the "Cold Stone" treatment. It's like teppanyaki style for the ice-cream, & they'll add in extra stuff like nuts, m&m's, brownie bits etc.

We also celebrated Bambi's birthday there. The staff was overall helpful, though service was kind of slow; GC ordered orange juice & it didnt turn up until like 30 minutes later. We all suspected the waiter was 'eyeing' our Ah Ga, that's why he kept hovering at our table ha ha

Overall, I think the evening was fun & almost everybody was stuff till the face was blue. Only 3 modest people didn't really eat at all. The rest of us bitched & gripped about it so much, we decided that next yr's dinner cannot be buffet style anymore. Very 'bo hua'!

after 2 months of training & ankle injury, i finally completed my longest run ever. it was my 1st 21k race yesterday. & i did it without walking! i think i'm quite pleased with my results, although my poor ankle is now suffering for it. Thank God for the wonderful weather!

mama, el & a came by to 'support' us. went for dim sum in marina sq. food was ok, but pretty pricey; 3 miniature egg tarts cost $3! my goodness....

again, i wanna thank tekko for his encouragement, good cheer & positive influence. i think i couldnt have make it so far without him. also to all the sistars & brathars who ran every thursdays & sundays...its been fun, & looking forward to next year!

cheers!