birthday week (continued)

Day before my birthday, we met up with the guys for drinks at Walas. Although The UneXpected wasn’t playing that night, we still had a good time just chilling out and listening to the replacement band for the night. They weren’t half bad. Apparently they were some 60s old men rockers, and they could really play the stuff we requested from them.

It was nice just hanging out together, and Stella and I enjoyed their company for the night.

Some pictures for the night. Had to put the 4 person one in the centre as Hong was too “broad”:

All of us:

The following day, we had a gathering at my place. Stella had previously arranged for Andy and Keane to come back on the 20th to celebrate my birthday. Was really touched that she went through all that effort to get all the gaming people in one place. Also, this was special to me because it was my first birthday party ever. I don’t think I’ve ever organised a party for my own birthday before and it was something different for a change.

Prepared some food courtesy of Stella’s mom, and had some other food that my mom prepared earlier in the day. I booked the function room downstairs and prepared for the gathering.

Us before the party:

The food:

Waiting on the couch for the guests to arrive:

Andy grabbing a bite, with Tin watching on :

Keane and Serene who flew in from Wellington:

Stella, Serene and Tin:Me with Keane, Serene, Elton and Sheena:

After eating, we brought out the boardgames. For the night, we decided to play BSG since it was a group favourite. Also, we wanted to get Keane and Serene to try it to see if they liked it.

Shang arranging the cards. Andy and Jon hanging around:

Hong and Jingyi

Sheena and Elton, Keane and Serene. Learning the game.

Me and the beloved organiser of this party :

Unfortunately, we had to evacuate the place by 11, so we headed out to cut my birthday cake.

Everyone pooled in money to buy me my very own copy of Space Hulk! Been hearing all sorts of good stuff about it but was hesitant about spending the money on it since it was a whopping 149 bucks for a single game. Stella jumped on the opportunity when she heard me mention it to her a couple of months back, and she made a pre-order for it from PI. Thanks baby! Truly a geeky present, and I really liked it very much. Thanks everyone!

The guys:

The girls:

After that, it was more BSG. We finished the game at a nearby void deck. In the end, the Cylons won, but it was a good game all in all.

Most of the people departed from there, but Keane stayed for a bit to join Elton, Sheena and Stella and myself for a game zombie killing in Last Night on Earth. Definitely one of the better zombie games out there. From there, we parted ways, and there ends my very geeky and special birthday party. I had a great night, and if not for Stella, I would never have gone out to plan something like this for myself. Thanks so much dear, for the effort you’ve put in =) And finally, thank you friends, very much for making my day.

Birthday dinner with lala

Early on the 19th, I recieved a card from Stella. She had stayed up almost all night to make it. Written on it was a funky message for me.It was a really nice pop up card complete with our pictures and a nice little message with it. Despite her claims that her art isn’t good, I really liked it a lot. Thanks dear!
After hanging around, we headed out for dinner. Dinner was at a nice little Japanese place called Chako, located around the Hong Leong Gardens area. I really loved the place. Stepping inside, it was almost as if I were transported to 70s Japan (although I’ve never been to Japan). This was complete with old Japanese music playing through the cassette player in the background.
Inside with the counter behind me :

Black Tea :
The sake has eyes. They stared at us all night.
Sishamo:
Sashimi Platter. Really good, although it really filled us even before the main courses came. Really great stuff anyway.
We had to wait for quite a bit for the main courses to come (apparently this was the warning when we checked out reviews online), but the food was really great. Stella had the pike mackerel set, and I had the unagi set.

Stella looking cool and funky with her food:

Really delicious. I’m a fan of grilled unagi, but this one was broiled with egg and sesame oil. The flavour was not overpowering but it was so freaking fragrant. Really awesome stuff man. I would gladly come back for this anytime. One thing about Japanese food that I appreciate is its simplicity.

The both of us:
Next, we headed down to Rochester for some desserts. Funnily enough, the band that we’ve been looking for all this while were playing there. Drawn in by their voice, we ended up at One Rochester for a beer and some dessert. Was nice just listening to music and enjoying each other’s company.

What a great night =)

On the first day of xmas my true love gave to me…

One nike+ sensor,

One running singlet

and a brand new boardgame of my own.

Erp. Sorry for the bad poetrysong guys. Trying to keep it entertaining. Had great presents from Stella this year. Really happy and touched at the same time. She managed to get the gang back to celebrate my birthday too, but more about that in another post.

Stella’s belated birthday present

With the announcement of the new range of iPod Nanos, I decided to do what I always planned to do – get Stella an iPod of her own. For some time she has been using her old Creative ones and it’s showing signs of old age. This was the perfect opportunity to get one for her.

After eagerly waiting for a couple of days, it finally arrived.I got her the red one as it was limited to the Applestore.com, and I think it looked gorgeous on her.

Really pretty:
And finally, the engraving that I’ve always wanted to put on the iPod:Happy Belated Birthday dear =)

BBQ – done

Had our little christmasy bbq tonight, and I think that everyone enjoyed themselves. Threatened to rain and was really worried that all the hard work would be in vain, but thankfully the clouds just passed by without incident. Really enjoyed planning and executing this event with Stella. We probably wont have something like this again for some time (it’s really quite tiring, and poor stella had to walk to and fro bringing all those stuff down to the pit), but it was definitely fun while it lasted. Pics tomorrow when I’ve gotten my rest.

An early Merry Xmas people. And happy birthday Loris!

pics from Waruku

Despite the howling of the rubber tyres from the F1 cars outside, I think everyone had a great time meeting up. Here are some pics from the night :

First off, Waruku for dinner.

Pix and Pants (and frog):

Stella and Pants :

Pix and Shaun :

Stella and Asraf:

Stella and Pants with eyes for each other:

Cheryl and Erwinchew:

Lalang – Thanks for coming! :

Chris and the-other-nasty-boy :

Shaun and Cheryl

Matt :

Lalang and Stella :

Other random shots of happy people :

Birthday cake and me.

Me and the lovely organiser for the night :

Spoiled group shot. Quite entertaining. Maybe I should blow this up large. Stella and I agreed that Christine looks hilarious.

All together now :

Us :

The Big Yellow Premium banana that pix and the girls got me. slurp. We look happy =D

Next up – Durty Nellys for drinks. Some of the people rushed home so that they could see people survive.

Stella and I. Think I’m starting to become a bit red after 2 pints. Weak siah. :

Rach and I :

Cheryl and Erwinchew. Cheryl is starting to look a bit high. haha.

Pix and Matt.

Stella and Lalang both looking happy :

Stella, dan and cheryl :

Pix and I :

Stella and Matt :

Kinda sad to know that the birthday week is over, and life goes back to normal. Thanks everyone for coming down despite your busy schedules, and for the birthday gifts as well. I had a great time, and I hope everyone did too.

Thanks guys

Many thanks to those who turned up at my little birthday thing at Waruku yesterday (pics will be up soon), and also those who were willing to stay a while longer to catch up over a couple of drinks last night. It was most wonderful getting to see you all. Hopefully, if time permits, we could meet up again soon to catch up more.

All this wouldn’t have happened if not for Stella. She has been meticulously planning this whole thing the entire week, getting people to reply, and calling friends who mean much to me to celebrate my birthday. I really can’t ask for any more – this has to be the best birthday I’ve had.

Thank you, dear, for getting so many people into one place to celebrate my birthday. I really appreciate it.

birthday week

I’m one of those lucky bastards that gets a birthday week with no school to worry about. That basically means I can feel special for an entire week in the presence of friends. Nah, not really. I don’t put special attention on my own birthday, but this week has been nothing short of wonderful.

So the birthday week started on Sunday, where I joined Stella and her family for breakfast/church. Her mom specially got me a cake during breakfast. I was really touched. Even my own family had stopped the cake eating tradition so this was especially significant.

The lovely girlfriend planned a special birthday treat for me today. It was especially nice, considering that this is the first time I’m having my family not around during my birthday (parents are away in Hokkaido).

Went for a nice, but slightly painful massage at a place near my house. It was a couple massage thing, and I thought that it was a great experience. Never gone for a massage/spa before, so this was certainly something new.

We then headed back to change out for dinner. Kept this shirt specially for this occasion. Glad to finally get to wear something new for a nice dinner :

Dinner was at 1 Rochester. Stella must have done quite a bit of research on it, and it sure was good food! Coupled with the nice ambiance that the outdoorish setting gave us, it was just perfect for a nice dinner.

We had a squid salad with tamarind and yuzu sauce. Really great stuff. Essentially something like calamari, but waay better. I’m not a food connoisseur, but you don’t have to be to taste the good stuff that this dish is.

I ordered a lamb shank with mashed potatoes. Really good and filling.

Stella ordered a charcoal grilled fish. Really good too, but somehow didn’t match the size of my dish in terms of its price. Atas mah. Atas means can get to serve small small and no one will complain still. haha. I still think that it was delicious though.

We next headed to the bar area, located inside the house. Rochester 1 is actually a converted colonial styled bungalow, and they converted the inside of it into a drinking/chillout area. Classy. Together with 3 for $30 martinis, it no wonder Forbes calls it the best drinking place in Singapore.

My gorgeous date:

Both of us:

After getting high on martinis and having a heart to heart chat, we headed down to town for MamaMia. Nostalgic movie indeed, in terms of all the songs. Been hearing lots of stuff lately that has been making me really feel like I’m 25. Liting’s wedding yesterday played XiaoHuDui’s Hong Qingting and I was horrified to realise that I actually knew the song in primary one. Seesh. Then again, what the hell’s wrong with being old anyway. I look at younger people and feel that at least that part of my life is over and I may participate in taking up real responsibilities.

The beautiful mosiac that Stella made for me with so much time and effort. Ain’t it nice?

And the Futura tee that I got from her. love it to bits. It just awakened my street fashion self again. oops.

Thanks dear, for the wonderful birthday that you gave me =) had the most wonderful day ever.

bday week and me

Just had a wonderful birthday dinner with the family and Stella. Great food as usual at Oosters, although I couldn’t enjoy the mussels that much as I’m still down with a bit of an allergy from some toxic seafood that we ate a couple of days ago. It’s not bad bad, but it’s just annoying having to care about that itch around your body. Ended the dinner with a birthday cake that Stella specially bought for me. Thanks dear! Sweet chocolatey goodness. Makes me a fat boy. But happy =)

I’ve never been a fan of my own birthday, but it’s nice to know that people remember you once in a while. Or that they religiously access Facebook. And they have just one day in the whole year to do their ‘hey I still remember you and bother to wish you Happy Birthday’ thing. Well that’s enough for me. And even if no one does, it doesn’t really matter. Life’s more than just about birthdays, really.

Happy birthday Lala dearest =)

For those friends who do not yet know, today is Stella’s birthday, so wish her Happy Birthday very loudly!
As dinner plans, I booked a place at Ristorante De Valentino’s. Located at Rifle Range Road, it was a cosy setting and I always wanted to have something close to authentic Italian cuisine with the girlfriend. The various times where I tried to walk in  with my parents, we never succeeded. Working on a couple of positive internet reviews, I decided that it had to be something pretty good.

And it was.

We had a great time just soaking in the atmostphere and chatting about random stuff. And talking about the food, it was really impressive.

Baked eggplant. This was really good – the eggplant was marinated with some kind of vinaigrette dressing before cooking and the cheese tasted really fresh.

Squid ink pasta with crab meat sauce. This was the highlight of our meal. I’ve never actually tried squid ink pasta before, mainly because the thought of seeing pasta squirming around in black ink didn’t particularly look that appetiizing, but I decided to give it a shot, and it was stunning in texture and rich in flavour. I think we must have been gushing about it quite a bit during dinner.

Next up – a tuna pizza with various other ingredients like ham and artichokes. It was huge. Come to think of it, we could have skipped this and gotten another pasta instead. But still, it was delicious, although a bit tough to finish with just two people.

The picture below shows a comparison of the pizza versus the whole of Stella. Haha. Huge indeed.

Dessert – Lemon Meringue Tart. The filling was a little sour, but it did well to freshen up our palettes. This wasn’t that fantastic, but I still liked it anyway.

As we had to leave by 830pm to make way for the next customer (apparently they are so fully booked that they have two booking slots), I added in another venue into our itenary – Marmalade Pantry. Heard that the cakes were good, so I decided to have us visit there for some.
Us in Marmalade Pantry:

Ordered a Chocolate Truffle Cake and an exotic tasting orange spiced tea called Moonlight or something along those lines. Pretty good stuff, with lots of sugar. The cake was huge though, and really rich.

Finally, this was what I made for Stella. A decoupage box, for her to store her stuff. It’s basically a technique where you paste your selected cutouts on a surface in any way you wish and repeatedly seal it with many coats of varnish until you see the design kind of ‘fade into the background’. You could even use white glue to achieve the same purpose. Makes for great presents and decorative material.

Happy birthday dearest =) I hope you had a wonderful day.