Emails

Argh emails and liaising are the bane of my life at the moment. I feel it pulls me away from putting my attention on my research. All the emails ding-donging back and forth, arguing (diplomatically, of course) for my side of the argument, and keeping track of who has or has not replied and following up, is doing my head in. I only have so much brain space and I feel like so jumpy not knowing what to do first. I really need to get to my lit review, but the email is urgent and has to be sent out. But the email requires me to do a mini lit review, for which I feel so sickened by because it means I need to go and search for articles. Ahh...

I'm looking forward to after lunch when I can finally concentrate on the assignment I have pushed for 3 weeks. Wanna get this done so I can get started on the other assignments and also my lit review proper. How do I split myself?

Birthday Celebration 2013!

Well it's been a long time coming, what with my birthday having passed about a month ago. I must admit, it was more due to procrastination than actually being busy. After all, Facebook told all the story of my birthday celebration, why would I need to blog?

But I did feel the need. I feel the need to blog about the celebration because of the wonderful people in my life who found it worthwhile to celebrate my birthday, the beginning of my existence. These are the people who specially made concessions for me during my birthday just to make me happy, and are also the same people who try to make my life as easy to bear as possible.

Now, 2013 is the first time in 3 years I've celebrated my birthday at home, and I was really stoked to be able to celebrate it at home. I've really missed my family and Kok Yong, so I didn't really care how I was going to spend it, as long as it was at home, "home" being literally home, or in Singapore. I didn't care which. In the morning, Evon surprised me with a present on the bed. A pair of earrings! So sweet of her to buy me sparkly earrings, cos she noticed that I have a shortage of classy shiny ones.

I do note, I am so glad that I Evon and I have got closer over the years. It took a continent (or 2) to get us closer. While I'm ashamed of that, I'm glad it happened. Better to have gotten closer than not at all, right? I am ever thankful that I have such a thoughtful sister. She doesn't often say it, but her actions always show that she places us as her priority all the time. =) 


So, the original plan was to have mee sua at home with my family and Kok Yong. I was really looking forward to it! Haven't had Mira's mee sua for a birthday in such a long time. A body could miss tradition if she was away for a long time! Now I know why traditions are such an important part of a group's culture. =)

As it turns out, Kok Yong was also intending to sweep me off my feet with a surprise that day. He had booked a table for two at a mysterious location in Singapore. Unfortunately, he was unable to keep it a secret and a surprise, as it had slipped his mind that we would be having mee sua at home! Ah well. Compromise!

I made sure I had an early dinner of mee sua with my parents - after all, they had shifted their schedules around to make sure they could have the mee sua with me. I'm really appreciative of that! So I had the mee sua to symbolize my longevity (it was yummy!), and then began my preparations to meet Kok Yong at his workplace. Apologies for not having a photo of the mee sua!

Hehe and before that, though, Kok Yong had a surprise in store for me. Flowers! They were a gorgeous bunch of pink tulips. He remembered my favourite flowers! And he sent them even though I had told him not to. Not that I don't like flowers, but they die so fast and are so expensive! But the sweet man went ahead anyway, knowing that it would make me smile. =) 

So I reached Kok Yong's workplace and waited for him. He was so secretive about it all! I just thought we were going somewhere in town, but we went through Vivocity and Harbourfront, past RWS, towards The Cliff at The Sentosa Resort. I was blown away when I arrived. The scenery was gorgeous though it was at night. It was so tranquil, and  I loved the serenity of the place. Again, apologies for not having pictures; I was busy ooh-ing and aah-ing that taking photos was not on my mind.

The service was fantastic. The staff were obliging, and answered all our queries patiently. They remembered Kok Yong's reservation and were able to put his face to the name, and addressed him as soon as they saw him. I think that was pretty good service to actually bother to remember your guests' names.

The selection on the menu was not as extensive as I had hoped, but they were all very tempting. I wanted to have everything, and as usual, Kok Yong was very obliging. We both share a love for oysters, and he knows I had a good experience with the foie gras at Braise Sentosa, so he ordered a portion of each. We had the Fine de Claire oysters, and the Pan Seared Foie Gras with apple-celeriac slaw, lemon compote, and green apple espuma.

Fine de Claire oysters

Pan Seared Foie Gras

The oysters were wonderful! They were very fresh, very sweet. One thing we noticed about the oysters though, was that they were not as salty as the other oysters we have had before. Question: should oysters be salty?

The foie gras was, similarly, good. However, I'm not sure if I had been hungry when I visited Braise Sentosa two years ago, but I felt that the foie gras at The Cliff was not as good as the one at Braise. It was good, with the outside crispy and the inside soft and liquid-y, but it didn't have the melt-in-your-mouth texture like Braise had. I adored the espuma though. It was light and fluffy, and had just the right balance of sourness to complement the slightly metallic taste of the foie gras.

There was also a pre-appetizer. I am not familiar with fine dining, so it might be my over-estimation of The Cliff, but I liked that there were pre-appetizers and bread! No pictures of the bread, but here's the pre-appetizer: lobster bisque with lobster cream wrapped in prosciutto!

Lobster bisque (left) with lobster cream wrapped in prosciutto

It was the first time I had lobster bisque and, man, did it blow my mind! It was so creamy, and full of the sweetness of the lobster. I loved that it was so smooth to drink too. The prosciutto and lobster cream were all right I guess. The highlight for me was the lobster cream. Similarly, it was creamy and sweet.

I wanted to have the degustation set, but it involved beef and I wanted Kok Yong to be able to share it with me, so I had the Red Gurnard - which is a type of fish, butter fried, with baby octopus and shrimps tucked under it, and cooked in white wine sauce.

To be honest, I had absolutely no idea what a red gurnard was, but chose it cos the description sounded good. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had hidden the octopus and shrimps underneath what I later realised was the red gurnard, the fish! I love surprises like that in my food! I was also pleased with the foamy stuff that accompanied it. I don't know the name, but it was so light and airy and so... ephemeral that I wanted more of it. =)

Kok Yong had the Barramundi - crisp skin, olive oil mash, pickled fennel, prosciutto 'floss' and broth.

Barramundi

 I know the etiquette of fine dining frowns upon sharing of meals, but it's my birthday so I think I can do what I want! =p Anyway, the barramundi skin was, true to description, crispy. I loved the contrast of the crispy skin with the soft flesh of the fish. I preferred the texture of the barramundi to the red gurnard, but tastewise, I think the barramundi was a little salty for me. I think it was the prosciutto flakes that did that? Kok Yong appeared to prefer my red gurnard too. Haha..

I was flirting with the idea of ordering dessert, but was a little hesitant to do so, because I felt that the selection was not only a little limited, but they sounded quite common. Granted, they had fabulous descriptions, but... nothing stirred my interest for that price. Well, in came Kok Yong's third surprise for the night - a birthday cake! I have no idea what flavour the cake was, but it was soo pretty!

My birthday cake! 

I think there was biscotti at the bottom of the cake, and... I think there were chestnuts inside the cake? Nonetheless, the taste was really quite good. The cake was very light and airy. I felt the portion was just right for Kok Yong and me. Just enough to assuage my craving for sweets, yet not so much to make me too full.

Me with my cake

Us

It was truly a magical day for me. Celebrating my birthday with my family and Kok Yong, what more could a girl ask for? =)


Glossary:

Siphon bottle

Espuma: The Spanish term for foam or froth, and one that is created specifically with the use of a siphon bottle (Modernist Cooking Made Easy)










Lobster bisque: Bisque is a smooth, creamy, highly-seasoned soup of French origin, classically based on a strained broth (coulis) of crustaceans. It can be made from lobster, crab, shrimp or crayfish (Wikipedia)