We went to Margaritas at Dempsey Hill for lunch today; a quaint, rather authentic (at least as far as I know) Mexican restaurant.*burp* Good food, and I loved the tangy Mexican flavours of lime and spices. Jasons the Grocer has really cute biscuits and chocolates too, albeit pricey, but nice for tasty Christmas gifts?

And then I had a bag of hot and spicy tortilla chips for tea. :p

I can’t wait for next weekend when Leaders Week is over…

Ran the Nike Human Race last Saturday! It was more tiring and less pleasant than the Solomon Run, but at least I came in 189 out of all female runners in Singapore, finishing in an hour! The fastest runners are really fast.

And I also went for my first gymnastics adult class tryout on Tuesday after … get this… 7 years!!! It was pretty fun to jump around on the mat but I really got to feel fearful after not doing anything for so long, so didn’t really do much. Next week, more moves! My WHOLE back and shoulders were aching for the past 2 days, and I am still considering whether to go for a back massage which will no doubt help but be an exceedingly painful affair. [Afternote: I went to Wan Yang for a back massage and though the muscles are still tight, much better than before! Wan Yang rocks. Their foot massages rock too.]

We have reached our three year milestone today Whee!

Here’s what he gave me :

This photo doesn't really do the prettiness of the ring justice, but it's basically a large light green amethyst with diamonds all around.

This ring is special because some months back (I can’t really remember when), I took him all around Plaza Singapura and went into all the jewellery stores, telling him that I want this and I want that, and that he never buys me anything. And this was one of the rings I wanted. Of course, it is too big, and I needed to get it exchanged. We went to Viva Mexico at Cuppage for dinner. Nice food, yummy nachos , quesadillas, and mexican fish! I love mexican.

And yes, I bought him an unromantic present of ‘moldy’ slippers (‘moldy’ because they are ‘recovery’ slippers – wear them and they mold to your feet shape so are rather comfy), but the thought behind it was that – if he has comfy footwear, maybe he won’t complain the next time we go out or are overseas and I drag him shopping with me. Isn’t shopping together romantic? I think so. Especially if he carries all the bags (and pays all the bills ;p).

Happy 3rd year! xx00

My dear niece Caitlyn has reached the milestone of 4 years! We celebrated her birthday at Seletar Club, which has a nice open air cafe next to the Golf course, also open to the public. It’s nice and not too crowded, I suppose because it’s necessary to drive there due to its inaccessibility (long drive in, and I don’t remember seeing any bus stops along the way).

Plus there’s also a children’s playroom with lots of play balls and slides and places for kids to climb around. But anyway, I”ll let the pictures do the talking!

And the story telling begins, once she gets to sit down next to her favourite uncle...

I think she's telling him a dinosaur story.

The lady behind looks like she is picking up a knife. Hmm.

Methinks they have an uncannily similar expression here.

Doesn't she look pretty in the green dress Auntie Bev bought for her?

She forgot about Uncle Ion for a while as a french fry took her fancy

Family portrait in the childrens' playroom!

Family portrait with Auntie Bev! Oh, I am a Godma too!

With a young mum and grandma. The ladies rule the balls! *NO pun intended*

That ended our lovely celebration. Happy Birthday Caitlyn! Many more years of fun birthdays to come

The weekend was a rather interesting one. And on hindsight, rather humorous too.

On Sat night, we went to Holland village for dinner at Sushi Tei. Then we went for ice blendeds and a brownie at Coffee Bean, with a friend visiting from Malaysia. After a nice chat, we started walking back to the car.

For those who have been to Holland V, you’d know that there are barriers along the road to prevent cars from going through. So when we reached one of those barriers, a dear someone asked me to try doing the Limbo Rock underneath the barrier, which I did. I nearly made it through, but unfortunately, my slipper got stuck on the road, so I fell on the road with my weight on one knee.

We were supposed to run in the Salomon Run at Tampines Bike park the next morning. So I chided him and said I wouldn’t be able to run anymore.

But, early Sun morning, I couldn’t resist. Since the knee was pretty ok (only sore when climbing the stairs), we went for the run.

It was a good run that brought us over 10 km of trails, rocks, sand, grass and gravel. And it was fun! I found it more enjoyable than the road runs, as there were lots of winding paths, different grounds, and slopes. And just barely a few minutes after we finished, it started to rain. Woe to those who were still stuck in the mud. ;p

So now, I have a little slightly purple knee (I suppose some small blood vessels burst), ironically not caused by the run, but proud of our accomplishment!

But I am now sleepy. V.e.r.y.s.l.e.e.p.y.

Nike Run next week!

It’s a sleepy Friday. I think it’s because I ate too many chips last night. I was hungry and they were addictive, but it was also 12 midnight.

Zzz.

Tis the weekend!

SAFRA Quadthlon!!

We took part in the SAFRA quadthlon yesterday at East Coast, in the Women’s Relay event. And we had a ball of a time! I did the blading leg

Our swimmer May who kickstarted the race well! Big feat, swimming in the sea.

Yours truly - after my 12km Blading leg! It was quite fun, I came in 32nd position including the guys!

Maggie! We didn't manage to catch her front view before she sped off..

Here's Catherine, running off toward her 6km run. Final leg! I thought this was a pretty photo because she looked full of energy

And we did it! Mission accomplished We came in 12th out of 22 Women's teams. Not too bad for a first attempt! More to come, I'm sure.

Solomon Run next week, and the Nike Run the week after! Lots of exciting sports events to look forward to

The white one tasted much better! And it had lots of those pickled vegetables (cai po?) to add that extra crunch..

Here we are at one of the ‘ads’ for the hotel spa (We didnt go to the spa at the hotel itself though)

Yours truly

Same same (place), but different (person)

We took the train around Msia too, and ate at Sakae! See, in line with my previous blog post on Sakae, yes, we do like it overseas too, but somehow Singapore is always better…

Yes, we love salmon sashimi! The sushi in the background is some unagi type thing. I don't think they have it in Singapore!

We're waiting for that Msia monorail-like train, what is it called again?

And all too soon…. we’re on the way home.

The seats were quite comfortable and they screened movies all the way home! I was awake for 2 of them.

I never tire of Malaysia! I’m on a countdown to Christmas as well!

The post below on Sakae won me a $20 Sakae Sushi voucher. Not too bad, don’t you reckon?

At the risk of sounding cliche, this post is going to contain reference to sushi. And yes, I do mean those little small mounds of rice, with rather interesting toppings ranging from raw fish slices for those who ‘wish to relish the au-naturale taste’; to lightly seasoned, partially cooked fish for the ‘I don’t like raw food but I will go as close as I can get’; to the fully cooked, deliciously seasoned ingredients for those who ‘Just want to savour it all’.

Dining at Sakae some years back used to be an all-inclusive experience. And by all-inclusive, I mean, literally, including all (ok, most) dishes on the menu. Because, a couple of years back (in the mid 2000s), the voracious appetite craved for what Sakae could offer – and what every Singaporean relishes -…..

All-you-can-eat-BUFFET!

I once had an eating competition with a good friend from my university days. And this all came about because of a single conversation we had – in which I had told him in not so many words that I loved to eat, and I had a ‘healthy’ appetite, to say the least. Both in quality, and in quantity. He raised his eyebrows with a hardly concealed notion of skepticism, and gamely challenged me to an eating competition. We chose Sakae due to a couple of reasons – we both enjoyed Jap food; and what better way to have an eating challenge than with a buffet?

To cut a long story short, we ate. And then we ate, and then we ate some more. And I won the challenge, with a grand total of 25 plates – in a mixture of sushi and other dishes. The dear friend (we’ll call him Jack), finally admitted defeat. [both of us couldn't really walk properly for the next few hours after that meal]

Of my multiple visits to Sakae to enjoy the buffet, I must admit that that was one of the most memorable times. Not only because I celebrated victory in a challenge, but because on hindsight, that was one of the incidents that got me hooked to Sakae – Great food, reasonable prices, and above all, unforgettable memories.

Coming back to the present, I no longer eat the Sakae buffet. Partly because the vagaries of work have resulted in the inability to relish a buffet between the hours of 3 to 6 pm, and even with the 1 hour lunch buffet, there just isn’t enough time! But more importantly, it’s probably the subconscious deterrent of the ‘long ago but seems like yesterday’ food stuffing experience.

And so, these days, meals at Sakae usually comprise my favourite dishes, a-la-carte style. Guess which outlet the following photos were taken at?

My numbers of visits to Sakae seem to have grown proportionately to the increasing number of Sakae outlets that have been sprouting around the island over the past few years. And even on my periodic trips up north across the border to Malaysia, with the gastronomy of food, I’m not sure if I should be somewhat embarrassed to say that we often end up at Sakae Malaysia – eating twice as much. But hey, the adventure up north always adds that additional positive element, especially after savouring the good ol’ taste of home.

And so, here’s a toast to wonderful travels around the world; to places like Indonesia, Thailand, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam. Bask in the sights and sounds, embrace the culture, taste the local delicacies. But be sure to check out a Sakae outlet – you may just find a local delicacy – ‘Sakae’ style.

So what makes them stand out?

At Sakae,

They eat the sushi too.