Food Weekend

HOHOHO!

This weekend has been all about food, and.... *drumroll*..... I DID NOT SKATE AT ALL.

HOHOHO!

*Self pat on back*

Speaking of hohohos... I randomly called Ms. Amanda Ho this past Saturday to go gaigai (walkaround) with me in Orchard. We wound up chillin in the new Korean cafe, Paris Baguette in Wisma Atria.

It's usually not too crowded here during the weekdays, but since we were there on a Saturday afternoon, almost all the tables were filled. 

The first time I'd heard about Paris Baguette was on Feecha when someone asked if the branch in Wisma Atria was open already. I noticed then that the old Din Tai Fung was gone and they were replacing it with this cafe. Curious, I went online to read about it and it turned out to be some famous Korean bakery. That explained the hype over its coming to Singapore. 

This was the first time I had tried food from the pastries side of the cafe. On the other side of the cafe, they sell sandwiches and cooked food, which was what I had tried before. And then on the third corner, I think they sell cakes. 

The pastries were nice but I still prefer Delifrance's fruit tarts. The round brown bread thing is something Amanda ordered and it turned out to be just a piece of bread without any kind of filling in it. The bread itself was nice though, kinda nutty, light, vanilla-y tasting. 

My favourite was definitely the sausage tart. Mmmm!!! Wish I had gotten two instead of one!

Yes, I look like just rolled out of bed.

But seriously, Paris Baguette is not cheap. For what you see in this picture, I paid about $20. Still cheaper than Starbucks upstairs though. 

The impromptu meetup with Manda on Saturday was followed by yet another impromptu meetup with Rache. 

We had dinner at the cheap cheap restaurant JustAcia, then went to watch the movie TED.

WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY did I not watch previews about it first before agreeing to watch it? I thought TED was probably about T.E.D., you know, as in the conference "Technology, Entertainment and Design" (TED)! And even as the movie began and I saw a teddy bear, I did not know the movie was rated M18 until Rache told me.

Sigh.

I think my face felt a bit sore from grimacing and frowning throughout the whole entire movie. The whole thing was plain awkward and I just don't get most of that type of humour. Though, I must admit, that last screen about Taylor Lautner was purrrty funny.

Spent all day in church and House of Bread on Sunday before meeting Rhoda for dinner at Peperoni Pizzeria in Binjai Park.

Rhoda went to college with me in the US and it's really nice to have someone from all the way there here in Singapore as well! 

Check out our giant pizza. It covered almost 80% of our table. 

And no, we didn't manage to finish all of it. 

Note to self: must eat here with more than one person next time!

.......................................................

So my mom's birthday is coming up this week and I have no idea what to give her as a present. She never seems to like or use anything that I get her. 

And I'd say things are sort of normal with my mom right now. We're not arguing or in a fight or anything, but it's not like we're really talking to each other either. Guess it's just back to normal. I've never really interacted much with my mom since I was little anyway. 

When I am home and we do talk, it's more or less just small talk. If I try to tell her a bit more about my life, she just listens quietly (most times I can't tell that she's even listening). She doesn't say much about what's going on in her life either. But really, what's there to say anyway right? She's busy with household matters, blah blah blah, what's new?

For a mother, she feels about as distant to me as one of my random acquaintances on Facebook. 

Guess not everyone is meant to have that kind of close mother-daughter relationships!

I've decided not to expect too much from her or from my dad anymore. But I do know that if I ever become a parent, I wouldn't want my family to be like that. 

I know some of you can relate!

Jurong West & Genki Sushi

Hello.

This past Saturday, I went all the way to Jurong West to sample a new dish. It was really a meetup for work, but it didn't really feel like work because I had fun!

In a rare display of good manners, I arrived about 15 minutes earlier than everyone else. I thought to myself: I have all this time. Why not go walk around the neighbourhood and explore a bit? 

So I wandered through the void decks where construction workers were napping peacefully.

Picked my way through a lovely garden in the back of one of the HDB blocks.

Stood for awhile in one spot to take in all the sounds and smells.

Got the biggest shock ever when I came upon this hidden corridor in the back of one of the flats. It was absolutely filled with all sorts of junk in front of people's houses! Wondered if there were twenty people or something squeezed into each of these little units. Perhaps they were workers from China or even students? 

I know you might think it's weird, but my heart stopped when I saw this... thing. It's literally been years since I've seen one of these columns with that slope thingy. Looking at that dirty corner really brought back memories of my childhood. I used to run up and down repeatedly just to amuse myself, or hide in there behind the pipe while playing hide-and-seek. 

My heart stopped again when I saw these letterboxes. Our letter boxes in Bukit Batok used to look like this too, but the flats were upgraded in the recent years and they've now been replaced by newer letterboxes. 

Boy do they look short now. 

The time finally came for us to have lunch and we had chilli crab chicken rice with egg. 

Was it good?

I'll just say that I wanted a second helping and was craving it all weekend afterwards. I wish this place were closer to where I work and live!

Then after lunch, we met Wahwah, the cute chihuahua who belongs to an old ah pek sitting at the coffeeshop. Wahwah is cuter than all chihuahuas I've ever met because he'd be really shy around us humans. But once he saw a pigeon or minah, he'd transform into a vicious doggy and start chasing the birds all around the place! 

I guess that's just something you've gotta see for yourself. We were laughing our heads off for a really long time!

Went to the playground to take some pictures.

Realised that Huiling's shoes kinda matched the floor. 

On Sunday, at House of Bread, we celebrated Alex's and Raymond's birthdays. They're only a day apart. 

Met up with the Davidians afterwards at Peperoni Pizzeria in Binjai Park. 

They really put some effort into decorating the place to feel like a pizzeria from Little Italy in New York. At least that's what it felt like to me. The only thing they're missing is the greased walls haha!

I didn't realise how much I'd been missing New York pizza until I ate Peperoni's pizzas. I mean, I didn't expect it to be that good!

Honestly, when I arrived at dinner, I was feeling really moody and even contemplated not showing up. But once we were all gathered together around a table, I couldn't help but feel better again. Thank God for fellowship and for answering my prayers that I wouldn't be such a loner lol!

On Monday, for lunch at work, I went with my colleagues to Orchard Central because they wanted to eat Quiznos. I really didn't feel like eating subs (they remind me of track meets) so three of us headed to the next door Genki Sushi instead. 

As some of you may have seen on Feecha, I thought Genki Sushi was pretty awesome! The fact that we had to order all our dishes via their app on an iPad was just so amazing to me. I know their food isn't earth-shatteringly great or anything, but as compared to Sakae Sushi, I have more fun eating at Genki sushi instead. 

The other thing that really tickled me was the way our sushi was served to us. In Sakae Sushi, your food goes round and round on a conveyor belt. Who knows how many hours its been out there? And what about the people who pick up plates, open it up, take a whiff, change their minds, then put the plate back on the belt? 

Anyway, at Genki Sushi, your sushi zips straight from the kitchen on a cute toy car or on a cute aeroplane looking plate. It's really fun! First you order the sushi you want. Next, they prepare it in the kitchen and when your order is ready, the little toy car or aeroplane flies down the tracks and stops magically next to your table. 

Cool right?!

After picking up your order, you can then send the aeroplane or car back to the kitchen by pressing that cute button. My only peeve is: why isn't the Genki icon smiling? 

Anyway, it's been a fun-filled week. 

I also managed to meet up with Alicia who is my dad's brother's daughter's daughter. Which really means, that even though Alicia and I are only a few years apart age-wise, I'm technically her aunt by a generation! HAHA!

Last night I went out to Quaich Bar after work with the rest of my colleagues for a little farewell get-together for Vince who is leaving us tomorrow. I'm quite sad actually, even though I've only gotten to know him since late November last year. He's always got an answer about anything IT-related, and he's even brought me his dad's old ah beng Cantonese techno CD to listen to! LOL! I really wish him the best of luck with his new job and everything... 

People just come and go like in our lives it seems. Like waves that surge and ebb over sand, nobody seems to ever stick around forever. There may be some scattered rocks every now and then, those people who stay a little longer than others, but even they don't last forever. 

We don't last forever. 

Well for now, I am going to enjoy what's left of Today. 

It's Friday, but let's not look forward to the weekend; for who knows if Today will be our last day? To presume the weekend is coming would be a little arrogant on our part no?

:)