Backdated: A lovely treat at Sage, Rooftop @ Gardens

I have been away for so long, blame it all on work and the unstable Streamyx connection back at home. And of course, the author - Me.

On a mad hectic Friday, I was brought out to wine and dine at Sage, a lovely restuarant on the rooftop of Gardens Hotel and Residences. It was a delightful way to end the week, as it hass been madness and full of nasty suprises. Thanks dear for the treat.

I believe many has written about this restaurant, and what I would be writing is far from the great reviews of fellow floggers. And since I did not have my camera with me, would not be doing any justice to Chef's creation of the night. (Well, we do have some shots of the scrumptious meal, but they need a little TLC from Picasa before they can be revealed.) We both settled for the Sage Set Dinner, which comprised of an appetizer, a main course, and dessert of course. We had a hard time deciding, but we finally made up our minds. We had a glass of red and white wine. Red for his Angus steak and Sauvignon Blanc for my fish.

After taking our orders, we sat back and enjoyed the lovely ambience of the restaurant, chatting over warm bread and basil pesto dip. They brought us the amuse-bouche of the night, ( a lil flavourful bite to amuse your palate, a French term pronounced as a-myuz-bush). It was a lovely cream of asparagus, with lil bits of raw scallops, and topped with fish roe,served in a shooter glass and a tea spoon.

Our wine came, and then followed by our interesting starters, I had the Seared foie-gras with grapes, and JM had the Truffled oil porcini mushroom cream. Well, there were other starters that souded very appealing, but I thought I'll find out what foie-gras is all about. First bite... mmm... interesting...and yum.... as I go on to second and third bite..urm, dear, you can have it all. I think it takes an acquried taste, as many has complimented on the heavenly and creamy texture of foie gras, so it's just me I guess. The cream of porcini was creamy and very well flavoured. A wise choice!

The main courses came shortly after we have cleared our plates - Angus beef with mashed potatoes, and Grilled seabass with king prawn. I was quite glad I did not order the rack of lamb as I took the first bite of my fish, I knew I am in the mood for seafood that night! The fish was cooked to perfection, with a bit of crisp on the skin and served with a king size prawn, and baby pak choy.Flakes of the succulent fish, dipped in the very interesting wakame sauce, I finished every morsel of it ! Of course, I did share, and let JM try some of my dish. :) My choice of Marlborough Sauvignon blanc, complemented the seabass very well. Reminds me of the many bottles I had back in NZ.

As we finished our meal, we were all ready and excited to order our dessert, I finally decided on the Earl Grey ice-cream against the Peach melba sorbet. I love sorbets and especially fruity ones, but my liking for tea flavoured ice cream prevailed that night. JM ordered a hazelnut souffle with chocolate ice-cream.My my, what a sinful treat for the night. And of course a cup of freshly brewed coffee to capped it off for the night. It was really, a lovely dinner, a treat to my horrible long day.
Hmm.. at the rate of my workload, I'll probably need these treats once a week ! *hint hint*

Haven't met you yet..

A lovely song from Michael Buble's latest album, love the tune and his voice !
I liked this version of his song at Oprah because he sang it live and did it so well !Enjoy the song !



I'm not surprised, not everything lasts
I've broken my heart so many times, I stopped keeping track
Talk myself in, I talk myself out
I get all worked up, then I let myself down

I tried so very hard not to lose it
I came up with a million excuses
I thought, I thought of every possibility

And I know someday that it'll all turn out
You'll make me work, so we can work to work it out
And I promise you, kid, that I give so much more than I get
I just haven't met you yet

I might have to wait, I'll never give up
I guess it's half timing, and the other half's luck
Wherever you are, whenever it's right
You'll come out of nowhere and into my life

And I know that we can be so amazing
And, baby, your love is gonna change me
And now I can see every possibility

And somehow I know that it'll all turn out
You'll make me work, so we can work to work it out
And I promise you, kid, I give so much more than I get
I just haven't met you yet

They say all's fair
In love and war
But I won't need to fight it
We'll get it right and we'll be united

And I know that we can be so amazing
And being in your life is gonna change me
And now I can see every single possibility

And someday I know it'll all turn out
And I'll work to work it out
Promise you, kid, I'll give more than I get
Than I get, than I get, than I get

Oh, you know it'll all turn out
And you'll make me work so we can work to work it out
And I promise you kid to give so much more than I get
Yeah, I just haven't met you yet

I just haven't met you yet
Oh, promise you, kid
To give so much more than I get

I said love, love, love, love
Love, love, love, love
(I just haven't met you yet)
Love, love, love, love
Love, love
I just haven't met you yet

Pasta Bolognaise

Mom is away on a holiday, and we have been eating out on most nights. Last night, I rummaged through the fridge and I found - a slab of pork, carrots, and onions. Just the right ingredients to cook bolognaise sauce, so that was what I did for lunch today. As I look in the pantry, I found conchiglie, spirals and penne. Penne being my least favourite type of pasta, I've decided to finish that up first. My aunt who came back from Canada for a holiday, gave that bag of penne to me. Given a choice, I will never ever buy penne !

So, I present you Penne Bolognaise...

1 month marker

Tomorrow is my first Saturday off ! It's been a month since I joined Mandarin Oriental, and they have got a policy where the newcomer has to work on their first four Saturdays. AM so used to working 6 days a week for the past one month, it's such a nice treat to have tomorrow off ! Am not doing anything special, will really like to do my laundry first thing in the morning. Then, maybe I'll catch a movie and do some window shopping. Yay!

For now, I'll catch up on some beauty sleep, was actually in bed by 10.30pm, but had to wake up and sort out some matters and thought I'll just stay up and update my blog a bit.

Good nite world ! Hello dreamland...

Backdated: Shamala's wedding

It's been a while since I posted anything, blame it on work. Not entirely the reason, it just seems easier to say that. Well it's not entirely wrong tho, as I do find myself absolute shattered at the end of the day, thus I cannot muster the energy to write and post up pictures. Been falling asleep in front of my desk while harvesting my crops on FV,( yes, it's my trademark to fall asleep on my desk). And lately, the weather is just horribly warm and humid, its almost like you can't sit still and not sweat.

Anyways, last Saturday, I attended a ex-classmate's wedding, have decided to be festive and drape myself in a saree ( Traditional Indian Costume). My sister having worn that for a function, tied the saree for me, and I thought it looked pretty alright. Until I went to the ladies at the wedding function - the pleats were all messy when I stepped out of the cubicle. In my vain attempt to straighten my saree, two elderly women spotted me and offered help. They basically stripped me off the few metres long material, and draped me all over again. Yes, in the ladies it was. That was quite a sight, a Chinese girl standing helplessly in the washroom, and having 2 other women dress me up! They did it so quickly and I looked so much in place after that. What else? Bring out the cameras, it's not everyday that I wrap myself up in a fancy costume. Here's a picture of Patricia and I. We go way back to high school, where we were partners in crime, and used to talk about 'our friends'. Am hoping to go on a trip with her at the end of this year, Cambodia probably.

Patricia and I