My mom's not working today and we decided to go on a date... our first after Gabby came along. For the past 2 over months, every second of our lives revolves around little Gabby. We loved it that she's here with us, but we kinda needed to spend some time together... just the 2 of us. So, mom agreed to babysit Gabby while we went out on a lunch date.

We bathed Gabby, got early lunch for my mom and off we went for our date. We made plans to come back within 3-4hours. So we went to Serangoon Gardens for lunch. There's this old skool Russian steakhouse that's been there for the longest time and we decided to give it a try. Nothing fantastic at all! Not yucky, but we definitely won't go back there a 2nd time. Shashlik at Far East Shopping Centre is better. I remember there was this building along one of the lanes where we can find cafes to chill out at. But when we got there, the building was in the process of demolition! So we gotta find another place to chill...

We ended up at Olio Dome in Bishan CC. Sat down, ordered his coffee, my iced chocolate and a piece of cheese cake (I've been craving for it...) and spent the rest of our date chatting about everything. I really missed times like these. Really had my mom to thank for babysitting Gabby so we can afford to spend time like that once again.

Going back to Senso for dinner is a must on our anniversary. It would have been ideal if we could be there on 29 September. But nonetheless, we had a great evening...

Coming back to Senso is such a great pleasure... It brings back beautiful memories of our wedding.. the fun we had with our family and friends, the love that fills the air that night... Just looking at this painting warms my heart and makes me smile. It feels like it was just yesterday. How time flies...

Ivan (GM of Senso) is as sweet as ever. We really had him to thank for our beautiful wedding night a year ago. He accommodated every one of our requests and all his service staff were amazing that night. We didn't meet any of them tonight as Ivan has given them the day off as it's Hari Raya. We really like this guy... We're reminded again of all the reasons why we chose to have our wedding dinner at Senso... great food, great wine, great ambience, great service, great everything.

Ivan surprised us with their yummy tiramisu as we were about to order our desserts. So thoughtfully sweet... as usual. I've never been a fan of tiramisu but theirs are really great!

We'll be back again, same time next year. As Ivan said, "See you next year with your baby.." 小B will be there with us to celebrate our 2nd anniversary. (^_^)

There are so many things I wanted to do for our anniversary, but there are so many constraints... Sometimes we're just at the mercy of our work schedules... Calvin's on course now and hence he can't take leave tomorrow (the actual day of our anniversary). So the things that I wanted to do for him will have to be spread across a few days...

First on the list, I wanna make him a yummy breakfast. Inspired by the pancake I tasted in Melbourne, I decided to make pancake for breakfast on this beautiful Sunday morning.


I didn't succeed in making those fluffy pancakes. And for some reason, the colour of my pancakes is ugly!! How did you guys get the even light brown colour on your pancakes?? Mine turned out like "prata" colour... hahaha...

Oh and of cos, I had to try out what Nicole did with her pancakes... heartshaped ones!! Got the shape, but the colour... is just wrong... :p

Well, but my man said they tasted yummy!! YEAH!! I used the Basic Pancake recipe I found on Martha Stewart's website.

We had grapes, willow mushrooms and veal sausages to go with the pancakes. And not forgetting our Nespressos! He had double mega shot of Roma and I had my regular Latte...

I love mornings like that... I hope to be able to prepare breakfast for us more often from now on.

Happy Anniversary, my love.

Calvin kept me away from him for a while on May Day as he was making some calls and didn't want me to hear his conversations. He was making plans and reservations for my birthday dinner tonight. (^__^) He couldn't take leave on the 6th so we've decided to go on a date in advance.

I bought myself a sweet purple babydoll dress for my birthday and Calvin asked me to wear it today. I also got him a pink polo Tee which he wore for our date too. Both are from Springfield... I'm beginning to like the apparels from this label.
* * *

We rode in the nice evening weather towards Bt Timah. I guessed he was bringing me to some restaurants in the area. But when he turned into PIE, I decided not to make any more guesses. So I just enjoyed the safe breezy ride behind my man. He then turned into Fairways Drive, where the Saddle Club is. It's like turning into a place that's out of Singapore. We had to slow down the ride as the signs say "Dead Slow. Horses Crossing." We were riding alongside a horse that was being brought out for a walk by its young owner. Damn cool!!!
* * *

We were very early and we walked around to take some pictures. We really felt like we've just left Singapore. There were ang mos all around... stuck up ang mos to be exact! These ang mo ladies actually spoke loudly amongst themselves when I was taking this shot, saying, "Ask her to stop taking photos!" I was in a beautifully fabulous mood and I wasn't gonna let these brown-haired, fair-skinned foreigners affect me.
* * *

Calvin brought me to this place called Mimolette. I've never heard of it so I was really pleasantly surprised when we got here. The decor and ambience are just mesmerizing.
* * *

Colonial-styled hanging lamps give the restaurant a very warm and cosy atmosphere.
* * *

Cushioned armchairs give a sense of grandness to the restaurant.
* * *

My handsome date completes the beautiful evening.
* * *

A waitress came up to me before any of our orders were served to tell me this, "Sorry mdm, it's our company policy that you can't take photos of the food served." Fine. So this was closest we got to getting some food snaps.

The food is really really good! Every dish is just almost perfect. Kudos to the chef! We had Asparagus Soup and Oxtail Fettucini as appetisers, Pan-seared Tenderloin and Pan-seared Cod Fish for mains and shared an Angel Food Cake for dessert. Think we'll be back soon for their Sunday brunch! yums!
* * *

We adjourned to the bar area to chill out with wine and beer and enjoyed the rest of the evening in each other's company.

We love almost everything about this place (but it's still 2nd to Senso..), except for the service. Not that it was bad service, but it just didn't match up to the warm, cosy feeling of the ambience in the restaurant. Still, we'll be back. (^__*)

Hammie's our piggy bank and Tammie's our hippo bank. They store funds for our travel plans. They brought us to Cebu and Manila last year after our wedding and now they're working hard to store funds to take us to Italy - our 1st wedding anniversary trip. (^__^)

We had a few destinations in mind - Greece, Italy, Japan, NZ or some off-the-beaten-track destinations with Xifen and Alex. For now, we've decided on Italy to round up our "Italian" wedding night last Sep. God, please put everything in place and let our anniversary trip happen as planned. I can't wait to go on a holiday!! 6 more months!!

Calvin just completed his 3rd week at the PTI course (9 more weeks to go!). Last week, he started working out on exercise balls and realised how useful they are. So today, we went to Sports Link in AMK to get ourselves a ball each.

Calvin: The balls have indeed been able to isolate the targeted muscle groups for toning & strengthening, without straining the back if done correctly. We haven't got much time to play with them though, but getting them is definitely a start to something bigger that we are planning for. The balls are only an initial installation for my free weights "gym" & we are planning to transform our smallest room into our playroom..watch this space "Akan Datang"...

There will be lots of mirrors for vanity sake...more to watch out for right posturing lah.... we are going to house Min's new found interest => photography paraphernalia in the playroom too... we will brighten it with colourful wall decals in anticipation of our kid(s) in due time...but all these will most likely start after my "Pay To Idle" course...5 hours of sleep daily...that's how much of idling I get each day,the rest are paid with sweat & brain juice...so much from me, ENDURE & EXCEL...9 more weeks & counting...

Oh yes, we bought a camera last weekend! Canon EOS 400D... Have been thinking for a long time if I should get a DSLR or just a point-and-shoot. Inspired by the many talented photographer friends around me (Jasmine, Nicole, William, Vernon, Ying, Jooel, Vincent, etc etc) and with Calvin's encouragement... we finally decided on a DSLR. Thank you baby, for indulging me... :) Now it's time to get started on the basics. Still trying to get to know my camera better... (^__*)

Today's really a lazy day for us. We had planned to go for a walk but decided we're too lazy for it. Plus, we walked 8km yesterday, so we gave ourselves a "valid" excuse for not walking today. :p

After dinner, we made an impromptu decision to just chill out at home. Brought out a bottle of red, lit the candles, played a romantic movie called "The Holiday" and just chilled... It was a nice quiet evening that we both enjoyed. It is especially on days like these, that we so appreciate having a place of our own.

But thereafter, we both thought our place needs a bit of "warming up". It seems a little "cold" now, with the edgy beams & pillars, black & white furnishing and the lack of warm lights. So we'll probably put some effort in jazzing up our home after our wedding. :)

I don't use to run. Given a choice, I'll prefer the pool to the track. As for Calvin, either is fine. I started running quite a bit 2 years back. I used to wake up at 6am on a work day and go for a 5km run before heading to work. Finding it hard to believe huh? haha... Well, yes I did that and it's really a good way to start the day! But some time last year, I started feeling the strain on my knee and it hurts quite bad. I haven't ran in the last 1 year.

So on this lazy humid Sunday afternoon, Calvin suggested we go for a brisk walk to Pierce Reservoir and if my knee feels ok, we can go for a 2.4km run. So, we did that. After walking and running, we had dinner at Casuarina before strolling back home hand in hand... :-) This is indeed a fantabulous way to bond. I love times like this. It feels as if there's only the 2 of us in the whole world.

Let's do this again, baby... (^_-)

I won a 2D/1N stay at Rasa Sentosa at one of my company's parties and we decided to go for a little getaway just before Christmas. We wanted to get away from the crowd, but ended up running right into a very crowded resort. It's like the whole Punggol neighbourhood went there! We even had to queue for breakfast.. can you believe it?? And then, it just kept raining and raining and raining and raining and RAINING!!!

It was pouring and we couldn't go anywhere else for dinner that night, so we settled for dinner at The Terrace. Food was expensive, but since we didn't have to spend on the room, we spent on the dinner. Not fantastically yummy, but not too bad lah..

Nonetheless, we had a good break! Thank God!

15 December 2004 - the day I met my prince charming

@~~~

15 December 2006 - the day I thank God for His perfect plan

(^_*)