The 3rd and the 11th

The numbers up there represent our wedding anniversary and the number-of-years-as-a-couple anniversary.


~*3rd Wedding anniversary*~

A few days back, the hubby and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. Time really flies and it still feels as if we have just been married.

Kh took leave on the day itself but we were really clueless as to what to do and where to dine at. The night before, we decided to take a walk at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands as well as to check out Singapore's latest attraction -- Gardens by the Bay.

"Gardens by the Bay brings to life NParks' vision of creating a City in a Garden. The Gardens captures the essence of Singapore as the premier tropical Garden City with the perfect environment in which to live and work - making Singapore a leading global city of the 21st century."

Instead of checking out some fine dining restaurants as of other anniversaries or birthday celebrations, we decided to satisfy his craving for Chinese dumplings at Din Tai Fung. For a whole week, he had been sick (still is as I'm typing this and has since spread to me as well) and he had been having craving for Chinese dumplings every single night.

The Din Tai Fung branch at MBS exudes a totally atas feel, quite unlike its humble counterparts all over the country. It is evident from the decor of the place.




Quite unlike Nokia's slogan (Nokia connecting people), Apple disconnects people. While waiting for the dishes to arrive, we engaged ourselves with our iPad and iPhone. We do connect by sharing about things we see on our screens though.




I love Chinese comfort food.




Kh sure satisfied his dumpling craving all right! He ordered two bamboo steamer baskets of xiao long bao and pork and vegetables dumplings.




We had wanted to head out to the gardens but it was drizzling the whole day. We only managed a shot with the iconic Louis Vuitton Island Maison before the raindrops became bigger and heavier.

"The Louis Vuitton Island Maison is one of the two stand-alone glass and steel crystal pavilions designed by architect Moshe Safdie as part of his overall design for the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort in Singapore."



The above photo was taken using my phone's front camera and hence the grainy quality.


We had no where else to go but to stroll in The Shoppes till the rain stopped. After a while, we realised that we had walked past the same few shops and boutiques at least thrice and decided to sit down for some tea and desserts at TWG.




The joke of the day was when for the sake of my hubby, I asked the TWG wait staff if they actually served coffee there. What did  you think the answer was? Fortunately, the wait staff did not label me a bimbo.

Kh is a coffee person and the long list of tea available at TWG simply stumped him. He had to browse through the tea book in order to make a well-informed decision. Alas, it only made him more confused.




I finally settled for Magic Charm Tea and he, Tribal Tea based on how they sounded.

"At the first signs of spring, flowers bloom on the mossy forest floor, and this light TWG green tea is blended with the most fragrant of these wild blossoms. An enchanting, rose-coloured cup with a tart and flowery flavour, this tea is a cup of pure magic."

Could you see how I was totally sold by the description?

"This audacious blend, made of rich contrast of green tea, China blue tea and black tea, is inundated with flowery notes of orange blossoms, orchard fruits and rare wild mints."

He felt this tea suited him too as it sounded very confusing.


Besides tea, we had tea-infused macarons which were absolutely delectable. The macarons brought out the fragrance of each tea wonderfully. I really like them for the hint of tea which wasn't too overpowering or cloyingly sweet though the outer shell is a little too crumbly.




We also ordered Foie Gras Terrine
“A well-known delicacy, homemade pan-seared foie gras served on a tender spinach shoot salad accompanied by caramelised apples and carrots drizzled with a Chocolate Tea infused vinaigrette.”

and

Crème brûlée
"A refreshing return to the traditional French confection, these two miniature crème brûlées are delightfully infused with two of our exclusive TWG Teas, Phuguri Darjeeling and Vanilla Bourbon Tea."



Flavours of macarons clockwise from top:

Dark Brown - Camelot Tea and Praline
Dark Pink - 1837 Black Tea and Blackcurrant
White - Moroccan Mint Tea
Brown - Earl Grey Fortune and  Chocolate
Yellow - Lemon Bush Tea


The unrelenting drizzle and torrents of rain finally ceased when the sky grew dark. It was a blessing in disguise to have the rain stop only then for we would not have been able to savour the beautiful gardens by night should we have visited the garden in the day and headed home thereafter.








The OCBC Skyway was closed by the time we were there. In fact, the whole garden isn't fully ready yet as there were many areas of the garden with work still under progress.




It was extremely difficult to capture a shot of us with the colourful lights in the background without the use of flash. Such photography requires a steady hand and this was the best we could manage.




Marina Bay Sands




Singapore Flyer




Experimenting with the shutter speed on the bridge







~*11th anniversary*~

Our number-of-years-as-a-couple anniversary falls on Valentine's Day so as usual, this portion here is a backdated entry from February.

On the eve of Valentine's Day, we went to Au Petit Salut to beat the Valentine's Day crowd. The last time we went there was for his birthday 3 years ago.




The place was still rather empty in the evening but was buzzing with patrons when night fell.










Kh love munching on bread so much that I often have to remind him to save some stomach space for proper food.




Here are us with our mains.




His:
200g US “Greater Omaha” corn fed prime grade beef tenderloin served with ‘Pommes Mousseline’ sautéed wild mushrooms and red wine sauce




Hers:
“Le Cassoulet"
Duck leg confit, pork sausage, bacon and lamb shoulder served in a white bean stew




My mains was served in a huge saucepan which left us staring at it in puzzlement. The wait staff then asked if I would like her to portion the food for me. Slowly, my empty plate was filled with unknown slabs and globs of food.




Crème Brulée infused with fresh Madagascar vanilla beans




I can't remember what my dessert was and I can't find it on their online menu anymore.




Kh loves to wonder about the number of rings I could put on my fingers during special occasions.




He wanted to experience how it felt like to have one's fingers adorned with so many rings.




Outfit of the day:
♥ Siander blue dress
♥ Prada Tessuto Gaufre Tote in Pomice
♥ No label ribbon hair band
♥ Chanel necklace
♥ Assortment of rings
♥ Spinel cork shoes




Kh doesn't like me with curls. It seems to me as if most guys do not like their partners in curls. Surprisingly, he liked my look that day but commented that I was sporting those Taiwanese overly sweet idol look which I absolutely dislike. He also deemed my hairband too act-sweet.

I, on the other hand, do not think I'm acting sweet. Wahaha... Ok, you may beg to differ.




On Valentine's Day itself, it was an obstacle course throughout the whole of Orchard. The only place without a one-hour queue was Crystal Jade Home Recipe (翡翠家常) at Shaw House. By the time we found this queue-less eatery and sat down, it was already 9pm and we almost died of famine.


It sure didn't look like I was dying from famine here. The Hello Kitty glasses made everything bearable.




Kh looked really cute with the Hello Kitty glasses but as he knew I was going to snap a picture of him, he refused to put it on.




Little did he know that I have this photo of him. There are a few others of him acting really sissy with the specs which I shall not show here. Maybe one day if he pisses me off, I shall threaten him with those photos. This mock-sleeping one would suffice for now.




Comfort food




Refreshing desserts






Wishing the both of us many more anniversaries to come!