My 26th birthday

Felt so weird when so many friends messaged me, "Happy birthday, Mrs Ng!"
Not that I don't like my new title, it seems as though I am not an individual any more - a part of Mr Ng. Anyway, I felt blessed when my friends called or messaged me birthday wishes. Thanks~

[The following is shameless raving about my birthday, totally irrelevant to GP so don't read if you are not interested.]

What I truly wanted for my birthday is a holiday
which I didn't get.

MOE education officers (teachers) need to seek approval from HOD and the principal before going overseas. Anywhere beyond Johor Bahru, I have to seek permission so goodbye impromptu getaway holidays. I didn't realise this after I have signed on the dotted line. It was not even in the fine print. A lot of things are not in the fine print.

What did I get for my 26th birthday?

French dinner

My pre-celebration with my secondary school buddies was at Ma Maison. Fabulous Japanese -Western fusion cuisine. We had cha-soba salad, cheese fritters and garlic butter escargots for appetisers. Their signature hamburger steak and squid ink spaghetti as main course. I strongly recommend this French cottage-styled restaurant for dates. The pricing is similar to Swensens but the food and atmosphere is much better. The first shop is at Bugis Junction and a branch just opened at The Central. If you go to The Central, stop by Paisley and Cream which sells mouth-watering cakes! My ex-colleague from Discovery Channel who learned baking in Le Cordon Bleu (if I remembered correctly) opened this cafe. A chic cafe to chill out on a weekend.
Enough blatant advertising....

Hong Kong dim sum breakfast
I can't go to Hong Kong so we had dim sum breakfast at East Ocean (Lido). This place serves the best custard salted egg yolk bun! The filling flows out like liquid gold. My favourite way of eating it is to suck the salty sweet filling before eating the bun. Another dim sum worth mentioning is the sharks' fin soup dumpling, only $6.50! I know I need to be environmentally conscious but it is my birthday so just let me eat that sliver of sharks' fin....

Chinese Tui-na
My husband said that he wanted to give me a 'relaxing birthday' and my bag of bones is falling apart so we went for massage. I wanted Swedish massage but after prodding my bones, the masseur recommended Chinese Tui-na as my body is severely tense. She warned that as she pressed my congested acupuncture points, I might feel slight discomfort.
What slight discomfort? It was so @#$% painful that I screamed silently and fight not to cry. I need some comfort food.

Japanese teppanyaki
Lunch was at my favourite Japanese restaurant at Far East Plaza. I am not telling you the name because it needs no more publicity. Sometimes, you have to wait for more than 15 minutes because there are less than 20 seats and only one person cooking. The place is so coveted that the chef actually charges $2 for each seat and it is compulsory to order at least one dish! A tiny dinky shop that one will definitely miss. When my journalist pal first brought me there, she said, "It feels like eating in Tokyo."
You sit at the cramped counter, huddling shoulder-to-shoulder with other customers. Slabs of fish meat are displayed in full view. The stoic yet meticulous chef prepares the sashimi right in front of you. Although I have tasted better Japanese food elsewhere, this shop's flavour suits me the most - fresh, simple and claustrophobic.

Hollywood B-grade movie
Balls of Fury is one of the worst movies I have seen but Maggie Q is really hot! The usual serious Christopher Walken dressed in post-Elvis garage sales costumes, acting as a villain is a riot. I was surprised to see Jason Scott Lee acting as a minion beefcake. The hit-to-the-groin jokes are lame, Asian characters are stereotypical, the plot is so bad that I cannot believe that I actually paid $9.50 to watch it. I wanted to watch a comedy so it was between Balls of Fury and Super Bad. Either one provides mindless humour. I chose Balls of Fury due to Maggie Q. She is sizzling hot!

Red shoes, Nail accessories and MP3 player
Being the dutiful daughter-in-law (shameless), I went to pick out kitchenware with my parents-in-law at Plaza Singapura. My husband allowed me to shop at Daiso and gave me a budget of $10 which I only spent $8! He is trying to curb my spending habit.
I bought a pair of red flats within 5 minutes today!
I also purchased magnets from 'Action for Singapore Dogs', doing my part for charity.
Did I mention that I am reading 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' by Sophie Kinsella?
In case you are thinking that I married Mr Scrooge, he bought me a new Panasonic MP3 player which only cost $49; extremely value-for-money.
Mr Ng saves, Mrs Ng spends. Match-made in heaven.

Halal Raspberry Cheesecake
My birthday cake was a slice of Raspberry Cheesecake from Secret Recipe. We are too full from our breakfast and lunch so we just ordered a slice of cake and a cup of mocha latte while our parents ate dinner. I never knew Secret Recipe was a Halal restaurant until my colleagues bought a separate cake here to celebrate the Muslim teachers' birthdays. To celebrate my birthday and be racially conscious, I shall eat a halal cake. Sheesh, I feel so _____ typing the previous sentence. This shows that my brain is infected after marking so many nonsensical scripts.

Oh, I forgot to make my birthday wishes.

1) More money
2) Win 4D
3) Strike Toto
4) Salary raise
5) Huge performance bonus
which will not come true.

so just be healthy and happy will suffice!