Birthday Celebration 2012 with Leecher

The 1st day of 2013! Happy New Year everyone! I wanted to head off for a good start this year in blogging, for I've been extremely hardworking last year (a whopping 210 entries for 2012, new record) and didn't want to lose the momentum. So, the first post this year will be on my birthday celebrations 2 weeks back!

Leecher asked me how I wanna celebrate my birthday this year. I stared at him for a second before giving him a "duh" face - am I supposed to plan my own birthday? Great, so I can plan it MY way, no questions asked ... Let's see - how about an all expenses paid day? Haha, the thought of this is good enough to bring me to cloud 9. As soon as those words leave my mouth, Leecher brought me back to reality and said, "Let's go for your fave picnic". Haha, when forced to corner, that block of wood sure has the best escape route. 

 So, Leecher got out of bed early morning - prepared and headed out, promising that he will be back before 11am. So, I took my time to drag my body out of bed, showered, picked my outfit and waited for him to return home. He came back empty-handed and hurried me to get out of the house. Along the way, Leecher kept stressing that there won't be any birthday present, so don't expect anything fanciful. Haha, sounds like a broken recorder. And so, we headed out to Botanic Gardens.

 
Parked the car @ a shady spot.  

Not bad, not bad ... all packed up in our picnic basket. But .... why no flowers huh? In those dramas right, when the guy opened the boot, balloons will pop out and the boot will be decorated with flowers/presents/lights. This is ......... a bit plain, but appreciated the effort :)

  Birthday girl exempted from carrying ... yippee! How I wish everyday is my birthday now. 

 
Too bad dear, birthday gal has the final say, lol! 


 Wa, still got time to stop and pose for the camera  ~ Looked like I bullied him into this like that.

 
 1st time entering the park from Visitors' Center, so this is totally new to me! 

 
 Instead of the usual spot, we went to the other end of the park (along Evans Road entrance). We had to orientate ourselves a bit, for we've never been to this area of the park before. 


Happy like a lark :) 


 
The park was undergoing renovations at certain areas, and it was certainly a far walk to Swan Lake, so we decided to just look for a quiet and shady spot for the picnic.


This place it shall be.

 

Revealing the basket of goodies.

Look @ the spread that Leecher bought prepared!

Soup of the day to start

Chicken carbonara sandwich for me.

 

We didn't stay for long this time round, as we had a movie to catch. And also, the place wasn't suitable for a picnic as there were lots of gigantic red ants around the area. Swan Lake is still the best for a nice picnic - shall save that for another time.

 

So, p2 of my birthday celebration was to watch the final installment of Twilight, much to Leecher's dismay. Too bad, birthday girl is the Queen of the day. 

Went home and Leecher bought mini chocolate cakes for me. He's really getting good at hiding things now, for he hid those cakes away from my sight the whole day and I didn't even realise anything unusual. 

 
Baked by Leecher's ex colleague, who left the industry to pursue his interest. 

 

Snowflake icing. 

Time for happy birthday song ~ happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to m....e......, happy birthday to me.

Another year wiser, lol! 

 

We heated up the other cake, so we can compare the taste b/w warm and cold. Leecher liked it warm while I prefer it cold. 

Setting off for dinner. Well, no surprises for dinner cuz I chose the place, lol!

Canopy, located @ Bishan Park. This is the newest addition to the Asmara Lifestyle Group, an Australian style cafe, offering a wide variety of new world wines. This restaurant is pet-friendly too.  

 

The interior, decorated with wooden beams lined across the ceiling. 

Leather-bound menu.

Orders placed!

Red wine for Leecher and minosa for me. I've tasted this @ Hatched (another post on that later) and this is now on the list of my faves.

 

Birthday toast to me :) 

Mini smoked duck pizza for starters. Homemade thin crust topped with smoked duck, pomodoro, mozzarella cheese, shredded apple, rocket salad and truffle mayo. Their pizzas come in 2 sizes - so if you're going in a big group, can get the normal sized pizzas for sharing.

Leecher ordered grilled wagyu sirloin, served with wedges and mixed greens.

My food cravings have changed over the few months. I used to be a steak lover, but over the months, it became a battle b/w chicken and fish. Ordered sakura chicken, which was marinated with mixed herbs & served with wedges, asparagus and creamy mushroom sauce.

Tata, cheers to a brand new year ahead! Another 365 days of laughter :) 

Canopy Garden Dining

Bishan Park II

1382 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1

Singapore 569931

Tel: 6556 1533

2012, in a heart beat!

The last day of 2012. As the clock makes its way slowly to midnight, I'm sitting here writing this post, thinking about the events that took place in the past year :) 

Being married to Leecher ... hmm, always an interesting topic to talk about for there are just too many stories. Like all other couples, we had our joy and tears, quarrels and sweet-nots. Survived the 1st year of marriage life, and counting onto the 2nd. 7th year of together-ness don't come easy, so I'm really counting my blessings. 

Work has been smooth-sailing, with some challenges in b/w. Still trying to strike the right balance :) Hopefully will expand the territories under my care :)

Always wanna the best for mummy dearest, lil bro & baby bro, just wanna spend more time with them whenever I can and stay healthy! 

As I make way for a new calender on my desk, here's wishing everyone 

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Platters!

Hello! A new & updated entry, once again .... and another date with BFF + BF! I need to find a shorter way of addressing BFF + BF, if not, I'll be too confused typing too many Bs & Fs, haha! I hope this post goes out earlier than BFF's food blog, so I can be up to date for once, haha! *cheap thrill* The BFF still beat me to it! And, another heartfelt thanks to Jonah, for his wonderful contribution to my Xmas tree this year, heehee :) 

This time round, we headed to Platters for our dinner, located conveniently near all of our working places, apart from FMQ, who had to travel into Central area. 

 

You can find many establishments along Club Street, which is starting to be the new hangout place for us to meet up with friends after work! Headed there early and thankfully we managed to reach the place before the rain started pouring! 

  

 Empty restaurant at 6pm.

 

Unopened bottles of wine displayed for your viewing pleasure. 

 

Opened bottles are displayed on the shelves as part of their decorations.  

 

 

Arty Farty corner, haha! 

 

Drinking (plain water) glasses.

  

Deep in thought about what to order .........

  

Good recycling idea :) 

Here @ Platters, they believe in the spirit that sharing makes a meal more enjoyable - which is why they choose to serve their dishes in platters. How true! I always think that sharing food with Leecher somehow makes the food more delicious, haha! Must be Leecher have the gluttony face, which makes food looks so yummy :p

In addition, they also invite a guest chef every 3-4 months to interpret, design and create what he/she believes is "sharing gnosh". This time round, the guest chef is Chef Tan Yong Hua, one of the youngest Singapore -bred chefs in the Chinese culinary circle, known for his modern and progressive techniques.

Getting ready for the first dish!

 

 

Roll with It Platter (half), which consisted of deep-fried prawn meat roll with scallops and Chinese pear/ mirin & mayonnaise sauce / bacon with enoki mushroom (my fave!) / wasabi-mayonnaise dip / chilled pork belly with freshly sliced cucumber / homemade minced garlic dressing. 

 

 The Boner (full platter) which consisted of pork spare ribs with coffee sauce / baked lamb ribs with spicy black pepper sauce (we all agreed that this is the best of the lot!) / braised beef rib (bone-in) with Chef Tan's signature homemade sauce.

 

 

All platters are paired with artisanal wines (if you fancy drinking) from their Euro-centric wine list. I've always preferred white to red, but this bottle of red wine is very smooth, me likey!  

 With good company + wine, food becomes enjoyable :) We ordered another platter to share. *glutton us* By The Seaside (full platter) - baked sea perch / honey sauce marinate / pan-fried Canadian scallops / green bean puree / crispy wild sea prawns / lemon-lime cream dressing.

 

** thanks BFF for the pictures! 

The fave couples :) 

 

with BFF :) new targets for the new year, perhaps?

 

Leecher needs to take some training from Jonah! That man is soooooooo fit!

Finished the night with a sweet flourish - rosella hibiscus flower jelly / Asian style pancake with red bean paste and sesame seeds.

Chef Tan's creations are valid till Feb 2013, so go try it! As for us, we'll return when another guest chef is in the house :) 

Platters
42 Club Street 
Singapore 069420
Tel: 6223 8048