How I Got Louised Into Going To The Beach March 15, 2009
Posted by esthertanc in Friends and Family, Holidays.1 comment so far
March 15th, 2009
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It was a rushed morning, with En suddenly wanting to play “dress up” with her hair and appointing me as hair stylist. I arrived at AGA later than I planned. After a bite of mom’s marvelous pineapple cake, I rushed off to get my class ready – I was teaching Teens class this morning. It was a heavy session, but the LCD projector helped to make the lesson move much faster. Once I was done with teaching the teens, I moved into the next class and taught the adults – primarily on end-time events, AOG-style. Needless to say, I came home famished, fatigue and fairly ready to take the breather I needed….when who would knock at my door but EuT the sis. She came to pull a Louis on me [to know the meaning of the word Louis, read my last blog post].
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I found that EuT had organized an excursion to the beach for En and Brian – all in the space of a few minutes. And in that same few minutes, she had also persuaded Matt and Minch and Wayne and Matt’s mom to come. As well as RT as well. My job, she said, was to get En’s beach stuff and my own readied in, like, half an hour. We were all going to a real beach to play in the real sand and sea, because to her thinking, we have all been sissified by club pools over the years. So imagine my rush to get things readied – where are the beach towels [oh forget them, use normal towels, lar!]; where’s the sun block lotion [oh no! its expired, have to do without]; where are the beach pails and spades and what-nots [they’re buried in the overloaded storeroom, never to be found within the next 30 minutes, so forget about them, use garden spades and washing pails instead!]; food, food, FOOD – we’re bound to be hungry and thirsty – what food to bring [oooh! Thank God for mom’s delicious pineapple cake].
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This kind of sudden, frenzied activities is really not in keeping with my reputation for being a cool-headed, slow-motion person. I thought of pulling out, but En called and pleaded that I went as well, and so I had no choice but to acquiesce. And, about 10 minutes before we started off, Tusi the maid was authorized to come along as well. The bunch of us, in two cars, filled up all the car boot spaces – last minute packing tend to do that to one – with towels, garden pails and spades, clean clothes, food and drinks, backpacks and a large beach mat.
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And so, that was how EuT Louised all of us.
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I must say that the thing I love about being louised is this – I always end up having fun, fun, FUN! Just look at what we all did:
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A Perfect Day for the Beach
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Let's try walking on water...
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Great Fun Ways to Bond...
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The Making of Brian the Merman
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Ice-creams for break and a slow beach-edge walk - what could be better?
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Digging a hole and filling it with sea-water
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What Fun!
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We should really do this more often
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The day was tiring but thrilling; energy consuming but thoroughly exciting; hot but extremely scenic. So EuT got her wish today – that all of us softies got a real taste of what the real beach is all about. As for us her victims, why, we just got louised into having superb fun!
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Fish Feeding Success March 2, 2009
Posted by esthertanc in Friends and Family, Me.add a comment
March 2nd, 2009
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After our failure to properly feed the fish last Sunday, we decided to give the weather another chance yesterday. So, when at 4pm the afternoon rain stopped, En hurried back home to get ready for the visit to the park. We started out at 5pm, like last week, only that we did not take the normal, jammed up town road. It went through the back roads instead. We arrived in good time. This time, the weather held. We were able to finish scattering all the dried up bread that we brought (Tusi made even more in the last week).
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The fish were all extremely well-fed, from my observation. And there were thousands and thousands of them all around the lake. In fact, there were so many of them that after a while, they began to look like big fat white-and-orange creepy crawlies worming and squirming their way around each other to get at the food. [Shudder!]
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Note the catfish in the bottom pic. It was easily 3 feet long!
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The turtles (or are they tortoises? I can never tell which is which) were a little harder to perceive…
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The park itself was scenic…
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We all enjoyed ourselves. The parents went off for a little walk. Tusi enjoyed just sitting down and watching the world in the park. I had a small jog around that small park. And En thoroughly enjoyed herself being hyperactive – roaming around in the park, meeting up with friends Su-Ann and Sue-Yi, climbing up the dilapidated “rope mountain” and having a go at the swings.
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It was a refreshing hour, and we all came back happy. After all, we got to Feed the Fish Successfully this time!
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Hectic Weeks Behind February 15, 2009
Posted by esthertanc in Friends and Family, Holidays, Pics.add a comment
February 15th, 2009
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What d’ya know, Folks? In a blink of the eye, the Chinese New Year is come and gone. Time really flies when you’re having too much to do, eh? Anyway, here are snippets [again!] of the things we did during before, during and after CNY.
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Jan 1st - Party at A. Annie's
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Jan 2nd - Party at Matt & Minch's
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Jan 18th - We made two types of tarts that day
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Jan 25th - CNY Eve and Mom's B-day
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Feb 8th - ChapGohMei: Food in Mass Array again.
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- Feb 9th: K.Hill again, after many months and much CNY eating!
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Feb 14th: This evening was spent in the jungle where the Aspirers had their campsite
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Now that the busyness of Christmas, the thrill of the New Year and the bliss of the CNY is over, I fear that life may be really start to be mundane. The March-to-September periods of every year are usually dreary, lackluster, grinding months for me.
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Here’s hoping this year’s March-September will be turn out to be more exciting, fulfilling and fun-filled. ‘Else I might just go bonkers and do something bizarre. Like take on another weird project. God forbid!
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The Engagement Party November 16, 2008
Posted by esthertanc in Agape, Friends and Family.add a comment
November 16th, 2008
I went to my friend’s EB’s engagement party yesterday – and learned lots and lots of new stuff that are actually old stuff, but are apparently still in vogue today..
Okay, okay, I’m confusing everyone with my sentence. Let me explain.
First of all, EB went and asked her family to find her a life-partner and arrange her a marriage. That, in itself, is pretty bizarre in my view. I mean, this is the twenty-first century, what.
And then, when her family found her a guy, they didn’t introduce EB to him until they and his parents have met and spoken about the matter and came to an agreeable conclusion. That is a second peculiar thing. It is usually we find the life-partner and then get to know the parents and then get both sets of parents acquainted – the parents are usually the last to “know” each other.
Then, EB’s parents got her an invite to the guy’s birthday party – where they were to meet for the first time. This is a pretty standard thing – that is, getting invited to a b-day party where you don’t know the b-day boy from Adam. One usually experiences that when one is visiting with overseas relatives and they bring one to a party of their friends (whom one doesn’t know). What is weird in this particular one was that: 1) it was just a mere three weeks back that the guy had his b-day party, 2) EB agreed to the whole marriage arrangement on the day itself, and 3) they were to be engaged in just three weeks of their first meeting together!!
As a fourth, the guy actually agreed to this whole arrangement thingy!!! Now if that isn’t all out of this world, I don’t know what is!
And then, another amazing thing happened. EB’s younger sister, upon seeing how the whole thing was set up, was quite pleased with it. She went to her parents and asked for a similar arrangement for herself. [Maybe it is too much of a hassle to look for a life-partner on her own?]
Now get this straight, folks – EB and her sister are not plain Janes, ok? They are some of the most beautiful girls I know. They do not lack suitors, of that much I’m certain!
And so, here I was at the party, soaking up all these wonderful information and enjoying the conversations with familiar friends who were also there, and admiring all the colors that were present. EB was beautiful. ULim gave a very good discourse and the two formally exchange rings. The food was delumptuous.
As I was mingling and making myself sociable, I found myself asking, “How can EB do this? Will it last? Will she be happier this way?” I thought about the accelerating divorce rates among the young adults of today. These were people who chose for themselves life-partners and later regretted the move. And then I looked at EB and her fiancé. Here was a couple who is stepping into the relationship with the fullest commitment possible. I mean, those two mean serious business with each other. Each has internally decided that the other would be their partner for life, for better or for worse – no turning back. If more people get into a marriage with this mind-set, I think we’d have found a cure for the rising divorce rates.
So anyway, EB is safely engaged now and is planning her wedding within the next few months.
I was to learn of one last info before I left the party – the engagement [exchange of rings] was followed directly by the signing of marriage registrar..! Which means, under the laws of Malaysia, EB is officially married!
Wow! They really mean business, don’t they? I’m really glad for them!
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Appreciation Dinner and After That… November 9, 2008
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November 8th, 2008
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A group of us got invited for an appreciation dinner for some help we did in a recent event. It was good food, great company. And what was particularly nice about the whole dinner was that we did not have to wait for about a hundred minutes from one course to the next. The organizer had the presence of mind to ask for all dishes to come out together – as much as can fill the table. It was perfect getting to view all our food almost at once, and be able to complete our dinner within 45 minutes of arriving at the restaurant instead of the usual 3 hours.
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Like I said, it was good food and great company. Everyone left the table feeling totally stuffed. Mom, Dad, EuT and I walked towards the car. We were in Era Walk, Sbn. The sky was dark already, and the night, as they say, was just beginning. We decided to walk off some of our after-dinner-stuffed, heavy feeling. Anne, Ruby and the Chongs joined us and we took lots of pictures. Era Walk is a picturesque place at night…
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Mom and Dad took a picture in front of a Spanish Restaurant. I told them that they could tell people that they went to Europe and took this pic and people would believe them…!
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All in all, it was a pleasant Saturday night out in town. I really should stop lazing at home and start going out more frequently on Saturday nights…but then again, Saturday nights [the ones that are free of programs and dinner parties, that is] are almost always reserved for family, so I don’t think I’d give that one up easily…
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The Perodua Driver November 6, 2008
Posted by esthertanc in Agape, Friends and Family, Me.1 comment so far
November 6th, 2008
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Note: This blog is posted late, the actual event took place on October 29th, 2008
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[Lunchtime, At Kemayan Sq]
Anne: So, we’re all agreed that we’ll go to the Laksa Shop for lunch? [nods going all around in the MyVi] Hmmm….the road the shop’s in is quite packed, and often does not have any parking space available…..Nevermind, we’ll just go the length of the road and see if anyone empties a parking lot for us. [drives at 10km/hr]
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Jess: Anne! There’s an empty slot! Quick! Get there before the next car overtakes us and takes the space!
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JChong: That parking lot is NOT empty, Dumb! It’s filled…with a Kancil!
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Jess: Oh. Well, the Kancil’s so short we can hardly see it…
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Joy: We’ve come to the end of the road already, shouldn’t you turn, Anne?
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Anne: Uhmmm, this is a one-way street, and we’d have to make a BIG circle around the square in order to come back to this road. I don’t want to do that…
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[2 seconds later]
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Me: [flabbergasted] Anne!!! What are you doing????!!!
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Anne: [casually] Oh, just reversing.
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Me: [scandalized] B-b-but…this is a one-way street…!
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Anne: [helpfully] Ye-es, and my car is in the right direction. Can’t you see that?
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Jess: Yes, AuntyETC, she’s like that.
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JChong: [obliviously] Ooohhh. Look at that car doing that illegal parking. I think it’s a government vehicle.
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Me: [moaning] Oh…this is so wrong! You can’t just reverse like that! What if there’s a policeman around? And slow your car down, will ya???
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Anne: Don’t worry, I can see from my rear mirrors. I’m not hitting anyone. And it’s lunchtime. No policeman around. Chill.
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JChong: [peering more closely out of the window] Yup. It’s definitely a government car, alright! Gotta report that fella.
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Me: [traumatized] I’m taking a pic of this – so that people will know that you’ve driven the whole length of this road in fast reverse!
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Anne: [confident] Go ahead.
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Zooming Backwards
JChong: Ooooh yes! Aunty ETC, take a pic of that law-breaking government car. We’ll report it to the authorities…
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The Kenwood BM350 Bread Maker That Never Did November 5, 2008
Posted by esthertanc in Friends and Family, Me, Yeoh Clan News.2 comments
November 5th, 2008
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So after trying A.Chris’ Sanyo Bread Maker creatively with much success the last few weeks, Mom decided it was time to get one her own.
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Before I continue, I must say that I had much, much benefitted from her creative works with the Sanyo machine. Apart from the normal white bread, she also baked wholemeal bread and cinnamon/walnut/raisin bread, chocolate bread, potato bread and a few others. The thing I liked most about mom’s breads are that they are 1) without milk – we’re both lactose-intolerant, and VFui has been ordered off milk until he gets the doc’s clearance; 2) without sugar – we used organic molasses sometimes as a healthier alternative; 3) healthy – with lots of organic stuff; 4) totally awesome to eat!!
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And I’m not the only one who benefitted from mom’s works. EuT and RT and Mctc and RD and VFui and En and a whole host of other people had had the privilege of savoring the fruits of her labors. In fact, EuT and Mctc gobbled up almost whole bread that was fresh out the oven once. Also, I’m sure Anne would agree with me that the people in the office got to taste the great-looking, delicious bread as well.
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And so it was decided that we help mom find her own Bread Maker. We found that Sanyo is not selling here, at least not in Sbn. Some say that the Sanyo brand is only sold in S’pore today. Anyway, we heard lots of people rave about this Kenwood brand – and after reading some glowing reviews over the net about it, we decided that it would be the best brand to get, after the unattainable Sanyo.
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Kenwood BM350
And so, Mom got a Kenwood BM350. It looked so cool, with its stainless steel exterior and its many ultra high-tech looking buttons.
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And then Mom tried out the first bread – a wholemeal one.
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This is NOT a cake!
Alas! It didn’t work out. The bread looked bad and actually tasted sour! What happened?
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She baked again. And again, it turned out bad. She baked a third time – hmmm…the white bread seemed to come out alright. She tried the wholemeal again. But with the same original disastrous results!
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After a couple more grievous tries, she finally called it quits and wanted to return the whole unit to the shop or, failing which, cast it forever into the deepest recesses of the Storeroom!
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It was then that Yours Truly stepped in and said, “Let me try it!” Mom stepped aside and I baked my first bread on this Kenwood BM350 machine. It turned out to be a more perfect [if there is such a phrase!] white bread than Mom’s! Hurrah for me! High on my success, I tried the wholemeal recipe almost immediately.
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It turned out something like this…
This is NOT Food!!
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It was a thorough flop. “Take it back to the supplier’s,” I said, convinced beyond a shadow of doubt that it is the machine and not me.
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And so, Mom went back to the shop today, and got a new unit. Apparently the original one had a fan/heater problem. That’s why the wholemeal recipe (and several other ones) could not turn out. The service man will be coming within 2 days’ time to check and test the new unit, and to “teach” Mom how to correctly use the unit.
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Meanwhile, unwilling to starve ourselves till then, we’ve meekly gone over to the supermarket and bought a basketful of normal bread – to tide ourselves over the next two days…
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Here’s hoping that there will be healthy-eating, great-tasting bread again sometime in the near future…
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Her First Time To Pasar Malam October 23, 2008
Posted by esthertanc in Agape, Friends and Family, Me.add a comment
October 23rd, 2008
It was Pri’s first time to the Thursday Night Market. Yayyy!!! Yet another has come to this great mid-of-the-week recreation. I asked her to pose a little for the camera, and was very shyly did! As usual, we had a fantastic time!
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Guess Who Came To Tung Shin Hospital As Well? October 16, 2008
Posted by esthertanc in Friends and Family, Overcoming.add a comment
October 16th, 2008
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Yup. The parents came, just to lend us moral support. Ain’t they great???
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And there were also lots of friends in the past week who called up to encourage us and who came visiting and praying. And yesterday, the first day of our RT, we received many sms’s asking us how the RT went. Wow! We were MUCH encouraged by so much support. Thank God for Friends and Family!
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And if you’re one of them who called up, visited, bought herbs for us, called us, emailed us, sms’d us, talked to us, listened to us, prayed for us, fasted for us, and have in one way or another brought comfort and peace to our lives these last few weeks, here’s a very big THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. I don’t think I can ever repay the kindness you’ve shown. I hope to God the compassion and thoughtfulness you’ve shown will be returned one day to you a hundred fold.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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Jes’ B-day Lunch October 11, 2008
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October 11th, 2008
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It was Jes’ birthday. Well, not exactly today, but a few days back. But due to the locations of our workplaces, we only get to meet up whenever she passes by my way on her way back to her hometown in the weekends. So, we met today. And we decided on the spur of the moment to go to Windmill, a nearby restaurant. It was to be our first time together here.
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The place looked cozy. Really cozy. However, it also looked empty. Really empty. Jes and I and the waiter were the only ones in the area…and for the entire 100 minutes we were there, the place was devoid of any other customers. It was as if Jes & I had pre-booked the whole area for her b-day lunch…
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We scrutinized the menu, ordered an appetizer, a Black Pepper Chicken and a Fried Nyonya Chicken and some mocktails – they were all good.
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Not long after that, we paid up and left the place. It’s night-time now. More than eight hours since that sumptuous meal. I don’t know about Jes, but up to now, I do not feel a single sign of a tummy ache. So I conclude there’s nothing wrong with the delicious food.
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The price was reasonable. Like, totally reasonable.
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And I am aware that it is past the Fasting Month of Ramadhan now, and people would not be fasting lunch.
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And the shopping complex this restaurant is in was not empty of people either.
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So my question would be – why is the place not packed with people on a fine Saturday afternoon???
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Perhaps, just perhaps, the place was indeed clear of other customers that day simply because it wanted to be special to Jes, for her b-day lunch J …
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In any case, Jes and I had a great time once again chatting away. It’s always, always great to meet and catch up with her!! Here’s to more good times with great friends!
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