09 December 2009 (Wed): Christmas shopping this year in Singapore has been fun. Good music at shopping malls and boutiques, a continuous stream of special offers, an enormous range of gifts and very cool weather,generally, though not wintry. I try not to leave Singapore during Christmas, but in fact have flown to Hanoi for some days and am back again.
Surprisingly this year I have received more than the number of gifts I'd expected, and I am sure they are still coming in. My first one is a Rolex oyster perpetual datejust steel and gold, M116231-0017, thanks to M. and Sis A.
E., that nephew of mine with caustic humour, commented that I finally own a 'Kopitiam watch'! 'Kopitiam' refers to the 'working class' cafe where prices are relatively cheap compared to restaurants. That is quite a keen observation, I thought, as even washers, food servers, and lorry drivers are wearing, or aspire to have, Rolexes.
"What a lift to the Swiss economy!"- C. acknowledged with thanks after I e-mailed him this information. He promptly accompanied his reply with a spiritual gift - my fourth X'mas gift. His gift, air-flown from Davos, is a book on how to combine Christianity and materialism ("Rolexes and Chopards", as he defined it-ha!). I will open the gift on Christmas eve.
I met up with Cy. whom I have not seen for over a year. Nothing has changed-which is good. We wanted to go to the sale at Takashimaya, but thought of having a good sushi dinner first. We both agreed to try out Itachoo, a chain from Hong Kong.
The ambience at Itachoo resembles that of a crowded cafe or a dim-sum restaurant-which explains why it's described as the 'dim-sum style sushi store'. Its culinary standard is slightly above average; it also performs better than Sakae, Sushitei, and the rest in terms of service.
Cy. and I ordered the hamachi, the salmon tataki, the salmon and flying fish roe:
The best deal is the lightly grilled salmon for 40 cents a piece! Only the early birds catch this succulent 'worm'- I will have to emphasize.
At the end of our dinner, we headed to Takashimaya's B1 - a big square stacked with glittering Christmas displays. What variety! We chose a Christmas wreathe (S$18.90)and gift ornaments (S$2 each), and finally dragged our feet into Cedele for warm Camomile tea and ice-cream. Cy chose sea salt with caramel which she found too sweet. My choice was fig with cinnamon. I enjoyed it.
Cy. took a picture of me, selected some which she took for this blog and sent all of them to me through her iPhone. Cool speed.
I asked Cy. for a pix her lovely long-time companion:
At 10:20 pm the staff came and told us to leave.
A note to add, though: Christmas decor along Orchard Road this year is fabulous. I appreciate the attention to detail and colors. (More photos coming up).
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