I am so proud of her. A rather odd statement since it's usually said the other way round. But this is the exact sentiment that's making my heart swell.

My mum is a traditional person. She never imagined in a million years that her only child would not be by her side or at least on the same island. And I never imagined in a million years that she would be alright alone. With no one, not even my dad, by her side on Mother's Day. I felt such pangs of sadness when I called home to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. Even more so when she told me she was making a simple dinner of soup and watching TV on a day when we should be celebrating together. Yet, she was so filled with joy at my call I could hear it miles across the oceans. It broke my heart and made me smile at the same time.

She worried about me when I was young but the tables have turned now. I often wonder what would happen if she did not have a job to occupy her time. She has little friends and didn't relish travelling by herself. But she is stronger than I expected. When she was told to stop work for 6 months, she strolled around the neighbourhood, cleaned the house from top to bottom and to my great surprise, found a part time job. It paid peanuts but it made her happy to be busy. Consequently it made me happy too.

I'm glad we have gotten to this point together. I miss you and Happy Mother's Day.

N invited me and J to visit and enjoy home cooked Mee Rebus. I was on the phone with N to arrange a lunch date the next day when she received a text from J who decided to take up her offer right there and then at 11pm!

Mee Rebus was followed by a depressing Kate Winslet movie, The Reader, at 2am. I do highly recommend it. After that, we chatted till 7 in the morning!

Did I mention that it was a Thursday night? J's boyfriend had accompanied her for supper . While we all didn't plan on staying up all night, there wasn't a single complaint from him even when he hasn't slept for more than 24hrs. He even went into work without sleep. Iron Man...

I hate vegetables with a passion. Growing up, you couldn't get me to eat anything green. Over the years, I've become more sensible. As long as they are cooked with meat or flavourful spices to mask the taste like sambal belacan, I'll eat it.

I decided to make lamb saag for dinner one day and the recipe called for 2 full bowls of spinach to be shredded into ribbons.

To save the extra step of plucking leaves off a bunch of spinach stems, I did the easy thing of buying pre-packaged spinach leaves. Though the box says 'washed and ready to eat', I don't trust industrial cleaners of doing a thorough job. For a very good reason. Look at the number of bugs I found while washing the vegetables!

Still have appetite for lamb saag?

All packaged vegetables states they are 'washed and ready to eat', which would be great if I wanted extra protein! My regular brand was sold out so I bought the store's in-house brand thinking it wouldn't matter. This was the worst cleanup job I've seen. Even with the soiled bunches of spinach from Asian supermarkets, I've never encountered bugs. I'm never buying the in-house brand again.

Strong winds last week snapped a huge branch off the oak tree growing behind our house. It landed on our roof which was impeccable timing since we were expecting fire inspectors to show up anytime.

Every year in May, the LA Fire Department sends out inspectors to check if your house is free of debris that can start fires. If you fail the first inspection, a letter of warning arrives to tell you to clean up before the second inspection. Fail again and you will have to pay a hefty penalty.

We urgently called our handyman to help remove the offending branch. It was so big that he had to saw it into smaller pieces before he could toss it off the roof.

All the pieces lining the street, see how big it is? We don't even have enough bins to throw them out. Since garbage collection takes place once a week, it will take us a few weeks to clear this green mess. That's not the end of it. The branch didn't split off cleanly and its remaining part looks like it might break anytime. If it doesn't, we will have to chop it off once we have empty bins. Poor tree is going to be botak for a long long time.

Most importantly one needs talent and you are looking at him.

To celebrate our second ROM anniversary, Kelly told me to pick a restaurant, any restaurant. I'm the go all out or go good and cheap type when it comes to food so I was hesitant with making a decision.

After some discussion, we settled on the 1 Michelin star molecular gastronomy restaurant, The Dining Room at The Langham. Bonus for this TV addict, the Chef de Cuisine was winner of Top Chef season six.


I happily got my makeup professionally done and straightened my hair.


Kelly thinks I'm fussing but I didn't want him to see me looking like I do everyday. At least must look extra hot on our anniversary right?


I really wanted the Chef's menu which has to be ordered by the entire table. Because of Kelly's aversion to seafood, we asked if certain dishes could be substituted. The answer came back negative and our server suggested we do the 4 course menu and added ala carte dishes.

Even though I told Kelly I was ok with their recommendation, he decided to indulge me. Imagine hearts popping out of my eyes. By the time we placed our order, we were starving.


Our dinner started with an amuse bouche. The parfait of powdered salmon, horseradish and cream cheese had an interesting texture but I found 3 powders too dry on the tongue. Poor Kelly took one spoonful and contained his urge to spit it out.


First course was a perfectly cooked piece of langoustine on a bed of white asparagus in a delicious bouillabaisse bisque that I mopped up with my bread. Strangely, the calamari crisps reminded me of papadum.


The chef compromised and substituted Kelly's first course with a colourful harvest of garden vegetables. He gobbled everything and paused to mumble "It's really gooood" when I asked.


Our second course was a pretty presentation of foie gras terrine with wild strawberries and rice crispies. Salty, sweet and tart, it was sublime.


Next course was trout topped with porcini puffs and a sweet hibiscus foam which would not be missed in this dish. But that fish was the best I had in my life! It melted in my mouth like butter. I was the happy recipient of Kelly's intense dislike for seafood.


A deconstruction of the Reuben sandwich, our fourth course featured pastrami pigeon, sauerkraut gelee, cheese crisps and rye sauce. The pigeon was chewy and a tad salty.


Doesn't Kelly look like Mona Lisa here? In between courses, we had divine bacon rolls with goat cheese butter, butter from Vermont and butter from France.


Lamb shoulder confit and coffee cardamom soil. I can't remember all the components of this dish but I remember the lamb was perfectly cooked.


Mmm mmm mmm, Japanese Kuroge beef with marrow toast, a pea roll, matsutake mushrooms and Bordelaise sauce. I savoured every bit of it.


Isn't the presentation wonderful? Kelly was so full by the time this dish arrived that he didn't take a single bite. This was one of the highlights of the night, such a pity!


After the savoury courses, we were served a palate cleanser of peanut butter and jelly which had been blasted with nitrogen to form tiny icy dots.


The guy who cannot take another bite has space for desserts and it's written all over his face.


So eager that he cannot snap a clear pic of his Baba Au Rhum with pineapple, kiwi and coconut. Verdict? Really really good.


My pic came out blurry too.


My dessert went by the intriguing name of Fool's Gold. It composed of a salty hazelnut praline sprinkled with gold pieces, a chocolate sorbet and cocoa tuille. This is perfect for chocolate lovers but it was too much for me after a heavy meal.


The 3 tai tais seated next to us were invited to meet the Chef de Cuisine in the kitchen. After their turn, the same invitation was extended to us! It must have been a long tiring day in the kitchen but Chef Michael Voltaggio was very personable. Arrgh, where are the fake lashes I had bought for tonight's occasion?


Source
Awaiting our return was a trio of mignardise. The lemon curd was too sweet after my dessert but I love the passion fruit candy with its edible wrapper, reminded me of 白兔糖. The chocolate lolliPOPs lived up to their name. Hidden inside were pop rocks candy so you heard and felt them pop in your mouth.

This was my first molecular gastronomy experience and it was a subtle introduction which I would definitely like to explore more of. It was also the first time I have whipped out a camera at an expensive place and I was kind of embarrassed. Since the tai tais were doing the same, I feel slightly more justified. All in all, it was a wonderful culinary experience for me.

Thank you and happy anniversary!