CH's birthday celebration

Today is CH's birthday. We have been dating for 7 years and I must admit that during the last two years, his birthday went by without much fanfare. I wanted this year's celebration to be more special. Planning a memorable birthday isn't too hard afterall.

Since we've not been to Sentosa in such a long time, it might be a good base to start. I had in mind, a very relaxing weekend walking along the lush jungle trails or sandy white beach in tranquility. Sadly, none of that materialised.

Sentosa is experiencing an invasion of tourists that arrive by the busloads. Just look at the shocking number of tour coaches in the bus bay near Resorts World Sentosa. The sight was too bewildering.

As with the rest of Singapore, Sentosa is perpetually undergoing upgrading works. When we were there many years ago, the entire island was going through a major transformation. Now that Resorts World has been built, the rest of the facilities have to be upgraded to cope with the sudden influx of visitors. It's a never-ending cycle.

Despite our dislike for malls, casinos and crowded places, I told CH we need to check them out just to keep ourselves current. It is getting quite embarrasing each time our foreign friends ask about Universal Studios or Resorts World Sentosa. So here are some obligatory photos.

These must be the most widely photographed trees in Sentosa. What's this obsession with fake trees in Singapore? The Supertrees at Gardens by the Bay are now the latest craze. My kids are incensed that nobody pays attention to the beautiful natural forest in our central catchment area which in their opinion is the real green lung of Singapore.

 

We stumbled upon a nice garden at the quiet end of the building. Obviously not many people bother to walk all the way here.

I might not be wrong to say that all the tourists traveling in group tours spend a day at Universal Studios. There were tons of them, hanging around inside, outside and around the themepark.

Strangely, everything here is larger than life, from the carpark to the information centres to the mascots.

We were tempted to try some Malaysian food at the foodcourt but I had already made dinner reservations elsewhere.

 After wandering around in Resorts World, we drove out of Sentosa for dinner at a popular Italian restaurant called Parco Caffe @ Raeburn Park. What a surprise to meet my friend who was there to celebrate her nephew's birthday.

With Joyce.

The birthday boy.

 I chose Parco Caffe after reading good reviews in the papers just the week before. The degustation menu looked good and did not disappoint.

Chickpea soup.

Antipasto.

The tortellini in cream sauce was really good.

Fresh prawn wrapped with sole fish - very fresh and yummy.

Kurobuta rib in honey sauce was too dry.

The polenta dessert came with the degustation menu. It was unusual but nice.

We also ordered ossobucco served over a bed of risotto. It was hearty and very tasty.

A complimentary cake from Movenpick!

 The celebrations continued the next morning with brunch at Ding Dai Fung. Even though we've just had coffee, toast and eggs for breakfast, I insisted on eating xiao long bao (dumplings) here.

Happy at last.

The chilli crab dumpling was pretty good..

He looked amused. Wonder what he was reading...

We went home and I spent the rest of the weekend catching up with chores.

 Last night, we had another celebration, this time at home with my kids. The cake was delicious!