marriott cafe

haven't been to marriott cafe for quite a while... decided to go there for high tea to celebrate ky's birthday and hoping that the buffet spread is still good.

it wasn't a huge spread for high tea while oysters were available, sashimi was not. and it's only 2 hours long on sundays, so unless you're a real fast eater that can chomp your way quickly... it's a bit rushed to eat and catch up with friends at the same time.

today, the ala minute item was prawn soup noodle. for the carbo-averse, you could skip the noodles which i did. the prawns were cooked just nice and were fresh and naturally sweet. the cooking station was surrounded by an aquarium showcasing the 'live' prawns, which might not be too appetising to the 'ang-mohs'. i was so eager to tuck into the soup that i forgot to take a picture of it. haha...

the ice-cream station features a good selection of toppings which will definitely delight the little ones. the tea and coffee station has the requisite expresso machine and a nice selection of teas and infusions.

i guess this high tea is only worth it if you're utilising the '4 for 3' promotion since the spread wasn't outstanding and the duration is rather short.

thomas ng thiam syn

i'm sure you would've deleted contacts from your phonebook for many reasons... and i've done so whenever i'm bored and decide to 'springclean' my contact list.

but i had to do it for an altogether new reason that i hope won't happen too often. i did it because i saw ts's obituary in the straits times today.

ts was my section mate during bmt in ns. we weren't close and had not kept in touch after that. some time this year when my buddy from bmt caught up with me over dinner. he said that ts was recuperating at home from his cancer treatment.

he gave me ts's number and i told him if he's going to drop by to see ts, to ask me along. i did not call nor sms ts since i only ran into him once since bmt. it was his familiar and distinctive voice in the not-so-familiar australian outback. he was part of the training troops while i was in the admin team.

we had something else in common too, we were from the same junior college. but regrettably, we didn't quite hit it off or kept in touch. i guess chemistry is important for friendships to blossom and effort is needed to keep it going. both were sorely missing in this friendship. :P

still i can't help feeling a sense of loss when confronted with his picture in the papers. you can't help but wonder what unfulfilled dreams or wishes that he had since he was still so young. a life in its prime dramatically cut short by a scary disease caused by mutated cells.

knowing that cancer is so prevalent nowadays... it's something that could happen to any of us and probably would had happened to a close or loved one. a very sobering thought indeed.

again, a wake-up call to myself to adopt a healthy lifestyle and live a life without regrets because you can't afford to take anything for granted.

my condolences to ts's family.

dinner @ palm's asian brasserie

today marks the beginning of the monthly birthday feastings for my ns group of friends. ky suggested this rather ulu hotel featuring a steamboat buffet to celebrate my birthday.

doris and thomas were invited too. the steamboat was quite good with fresh seafood and mushrooms. cooked dishes were pretty ordinary. i think all of us were slightly disappointed that there weren't oysters or sashimi included in the spread.

however, it's the company that counts, right? cheers!