I turned 29th earlier this month and celebrated it with an almost decadent 5-day long eating and shopping spree. “Almost” because I also spent 2 days cleaning my room and tidying up some finances. But you don’t want to read about that now, do you?
Lawry’s The Prime Rib for Lunch
I’ve always wanted to eat here with my family. We’ve eaten at a lot of nice places over the years, but we’ve never eaten a proper meal at Lawry’s. The closest we’ve come was when we went there for high tea, which was also the first and only time we visited Lawry’s.
The ribs that Mum ordered were delicious! They were even nicer than the prime rib I had. My brother’s mud pie was also fantastic. The chocolate sauce is incredibly thick, and I swore I tasted a hint of caramel in it.
Caramel and chocolate sauce? Ridiculous. Pure, unadulterated goodness.
I should mention that the experience wasn’t perfect. I was disappointed that Lawry’s was unwilling to provide the birthday cake they typically give to a party of five. We were a party of four and I asked them if they could make an exception, after all I’d feel terrible if I was the only person at the table eating a dessert. And surely you don’t expect me to divide something as small as this into five parts:
Aside from this unrelenting rigidity, which didn’t make me feel very special on my birthday, it was a good experience. The wait staff at Lawry’s is impeccable, but the management needs to go the extra mile to make diners feel special instead of putting them in awkward positions.
Shopping Spree at Raoul
Ok, not really a shopping spree, but considering how I only buy 1 item from Raoul every 6 months, buying 3 items certainly felt like a spree. But it’s my birthday, so why not?
Raoul’s workmanship and choice of materials is fantastic. One of the tops was so comfortable, it felt like I was wearing pajamas.
During my ‘spree’, I discovered that the Paragon outlet is closing for a month-long renovation, leaving the outlet at Marina Bay Sands. I was also informed that the outlet at Raffles City was closed down due to the unusual mix of stores surrounding it. Apparently, Raoul has been trying to look for another location but could not find anything suitable. I hope Raoul is doing well, it is my favourite local brand and I’d hate to see anything happen to it.
Sony Xperia Z
I’m thinking about buying a new phone this year so I took a closer look at the Sony Xperia Z. It looks great on paper but I was concerned with the quality of the screen and the camera.
The build quality is pretty good and I found it surpringly easy to use with one hand. The camera also appears to take pretty good photos, but my concerns over the screen quality was well-founded. The Bravia engine only appears to kick in when looking at photos and videos, and when it does, the screen looks gorgeous. But in every other scenario, the screen lacks the saturation of an AMOLED screen or the crispness of an IPS screen. My two-year old Samsung Galaxy SII had better contrast and saturation than the Xperia Z!
Quite a disappointment, I had high hopes for this phone. Looks like I will probably go with the HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S4 instead.
Tea at TWG
Sitting down for a relaxing cup of tea was on my “to-do list”, so after shopping Paragon, I met Mum and Dad for tea at TWG. I ordered a pot of Sakura Blossom tea while Mum ordered some macaroons for us to share.
The Sakura Blossom tea is a weak tea with a hint of peach. What a sophisticated and relaxing way to unwind.
My five day long birthday bash felt great. It was a nice way to recharge my batteries though I wish I could have taken the full week off; I wanted to visit a museum.
Aw well. Maybe next time.
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