THE PS Cafe experience

While Mal has his views about our visit to PS Cafe last Sunday, and in the spirit of fuller "public discourse", I decided to pen down my version of Sunday as well. As an alternative view to the experience.

Let me first make clear this: I fully admit that when it comes to good food, my tastebuds can't really tell or appreciate the full difference.

I mean I do appreciate good food, and can tell the really good from the really bad (do note that this means I have to had tasted the really bad to know what the really good is), but still, the subtle nuances between the good and just ok, or the good and better, I'm terrible at such things. I'm just not that subtle (double entrendre there *haha*).

And neither am I supremely adventurous with food. The only reason why I get sick of food around specific places eg. work and home, is simply because I tend to rely back on the stuff I've always had, the tried and tested (for me) in that place.

In summary, I think I have highly unintelligent and insensitive tastebuds. Unless the food is (and I stress) REMARKABLY good, I am otherwise a shallow foodie. *giggle*

So, if you bring me to a restaurant that has excellent fair, I'm likely to emerge from the place with very few comments about the food, but more about everything else - service, ambience, toilets, seats, mozzies, cute waiters, etc. everything BUT the food. It'll be comments like "Its ok lah" or "Oh that was not bad" - all sorts of 'save face' phrases. So if everyone severely disagrees with me, I don't look like the dumbass one (even though I technically am, but that's besides the point here)

And I confess now that I've always judged a restaurant by its cover, ie the decor and ambience of the place. So like St Pierre is excellent for business lunches coz of its completely zen and simple look, St Juliens for its romantic by the sea and quaint settings, Flutes @ the Fort for its sheer colonial beauty, Menottis for its chic and club-like look, etc.

So, it is under this pre-text that I visited the PS Cafe along Harding Rd. Eversince the first time my Boy's taken me round the famous Dempsy Rd area for food and drinks, I've always ALWAYS wanted to dine at PS Cafe - its just soooo pretty from the outside, surely the food must be excellent!! Plus, I've read my fair share of "public discourse" and "acclaimed food reviews" about this place, and was certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything about this place is faultless, perfect and blameless. The restaurant sat like a little glass house in the midst of dense forestry, with corners and a deck for drinks, wooden floor boards, chalk written menu boards etc.

And finally the occasion came that warranted a visit there with a bunch of close friends in celebration of the birthday of a close fren of ours. I thought, wow even better - great friends, good food, beautiful restaurant. What more could I ask for right??

I called up and made a reservation for 14 people (dun look at me, it was Big D's requirements). Btw. the restaurant's soo popular, that you don't call their mainline to make reservations - u call a personal mobile no. for it. I was impressed - this place is sounding increasingly niche. Very nice.

While my frens thought me to be crazed for wanting to dine outdoors when I had the indoors option, I thot it was nice to sit out on the deck in the open. Beautiful lights, facing the greenery - what's so not nice about it right?? Plus the restaurant manager informed me that dining indoors would incur a pillar between the tables, and I thought that's not really conducive for a party. (Note: I had to clarify since I was implicated in the "other" blog - singaporerestaurantreview.blogspot.com)

Anyways, we got there at 8.30pm for the 2nd dinner seating. Everyone was in high spirits and we ordered. I took the grilled yellowfin fish and my Boy got the beef ragout. I tasted the fish and thought it was only ok, and the beef ragout was a tad salty. Then I decided to try something a bit more adventurous (as recommended on another food blog) - flourless orange cake. The cake was great for like the first few mouthfuls coz it melted in my mouth. But it just felt too rich after that. I couldn't finish it and as usual had to pass it to my Boy. Food was, in my humble opinion, only average.

But having said that, the service was pretty good. My best part is of course the elaborate sabotage we did for Little C's birthday - other than the chocolate birthday cake (it was good but its besides the point), she was made to lick whip cream down a bunch to get to the baileys shot placed strategically in Big D's fly. So raunchy but oh so good. *hahahahahahaaa* Firstly, I have never seen Little C drink much alcohol, and I didn't think she'd be game enough for something like this. ;-)

All in all, we left pretty happy and delighted with the experience. We had a fantastic time, lots of laughs, and a memory that we'd live to tell Big D and Little C's children about. *heeheeehee*

I'm now trying to persuade my Boy to bring me back to PS Cafe again for brunch. The pictures of the food looked really good on the food blogs. *slurp*

I'm a sucker, I noe. *grin*

Defining loneliness

Came across a definition of loneliness that I thot was interesting:

"That you can be lonely in a crowd, maybe especially there, is readily observable. You an also be lonely with your oldest friends, or your family, even with the person you love most in the world. To be lonely is to be aware of an emptiness whih it takes more than people to fill. It is to sense that something is missing which you cannot name..... Maybe in the end it is Zion (Ps 137:1) that we're lonely for, the place we know best by longing for it, where at last we become who we are, where finally we find home."
- Frederick Buechner

Lunch with (ex) Boss

I was looking forward to today - it was D Day for my overdue farewell lunch with my ex-boss at Equinox. No. I didn't want to meet her to mock her, or go "Aha! Here's the one that got away!" or sponge a free meal out of her for all the labour I've put in for the last few years - no no, none of that. I sincerely wanted to know how she was doing/coping, how my department folks were coping, and to "wrap things up on a good note" to say the least.

So while I was sipping my hot water today at the highest hotel point in Singapore, flipping through my new Style Living magazine (which is quite a read btw - I highly recommend it for those into design elements), doing the lady-of-leisure thing, my ex-boss finally appeared half an hour late, looking exhausted and dishevelled, though happy to see me.

And its no wonder - there was yet another petty quarrel in the office between her and another co-worker on the management team, and the poor woman was accused of being incompetent as a leader when she gave in too much, yet too difficult to work with when she was chose to stood firm. Its like whichever direction she turns, there's no win-win situation. Its emotionally draining when you have to deal daily with co-workers like that - and its been a pretty long 3 years (almost) for her.

So many questions come up for her (which came up for me too when I was still working with them) - What's wrong with that b****? Am I incompetent? What did I do wrong this time? Haven't I tried everything there is already?? What more does she expect of me?? Should I stay on and fight this out, or just call it quits?? Is this a battle I want to pick or can I afford to lose this? But she called my staff a super-b**** - how can I take that sitting down???

We talked about her frustrations, the need to vent, learning to forgive, leadership and mentorship, and the challenges that lie ahead. It was a meaningful conversation. I understand her pain and frustration. I also understand the sheer helplessness that comes with the situation.

All this makes me wonder: how do we deal with difficult people at work effectively? I mean, having to face with their incorrigible tempers or their incompetence every day of our lives, but approaching them with patience and even love, and helping them become better (as they help us become better)? And also, at the end of the day, not becoming bitter about it. I've seen so many of my present and ex-colleagues sway one way or another - either they bail out of the toxic situation early, or they become so embittered that they get dragged into this downward spiral of anger and hate.

Surely there must be a way, or a number of ways to not only manage, but to deal with it positively and powerfully. Not to deny it or pretend its not there, but that safe zone to think, reflect and talk about ways to move ahead. Surely there must be a way to rise above it all, and not let it bring you down. And when is it to bail out and say enough is enough?? How do we know it is the Lord's will for us at this point of time to stand in this horrible place and last it out coz He's teaching us love and patience?

I don't have answers, as I didn't have answers for my ex-boss. What can one do in such a situation???

Perhaps in the face of such sheer helplessness, prayer does have its place after all. Perhaps this is God's megaphone to us, calling us to look up towards the heavens, rather than at our finite selfs.

Everything in its time

Of all the songs in her 2 albums, this one's my absolute favourite coz it spoke straight into my heart. Reflects how I feel a lot of times when I pray, and am just waiting for God to answer, whatever that answer may be.

Everything in its time
- Corinne May

Sometimes I wonder what lies ahead
How long till my hunger is fed
They say its hard to make it in this part of town
So many people on this merry-go-round

Some folks try astrology
Some turn to crystal balls
To find an answer,
To get through it all
I just fall on my knees and I try to pray
In the silence I can hear Him say

The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign
Everything in its time

I often feel like I'm two steps behind
Somebody must have moved that finish line
There are a thousand reasons
Why I should give up
But I'm stubborn in the things I believe

The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign

'Cause maybe there's another plan
One I still can't see
A little surprise, like your love in my life
Funny how time changes how we see

The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign
Everything in its time
Everything in its time

First day of freedom

Had mixed feelings about this one.

On one hand, for the first time in a loong while, I HAD time on my hands. Like lots of it. And I get to determine for myself, what I really wanted to do for the day. Haven't felt like that since my uni days, and it felt quite good really. Did stuff that I needed/wanted to do but haven't had time for - Got a haircut, met preggie B for Pepper Lunch (my craving for weeks) and a spot of shopping (it is the GREAT Singapore Sale *haha*), and got myself a new digital camera. (It was then I realized that preggie B is actually rather gifted in bargaining and in the purchase of cameras) We even had time to stop by for gelato (that was on preggie B's agenda) and paid a visit to Mdm Nazi's new office in Raffles City. Yes, U can hear a pin drop in that room.... its true.... =P

Enjoyed the lack of a rush, which is what my average Singaporean working life's felt like at least for the last 2 years. Rather than panting through my daily life, it felt like I could breathe for the first time. Preggie B and I had time to just hang out and to laugh and talk about the things in our lives - friends who've moved on, family, preparing for the baby, preparing husband for the baby, my Boy's sense of humour, and concerns that's weighed on our hearts.

Yet, having said that, I do also miss a bit (just a bit) of that busy-ness - the sense of purpose, the driveness, the adrenalin rush to complete a project - a part of me does relish in that.

I suppose this is probably part of that process for me. Putting an end to that crazy breathless life I led for the last 2 years, stopping to assess where I am currently, making adjustments to my life to put things back in perspective, before stepping back into that crazy world again, but better paced, stronger and surer within. Safe in a crazy world.... interesting concept.... =)

Just started listening to Corinne May - she's fantastic!