Happy birthday to me!
Today was an absolutely wonderful day. After agonising over my "missing" Yesasia package for a couple of days, J surprised me at the stroke of midnight with the parcel. This is J's present for me this year and it contains a toy and 5 DVDs ordered from Yesasia (I ordered, he paid).
My presents from Yesasia:
Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service
Chicken and Duck Talk (1988)
Fight Back to School (1991), Flirting Scholar (1993) (from left to right)
J surprised me with a birthday card and another present in the morning. It's a handcrafted journal by Apogee Paperkraft. According to the slip of paper that came with it, the journal is covered with Chiyogami, a decorative design silkscreened onto mulberry paper. The designs were developed in the Edo period in Japan based on the kimono textiles that the papermakers saw on fashionable ladies in the larger cities.
I just love the design!
Birthday card from J
Being overseas, I thought my parents wouldn't remember my birthday and was thus pleasantly surprised to find an e-card from my parents and a sms from my mum wishing me happy birthday.
After breakfast, we watched March of the Penguins at Cinema Nova. As it was a Monday morning, we paid A$5.00 per ticket which was really cheap. After the movie, we took a leisurely walk to J Cafe Restaurant for lunch as planned. I was looking forward to their croquette bento (chicken cream croquette served with special sauce) and was shocked to find a sign on the door which said "Closed from 24 - 25 Apr". In the end, J and I decided to go to Shoya (with the help of K, who gave me their address and telephone number), another Japanese restaurant which is supposed to be good, but more expensive. It was a decision we wouldn't regret. The food was really tasty, the presentation exquisite and the ambience relaxing. We ordered grilled king fish (cheek), Quail Sansho Miso-yaki (grilled quail on skewer) and Nama Shii Hotate. I really really love Nama Shii Hotate, which is one of Shoya's signature dishes. It's quail eggs topped with shitake mushrooms and fried in mashed scallop batter. I definitely want to eat this again. We were expecting a very expensive bill but were pleasantly surprised to find that it was only A$51.30 which was alright considering that it was a classy restaurant and what we ordered.
After breakfast, we watched March of the Penguins at Cinema Nova. As it was a Monday morning, we paid A$5.00 per ticket which was really cheap. After the movie, we took a leisurely walk to J Cafe Restaurant for lunch as planned. I was looking forward to their croquette bento (chicken cream croquette served with special sauce) and was shocked to find a sign on the door which said "Closed from 24 - 25 Apr". In the end, J and I decided to go to Shoya (with the help of K, who gave me their address and telephone number), another Japanese restaurant which is supposed to be good, but more expensive. It was a decision we wouldn't regret. The food was really tasty, the presentation exquisite and the ambience relaxing. We ordered grilled king fish (cheek), Quail Sansho Miso-yaki (grilled quail on skewer) and Nama Shii Hotate. I really really love Nama Shii Hotate, which is one of Shoya's signature dishes. It's quail eggs topped with shitake mushrooms and fried in mashed scallop batter. I definitely want to eat this again. We were expecting a very expensive bill but were pleasantly surprised to find that it was only A$51.30 which was alright considering that it was a classy restaurant and what we ordered.
Grilled king fish
Nama Shii Hotate
After that wonderful lunch, J and I explored the David Jones foodhall before going home. We watched Stephen Chow's Flirting Scholar together and then had dinner: instant noodles and a roast duck drumstick (unchopped) each, while watching Chicken and Duck Talk, which not coincidentally centres around a Hong Kong roast duck restaurant.
After dinner, J became all mysterious and shooed me into the bedroom. I knew he had bought a cake for me (because I saw the box in the fridge), but I was very surprised and touched to see sparklers on the cake.
After dinner, J became all mysterious and shooed me into the bedroom. I knew he had bought a cake for me (because I saw the box in the fridge), but I was very surprised and touched to see sparklers on the cake.
Tasty double-baked cheese cake from Myer
After we had the cake, we played with sparklers on the balcony. What a perfect end to an absolutely perfect day!
After we had the cake, we played with sparklers on the balcony. What a perfect end to an absolutely perfect day!
