.::. His Birthday .::.

Celebrated the husband’s birthday a few weeks ago. The supposedly surprise staycation that I booked (from our wedding package) was exposed when my dear friends started asking about the staycation during dinner on Friday night. =_=” So, the surprise was no longer a surprise and all my efforts in secretly packing his clothes and stuff was no longer a need.

I headed for check-in after teaching tuition. I still love the hotel we got married in. Because our suite had club privileges, I was brought to the lounge for afternoon tea while they checked me in. The service was great as usual but it was a rush to get a shower before meeting the husband. We had a late lunch and a nap before getting up for dinner. We woke up at almost 8pm, and late for our dinner reservation! I wanted to doll up for dinner, but ended up hurriedly slapping on makeup and getting ready instead.

I brought him to an Italian Steak Restaurant. It’s one of the top recommended places for steak. The steak was really good – very fragrant, tender and tasty, but the sides were disappointing, especially the potatoes. And because of the sub-par sides, Morton’s is still our favorite steakhouse. Morton’s does everything well. The sides as well as service actually.

We started with a salad, with parma ham and burrata cheese. It’s my favorite Italian starter because I love parma ham. The one we had at Changi was unforgettable. This one was alright, but the extremely sweet and juicy and fresh tomatoes stood out and scored.

We had Tuscan potatoes and mushrooms as our sides. The potatoes were horrible – soggy and soft without much flavor. Mushroom was alright – fresh but oily and abit bland.

The steak was the highlight of the night. The presentation itself was impressive and drool-worthy, with the biggest T-bone I’ve ever seen. The steak was soft and flavorful, a result of the Tuscan-style charcoal barbecue cooking. The fatty parts were oozing with juice and flavor. It was one of the best steak we’ve had (although Morton’s still ranks top albeit being a different style).

When we made the reservation, I told them that I was celebrating my husband’s birthday and requested for a nice corner table for 2. We were seated awkwardly right outside the kitchen and near the service area. They included a complimentary dessert with candle for the celebration during reservation, but this was totally forgotten when we were there. We were asked if we wanted dessert, but I would have rather they remembered to serve that complementary dessert with a candle as a surprise. I had to show the waiter the email that mentioned the complimentary dessert on my iPhone (which the waiter took a long time to read and looking really confused) with the husband looking on curiously and asking what's wrong repeatedly. It was exasperating to say the least, with all my ‘surprises’ being screwed up.

Here's the husband with his birthday dessert finally served.

Despite the great steak, I find that the service is not up-to-standard with that sort of price range. They weren't rude or anything though. How difficult is it to remember that the table is having a celebration and serve the dessert with candle after dinner? There was another customer who came as a group (probably family) and was in berms and tee-shirt with sneakers. The waiter at the service area right beside us were all staring and made comments about her dressing -  ‘machiam kopitiam’ (she was dressed as if this is a coffeeshop). I was amused, because I thought the same, but it just didn’t sound appropriate to make such comments about your customers openly when other customers could hear. That made me wonder what would they say about this customer who did not want to order dessert but showed them the email to ask for the complimentary dessert instead. I didn’t like how it feels as if customers weren’t good enough to dine there just because they weren’t dressed nice enough or didn’t order wine (most of them are expats who either dressed nicely or spent a lot on wine).

I suppose we’ll not be going back there anytime soon, unless I really miss their steak enough. I still miss Morton’s warm and homely service with a personalized menu and dessert with framed photo to help you celebrate an occasion.

And here's a picture of us. This is the 10th year I've been celebrating his birthday with him. *gasps*

We really didn’t do much but spend time together and slept our weekend away, pretending that we were atas in our suite and the lounge. We watched live soccer matches while tucked in bed, had a great breakfast and coffee while reading newspapers. The breakfast at InterContinental was great! There was a good variety, including cheeses, juices, fruits, breads, hams and even smoked salmon. I was impressed that they had chocolate milk – it’s something I don’t see that often. The service was great, and I had my bubble bath in a huge bath tub.

We then went to get Lady M’s crepe cake and went home to have a mini-celebration with the neighbors.

Love of my life. 

Happy family.

Happy Birthday my dearest husbandy!

It has been a great weekend. =)