A little over five years ago I married my best friend on a beautiful July afternoon, in a garden on Sentosa.
4 July 2009. We’re a little older and fatter now, but no less happy đ
I wasn’t sure we were going to do anything special to celebrate this year’s anniversary. Having a small baby kinda changes things. But last week we started getting our helper Jocelyn to sleep in Katy’s room on Friday nights, so James and I could have date night (and more importantly, uninterrupted sleep to start the weekend with). Since it worked out, and our anniversary conveniently fell on a Friday too, we decided it would be alright to spend our first night away from Katy since her birth.
Capella is a really nice resort. Accordingly, it’s pretty expensive. We stayed there for a night on our last anniversary – the management gave us a complimentary night’s stay to apologise for a mishap I experienced at their spa some months previously – and we liked it so much that it was the only place that came to mind when we decided on an anniversary staycation. And since we aren’t travelling out of the country very much (if at all) this year, I guess that more that justifies the price tag for this hotel stay…
They certainly didn’t disappoint.
Because nothing says “pampering” like chocolate-dipped strawberries with chocolate writing. (No, I didn’t lick the plate.)
… and nothing says “exhibitionist” like a bathtub with a view of the forest below.
It was nice to have the option of enjoying the view from inside the room, too…
I’m a massive sucker for scented bath products so these made me very, very happy indeed. And also made me smell like an orange.
For dinner James made reservations at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. We’re big fans of ‘fun’ fine dining. We’d actually eaten there once before, for my birthday a couple of years ago, but unfortunately I had a head cold and remembered absolutely nothing on the menu from that day. I did however remember the waiter who convinced me to have a glass of dessert wine. Which in hindsight was at least partly responsible for my lack of memories of the meal.
The meal had a lot of hits and some misses.
Let’s get this out of the way early. How many things are wrong with this cocktail menu?!
The amuse-bouche was a foie gras custard topped with Parmesan foam. It was nice, but if I had the chance to order it again I probably wouldn’t. (Waiter asked the couple at the next table if they liked it. Couple: “We’d have preferred caviar.” Ahem.)
Sautéed mushrooms, topped with jamon and parmesan, in a tasty green sauce. The first of many sauces I would attempt to wipe up with bread throughout the night.
Foie gras, oh hello there. We waited a stupid amount of time for this after they cleared the previous course, but it was worth the wait.
Some rack of lamb to share. This was about as good as any other lamb I’ve had, good but not outstanding.
My main course: pork with eggplant mash on the side. Have you ever seen pork this red in the middle before? Neither have I, but it was great.
James had the beef. It had that melt-in-your-mouth consistency, though the sauce was forgettable.
The mashed potatoes gets its own photo. Someone told me that these were equal parts butter and potato, so I asked a waiter if it was true that this dish was basically 50% butter. Waiter, sotto voce: “I hear it’s closer to 65%.”
Because we were seated at the bar counter around the open concept kitchen, James was able to surmise that the laggy pacing of our appetisers was because someone burned the foie gras and had to redo it. Also, the waitress who took our orders asked if we had any allergies, noted that I have slight lactose intolerance, and proceeded to do nothing with that information. But the dishes were all really good, even if I did have to eat around the mango mousse in my dessert.
Midway through our meal, the waiter who plied me with dessert wine a few years ago showed up, and after a fun chat with him we found ourselves with an additional half-glass of wine each, on the house. We never learn, do we!
With our half-glasses of wine. I have to say, this selfie turned out a lot better than the photo that a waiter took for us đ
After a nice long night’s sleep came a most fortifying breakfast.
The Knolls makes the best pancakes. Their fluffy texture is just perfect.
Not pictured: a glass of freshly-pressed apple and carrot juice with a dash of ginger. Because healthy. Heh.
And then it was time to return to real life and a really excited baby. Next time, she’s coming along!
