Happy 39!

A very Happy Birthday to my best friend, Deb!  WHOOOOHOOOOO OL Lady!!

Shuffling right along...

I am stealing this brilliant idea for future blog posts from My BFF, Deb.  I will put my itunes on random, and the next 3 songs I hear, I will write a short blurb about what the song means to me, the time it brings me back to, ect.  

So here goes: Song number one: The Story, by Brandi Carslise.  I first heard this song bombing sown 696 in Detroit, probably running late for school or work.  It was when I had just realized I was head over heals for an old guy that lived in Seattle. It was a very fitting song and I LOVED it.  Then it was on Gray's anatomy, and it became a huge hit.  I love her raw, not overly pretty voice. A friend of mine was driving with me once, and it was on the radio...I was doing my usual teary eyed singing along, and she was just shaking her head, calling me a sap. (Hi Stro!) Anyway...I still love it...for someone so young this chick can write and sing!

K, next one coming up.....Make Your Own Kind Of Music, Mama Cass.

Oh please!  I dare you not to LOVE this song....I have always LOVED, LOVED Mama Cass...that gorgeous, rich pitch perfect voice of hers...oy vey!  I remember my mom having an album (huh, what the heck is an album??) of hers when I was little, and a lot of my early childhood memories are laced with mama cass in the background.  When I got married in Vegas, I got a little slack for not going the more traditional route.  Deb sent me one of those musical cards with this song in it...saying she thought it was pretty nifty that Larry and I chose to do it our "own way".  Thanks for "getting it" Deb! It has definitely always been a "theme" song of mine.  Good one, shuffle!

Neeeeext!   Bust a Move, Young MC.  What can I say....you can take the old school hip hop outta the girl....woohooo...this song makes me shake my groove thang....not much more to say about it...it's funny, silly and has a great beat.

Thanks Deb for the great idea....this is right up my alley!

Oh Yum!

Larry and I went out for our usual saturday night 'dinner out'.  We debated our choices....our new favorite; Bali seafood?  No...we didn't want to get burned out on that....Mr. Prata (24 different kinds!!)  No....not in the mood....Pho?  No.....we had a very unfortunate experience there a few weeks ago, and it will take me a while to muster the courage to go back (insert gagging noises here)  Pizza?  Nah...I needed to get out.  Lar was feeling under the weather, but he agreed to go out...so not wanting to go far, we decided to try something in our new neighborhood.  We chose Ivin's Peranakan restaurant, right up the road from us.  It was a surprisingly mild evening, so the short walk from the carpark was nice.  We even saw a few kitties, none as cute as Frank, but still cute.

I didn't know much about Peranakan food (check this link out, tells ya all about it), and knew only a little of the culture from my visit a few months ago to the Peranakan museum.  I knew it was a mixture of Maylaysian and chinese...and that's it.  Ivin's reminds me of a local italian joint in MI.....families were there, enjoying family style portions of comforting food their Mama's probably made.  It was cheap, cheerful, and even though we were the only Ang Mo's, we were warmly welcomed.  The food was DELISH!  I was trying to figure out a way to describe it yesterday....it didn't seem very chinese...more Malaysian, which is normally roti prata, nasi goreng , that kinda thing.  We ordered a chicken dish that came in a VERY hot ceramic crock (Lar burned his finger....poor guy was having a rough night) it was hunks of chicken in  a rich red, tomato-ey sauce.  Not spicy at first, but it did pack a punch after a few bites.  It was served with white rice.  There were 2 large 'rocks' in the dish...Larry this they are to cool the dish down, thrown in after it is cooked.  We ordered to vegetable dishes, both super yummy.  One was a large slab of sweet potato cooked in coconut sauce, with the sweet potato leaves ( you eat them!  yummy!!  and think how healthy!) and one random shrimp...it was my favorite.  Then a curried vegetable melange.  I t had cabbage in it, but I still liked it.  Lar really wasn't feeling well,so his opinion was a little skewed...he drank  few cups of tea, and ate about half of his dinner.  He was patient with my lip smaking and ooh-ing and aah-ing though.  He only rolled his eyes once...

I LOVED this place...we will for sure be making it one of our regular spots.  Oh, and it was CHEAP!!  We are finding that more and more...the more local restaurants in our new 'hood are cheaper, the food is fantastic, and though we may get a few looks, we are always welcomed.  I'm loving exploring our new surroundings, and getting a more 'real' feel for the people and culture of Singapore.

  Two thumbs way up from the Grulich's!

Random Frank