Bad Habits
As I battle jet lag and the inevitable flu-like symptoms that result from being confined to a small space for 15 hours with several sick and inconsiderate flyers, my patience is at a minimum. Who am I kidding? My patience is always at a minimum. But even my minimal patience is disintegrating as I swiftly come to the conclusion that some bad habits can’t be broken.
1. Maya will continue to kick her shoes off at the front door and will not pick them up, despite my repeated requests and numerous threats to give them all away to a child who has no shoes.
“But how do you know she wears my size, Mama?” Smart ass.
2. Despite my best intentions to start eating proper meals I will continue to resort to scrambled eggs for dinner due to lack of time, groceries, and inspiration.
3. As I eat my scrambled eggs I will get a text from my husband who is currently in Las Vegas “working” asking me what he should order from one of my favorite restaurants ever – Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill.
“At Mesa, u think I will like Halibut more or Mahi?”
I’m not even sure where to start on this one but I’ll just go with the obvious…even when I don’t have to cook for Ali I still have to think about his dinner plans. Apparently that now includes having to consult via text.
4. When Maya and I decide to have dinner with my brother at Coral Tree Cafe the serial cougher, a.k.a. Maya Din, will cough all over my food as well as my brother’s food, and will insist that even though it’ s a “fake cough” she cannot help it.
After sharing all her germs Maya will share her ketchup-covered fingers as well…all over my white pants.
5. And despite reading an article about how one shouldn’t start their sentences with a conjunction like “and” or “but” I will continue to do so because I simply can’t think of replacement words. But I do believe that when compared to my family’s transgressions, my grammar mistakes are forgivable.
So please forgive me.
The Tea of All Teas
While most people strive to do admirable things like become a doctor or join the Peace Corps, I strive to accomplish things like having tea in as many cities around the world as possible.
Yes, I reach for the stars. I’m sure my parents are super proud.
My pathetic aspirations aside, thus far I’ve been able to partially fulfill my goal by having afternoon tea in Amsterdam, Paris, London, Toronto, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and as of last week, Tokyo, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur.
Most of the time I research and plan where I am going to overpay for a cup of tea, but for some reason I didn’t have any location in place for Singapore. I guess by the time I organized all details for Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur, my tea plan sort of fell by the wayside. But sometimes the best plans are those that aren’t planned at all, as was the case last Saturday.
After walking around Singapore for the better part of the day Ali and I were hungry, tired, and getting cranky from lack of food. So before things got too ugly we caught a cab and headed to the Ritz with no reservation and no idea what was in store for us. Little did I know that we were in store for not just an afternoon tea, but an afternoon tea buffet. My God how could I have never heard of a tea buffet?
To say I was overwhelmed is an understatement. I didn’t know where to start. I just kept telling Ali, I think I am in heaven.
There was a savory section with a variety of finger sandwiches, dumplings, grape leaves, and smoked salmon with caviar, among other things:
Round 1 Ameena - Tomato/Mozzarella Sandwich, Smoked Salmon with Caviar, Stuffed Grape Leaves with Hummus, and a Raisin Scone
- Round 1 Ali – Cucumber/Tomato/Mozzarella Sandwich, Chicken Potsticker, Chicken Pastry, Cream Cheese/Tomato Wrap
There was also a chef on hand to make crepes to order with Nutella, chocolate, bananas, etc., but in attempt at maintaining a tiny bit of decorum I didn’t try the crepes.
I stopped taking photos of Ali’s plates around this time because I was slightly distracted by the most beautifully displayed dessert station I have ever seen. I felt like I was in a dream garden filled with sugar. Am I the only one who dreams of sugar?
I was already full from round 1 but I simply had to try some of the desserts so I picked out a few and had a bite of each before passing the rest on to Ali.
Round 2 Ali & Ameena - Chocolate-filled Strawberry Sandwich Cookie, Cream Puff, Sugar Coated Mini-Donut
- Round 3 Ameena – Chocolate Mousse Cone with Popcorn, Zucchini/Mozzarella/Tomato Sandwich, Raisin Scone
Are you grossed out by my sugar consumption yet? In my defense I ate all of the scones but just a little bit of everything else.
- Round ? Ali – Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie, Fresh Whipped Cream and Strawberry Cake
I had a taste of Ali’s brownie and it was out of this world. It was a momentous occasion because we agreed on something for a change – the brownie was the best dessert on the table! Although to be fair we weren’t able to try them all. I really wanted to but couldn’t. Actually, I haven’t touched sugar since Saturday…that was how sugared-out I was. But I’m glad I did it and I’d do it all over again. It was worth the slight stomach ache too.
If you ever find yourself in Singapore with an hour or two to spare and some lofty/vapid aspirations like mine, I highly recommend checking out the tea buffet at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia. It was hands down one of the best, if not the best, culinary experiences of my life.
Do you have any “silly” aspirations like my goal to have tea around the world?
Jet Lag
As the planner that I am I read many articles on the best way to overcome jet lag. Most experts agree that when traveling from East to West it is better to stay awake on the plane so you can immediately be on track when you arrive at your destination. So with that in mind I slept only 3-4 hours out of my 15 hour flight yesterday, but it clearly made no difference as it is 3:30 am Los Angeles time and I am wide awake. After tossing and turning and telling Ali to “move over and stop kicking me” numerous times, I finally gave up and moved to the living room to work on my computer. Might as well make myself useful, right?
So our last day in Singapore was great. We started the day right by hitting the breakfast buffet at Melt, which Ali and I agree is one of the few redeeming qualities of the Mandarin Oriental in Singapore. They literally have every single things a person could want for breakfast. And I mean every.single.thing.
There was a huge section for different kinds of yogurt, cereal, milk, cheese, pasta salads, fruit, meat, and fish:
And then smaller sections for different kinds of fresh squeezed juices, including mango lassi, and more fruit:
An omelette/noodle station:
Another noodle station that also had congi and a few other things I hadn’t seen before:
A crepe station featuring Nutella, homemade jams, and peanut butter (need I say more on this?):
Pastries/bread/bagels with more fruit:
An Indian station with dosa, idlis, parathas, sambar, chutneys, puri, and a few other things (it’s a bit of a blur because I went a little crazy here the first morning):
And finally an American breakfast station with Eggs Benedict, hash browns, ham, sausage, breakfast potatoes, and more.
The first morning I went overboard and didn’t eat again for 7 hours but I managed to pace myself Sunday and was quite pleased that I didn’t leave feeling gross again. Buffets kind of overwhelm me!
After breakfast Ali and I hopped in a cab and headed to the famous Singapore Botanical Gardens featuring the Orchid Garden. While my knowledge of orchids is limited to the Trader Joe’s plant I purchase and then kill every 3-4 months, I do know for sure that this was the most gorgeous garden I have ever seen:
We also ran into some people practicing a really cool dance with fans (forgive my ignorance as I have no idea what it was called). They were very calm and peaceful, which is a recurrent theme throughout Asia. I hope some of that rubbed off on me.
After flicking bugs off us left and right we headed back to our hotel to pack up and check out. Unlike our previous hotels I can’t say that I was too upset to leave the Mandarin. Seriously, don’t ever stay at this sub-par location because you will likely be disappointed.
We reached the airport early so I left Ali at the lounge with the luggage and the buffet (aloo matar with rice and chicken followed by a bowl of corn flakes anyone?). As he consumed even more random combinations, I walked around the shops and then ran into the coolest thing ever…a butterfly garden. At the airport.
There are no words for how amazing it is to walk through a garden full of butterflies. Really, this alone is worth a trip through Changi airport.
If you aren’t sick of reading about my Asia trip yet, I have one more vacation-related post about our tea at the Singapore Ritz-Carlton that I will hopefully put up in the next few days. Now I’m off to do laundry, clean the kitchen, go to Trader Joe’s, and then pick up Maya, but despite the long list of things to do I am happy to be home.
Now lets see if Maya feels the same way when I pick her up in a few hours.
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
