mum bdae

mum .: bdae

I woke up this morning realising that I have yet to buy my mum a birthday present. And her birthday is today! Erk?!

It sure doesn't help that both my dad and bro have been bugging me as to wat to get my mum. Like hello? Today's the 27th! What can I get on today itself? I'm working!
I had wanted to purchase something over the weekend but I end up going EVERYWHERE with my mum and so buying anything for HER with HER around is a big no NO.

I just told my bro who knock off early to purchase a bouquet of flowers before meeting us for dinner. I had asked my mum to choose a place for her bdae dinner (she had wanted to cook dinner, actually). My dad told me that she had wanted to visit the Egyptian eating place that appeared on last week's TGIF. I had no idea what the name was. All I know is that it's at Haji Lane.

Dropped my parents off at Arab Str and fetch my bro at Bugis cos' it was raining pretty heavily. My dad told me that the place was directly at where I had dropped them off (talk about instincts). I suddenly recalled that I may have passed by that place before. True enough, I had.
My dad, bro and myself had earlier hesitated at hearing my mum's choice but we just proceed, since it's the 'birthday girl's' pick. We've had Mediterranean food before but the experience hadn't been too pleasant.

But I sure don't regret going by my mum's choice (must be the blessing of a mother's instinct). The corner-shop is quaint but homely. Reminds me a bit of a Greek coffee house. And the service is superb, not to mention the food. The response is prompt and the owner is always around to make sure that everything's in order. Even the cook came out to ask about the food. We're so happy eating there that we ordered one dish after another.

The dishes all had the wafting, smoky aroma relevant to that of real grilled meat (over charcoal or maybe a kiln oven??)- be it fish, chicken or beef (all well marinated). I had a little problem digesting the lamb but the nicely spiced and flavoured gravy made up for that. The fresh side salad and crispy potato wedges made a hearty (and balanced) meal. The drinks come off as a bit tasteless but one can always ask for side syrup. The dishes are not too salty, which totally convinced my dad that the food here are made suitable for diabetics and ppl with high blood. Haha!

I laughed, yeah but what happened afterwards managed to shut my trap. My dad REALLY did ask the owner regarding that and he replied that it was prepared that way intentionally. He talked of his mum suffering from high blood and got to the idea to prepare healthier meals for his customers.

Oh, did I mention that the food is reasonably priced, too? The only boo-boo is that the menu has limited selections (talk about quality over quantity).

Anyway my parents had a small talk with the owner and he, upon knowing that it's my mum's birthday- cited some well-wishes which sounded really, really sincere (complete with a little prayer). I say, Thank You so much for making my mum feel so special.

Yeah, that's the name of the place, Al-Tazzag. (L-R) That's my dad, the owner, my bro and the ever helpful server. Something tells me that I may come down here again sometime soon...

After dinner, my dad talked about having a hot drink somewhere, since we had a lot of time till' my mum had to clock in for work. I suggested going to our fav. hang-out, ABC Rest'n at Jln Duku. We were pretty full but my bro & I were in the mood for some Prata Ice-Cream. Too bad the waiter told us it's unavailable.

Not hampered by that, my bro and I seemed to have the similar idea at the same time. I ordered a Prata Banana. When I saw the guy cutting the banana, I told my brother to quickly purchase the ice-cream in a cup from the 7-11 across the road. He came back later with TWO cups. Turns out, the prata shop also sell ice-cream. Haha!

As soon as the newly-cooked prata arrived, we quickly dunk the ice-cream on it and relish our self-made dessert. YUM!

The crispy prata with the steaming bananas inside and the cold ice-cream- better than any strudel served at those swanky restaurants, I tell you! We quietly chided the shop for not thinking of this. The ice-cream in the cup cost only 90cts. If they had charged an extra dollar for that Prata Ice-Cream, they could have made some good money, there.

My mother needed the toilet urgently so we head for the Mobil at Still Road. When my mum went into the shop to check their veggies, both my bro and I chanced upon this product on display. I asked my mum if she wanted it for her birthday. She just shook her head. I remembered the bottle of bath salt sitting on the toilet shelf so I just tell my bro to get that for her.

We're just so glad we finally found a present she might (hopefully) use. I can't help imagining seeing her with her feet ankle-deep in water infused with the rose-scented bath salts that she had bought, which she proudly claimed to have originated from the Dead Sea.

And she can put those days of soaking her feet in the pail behind her cos' she can now soak her feet AND get them massaged at the same time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MUM! Love u soooo much. *muacks!*