SAFRApore III: The Half (Sweaty SG Boys Inside)

At the designated ungodly hour, KH got up, donned his skanky pants, kissed me and went off to catch a cab to City Hall for the SAFRA Army Half Marathon. Flag off was at 5:00 AM. With sleep still thick on my eyes, I just gave him a few grunts of encouragement before falling back to sleep. Being the good hubby, I dragged myself to the 200 M mark before the finishing line to give KH some encouragement. The night before, Tater had given me instructions on the best place to wait. Unfortunately, I ended up on the wrong side of the road. But still, I kept my eyes peeled for KH. He was supposed to be done by 8:00 AM, but I didn't catch sight of him. Many more 10 KM runners compared to the 21.5 KM. Could easily tell them apart because they wore different colours. Suddenly, at 8:30AM, I received a call from KH. Rushed over to the Padang to meet him. Found him at the AIG tent with a black face. Turns out that DiGi's roaming had failed him and he had to borrow someone's phone to call me. He finished some twenty minutes ago. Well, that kinda spoiled the mood for celebration. Just ignored the whole field of sweaty Singaporean runners and we trudged back to the MRT station. The ideal scenario would have been something that I saw while standing at the corner of the Singapore National Gallery-- An angmoh strolled over in a razor scooter and waited at a corner. As his girlfriend rounded the bend, she ran over to give him a flying kiss across the fencing. She then continued on to finish the final 200 M. Too bad that didn't work out for us.

As luck would have it, I spotted my brother-in-law in City Link Mall. He didn't have time for chit-chat as he and his son were rushing for the SAFRA Father and Son 800 M run. Before he left, he indicated I should wait for my cousin sister who was coming up from behind. When she finally arrived, I finally understood why she was lagging behind-- she was pregnant! Will be expecting another nephew in November. KH and I continued on to Paya Lebar where we had breakfast at Moz Burger. Just a few sandwiches and coffee. Back at the AirBnB, KH showered and washed his sweat-soaked kit. Exhausted from all that earlier physical exertion, KH napped till lunch time.

Once KH woke up, we freshened up and walked up Tanjong Katong Road. As we passed by the Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace, we made a quick photo stop to capture its old school features. Not far from there was One KM Mall, our lunch destination. For Singaporeans who miss Malaysian shopping malls, One KM is the place to go because the density of Malay shoppers here is much higher (even the Nusantara migrants gather around this area). There's even a shop that sells headscarves there. Checked out all the options there and finally stopped for lunch at Fika Swedish Cafe and Bistro, a joint that serves halal Swedish food (whoopee!). Naturally, we ordered the Swedish meatballs. The meatballs had crispy bits on the outside, but tender on the inside. Delicious, but it came with a side of bland potatoes that I didn't like. Other than that, we tried the Pytt I Panna, something that none of us could pronounce, but its actually just a dish diced beef stir-fried with onions and potatoes. Sounds simple, but actually very good.

Traveled to the city center to meet MoonlightPiggy who was having a craving for waffles again. Our tea time venue was Dazzling Cafe at Capitol Piazza. KH hobbled all the way there from City Hall. The lovely after-effects of running a half marathon. Capitol Piazza is a fairly new addition to the city. A row of old shops from 1903 were converted into a upmarket retail and restaurant space with a sheltered promenade. The waffles weren't particularly yummy, but the service was good. And I loved their bunny-eared chair backs. MoonlightPiggy had to meet her lou gong, so she went off early. We just loitered in town while waiting for the next appointment. I walked around aimlessly while KH went around battling Pokemon Go gyms.

Dinner was with POD, Nic and Suzy. Much deliberation was made on the choice of venue, but when we found out that one out of the two restaurants had gone belly up, it was a no-brainer. It was an evening of fine dining at The Clan Restaurant, MOFO. Sounds more like Chinese cuisine than Italian right? Well, it was a six course Italian dinner. We tried to mix and match so that we could try all the mains at least. Suzy was the last to arrive, so we forced her to get the wagyu. We toasted with a bottle of proseco. Trust POD to go for the good things in life. Nic wasn't hangry, which was good. Congratulated him on his promotion to head of HR. And we toasted Suzy on her new man and new Jag (!). But she was more pleased with the car. Grilled her the while night about her secret boyfriend. POD was doing fine and had a new toy to play with-- a full-frame Nikon DSLR. Saw a sample of his portfolio and it was stunning. The whole night was filled laughter, gossip and camaraderie. Hope we didn't annoy the other patrons who were mostly having a romantic dinner. Hehe.

Gosh, I haven't even started about the food. I'll skip the bread sticks and jump to the chef's palate of the day, a trio of starters that our waiter explained had to be eaten in sequence. First a couple of peppers, secondly scallops, and lastly an egg custard. Truth be told, I don't see the need for the sequence. Haha. My entree was the George's Bay scallops. Don't ask me where George's Bay is. It was a cold scallop dish with avocado mousse. The hot appetiser was charred octopus with peppers and mash. I love grilled octopus. Gazpacho was next but I didn't like it. For the main, I chose the Dorper lamb. Well-grilled, and with a curry accent. Closed with the Summer Fizzy, a citrus peach compote with nectarine ice cream (not that I noticed). Suzy's main was the wagyu beef loin which she had to grill herself. She declared that it was a good chance to 'try her cooking' and started distributing the slices of wagyu around the table. Haha.