Thanks for the Food, Volare!

We went for many meals at Volare to bide the restaurant farewell. We're sad to see it close. It's our favorite casual pasta and pizza restaurant in the East. Given how it welcomed Choya and offered up great food and reasonably-priced wine, it's going to be hard to find another like this in the East. I obviously am not keen on frequenting what's available in the East right now.  

Chef Peppo is tired after a six-year run, and he's done owning and running a restaurant. It's really tough to break even and keep it up. He prefers to be employed in a restaurant in which he's just the chef and sorts out the menu and the cooking. He leaves the running and administrative headaches to someone else. He'll tell us soon where he's headed next. 

I ate many portions of pici cacio e pepe. To be very honest, among all the restaurants and the home cooks' iteration of this simple salt, cheese and pepper pasta, I love Chef Peppo's version best. The man loves his pizza and went to get many takeaways of pizza to eat during the week. For Volare's final night, he also grabbed a pizza to-go. One for the road, literally.

Thanks for all the delicious pasta and welcoming us when Choya was a wee thing. We love the memories made at Volare!

A Birthday Stack of Friands!

Had a fun morning with the friends at The Social Space (TSS) Potong Pasir. There were many birthdays this month and for April. And brand turns seven this month too! So we celebrated them all together. Heh. 

Of course the floofs were there. This is really the 'Sunday Doggo Social Club'. It's for them! BossPup Mogi has totally come out of his shell on Sunday mornings. He has always been timid, and while curious, is skittish. He's still wary, but he has come to know this pack and the hoomans; he looks forward to just hanging out with everyone. Choya likes Mogi enough to actually get up from her usual corner to go greet him if he comes in later than she does. However, save for Choya, the rest also knows that they get a buffet of treats at this meeting. They literally expect it. LOL

We didn't bother with an actual cake. It's a tad hard to slice and be neat at the cafe. Also, this early in the morning, nobody wants cake. So we needed something small and cute like muffins. Then we remembered that the cafe does delicious mixed berry friands. 

We toyed with the idea of doing a giant friand, but that means we still have to cut it, and I dunno if the logistics can be done to adjust the ratio of ingredients at this last minute. Never mind. So we got a stack of those and made that the 'birthday cake' instead. That went down well.

I've come to like this quiet neighborhood of Potong Pasir. While the park connector and greenery has made it really beautiful and conducive for walking the dogs, it's the humans that make a community. While I never bother to integrate into any communities, but should that organically happen, I don't mind it. I do need that coffee, and the humans are cool too. 

It's quite a privilege to get to know these new friends, and over the year, realize that we share many fundamental values and a similar outlook in life, and at work. It's not just about the whisky or the gin okay. We have common ground that goes beyond just coming to a shared space every week for coffee. 

The Husband Turned 50

The husband celebrated his 50th over the weekend with a gig covering Smashing Pumpkins with Porcelina. He wanted to spend the day doing something that he loves. He had asked if the band would mind coming together on this date, and everyone was game for it. Yay! 

Many of the friends wouldn't be in town over this long weekend, but many still were. So to that, we just decided to throw a party anyway. Those who could make it, popped up. It was fantastic to see everyone. It was a good crowd and a great party. Ironically, and to our relief, the husband and I didn't drink that much. He (and the band) had to remain sober; I had door duties and logistics to sort out. I had one glass of whisky, then the glass held iced water all night. I did chug a cold bottle of Asashi at the end of the night. The audience mostly did all the drinking. Heh!

Rehearsals for gigs are always gruelling. No band will not put in that effort. And that effort made by talented musicians will always shine. They sounded awesome, totally doing justice to the Pumpkins' vocals and riffs. Tonight, they did my all-time fav Pumpkins song — 'Tonight, Tonight' (from 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness' 1996). Wheeeeeeee!

At this point in life, we've said permanent farewells to friends in the same age group who had passed on and never got to turn 50. We're well aware of the pure blessing of being alive and healthy, and seeing friends doing all right too. Those we see, we hold them close. The husband was absolutely touched that people came, danced and had loads of fun. Often, social media interactions don't quite make up for IRL hugs and chats. Thanks for coming out, people!