Lunch with My Smol Girl

I do enjoy hanging out with my Smol Girl at lunch. She's really quite the sweetest thing. Well, dogs chilling out at cafes are a thing, but not quite everything.

There're many dogs who can't quite do cafes, and that's okay. These floofs can stay at home. It's taxing for owners who insist on their dogs adapting to their preferences, and these dogs bark their heads off at every passing dog or human, and try to nip servers. 

Of course I would need to walk Choya before sitting down so that her toileting is settled, her sniffing sorted and she could exercise another aspect of her brains and maintain her training. I'm not fussed about her being on the floof. She always gets wiped before getting into the car, and a thorough wipe-down and brushing at home. I just don't want horribly dirty floors littered with grease, food remnants, cigarette ash and rat/lizard poop.

That day, Smol Girl and I went out to lunch at Acqua e Farina at Keong Saik Road. Along this whole stretch, this is the only restaurant that bothered to extend its canvas to shelter the outdoor tables from the noon-day sun. The sun hits full-on and even a 10am coffee at Tong Ah next door is quite unbearable. The overheard fans at the restaurant also made the humidity bearable on days I don't have portable fans. 

Lunch specials at restaurants are always fun. You don't have to eat that much. I feel slightly less pressurized to have alcohol. Hahaha. Well, it's all about self-discipline, isn't it? I had none of it that day, and got a glass of white to go along with my pasta. 

I decided to have an aglio e olio with mushrooms and pancetta. The flavors are always a winner when it's done dry. I really like how the restaurant does it here — casual and hearty. The kitchen threw in big chunks of garlic, along clear big chillies, not that much spaghetti and everything doesn't simply drown in oil. 

Fish & Lamb Shoulder at Ummi

The friends took us out to mark the husband's birthday. Opted for UMMI because they know we would love the hummus and grilled items. We have always passed by but never went in because we hadn't rustled up a table of four to share the calories. Tonight was great. 

UMMI has quite an extensive menu. Opted for a few starters in the form of labneh, hummus with lentils (they have it with lamb and beef too), baba ganoush, fried eggplants with chickpeas, and hazelnut chickpea falafel. Added on a portion of batata harra (crispy potatoes tossed in garlic, chilli and coriander). These came with piping hot flatbread. It's delicious. We all eyed the lamb tartare (frakeh nayeh), but none of our stomachs felt adventurous tonight. That would have to wait till our next visit.  

Then we moved on to mains of a six-hour slow-cooked very tender lamb shoulder on minced lamb rice, a superbly delicious grilled sea bream and instead of half a chicken, we opted for the smaller and more manageable option in the form of shish tawook marinated with yoghurt and spices. Mains were fabulous. 

We got to dessert, yes. This table is full of dessert fiends. There was piping hot mint tea (which I skipped). Along came two plates. There were a kunefe, and I honestly couldn't recall what on earth the other dessert was; it might have been a rice pudding since there was the strongest flavor of rose syrup in it. You know how much I dislike rose-anything. The kunefe was GOOD — the pistachios crumbled atop were delicious, the rose syrup used was hidden by the sweet cheese, I'll take that.

Wang Wen (惘聞) at the Esplanade Annexe Studio

Beijing post-rock band Wang Wen (惘闻) had to postpone their show in Singapore in early March to 29 March. I was relieved that they made it to town. It was a 5pm show at the Esplanade Annexe Studio.

The band's charted their beginnings in Dalian in 1999, and while the line-up doesn't have their original drummer and the cellist, the band is still pretty much together actively making music and playing shows. I've been quite a fan of their music since years ago. I didn't make it to their November 2018 show in Singapore when they did a tour for 'Invisible City'/'看不见的城市' (2018). I'm glad to have watched them today.

Of course I didn't know all the songs they played. I had to reference the setlist against my videos and memories. Heh. 'Mail from the River'/ '河边的来信'('Invisible City'/‘看不见的城市’, 2018) and a very early ‘Posthouse’/'驿站' ('7 Objects in Another Infinite Space'/'另一个无限空间里的七个物件' 2007). They played 'Silenced Dalian'/'大连、勿语' ('Invisible City'/'看不见的城市' 2018) too. I thought that title is not quite apt in its translated English. The original Chinese more or less meant that the band feels so much about Dalian, their hometown, that they have no words for it. It doesn't refer to a city that has been silenced by... ... something political or governmental policies or a natural disaster or tragedy. 

They played a really long set today. Wow. The show lasted for two hours! With two songs as encore — 'Rain Watcher'/'观雨者' ('0.7' 2012) and 'Shut Up and Play'/'敢问路在何方' ('100,000 Whys'/'十万个为什么' 2020). 'Rain Watcher' is quite representative of the band's musical style — this track is also included in the band's 25th-anniversary live collection 'All Yesterday's Parties'/'昨日的聚会' (February 2024).

That was quite a sentimental show for me. Luckily I didn't bother to make any reservations for dinner and settled for something easy. Otherwise it would have been quite a bummer to have to miss the encore and rush to dinner.