The Big 3-0

Yesterday, I turned 30. I was completely okay with it unlike what I felt last year on my 29th birthday. I realized, 30 is still young and cool and not old. I mean, it's still far from getting a senior citizen discount, right?

You only turn 30 once in your life and some people would have a huge party or do something epic. I did consider doing the same thing but after all we've gone through this year, I figured I just wanted a simple celebration. Just me and the love of my life. We had Chinese for lunch at Komrad. Tapioca was dying to try this place out.

I love the modern interiors and the Mao Zedong mural. Tapioca didn't know who Mao Zedong was and he's Chinese! He prolly slept during his history classes. LOL!

. . . root  beer & red iced tea

Root beer for him and red iced tea for moi. The iced tea was too sweet for my taste.

birthday noodles . . .

Of course, hindi mawawala ang birthday noodles for long life. I find the colored quail eggs really cute and girly!

. . . mapo tofu

They had mapo tofu on the menu so we had to try it. We had high expectations knowing they serve Hunan and Szechuan cuisines (read: spicy). However, it turned out to be a total disappointment. Not so Hunan after all (read: not spicy). Or maybe we should have told them we wanted our mapo tofu really hot and spicy. We had better mapo tofu elsewhere.

. . . porky dish

Originally, I wanted lobster but the only seafood available was crab. We didn't feel like eating crabs so I opted for pork which we haven't had in a while. Tapioca is on a diet and he mostly ate fish and a little bit of chicken. But on my day, I asked with fluttering eyes if we can have pork. Not quite sure what to order, we asked for a recommendation and that's how this dish ended up on our table. It's like your ordinary sweet and sour minus the oomph.  Sorry, I forgot what it's called. The dish is as forgettable as its name.

mango sago . . .

For dessert, I had mango sago. I miss this dessert so much and it's such a shame Komrad let me down. The mango they used was sour and this was served lukewarm. I had a spoonful or two and told Tapioca to move to another place for dessert.

. . . Tapioca and the birthday girl

We finished everything except for the dessert. Tapioca doesn't eat mango so it went to waste. Komrad didn't quite live up to our expectations. It was unfortunate this happened on my special day. Still, we're willing to give them another try. Hopefully they have lobster available next time and that Tapioca is no longer on a diet so we can try more dishes hehehe!

A birthday will never be complete without a cake. For dessert, I was torn between UCC or Italianni's. Since the latter was much closer, we ended up at . . .

Italianni's . . .

This is how I look at 30. Not bad eh?

We decided to dine al fresco.

We also had a pot of English breakfast tea. Fifteen minutes has passed and still we're waiting for the cake. I thought they forgot we ordered a slice.

. . . my birthday cake

Finally, it arrived and my oh my, it was so tall and huge and pretty!!!!

view of the cake from another angle . . .

For the record, this was the most expensive slice of cheesecake I've ever had. But I tell ya, it's worth every cent. It was frozen (just like the cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory). They have to thaw it for a few minutes and that's why it took quite a while. Well, it's worth the wait :-) Super creamy, smooth and cheesy! And that red sauce matched the cheesecake perfectly. The cake slice was so big Tapioca and I had a hard time finishing it.

La la la means I heart you ! ! !

Since we're eating outside, people who walked by were staring at my cake. I swear I can see them even from the back of my head LOL! Theses photos makes me drool right now*wiping out drool on the keyboard*

The cake was the saving grace of the day. We completely forgot about the disaster meal at Komrad. Now, if only we had Italianni's instead of Komrad. They have really good steaks at reasonable prices. Next time!

After dessert, I went shopping naman. Marks & Spencer was on sale!

. . .  my loot

Did I tell you I like to hoard shower gels & lotions? Yes, I do! And M&S is one of my favorite brands. Now that I'm 30 and my skin is prone to drying, I really need a great skin care regimen. And these products are a good way to start. I think I need to invest in anti-aging creams, too. Oh well, I want to look fab when I turn 40!

On my birthday weekend, Tapioca brought me flowers!

 my just-woke-up face . . .

. . . mochi thought it was a toy :-)

This is the second time Tapioca gave me flowers. First time he gave me one, I ruined it. I told him not to give me any more flowers because I thought it was a waste of money knowing that it would wilt eventually. When my father passed away, my views about flowers changed. More than love, to me, flowers symbolize life. Very much like our lives here on earth. Flowers are meant to die and that we should cherish them while they last.

Wala pala kami flower vase sa bahay so I used a recycled bottle. It turned out just fine.

I have been blessed with so much love that I can't ask for anything more but for good health and live a longer life so I can continue to be a blessing to others, too.