Christmas @ Home

We're approaching Easter in a week's time and even though this is four months late, somehow there's no better (or best) time to write about Christmas, Christmas at home, and what it means to The Parents and I. 

We have our own ways of celebrating the season, but if there's one thing that speaks to us, it is the spirit of Joy and the element of Celebration. Not one Christmas has gone by without us bringing out the decor bought from years past and arranging it beautifully on the table. 

The little tabletop Christmas tree with rich red apples and rich red velvet-like fabric presents we place at the corner, the colorful balls that we used to hang on the large Christmas tree we place below it, and in the narrow vase we place all the bling bling that we've bought from stores here and there. 

Our meal in 2020, like the meals of yesteryear, was casual; on the table we had a little bag of Christmas cookies that I'd bought from a bakery, we had our own servings of noodles, and there was, of course, the plate of siew mais that turn up at every celebration because we (especially I) have a special love for them. 

It was a lovely time; Christmas carols on the music player, a warm, comforting meal on the table, and us having all of our favorite foods, plus kid-size cups of chocolate ice cream. 

I wish we could have had the kind of little log cakes that I always buy back for our Christmas meal every year. 

But Christmas 2020, on the whole, was a little bit different- and those little log cakes that we've always had at Christmas mealtime were not on the shelves at the time our (early) celebration was due. 

Nevertheless, a celebration is a celebration, and in a way, I'm glad to have been able to bring these individual sticks of Starbucks Toffee Nut Latte home- I've been waiting to share the flavors of their Christmas drinks in a convenient way for many years. 

Doesn't matter that they're instant. :D

They've got the color, they've got the flavor, and thankfully, when we had that cuppa, there was just that wee hint of winter blowing through the cold, chilly, refreshing rains of our island's December.  

A Marriott Christmas

We hadn't been back here in a while. 

Not for a couple of months since pre-pandemic days, but with the feels for a staycation kicking in, and the season of Christmas coming up, Marriott Tang Plaza seemed like a good place to be. 

I love Christmas at Marriott. 

It isn't because they are a five-star chain; it is because they manage to capture the spirit of the season in such a warm, cozy way such that it doesn't matter whether you're in New York City or South Korea or Thailand or Singapore- you'll get the same fireplace vibes as if you were wintering somewhere. 

It could be because they are, well, a family-owned business.

Or it could be that their signature (yet personal) brand leans heavily towards creating an atmosphere of welcome warmth- never mind the season, never mind the time. 

Maybe this is what really draws me to the Marriott experience. 

That they just go ahead and stick to their guns doing what they do. 

So there might have been a pandemic, and visitor numbers might be down to a horrible crunch, but Christmas 2020 in Marriott Tang Plaza was no less different than any other year.

On the display shelves of their in-house restaurant were the seasonal cakes and the gingerbread men that pop up every year. 

And in the lobby stood the large Christmas tree with colors and decorations no lesser nor smaller than what they've always had every single year. 

It was very comforting to step away from the foot traffic outside the hotel, enter the sunlight-filled lobby and be greeted by this gorgeous, beautifully-lit tree. 

We got a room looking out towards ION, Wheelock Place and Shaw House on Scotts Road opposite. 

The rooms at Marriott Tang Plaza have their distinctive charm. 

Very much like most of their properties worldwide, the room decor has in recent years gone minimalist modern, moving away from the plush, thick, richly-colored fabrics to darker-colored ones of lighter texture. 

The furniture too has become neater. 

No more the large wooden desk and the heavy desk lamp, now it's just one square (silver) table and one neat desk light. They still have a sofa, but instead of being by the side in a fabric of rich red and three cushions of brocade-patterns sewn in gold-colored thread, it's now at the foot of the bed in a shade of midnight blue with only a single small-sized cushion- that's it. The wooden coffee table's also gone, replaced by a movable square-sized little table that you can easily shift around. 

One thing they have kept (if I remember rightly) is the cabinet below the TV. In it you have the mini fridge, the coffee pot and the coffee and the tea. However, the frills that once used to sit on top of the cabinet are (in a post-COVID scenario) temporarily gone. No more Granny Smith green apples, and no more cards introducing the offerings of the in-house spa downstairs. 

The bathroom is, thankfully, more or less the same. The toiletries from THANN still sit by the sink, the wooden box that holds the rest of the little stuff is still there, and the dressing table's still by the side of the bathroom. There's no bathtub, but that's been gone the same time when they remodeled the room from plush American to minimalist world, so no difference there.

My stay here this time was an unexpectedly restful one. 

I say 'unexpectedly', because whilst I had all these plans to read my book, write my journal, watch a couple of episodes from my ongoing drama, even write my blog, what happened was that after dinner at the Crossroads Cafe downstairs, I came back up, took a shower... and fell right asleep. 

Nothing of what I'd planned to do I actually did. 

And I still don't know why. 

In all the times that I've stayed here at Marriott, hardly has it been that I've fallen asleep this early. 

It couldn't have been because of the comfortable sheets. (In the same sort of sheets in the same sort of room I've slept as late as 3am) 

It also couldn't have been that I got too full from dinner. (I've had dishes plentiful enough to be a full meal up at their lounge during evening cocktail time.)

But, of course, I had had a plate of carbonara pasta for dinner (which portion was significantly larger than what I normally have), and then there was all this social distancing, so the ambience was quieter, and more relaxed than what it otherwise might have been.

In any case, whether nice comfy sheets or full pasta cream dinner, I slept well, and was up early the next morning for breakfast. 

One of the things I love about Marriott is their breakfast. 

They take this 'most important meal of the day' quite literally. 

At regular times you could have a combination meal of smoked salmon and egg white omelet with sausage and salad, then choose from six different cereals to go with fresh, skimmed or soy milk, plus dumpling noodles Chinese style, oatmeal with brown sugar, and their signature sticky date pudding all together at the same time.

But we are in irregular times now, so no buffet spread but the way they do it is to bring you unlimited servings of your favorite foods that you pick from the menu. 

And so we decided to go for the works of scrambled eggs, omelet, baked beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, hash browns, sausage, bacon, ham, as well as a couple servings of smoked salmon, two servings of pancakes and waffles, one bowl of cereal (I couldn't resist), a plate of dim sum (I think there were crystal dumplings and char siew bao), laksa (we ordered the soup only!) and roti prata. 

I didn't take pictures of everything. 

But next time I will. 

I'll be sure to take picture of the oatmeal with brown sugar, and I hope they'll bring back the sticky date pudding- and the ice cream- to the breakfast menu again.

Network with Coffee

What this event over at Marina Bay Sands was, I don't remember now. 

It's been a while. 

It might have been a competition cum presentation cum networking thing that during pre-COVID days were so popular in the start-up world.

It might have been an investor-relation thing where participants who attended came full of fire and passion for the disruptive work they were doing in their respective worlds. 

Whatever this event was, the Australia-Singapore connection, represented so effectively by the dominance of Australian companies in the ballroom, was certainly there. 

One company, I remember, dealt with eucalyptus trees. Maybe it were the product they were selling that made them memorable, or maybe it were all the standee banners they had, showing pictures of the trees, the forests, the technique, the process, the sustainability, everything. I can't recall what exactly it was they were looking for- the percentile calculations appeared to be a little boggling- but I think they were looking for funding for the plots, or investment in a couple of trees. 

I didn't speak to anyone from the booth. 

I didn't speak to anyone at the booth next to theirs either. 

Not because I didn't want to network with the lady. 

But because she didn't seem to want to speak with me. 

It was a very simple setup. A single standee banner, a table, a sign-up book, and the lady herself at the table typing away professionally on her laptop. 

I don't know what role she was or what business she had there, but sales and conversation was not part of her portfolio, I suppose, since she neither greeted approaching visitors nor gave out her name card. 

What she did do, however, was to (curtly) indicate that you should put your name down in the sign-up book. 

Which I did. 

I don't know if I ever received an e-mailer from them. 

I doubt so. 

It puzzles me though- is it the nature of those in medical-related professions (they deployed therapists to patients who were recuperating at home) that they maintain a serious demeanor in name of professionalism? 

But why then would you fly all the way here, spend all that money, and not hobnob with anybody? How much effort would it be to hand out a name card?

That being said, some of the other companies seemed to be on the quiet side as well. 

Either that, or they might have been in the presentation room right next door, where, only a few moments earlier, had a wellness company wrapping up their presentation and taking questions from the floor. 

I was there. 

At the back. 

Listening to them run through their deck explaining how their business of meal preparation and meal deliveries helped busy individuals and their families lead healthy lifestyles through carefully curated menus and the plus of convenience.

I thought the concept quite a good one. 

Except that I'm not sure if it were the right audience sitting there listening to their presentation.

I hope it were. 

Because those that I saw coming out from the ballroom to queue at the buffet table thereafter (I was at the coffee machine) seemed to belong more of the (local) retiree community.

A Lok Lok BBQ

Never underestimate the power of social media, and the strength of a lively, enthusiastic, exuberant dinner crowd. 

Because how is it that a place that's tucked away at the corner on the second floor of a (usually) quiet strata mall can attract such a strong weekend crowd? 

You'd think- with it being at such an out-and-away place- no one would know, but try turning up on a Saturday evening with no reservation, and see whether a table can be yours.

We were fortunate- a group had just left, the next group allocated to the table would not be coming in till more than an hour's time- so they welcomed us in.

Ninety minutes only, however, we were told, and so instead of having as much beef and pork and chicken as we might have had to put for the BBQ, we decided to be a little more strategic and have just the beef and pork for the BBQ, with the seafood and vegetables for the soups. 

There being not much time to waste, we made our selections quickly and went to the display shelves for the vegetables, the lok lok and the seafood. 

It is a curious way they do it here. 

Where at other places the staff will bring you the platters of everything you've ordered, here they bring you only the meats. Everything else you have to go to the display shelves, have the staff portion it out for you, and carry it back to the table yourself. 

It isn't a huge problem- every place has its own system- but there's no tray, I have only two hands, and no way do I have the skill to balance a couple of square-shaped bowls on my arms and hands. 

Thus it was that for the first trip I only managed to get a bit of lettuce, a bit of clams, some mushrooms, the lok lok skewers, and a few pieces of sweet corn. 

There would be four trips in all. 

Not because there was a need to have the variety of ingredients on there, but because I could do with more lettuce, we wanted the cheese tofu and I was trying to make a pot of delicious, umami-tasting clam soup with the clams and the seaweed. 

I'd seen a friend do it- buy a load of clams, dunk them into the wok, and do up a big fry with an additional ingredient of bee hoon. 

I had wanted to replicate the same sans bee hoon. 

But I guess it takes more than just throwing in a bunch of clams to make clam soup, because, guess what, at the end of ninety minutes, all I had was a lot of seaweed in the pot, a lot of clams in the pot, but a bowl of soup rich with the flavors of the sea? 

Nope. 

Not at all. 

It might have been that I should have thrown in more clams. 

It might have been that I shouldn't have put in only the clams. 

But that I should have tossed in the mussels, the prawns and all the other kinds of shellfish I had seen on the shelves. 

But in between laying the meats on the grill, eating them up, nibbling on the lok lok, and having ice cream, the idea of putting in all those ingredients just didn't occur to me. :P

I'll know better next time- whenever that will be- and this round I'll make sure to put in the prawns, the mussels, more of the seaweed, whatever shellfish they have on their shelves, and more- much more- of the clams.