If there is one good thing that has surfaced from all these (unfortunate) social distancing and group restrictions over the last couple of years, it is that all of us have had to accept- and embrace- technology in ways that we never did before.
No, I'm not referring to Zoom.
I'm referring to livestreaming.
Livestreaming has become quite the thing for (necessary) events in the last few years.
Whether it be concerts, lectures, religious services, group meets or political speeches, everything deemed of importance has gone through the process of livestreaming.
Just which, or how many of them- to be precise- I don't know, but the National Day Parade is one.
I won't go into details of the parade- there's enough coverage on that- but let's just say that I watched parts of the first half 'live' whilst sitting at a cafe near the grounds with a forkful of blueberry yogurt tart in my hand.
We'd made an day out of it- Hedgehog and I- because it's always a refreshing thing to go to familiar places with different intent.
The plan was, of course, to hang around the area just in case we wanted to see the fireworks, so first we had lunch at this place near Beach Road.
Chin Chin Eating House is probably one of the longest-standing eating places here on Purvis Street.
How long they've been here, I dont' know, but they've got a good variety of dishes, an excellent system, and a vibe that balances the past and the present very well.
I have my own favorite choice of dishes every time I come.
Sometimes I have the sliced fish hor fun.
Other times I have the fried hor fun with beef.
There are days when I choose to have their soups.
And there are days when the fried mee sua calls out to me.
Today I wasn't in the mood for anything fried.
But neither did I want rice with soup.
So I compromised- and ordered mee sua soup instead.
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It might seem a little surprising, but I fell in love with this simple-looking dish. The bowl had slices of fish cake, little chunks of meat, vegetables, a few prawns, and a heap of thinly sliced mee sua.
Best part of the dish, however, was the soup.
I had thought the soup would be clear.
It wasn't.
It had a bit of milky, milky feel to it, and made the taste even more unique, and unusual.
From Chin Chin we headed over to Marina Square where I'd made an appointment for my hair.
When that finished we went over to Raffles City via the Citilink side.
I'd originally intended to take the route above ground, but then the volunteers and barriers were already in place for the ticket holders, so we changed our minds and took the underpass instead.
As it turned out, it was a good decision.
Because I finally managed to have the breads and pastries that a couple weeks ago I'd been wanting to try.
It isn't every day that we get to see breads from Eastern Europe in our malls.
Particularly from a country like Yugoslavia.
But there they were, on their distinctive trays on the shelves, various kinds of breads stuffed with savory fillings like beef and onion, or spinach and feta cheese. There were little cakes in one shelf, and also sweet breads, large ones, with cinnamon and raisins inside.
For a while I flipped between wanting the spinach and feta cheese pastry with the other ones, but eventually we got two cute little round buns with beef and onion filling, and another pastry with the cinnamon and the raisins sprinkled all over with icing sugar.
We took a curious fancy to all the breads we ate.
Working our knife and fork delicately into the buns, we quietly wondered if all the breads from the northern regions were this chewy, and if these cultural gems would appeal to the (finicky) local palate.
It's a pity we didn't order coffee.
The breads might have been created to go well with them.
I'll have a coffee next time.
I'll have the spinach and feta cheese pastry too.
The crowds were milling around the train station area when we got there. They were not there to attend the parade- the program had already begun.
I hoped to watch a little of the program.
So Hedgehog pulled me to the Paris Baguette cafe next to McDonalds, and we settled down.
Not without food, of course.
If there's one thing about National Day 2022 that I remember, it is the salmon and cream cheese croissant from Paris Baguette that- after three days of searching- I finally managed to have.
The flaky, buttery croissant, the smooth, cool slices of lightly smoked salmon, and the rich, delicious flavors of the cream cheese.. my only regret was that I finished it up too soon.
But there's always another chance.
I don't know when it will be.
But, I hope, soon.
And, this time, just like how I want to have this very same croissant all for myself again, I want to have the blueberry yogurt tart again too.