11 Nov 09 - As anniversaries go, Her Royal Majesty and I probably have more than the average couple. That's because we have a little celebration every month to commemorate the day that we went "steady".
It was also my first time seeing a cheese wheel as part of a buffet line. For the uninitiated, a cheese wheel is simply a circular block of cheese that is usually cut up for sale. It looks something like this:
At first, I thought it was a wooden chopping block, the kind that the uncle at the chicken rice stall uses. I eventually figured out what it was when I saw the serving spoon embedded firmly in the cheese wheel. Customers would use the serving spoon to scrape shavings of cheese straight from the wheel.
The toughest part of lunch at Basilico was deciding whether to plough through the main courses or pig out on desserts. Fortunately, I managed to tackle the best of both.
Singaporean Tourists
After lunch, we headed to Harbourfront where we took the train into Sentosa for the first time. It was like the LRT, except that it was longer. And purple. And it's windows could not turn opaque. Ok, maybe it's not really like the LRT after all.
It had been years since we last stepped into Sentosa. On our last visit, we were still pak-tor-ing, and gladly sweated it out under the sun hiking all over the island. Now, we started to complain the moment the first drop of sweat appeared on our backs.
Sentosa has changed tremendously. Sure, the giant replica of the Merlion is still dutifully hosting multitudes at the top of it's head, the beaches are still home to tanned and lithe bodies, and the prices everywhere are still "chop carrot head" high. But there are now additions such as the Segway ride, luge and skyride, and of course, a huge messy construction site that represents one of two great hopes of all STB officials --- the Resorts World integrated resort.
We bought the Choice package which allowed us to have access to a bundle of attractions at a promotional price. We chose the Segway ride, Images of Singapore, the Sky Tower and 4D Magix.
The Segway was an interesting machine, reacting to your body movements to move forward, backward or to the sides. Learning to use the Segway was almost intuitive, and when we were finally allowed to go on the circuit, it was disappointing to see that the circuit took all of 5 minutes to complete. Perhaps they should have allowed visitors to use the Segway to travel around Sentosa. Now that would be interesting and probably something I would be keen to try.
Images of Singapore provided the typical history lesson experience that museum buffs and history teachers would probably be interested in. I was just perplexed as to why they placed the scariest looking manniquin behind a simulated toilet door. If you or your kids are easily frightened by manniquins with faces and eyes that do not move in tandem, this is NOT the place for you.
The Sky Tower was a lesson in sponsorship marketing. The entire tower was plastered with the corporate colours and images of a local beer. While the ride itself was mildly interesting for the views, I doubt many would pay to repeat the experience.
4D Magix was the first time that I had been to a 3D movie. This one was about pirates, complete with jolting seats, wind effects, sprays of water and tickly wire-like mechanisms that shot out from the bottom of the seat. My only grouse was that the sprays of water blasted the audience right in their faces. I could only repeat to myself that the liquid dispensed must have been water.
By the time we were done with Sentosa, it was almost 7pm and we quickly made our way to dinner at PS Cafe.
PS Cafe
Dining at PS Cafe was like having a meal in the middle of the forest. We were seated on basic wooden furniture and surrounded by natural foliage on all sides. While this may constitute a relaxing ambience in the day, it was too dark in the night to see even the brightest flower. After the excellent gourmet experience at lunch, my dinner proved to be rather puzzling.
I ordered the BBQ ribs and it arrived with a stack of what seemed like round hash browns. I stuffed the golden crispy discs into my mouth and, to my horror, discovered that they were actually fried lemons! That's right, fried lemons! After forcing the first slice down my throat, I thought seriously about whether I was supposed to eat them or just squeeze the juice out of them. In any case, I decided to park them to one side of my plate and leave them there for the rest of the evening.
The ribs were very tender, and broke apart easily at the gentle prodding of my fork. While these were probably one of the most tender ribs that I had ever eatened, the fried lemons left an unpleasant bitter aftertaste in my mouth.
Gift Exchange
After dinner, we returned home where we placed candles on a small Oreo cheese cake from Swissbake and sang to each other a modified birthday song!
My gift from Her Royal Majesty was a funny card, a handmade gift voucher to buy my new handphone and a cool blue striped tie. In return, I presented her with a Tempur pillow and a handmade book containing our experiences from when we first met to the day when we became a couple.
Epilogue
This was definitely one of the most activity-packed anniversary celebrations that we had. While there were some misses as well as hits, the thought of having already spent five years with Her Royal Majesty was more than enough to end the day on a perfect note. Five years down, and many many more to go! :)
We are very happy with our Regent experience! Service is really number one! 
