How to impress your BFF (who has everything) on his birthday
Posted by ilyana | Filed under Food & Nosh
Say you’ve got a BFF who’s of the opposite sex, someone you can talk just about everything to, watches the same shows you watch (except Gossip Girl, bless his heart), has a very healthy saving habit so he can buy whatever his heart desires (which sadly is short of a CHANEL 2.55 for me ;_;) so what the heck do you give someone who most probably has everything he’s ever wanted?
Girl, you do what I do every year: You take him out for a nice meal some place posh and swanky. Trust me, there will be less drama, your sanity will remain intact and all of humanity is saved.
If the place you’ve chosen happens to have a sorta old English thing going on in their chosen interior design theme then you know it’s a safe bet to take your best friend here especially if he a) also happens to be a designer b) appreciates good brand identity that’s reflected in their store design c) likes all things English.
It’ll be even more awesome if the restaurant has a couple of randomly hung crystal balls around the dining area because that’s just cool and hey it doesn’t matter if the chances of you being impaled by a large, probably very heavy crystal sphere thing just increased ten-fold - IT’S YOUR BEST FRIEND’S BIRTHDAY SO SUCK IT UP!
And you gotta make sure the restaurant specializes in something e.g. french cuisine or whatever. In this particular case, tea is the poison of choice so you betta make sure the menu has over 800 different varieties of tea blends, doesn’t matter if you don’t know or can’t pronounce half of them (wtf is “Happy Flute Tea”? srsly.) because these 800 tea names will be listed out in an excruciatingly small but elegant font spread over 5 pages and that would totally impress the BFF.
All you got to do is just squint your eyes, randomly select a tea you think sounds delicious - in my case, the Pomme Prestige tea (cos Pomme is like apple in French duh) and when your BFF asks “Erm what do you recommend?” You clear your throat and smoothly reply like a true tea connoisseur - “You should check out the Happy Birthday tea!” And he orders just that XD
SO WHAT if the place charges exorbitant amounts of money for their tea time sets (smartly named “Chic” and “Celebration” to justify their prices) which include chi-chi tea sandwiches smaller than the size of your palm?! Remember they’re made from tea-infused crème fraîche and that tiny smile on your BFF’s face when the sets arrive? PRICELESS BB. He’s trying to hide his best to hide his excitement but you can almost see it bubblin’ from deep within LOL.
Ok ok TWG will always be me and the BFF’s favourite tea haunt, we both love tea (dude my domain name has the word tea in it rofl) and although we usually get our tea fix from there, LK/Dejiki/Nicholas (dude has a lot of aliases) and I have never actually sat down and enjoyed one of their infamous tea time sets before so what better excuse to do so than on his birthday right? Depending on which set you order, you get to choose 3 macaroons, 3 tea sandwiches and a patisserie.
I had 2 Cucumber with “Earl Grey Fortune Tea” infused cream cheese sandwiches and a Smoked Salmon with Mascarpone and Chive sandwich, loved both of them but the cucumber one’s my fave! It’s very light and the cucumber + cream cheese made quite a happy marriage of flavours lol.
My choice of pattiserie was a slice of their Singapore Surprise cake tart which is apparently their signature cake. LK had a few bites and thought it to be like a “crème brûlée but the EXTREME version” and I wholeheartedly agree. It’s got raspberries in a light, airy cream that’s been infused with their “Vanilla Bourbon” tea and the top is made of burnt brown sugar, love it.
The real star of the show was actually the Chocolate Meringue cake LK chose for himself. It’s essentially made of an insanely smooth and dense semi-dark chocolate cream topped with crumbly layers of…more chocolate! I think TWG chocolate cakes are a force to be reckoned with, I tried the Chocolate Macadamia cake with Hid some time back and it was just as good!
Teas are their main forte of course, I’ve tried a couple and I would seriously recommend the Pomme Prestige tea (black tea with apple), Happy Birthday tea (black tea with berries - order this on your birthday, it’ll make you feel special!), Silver Moon tea (green tea with vanilla and strawberries, my ultimate fave!), Crème Brûlée tea (green tea with vanilla and berries, similar to Silver Moon but is sweeter to resemble the decadent dessert) and Sakura! Sakura! tea (green tea infused with sakura petals, jasmine and berries - very flowery and how adorable is the name?)
TWG Tea Salon & Boutique
Raffles Place, #01 - 22
Republic Plaza
Singapore 048619
Tel: +65 6538 1837
I realized yesterday that I totally forgot to blog about my trip to the KRYOLAN Cosmetics store in Melbourne, geez. I’m so absent-minded D: I’ll talk about that in my next entry + other random beauty stuff. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Thank you so much for reading Tea Noir, it’s been great knowing all of you! Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2010 - cheers to love, peace, beauty and food xoxo
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Tags: life, nosh: desserts, nosh: TWG
13 Responses to “How to impress your BFF (who has everything) on his birthday”
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[nadz] Says:
December 30th, 2009 at 8:45 pmThat chocolate meringue looks like a to-die-for cake. My god.
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ilyana Says:
December 30th, 2009 at 9:20 pm@ nadz
let’s go there before I leave! -
Blair Says:
December 30th, 2009 at 10:58 pmYumzzz!!! Simply delicious! I’ll date you there the next time I visit SG!! hahaa~
Woman, you bought Tender Peach? Me jealoussss!!!
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toothfairynotes Says:
December 31st, 2009 at 4:22 amhahaha, it’s smart, because I know how hard it is to buy gifts for people who already have or can buy everything they desire. To be honest, I am too, one of those annoying persons… :S
Happy nye!
You are featured on my latest post:
http://notesfromthetoothfairy.blogspot.com/2009/12/ultimate-awesome-bloggers-top-100.htmlLoves
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Catherine Says:
December 31st, 2009 at 4:31 amOMG. I loved reading this entry - everything looks and sounds soooooooo amazing!!!!!!
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ilyana Says:
December 31st, 2009 at 9:50 am@ Blair
YES PLS! Tell me when you’re going to SG next, hopefully I’ll be in the country when you do lol.I bought it but sadly I haven’t got the chance to try it out yet so it’s sitting pretty on my vanity ):
@ toothfairynotes
I think you can’t do wrong with a good meal at a unique restaurant!I just checked out your blog post - thank you so much! I’m so flattered ^^ Happy new year!
@ Catherine
LOL thanks hun, glad you love the write-up. Hopefully you’d be able to visit me in Singapore one day and I’ll def. take you here ;D -
Dee Says:
January 1st, 2010 at 3:39 amBeautiful post! It is definitely hard to get something for a friend that can practically get anything for themself, haha. I enjoyed reading this post hun. That Chocolate Meringue looks so delish! SO mouth watering I need a sugar fix right now, lol.
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ilyana Says:
January 1st, 2010 at 11:29 am@ Dee
I know!! And it’s even harder knowing he’s a guy and probably won’t want anything beauty-related rofl. I’m happy you like the entry, yay!The cake was as delicious as it looked ;D Grab a cupcake! <3
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Makeupmorsels Says:
January 20th, 2010 at 8:37 amThose cakes look delicious. I almost started drooling over the Creme Brulee cake. I went to a tea place for my birthday too with my friend (Scarlet Tea Room). Their teas are pretty good, desserts not so much, but the sandwiches and scones were so good I’d go back just for those. I think the best tea spots are in Asia, there’s one in Taiwan I go to every time I visit. Their hot Butterscotch Milk Tea is to die for, and it’s actually not that sweet at all, just lightly and purely delicious.
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Makeupmorsels Says:
January 20th, 2010 at 12:33 pmIt’s in Taipei. It’s called Salut, and their entrees are really good too, I especially like the chicken. It’s a bummer that there’s not really any good tea places in L.A. If you ever happen to go to Taipei, their address is No.2, Alley 8, Lane 266, Sec. 4, Ren-ai Rd., Da-an District, Taipei City. hahaha Alley 8, it sounds so shady
Thank you! I’ve actually never been to Singapore before, my Asia travels have been limited to a few Japan trips and many trips to Taiwan. -
ilyana Says:
January 20th, 2010 at 2:20 pm@ makeupmorsels
You’ve been to Japan? Lucky you! I love that country!
Thank you for sharing with me Salut’s address, I hope I’d be able to travel to Taiwan + Japan someday! -
Makeupmorsels Says:
January 20th, 2010 at 3:07 pmYes, I wish I could go more because the few times I was there, it was when I was little with those Asian tourist groups who shake you out of bed at 5 a.m. to go visit a beer brewing place or a recycling plant. My parents told me it would be fun…ha…ha… Oh, added you to my blogroll
January 20th, 2010 at 8:59 am
@ makeupmorsels
Hot butterscotch milk tea?! Omg where? I’m SO there lol! I’ve never been to Taiwan but I have a friend who travels there frequently and she posts up all these photos on facebook which I get jealous over because there’s just so much shopping and eating involved lol.
I would love to take you to TWG if you ever visit Singapore
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