A long weekend

We had a three day weekend due to the Hari Raya Haji holiday, and it was just what I needed!  Work has been a bit stressful lately (per usual), so a few days of relaxation was perfect for me.

Thursday night, we went to an area of town called Dempsey Hill.  I've been to this area twice before for work, and I really like the vibe - it used to be army bunkers, but now it is filled with cute little shops and restaurants.

Here is a funny story - we tried to go to this place called Prime Society bar and restaurant.  When we walked up, probably around 9pm or so.. we had a drink and an appetizer elsewhere.. the outside patio had  few tables open, and we could see that the inside was busy, but definitely not crazy.  (Singaporean restaurants don't really seem to get "crazy busy" from what I've seen.)  So we were a little shocked when we were told that there were no tables available.  There were some seats open at the bar (and the tables outside), but the hostess said that they were too full, so they weren't seating anyone right now.  We asked how long the wait would be.  The hostess went and talked to someone else, and then came back and told us "oh sorry - we are closed now."  Obviously, we were confused.  And annoyed.

But!  This actually turned out to be a good thing, because we ended up going to a place called Margarita's.  I've not heard great things about the Mexican food in Singapore, and my own experiences have all been sub-par, but one look at the menu at Margarita's, and I was very hopeful.  Turns out that Margarita's is freaking awesome!  Not only do they have a bar to sit at (Singapore does not have very many bars that you can sit at, and I, for one, love to sit and eat at the bar), but the service was good, and the food was delicious!

We had queso fundido to start (because I can never resist chips and dip!), and then I had enchiladas for my meal.  The corn tortillas were freaking delicious.  I may have eaten too much and had a mini food coma after dinner.  This is a huge discovery for me.  I can't tell you how happy I am to have found solid Mexican food here!!

I know it doesn't look delicious, but trust me - it was awesome.

The other big victory for the weekend was workout related, but not running related (I am still struggling with that).  I decided that I should probably join a gym since my idea of just being disciplined enough to work out in my apartment's facilities or go running outside is clearly not working.  So I did some internet research on gyms, and lo and behold - what is on the group exercise class schedule??

Body Attack is my all time favorite group fitness class ever!!  The best way to describe it is like jazzercise on steroids.  But I love it!  I know everybody loves Body Pump, but I do not.  Body Attack is a killer cardio class, and it has tons of body weight exercises throughout the class.  It can sometimes be hard to follow some of the choreography, but it is a lot of fun.  I was addicted to Body Attack on Sunday mornings at Hyde Park Lifestyles for close to a year, and I was devastated to find out that the YMCA in Nashville did not offer Body Attack.  So you can imagine that I am absolutely ecstatic to find it in Singapore!!  I went to the Sunday afternoon class, and I loved every second of it :)  I will definitely be joining the gym - the Body Attack totally sold me!

Other random things from the weekend...

Spent some time in the sun at Tanjong Beach Club!!  This kind of reminded me of an Asian version of Malibu Sands.. that beach club on Saved by the Bell.  Good times!

Christmas decorations have started going up... it feels a bit early, no?

I made carrot apple ginger soup!  (Finally went to Home Fix and bought a plug adapter for my blender.)

And sauteed brussels sprouts with lemon and garlic and topped them with shaved parm.  I love brussels sprouts - I know, its weird.  Side note - when I was at the grocery store, the sign for brussels sprouts said S$2.89 for 100g.  I have no clue how much 100g is, but I figured that was a reasonable price.  I picked out exactly 12 brussels sprouts (they were loose).  Imagine my surprise when my 12 brussels sprouts rang up as S$7.86!!!

But this was a big win at the grocery store.  These Puffins are normally S$8.90, but they were super on sale for only S$2.20!  And it's an American brand!!  I bought two boxes :)

And finally - this was outside a restaurant that serves "American food".  For some reason, I just find this hilarious.  "Romney meatloaf" is way more absurd that "Obama burger", but honestly, this just cracks me up.