Day 1: Hola! :D

We arrived in Barcelona in a blur...haven't taken a long haul flight on economy class for ages and our knees are stiff from being constricted in tight spaces for such long hours. :( 
Dropped our baggages at Hostel Grau and headed out almost immediately for an Espanol adventure...not in our best form. But no time to waste. 

Our tummies needed refuelling and the first stop was brunch at Cerveseria Catalana.

Mom and Beanie needed their coffee perk-me-up. Coffees are so cheap in Spain. :)))

Eh....Spanish hot chocolate are so thick it feels more like eating mousse. :)))

Calamaris....fat & chewy. :)

Despite its smallness, Spanish croquettes are very heavy....way to heavy for my liking actually.

Carbo seems to be inevitable in every dish...Spanish omelette has potatoes in them. 

Shredded potatoes with eggs....now you know what I meant. :)))

The waitress taught us to eat them the Spanish way by mixing them up for us. :)

My tummy wasn't ready for such a heavy brunch and the only item I enjoyed at Cerveseria was the grilled shrimps. :)))

Lin didn't plan much for the day...which was brilliant. We slowly made our way to Escriba for some desserts.

Eating helps keep us awake. :) We popped into Escriba for some cakes. 

Escriba's cakes are so fanciful... :O

Their croissants are supposedly to be good too. :)

Tiredness written all over my face...

Let's hope some retail therapy helps. ;)

Finding our way to La Chinata 

Spotted this little one waiting patiently for his owner at a cafe. :) 

La Chinata is an olive speciality store. :)

We are destined to be friends! We didn't know we are all going to be in Barcelona at the same time. It wasn't plan at all. :))) Crystal and Alan flew in from San Francisco, Jose flew in from Phoenix, Stella flew in from Hong Kong and us from Singapore. Dinner tonite will be at Tapas 24. :)

Quite a number of items we wanted to try weren't available...making the dinner rather disappointing. But the company was fabulous and more than made up for it. :D

Bikini Comerc 24...a sexy name... is actually warm sandwich with black truffles, cured Iberian ham and buffalo mozzarella. 

Roast chicken croquettes...I struggled with these again.

Spanish egg atop with ham...

Mom & Beanie shared some lentil soup as they wanted something soupy. 

That was all we had for dinner. We didn't even bother about desserts because we were dead tired and the dining experience at Tapas 24 had been underwhelming. 
My take on my first day in Barcelona...not liking the food at all...

Details of Cerveseria Catalana:
Carrer de Mallorca
236, 08008 Barcelona
Spain
T: +34 932 16 03 68

Details of Escriba:
Carrer La Ramble 83

Details of Tapas 24:
Carrer de la Diputacio
269, 08007 Barcelona
Spain
T: +34 934 88 09 77

Peking Duck for the Birthday Girl :)

Lin and I are sentimental beings. We treasure people around us very much. It's becos we had lost a few closed ones over the years. And partly becos it's diffcult to find close friends as we age. They are such rare gems. Tina is one of our precious gem. :) 

This evening we celebrate Tina's birthday! :D An early celebration this year as Tina would be away for business trip and Angie would be in Niseko. 

The birthday gal requested we do Chinese. :) Hence we went Peking. :))) Strangely, we have never eaten Peking duck together before. I wonder why? :))) Anyway we are going to savor it together tonite. :D

The first cut was to be eaten with sugar. :)

Yeah to soup! :) We had crab meat with winter melon soup. 

Wendy requested for roasted pork. :D

Drunken prawns made tonite's dinner a less meaty affair. :D

Tofu with spinach and mushrooms balance our meal :)

Noodles are an essential during birthdays. We are pretty traditional in this aspect eh? :)))

We weren't planning to have desserts but the aroma of durian from one of the tables made us caved in for a bowl of durian pudding. :))) 

Hehehe (rub my nose)...share the guilt. That's what friends are for. :)))

Wishing Tina a happy happy birthday, stay healthy and chirpy and may more fats come your way! ;)

Our Birthday Celebration Continues... :D

Our birthday celebration continued at Chef's Table with our gfs. :) Happiness is exploring new places together. ;)

We took the 6 course meal as recommended. :) Only to struggle later on...(facepalm *.*)

Chef Stephen and his team whipped out dishes catered to our palate preference and dietary requirement. :) Every dish was a surprise. :)

The magic began with...a fresh salmon dish :)

One of our fav dish of the nite was poached egg with squid and ham. :)

There were two versions of some dishes, i.e gluten free and non-gluten.

Two cuts of steak for us. :)

Angie loves these oyster leaves v much. She said they really tasted like oyster. That explained the price tag. ;)

We love desserts :D Refreshing raspberries sorbet with choc was a nice welcome. :) 

Lin had lemon sorbet with chocs :) Both were lovely. :)

And a birthday cake surprise from the gals. :D 

What can I say about this bunch of girlfriends? :) We're blessed to have them in our lives. :) They are sisters we chosen for ourselves. :))) 

Finally get to blow the candle off our cake! :D

Details of Chef's Table:
62 Tras Street
Singapore 079000
T: +65 6244 4188
W: https://www.chefstable.sg