Sunday afternoons with Hubby

Every now and then hubby and I go on Sunday afternoon dates. Yes, that’s what happens when you’re married with child: night outs are a thing of the past. We squeeze in an hour or two of alone time. Sometimes less because we end up missing gorgeous little Micky.

Normally Christian and I bond over food. We're trying to avoid the dinner-movie-coffee routine so we schedule afternoon food haunts instead. Once, together with friend Jay, we drove all the way to Dong Bei Dumpling in the heart of Chinatown for some of their bolstering steamed dumplings. I love Dong Bei. It’s one of the stops in Ivan Man-Dy’s Wok Food Tour. On Sundays it’s awfully peaceful without the gaggle of tourists. They make your dumplings fresh – rolling the dough and shaping into pockets unto which pork or kinchay (your choice) is stuffed. Watch them prep this on top of an old office computer table. Charming, shabby chic. You can opt to have it fried or steamed. Any which way it is fabulous.

Just recently we stumbled into Balducci for some afternoon antipasto, wine and cheese. Balducci is in Serendra. The pace is a bit less hectic on Sundays, just before the dinner crowd descends on the little Italian trattoria. They have a fine selection of wines and their antipasto platter is simply tops (btw so is the bill). Christian had red wine and I had some limoncello. Friend Joe who flew in from KL for the weekend to attend God daughter Micky's birthday had latte. He’s trying to abstain from wine and ciggies for Lent. But here’s the funny part: he was digging into the cold cuts like it was nobody’s business. And then we all came across this awfully delicious white sliver of…what is this exactly??? Couldn’t quite tell but it was simply divine. “That’s Lardo Renzini,” the waiter offered with a smile. Lardo…as in Lard? Thin, pure, slivers of lard?! So while Joe tried to quit drinks and ciggies for Lent, he unwittingly stuffed himself with some pure Pork Fat instead. Hilarious.