When we got to Serendra, my husband and I were surprised at the number of available parking slots. I looked at my watch and saw 6:15 pm. I thought my watch was broken: could it be that early? My husband confirmed the time – no wonder parking wasn’t a problem.
Determined to go to FU for dinner, we nonetheless stopped at Conti’s for takeout- chicken pie only in my mind until I saw the other goodies available: so I got two tuna pies, two cheese crisps and 4 chicken pies, plus a box of assorted brownies. I would have wanted to try the frozen goods of Conti’s but I thought they might spoil if we bought them as early as then. Next time perhaps?
On to FU. We ordered suckling pig 3 combination, so with it we chose to have century eggs and soy chicken. Also ordered spinach with garlic and Fu fried rice. All tasted very good but there was no attempt whatsoever to present the fried rice artistically. It was bereft of color. Never mind, it tasted good. Yes, I like fried rice very much, CHinese fried rice especially. Can anyone share what gives Chinese fried rice in all CHinese restaurants that distinct taste? what’s the secret, pretty please? After the meal I asked permission from Ricky of Fu who has been waiting on our table each time we are there if I could eat a brownie. He smiled and said to go ahead. And guess what, he gave us two platitos with forks. How kind of him. Fu has this campaign 8 for 800 or something to that effect. There’s a form one fills up if one is inclined to donate to Virlanie foundation for the street children.
After Fu we stopped by at a different bookstore. The person who attended to us was apparently well read – he knew right away that the book I was looking for (Tracy Chevalier’s The Lady and the Unicorn) was on stock. He then told me I should also read TC’s other book, The Lady and the Pearl Earring. He recommended the other books he had read and said to come back tomorrow as they’ll have a sale – 20% off books. Darn we were a day too early.
After ADB, we went to Fully Booked. As usual, I savored the smell of new books as soon as the door opened. Sigh. Reminds me so much of my childhood. There I finally found a copy of Catherine de Medici by Leonie Frieda, which M recommended. I read it as husband looked at CDs on the fourth floor. He bought a Radiohead CD (com lag) and I got Johnny Alegre’s 3rd CD for son – as Christmas present. I also saw Gela skin with a bear playing a red electric guitar on it. So I got that too for son. For his old MacBook. While there we received a text from him saying they had just crossed the border into Holland and would be in Amsterdam in a few minutes. I couldn’t help but feel excited for him. What a thrill.
Some comments – The sales personnel in Conti’s are all very warm. They smile a lot. Perhaps that’s why Conti’s is such a success.
The personnel of ADB are knowledgeable. They know if they have a certain book or not. They can tell you which books they like. Way to go.
