Re-defining Quality Time

Thanks to Ed (and DBS promotions), we had a GREAT lunch at Tippling Club located just beside HOUSE@Dempseys. It was also a great opportunity to spend quality time together. *makes mental note of Ed's good effort*

Leading up to the lunch, Ed was quite intrigued by how excited I was. The ever resourceful wife had been reading up on this restaurant and in view of all that positive feedback, was really looking forward to trying a new place and sampling cuisine based on the molecular style of cooking.

Unlike some other much hyped but lacklustre experiences, this was an afternoon of wonderful gastronomic delights cooked and presented in very interesting ways:

Restaurant interior: There was actually more bar than table seating which might need some tweaking in the longer run. But the overhanging bottles of alcohol as well as the nondescript brown bottles of spices and other condiments were a nice touch.

Trio of Starters: Charcoal-coloured tempura peppers, Calamari with squid ink wasabi mayo (i think) and lightly fermented grapes to cleanse the palate.

Top: Nitro Greek salad and Mock turtle soup (poached egg and spinach)

Bottom: Salmon confit (with lobster consomme and cardamon glazed carrots) and Linguine carbonara (with wild mushroom puree and dehydrated bacon)

Top: Lime snowball (with pomelo and grapefruit curd) and Four textures of parmesan (with sourdough bread and rocket emulsion)

Bottom: Long black with accompanying cinnamon sprinkled candy floss and dark chocolate ball

Satiated smiles post meal

Another positive note to this dining experience was the amount of effort shown in their service: be it explaining each dish to us by the waitors and the chef himself, promptly topping up our water and even wiping the table ever so often so that we have a clean top to start each course. *appreciative beams*

Foodwise, what stood out for me was the linguine carbonara and the parmesan dessert which was wonderfully flavourful. As I'm more of a savoury person, suspect these dishes 'worked' for me due to the high level of sodium.

Anyways, the bewildered other half was attempting to figure out why this meal was different from all the other nice meals we have had or why this was such a good instance of quality time.

Honestly, I haven't really thought about what constitutes as quality time and it does not help that I have been exhibiting slightly inconsistent expectations. Hence, sometimes the following do not suffice:

• Going grocery shopping together (which is more functional in nature)
• Lounging on the couch and watching TV (since there is little communication unless one counts the advertisements chat interlude)
• Having dinner together because we need to eat (as we tend to stare at the kopitiam TV while feeding our tummies)

and some other haven't thought of examples...

After much pondering, developed a working definition of quality time (according to Ee):

Quality time is registered when there is intentionalized 1-1 time with each other, with sufficient time and scope for open communication and sharing. While the activity or non-activity is negotiable, the couple should ideally be doing something that at least one party enjoys (planned or otherwise).

Note: This is subject to change as we continue to adapt to married life.