Celebration at Baladi’s

Today marked the belated birthday celebration of our dear sister Elaine and knowing how all of her friends are foodies, we decided to treat her to Lebanese cuisine (not that she minds, of course!). Prior to this, I had never tried Lebanese food before so I was hoping it would taste a bit like Turkish food, one of my favourites. Alas, wifey isn’t too fond of Turkish food so I’m sure she was hoping the opposite. *chuckle*

The venue, Baladi at North Bridge Road, was suggested by Mabel. How she got to know of such a restaurant that is in some alley 400m away from Bugis Junction is beyond me. But hey, I guess it’s small things like these that seperates people who eat to live from people who live to eat.

The Kwok family arriving at the scene.

Ashley: I wonder how Lebanese milk tastes like? Hmmm….

Ambience and decor are top notch, if one can put up with the lack of air-conditioning.

The gals really blending into their surroundings!

Ashley saying grace. Either that, or praying for milk.

People with long legs are at a disadvantage here…

Even KC is dressed for the occassion!

After waiting for some time, the food finally arrived and to the amusement of some around me, instead of digging right in, I proceeded to carefully arrange the dishes and take photos of the food. Finally, giving in to my hunger, I put my camera down and to my pleasant surprise, the food really did taste as good as it looked! I’m not going to deny though that Lebanese food is probably an acquired taste.

Without further ado – the food! Should’ve taken a photo of the menu though as I can’t remember what is called what now…

Mabel and YH, two of Elaine’s closest sisters and pals.

Chris looking sleepy after such a heavy dinner and realizing he got caught in the act.

All in all, it was a fun-filled celebration and I enjoyed the opportunity to fellowship with other folks in the unit. There was a lot of positive affirmation and heartfelt encouragement for the birthday gal who has devoted so much of her life to serve in ministry and to be a friend to people. And for that, we also spared her the sabo. Heh heh…

Stay tuned to see how IslandHope celebrated Elaine’s birthday!