37
march 01, 2007
"happy birthday mommy!"
i'm cheating because it's actually march 7th right now and i'm trying to backtrack my entries. blame it on the flu though as i've been down with it for days now. yeah, what a way to start off my 37th huh? i wish i could say it was because of too much partying or wild sleepness nights but nope...it's the flu.
anyway, happy birthday to me. it's really belated now but imagine it's still march 1st. yay, 37 for me. :p
this year, as with every year, i really don't know what to do for my birthday. i always say i'll throw a huge bash and invite all my friends from the various circles but it never pans out and from all the talking and thinking about it, march 1st creeps up before you know it. so this year will be a quiet one.
but i'm not complaining though. it's not like one of those kids on my super sweet 16 show or anything. i don't expect my sugar daddy to buy me a bentley or hire some rap star for my birthday or fly me to paris to choose a gown. no, this is reality and reality means this day will pass like all the other 364 days of the year.
plus, i'm thirty-seven, which officially puts me in the age bracket where i'm too old to go clubbin for my birthday (especially in koreatown unless i'm nicholas cage) and too young for that over the hill thing either.
TGILW informed me early on this year that he won't be planning anything for me and asked "if that's ok with you?". how do you answer a question like that? "sure, it's fine" but then i always secretly hope that he would plan something crazy for me. nothing of that caliber has really happened yet though. ha. plus, i don't think he would know how to contact half the people i would love to invite [pointing to some of you out there]. being that my birthday falls on a thursday, going out to the city would seem rather difficult as his work schedule has been rather hectic. so we decided the week before to make reservations at dal rae in pico rivera.
now, pico rivera isn't really known for much aside from being sorta ghetto but dal rae is one of those long time institutions that's been there for over 50 years i think. dal rae is also one of those places that seemed to have frozen in time. think: rat pack, frank sinatra, leather booths, dark lighting and that whole mob feel. yeah. it's one of those places i've always said i'll get around to eating at but never do.
until now that is.
i've heard a lot of wonderful things about this place. for the price you pay, you really get what you pay for (unlike a lot of the places out in the city mind you). also, the service is impeccable and they do everything they can to make the experience perfect.
we opted to order several appetizers and then split an entree as well. dal rae automatically brings you a veggie relish tray along with some great cheese garlic bread and regular bread on top of that. plus, they literally plop down a stick of butter to go with everything. there's no fighting for those little squares anymore. no siree. we got the raw oysters as TGILW loves loves loves oysters. you would think this was his birthday and not mine! i actually ate two of them but i'm always wary of eating oysters as my GI tract isn't the strongest.
escargots however is my pick. i've loved escargots ever since i was a kid when my parents would take us to taix out on sunset blvd for dinner. which reminds me, i should go check it out again one of these days to relive those old memories. ever since then, i've always been fond of escargots, especially in that rich garlicky buttery sauce. yum. it seemed like everything at dal rae was really huge but in great quality.
speaking of huge, these were the best shrimp cocktails EVER! and lemme tell ya, i've had a lot of shrimp cocktails in my time. you can't really see it in this photo but the shrimps were like two of my chunky fingers held together! ginormous!
their french onion soup was to die for. it's rare that i encounter a really good french onion soup. i mean, most are either too salty, too much bread, not flavorful enough, not enough cheese, too much cheese...you get the picture. but this one was sooooooooo flavorful without being oily nor overly salty. it was just divine.
as you can imagine, by this point, we were pretty stuffed. so it was good that we ended up sharing the surf n turf meal. and we couldn't even finish our half of the entree! the lobster tail was gargantuan and the filet mignon was so buttery and tender that you could just cut it with your fork. ok, maybe i'm exaggerating there.
although it was a thursday night, it was completely packed. reservations are a must i think. and i was the 4th person (that i know of) who got sung the happy birthday song that evening. i think there must have been some rap star there with his entourage celebrating a birthday but i don't recognize them. :p we opted for the chocolate souffle for dessert and it was just amazing. not too sweet - just the way i like it.
anyway, my 37th came and went quite peacefully. i guess i was used to having it celebrated at work for the past 4 years. i've forgotten what it's like to just wake up and quietly turn another year older under the radar.
as for the big bash, i guess it'll have to be when i turn 38. by then, DOMO will be completely moved in and ready for a party...i hope.
i'll show you the loot in the next entry. :p
currently listening to: jin, instant noodle
