Sunday Happenings

After Sunday School yesterday, we headed over to WC's baby shower in Confucious Plaza. It was like deja vu, b/c some of the food was exactly the same as what we had the day before at church (consisting of Singapore mei fun, beef chow fun, fried rice). M stayed away from the Chinese take-out since he said he'd had enough of it already (and we still have half a tray of beef chow fun sitting in the refrigerator at home). It was good b/c they also varied the menu with pasta, salad, what looked like a 10-foot long sub, cookies, jello, and candy.

One of the games played was where NW (WC's hubby) had to compete with another guest to see who would be able to change a baby's diaper (using a doll, not a real baby), dress the baby, feed it, swaddle it, and return it to the stroller faster. It seems that NW is ready for fatherhood, as he was able to beat MU (KF's soon-to-be-hubby) in the competition. My M also got suckered into the game, but he failed miserably, neglecting to feed the baby and swaddle it before putting it back into the stroller. I hope this is not a sign of how his parenting skills will be!

After WC's baby shower, we contemplated on driving up to my brother's place for AM, AL, and GC's birthday party, but it was already late in the afternoon and we still had to stop by my in-law's place beforehand, so we decided against it. I had made M promise he wouldn't get me any flowers this year for my birthday (we have to save up for the little one now!), so as a compromise, I agreed that we'd go out for dinner. After the pit stop to see the mother-in-law, we took a stroll up to Balthazar on Spring Street. I had a feeling it was going to be crowded, but M was confident they wouldn't be too busy on a Sunday night, so we went there w/o any reservations. Naturally, I was right, and we were told the wait would be an hour and a half; we said thanks, but no thanks. Plan B was to head towards Lombardi's for some good old fashion brick oven pizza. It was already a bad sign as we were approaching the restaurant and saw loads of people loitering at the corner of Mott and Spring Street, but when we got there, the entrance was so crowded we couldn't even get into the door to ask about the wait, so scrap that idea! Finally, I suggested Cafe Habana, this tiny diner-type place on the corner of Elizabeth and Prince Street... it wasn't anything fancy, but it's always populated and seemed to serve good authentic Cuban food. We used to pass by it all the time on Sunday mornings when we parked around Elizabeth Street, and M always mentioned wanting to try it, but we never got a chance to. As luck would have it, they had a vacant table for two near the door, so that's where we ended up having my birthday dinner. The place itself was a bit too cramped and the music too loud for my taste, but the food was decent and not over-priced - that's enough for me to go back there again.