Sunday 12 May 2002

Yesterday (Sunday) was the first anniversary of our engagement. Wow. To state the obvious, and get tangled up in cliches, it really is incredible how quickly time has passed, a whole year, and so much happened. I've been engaged to Sam for a whole year, I've moved countries/continents/hemispheres, left behind everything and everyone I knew, moved in and lived with my man, arranged a wedding - my wedding, got married, gone through all the change and culture shock and roller coaster-ism associated with all those things ... Wow.

What strikes me most is - gee, I don't do things the easy way, do I?

But wow, a whole year with my Sam. How lucky am I?

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The day got off to a wonderful start with a long lie-in, lots of snuggles and kisses and ... well, moving along. Then Sam brought me breakfast in bed (even though it was more like mid-afternoon tea time by then). Now, in my book, there really is nothing to beat bacon and eggs (scrambled) on toast, cooked perfectly by one's sweetie, brought to you in bed. Mmmm. Oh and a cuppa tea. Mmmm. After a shower etc, we had a short bike ride, then it was time for dinner. I had been thinking of cooking a yummy meal at home (even though I didn't really feel like cooking on our anniversary, but hey, I sure wasn't going to order in awful Chinese) but Sam announced he'd booked a table, like a couple of weeks ago to ensure a place, at the original, and best, Prince of China restaurant. Mmmmmm! Couldn't wait ....

The Prince of China is a fantastic restaurant and definitely my favourite eating place here in Belfast. The Morning Star is a great pub that does truly out-of-this-world pub fare, but it is still a pub. We have always gone to the PoC at the Odyssey Pavillion (the big centre with Warner Bros. cinemas, restaurants, an Imax, the big arena where rock concerts and ice hockey games are held etc) because you're guaranteed a fabulous, beautifully presented and cooked, and most important, authentic Chinese meal (it is a mix of Cantonese, Schezuan and Singaporean influences, but let's not quibble ... or get bothered by the fact that there are still chips and chicken maryland on the menu).

We'd never been to the original PoC on Great Victoria Street (the one at the Odyssey only being opened in August last year) and had heard that it was even better than the daughter restaurant. How could it be better? I couldn't wait ...

Anyways since this was definitely a date-like occasion, and because I hadn't worn anything but jeans and T-shirts for what felt like months, I decided to dress up a little. From the skin out: best black lace bra and knickers, lace top stay-up, my fits-like-a-glove three-quarter sleeve, scooped neck, very short, LBD (Little Black Dress, get with the TLAs, guys) and strappy shoes - with a heel! I never wear heels. I was extra careful with my make-up - full make-up with lovely MAC eyeshadow in lilac and plum shades, glossy lipstick, kilos of mascara ... I just left my hair down because it was having a good day and did look very pretty - all ringletty and wavy. I did look, well,  mrowr, if I say so myself. Certainly Sam seemed to agree with me! He looked beautiful too.

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So - cab to the PoC. Were taken straight to our table, drinks orders taken and we were given menus, in about five minutes flat. Throughout the meal the service was just as good if not better than at PoC Jr, which is a hard act to follow; they were always there when we wanted to order our food, or order more drinks, or ask a question, and then pay our bill, but they never, ever ever make you feel as though they're trying to get you out of there as fast as they can. I can think of half a dozen eating-places who could learn a lot from this crew. Over our Black Bush and Cokes (we held hands - awwwww - I shall mention now that we held hands most of the meal, and there were lots of loving glances and hand-kisses - please, try not to gag) we ordered:- our ultimate favourite entree, Lettuce Rolls (or Sang Choy Bao as they should be called but hey, this is Belfast); followed by Cantonese sizzling beef in black pepper sauce, salt and chilli king prawns, and oh oh oh! how delightful! Singapore fried noodles. 

Oh wow, It was all so so good and we were so so full by the end of it. Mmmmm. The beef was just amazing, incredibly tender, quite large pieces of very good fillet in a spicy but not hot or overpowering sauce. The salt and chilli prawns were a bit eh, but more to do with the crustaceans' provenance - I'm pretty sure they were frozen at some stage, but again, this is Belfast and that's something to remember for the future. The star of the meal though, were the Singapore noodles. Oh wow. I could have just eaten plateful after plateful of those until the seams of my dress groaned and split in exasperation at my treatment .... mmm mmmmmm so so good and just right. Really really perfect.

After dinner we went to the Crown for a couple more drinks, and then headed home. Early yes, but we still had some celebrating to do ...  hee.

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