POSTED ON Thursday, September 19, 2013 AT 6:30 PM \\
So I turned 23 today :) I'm not a big birthday person. I like planning things for other people's birthdays, but I don't like to make a big deal of my own. If I was home I would be with my family having a cake meant for my mother and myself (We share the same birth date) and a family dinner. We always get the same cake from the same Chinese bakery with the same candles every time. A plain white cake decorated with melon balls and strawberries and kiwi slices that is not too sweet and very light. There would always be leftover cake sitting in the fridge in the morning, upon which my brothers would finish off before noon. My mom would cook dinner (like always), probably shrimp (with the skin intact), bok choy, pork chops or short ribs, baked salmon filets, and white rice. A feast I can't wait to return to! So since I never have any expectations on my birthday, today was totally unexpected... This morning before class started a girl from first semester came up to me and told me that my blog helped her in deciding to come here. When I heard that I was so happy and it really made my morning! Then in class my friend (who was also celebrating her birthday today) brought cupcakes she had baked and she gave me one. Someone else gave me a giant muffin during path class. After class was finished my friends took me to this fancy bakery in Simpson Bay called Taste Factory and bought me a macaron cake and macarons! The five of us ate macarons and talked and I really appreciated that they took time out of their day for me.
Taste Factory pastries :)
Macarons & macaron cake!!
I was so stuffed by then! But the food didn't stop there. At around 5 PM I went out to Costco Cost-U-Less with my two friends from Toronto to stock up on groceries, and afterwards they took me out to... LOBSTER!!! I am always craving lobster. Always. There are so many places to eat lobster here in Simpson Bay but I suggested we go somewhere relatively cheap. And I found this place called Johnny B Under the Tree from this blog and it sounded like a really good place to eat. When we arrived at the location (at least I think it was the right location) I was so confused because it looked nothing like the photos/video from the blog. There was no tree, there was no grill, I didn't even see any lobsters! But the place was called Johnny B Jack Skip's Restaurant, so I think it was owned by the same guy. It turns out that they had done some rennovations on the place this year and now it's more like a open-window styled restaurant and less of an open BBQ grill place. And yes they did have lobster on the menu! So we grabbed a table and ordered lobster, ribs, and some conch fritters. The food came out in about half an hour. The side dishes were a meal in themselves. Then the lobsters came on separate plates and I have to say I was a little disappointed by their sizes. The lobster I had back on Statia was twice the size. But the meat was tender and chewy and flavourful and one lobster was enough for me. It was the first time my friends tried Caribbean lobster and both had raving reviews and said that they couldn't go back to eating Toronto lobster anymore! After we had finished eating we got a drink that's very popular in the Caribbean called Vitamalt. It tasted a little fizzy and bitter yet sweet. It's pretty much what beer would taste like without the alcohol content. After dinner we went to my place and they surprised me with a ginormous red velvet cake!! They even lit some candles, stuck them on the cake and sang happy birthday to me. The cake itself was extremely good, and I made them take half of it home with them. What a pleasantly unexpected birthday made amazing by my friends here. This is only one of the many reasons that I am so thankful to be on the island of St. Martin, and of course for my friends. :)
POSTED ON Thursday, September 19, 2013 AT 6:30 PM \\
So I turned 23 today :) I'm not a big birthday person. I like planning things for other people's birthdays, but I don't like to make a big deal of my own. If I was home I would be with my family having a cake meant for my mother and myself (We share the same birth date) and a family dinner. We always get the same cake from the same Chinese bakery with the same candles every time. A plain white cake decorated with melon balls and strawberries and kiwi slices that is not too sweet and very light. There would always be leftover cake sitting in the fridge in the morning, upon which my brothers would finish off before noon. My mom would cook dinner (like always), probably shrimp (with the skin intact), bok choy, pork chops or short ribs, baked salmon filets, and white rice. A feast I can't wait to return to! So since I never have any expectations on my birthday, today was totally unexpected... This morning before class started a girl from first semester came up to me and told me that my blog helped her in deciding to come here. When I heard that I was so happy and it really made my morning! Then in class my friend (who was also celebrating her birthday today) brought cupcakes she had baked and she gave me one. Someone else gave me a giant muffin during path class. After class was finished my friends took me to this fancy bakery in Simpson Bay called Taste Factory and bought me a macaron cake and macarons! The five of us ate macarons and talked and I really appreciated that they took time out of their day for me.
Taste Factory pastries :)
Macarons & macaron cake!!
I was so stuffed by then! But the food didn't stop there. At around 5 PM I went out to Costco Cost-U-Less with my two friends from Toronto to stock up on groceries, and afterwards they took me out to... LOBSTER!!! I am always craving lobster. Always. There are so many places to eat lobster here in Simpson Bay but I suggested we go somewhere relatively cheap. And I found this place called Johnny B Under the Tree from this blog and it sounded like a really good place to eat. When we arrived at the location (at least I think it was the right location) I was so confused because it looked nothing like the photos/video from the blog. There was no tree, there was no grill, I didn't even see any lobsters! But the place was called Johnny B Jack Skip's Restaurant, so I think it was owned by the same guy. It turns out that they had done some rennovations on the place this year and now it's more like a open-window styled restaurant and less of an open BBQ grill place. And yes they did have lobster on the menu! So we grabbed a table and ordered lobster, ribs, and some conch fritters. The food came out in about half an hour. The side dishes were a meal in themselves. Then the lobsters came on separate plates and I have to say I was a little disappointed by their sizes. The lobster I had back on Statia was twice the size. But the meat was tender and chewy and flavourful and one lobster was enough for me. It was the first time my friends tried Caribbean lobster and both had raving reviews and said that they couldn't go back to eating Toronto lobster anymore! After we had finished eating we got a drink that's very popular in the Caribbean called Vitamalt. It tasted a little fizzy and bitter yet sweet. It's pretty much what beer would taste like without the alcohol content. After dinner we went to my place and they surprised me with a ginormous red velvet cake!! They even lit some candles, stuck them on the cake and sang happy birthday to me. The cake itself was extremely good, and I made them take half of it home with them. What a pleasantly unexpected birthday made amazing by my friends here. This is only one of the many reasons that I am so thankful to be on the island of St. Martin, and of course for my friends. :)
