When the heavens opened to the angry roars of thunder with lightning streaking in jagged lines, lighting up the dark skies in the late afternoon,what was uppermost in my mind was the aftermath of the storm. The traffic would be hopelessly snarled as commuters struggle to make their way home. My daughter would be among them and we were looking forward to the birthday dinner which had been planned for that evening.
When she got home we immediately set out for the restaurant, in bumper to bumper traffic and what should have been a five minute journey took more than half an hour.
Some of our guests were already waiting for us while the rest were still on the way, caught in the horrendous jams. It took my brother two hours before he made it to the restaurant and it was another half an hour before my youngest brother stepped up to our table.
Everyone was hungry but the dishes were worth waiting for. We began with a starter called "The Three Treasures" which consisted of scallop, shrimp in some kind of sauce and soft shelled crab.
The next course was Roast Suckling Pig, its crispy skin with a thin layer of meat accompanied by a sweet dark sauce.
Fried cod fish was next, followed by "Hokkien" towfoo with minced pork and mushroom topping in lotus leaf.
Then we had spinach soup with "Teochew" fishballs with pork filling followed by the birthday longevity noodles.
The last dish was dessert, a clear sweet drink boiled with aloe vera, longan and sea coconut.
A chocolate black forest cake ended the evening.
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