There was a lot of food that we had for Hedgehog's Birthday celebration this year.
I don't know whether it was more than the previous years, but certainly it looked like there was a lot, and thankful I am for all of them too.
We didn't eat all of them in one single day, of course.
No, we're the type to spread it out over a week, or in this case, a month.
Which of all these we had first, I now cannot remember, but it might have been Canton Paradise, because we were at Suntec City in the early part of the month and so decided it best to begin the celebration right there and then.
Our dinner at Canton Paradise that evening included two baskets of xiao long baos, one bowl of dumpling soup, and a plate of deliciously fried noodles.
It was all very good- the collagen-rich pork bone soup in particular- and this meal was made even more special when you consider that rice-loving birthday dude is not a huge fan of noodles and usually, unless asked, has them only about once a year.
A couple of days later we were in Orchard, and so went to Aburi-En at Shaw Lido for a birthday lunch.
I suppose one could say that it was a regular normal meal.
Then again we don't always tend to eat this much in the afternoon.
Shall I say that the salmon sashimi don was good?
And that the wagyu (something)- I can't remember how it's done- was tender, not as raw as I thought it would be, and had the best crisp of a seaweed tempura served together with it.
We've liked it so much that we've gone back there for the very same dish time and time again, and we anticipate it as much as we did the very first time.
One of the most memorable meals we had during the course of the month was at Tanuki Raw.
For this dinner we went to the one at JEWEL, which I was exceptionally glad for, because I have an unexplainable love for the airport.
Coming here wasn't about the arrival halls nor the departure halls however.
It was about the food.
And- looking at the picture here now, a couple of months after- really, it's very difficult, no, almost impossible, to forget the chilled Prosecco wine we had, and the beautiful arrangement of cold, fresh salmon sashimi over an entire bowl of ice.
Likewise, the steak, French onion soup and creamed spinach at Ginette will not let themselves be forgotten.
Someone else might take a liking to the beef of the steak.
Me, however, I liked the fat of the steak, the tender of the beef's chew, and the spoonfuls of creamed spinach which I generously helped myself to.
It wasn't all Japanese, Chinese and steak that we had for this birthday.
There was Turkish- in the form of soup (with potatoes!) and kebab (Alexander, was it)- at Donergy in Millennia Walk on one of the weekends too.
This is one of our favorite places when it comes to Turkish cuisine, and we never hesitate to put it on the list whenever we want something solid, heartwarming, and comfortable to eat.
You know, it's just occurred to me that for Hedgehog's birthday this year we ate a heck lot of fries.
It can be considered an indulgence, I guess, what with the diet these days, and it feels like a lot because we had Mentaiko fries at Tanuki Raw one day, we had fries at Ginette another day, and if the other places had offered fries, we probably might have had them too.
A birthday won't feel the same if you don't have anything sweet, and so I'm glad that this year we not only had cake (courtesy of people who visited #02-01 to measure the rooms), there was also a cup of Godiva iced chocolate no whip- which I hope Hedgehog liked.
