Silk, SICC

I was never close to my own grandmother but I do feel something for kw’s grandmother - who is quite the character, if I may add. Though she cares for people, she’s not your average grandmother who mollycoddles you; she’s sharp and feisty, not afraid to offer her two or ten cents’ worth; she doesn’t say a lot or dominate conversations but her one-liners are pretty epic (always a hoot to sit next to her). I guess in terms of personality, we are pretty similar, both the suffer-no-fool type. I get her.

Beautiful jade-coloured plates

Last Friday, we celebrated kw’s grandmother’s 90th birthday at Silk, a Chinese restaurant located SICC’s new Island Clubhouse. We don’t really know when her exact birthday is as she doesn’t have a birth certificate and back in those days, a girl’s life was simply too diminutive to be taken seriously. What a difference two generations, no?

Longevity Buns (寿桃)

We started off with the requisite longevity buns. Check out that bun! It’s the first time I have ever seen a hugeass (literally and figuratively since it looks like a baby’s bum) longevity bun. THAT longevity bun was used to house many mini buns – how cute is that?!

Roasted Whole Suckling Pig

It’s a good thing we didn’t overdose on lotus paste as… oh my hog, that’s some pig! The skin was uber crunchy and the meat dentures-friendly tender, making it a serious contender for Best Pig I Have Ever Had In My Life. Rubbing my golden ticket, I definitely had more than my allocated share of that hog for it would be such a shame to exercise moderation. I have no idea who took the head home but he/she is one lucky pig (not judging).

Double-boiled Fish Maw Soup

The soup was pretty good too but on the bland side. Then again, I have a bad habit of adding light soya sauce and chilli padi to everything I take these days.

Sautéed Boston’s Lobster with Superior Stock

Initially my FIL ordered the Alaska King Crab done two ways - deep-fried with spiced salt and sautéed with egg white. However a couple of days ago, the restaurant called to inform him they weren’t going to have Alaska King Crab so we had the Sautéed Boston’s Lobster with Superior Stock instead.

This made me sad for I truly madly deeply love sautéed Alaska King Crab with egg white. The sautéed lobster was decent but no match for the potentially awesome Alaska King Crab.

Steamed Spotted Grouper with Superior Sauce

The meal regained momentum quickly with a steamed fish dish that is often seen at wedding dinners. Ubiquitous or not, I can’t complain about deliciously fresh steamed fish with bouncy flesh swathed in flavourful light soya sauce.

Stir Fried Broccoli with Garlic

Lusciously green and still crunchy, even this seemingly humble stir-fried broccoli dish was extremely well-done.

Braised “Mee Po” with Truffle Oil and Assorted Mushrooms

Initially I thought we were going to have braised Ee Fu Noodles (ugh) but as our server dished out the noodles, the lingering aroma of truffle gave me reason to be optimistic. True enough, we were given each a bowl of atas mee pok that we lapped up enthusiastically despite sharing woes of how full we were minutes ago.

Almond Cream Soup

Smooth and creamy in a warm-muh-belly kind of way, the almond cream soup was such a delight. It is funny because almond essence was something I hated pre-pregnancy but grew to enjoy over the last few months.

Combination of Chinese Pastries

I thought the steamed "ma la gao" and pan-fried red bean pancake were passable but kw absolutely loved the pan-fried red bean pancake. I then found out it was the first time he has ever had it - how is that possible!?

Don’t worry hun, stick with me and we will have copious amounts of pan-fried red bean pancake for the rest of our lives.

The birthday cake was a Durian Mousse Cake from Goodwood Park Hotel made up of airy light sponge cake and indulgent D24 durian pulp layers. According to BabyCenter, at 24 weeks, "the baby's taste buds are now forming, and believe it or not, acquiring a sweet tooth is all part of it." I guess there's no better time to introduce baby S to durian. HAHA!

She is living proof you should take birthday wishes seriously.

I don’t think anyone ever gets tired of celebrating birthdays – not even when you are 90.