Daddy's Grandma Birthday @ Ipoh

We made a trip down to Ipoh last Saturday to celebrate daddy's grandma birthday. Daddy's elder sister and family joined in as well. We drove in 2 separate cars and met up at the Sungai Buloh rest area for breakfast. The idea was to get to Ipoh early and take the kids to the Tambun Water Park. By the time we actually reached Ipoh, it was almost 1pm. So, we canceled the water park idea. Luckily we did, for it rained the whole evening. We lingered at grandma's house until 3pm, then we checked-in at a hotel that I have already booked a month earlier. By the time we took our baths and rest for awhile it was already 5 something in the evening. We decided to go to Jusco Ipoh for a short walk before the dinner starts at 7.30pm.

Jusco was very crowded. It was like Mid Valley during the weekends. Packed with people here and there. We got Baskin Robbins ice-creams, took a seat and watched the crowd while we ate. Just to fill up the allocated time before the dinner. Next, we bought some Famous Amos cookies and left. I think we were at Jusco not even more than 45 minutes. I couldn't stand the crowd. It was so stuffy in there. We went back to grandma's house to find that the whole family has already made a move to the restaurant. No hassle, as Ipoh is a very small town. We can travel to and from a place many times a day and don't feel that it is far.

The family is a regular to the Ipoh Tai Thong restaurant. We had all the big dinners there, including CNY and grandma's birthday. They are such a regular there till the chief of chef comes out to greet them everytime. The highlights of our dinner this time were the fish and roasted piglet. According to daddy, every year, for grandma's birthday they will have lavish dinner. There was a year when they had lobster and "chat sing pan" (7 star sea fish) during grandma's birthday but this is the first time I attended her birthday since I got together with daddy. So, daddy said, this year's menu is just so-so compared to the previous ones. I think it was pretty ok already as I guessed each table must have worth a thousand plus. However, I think the shark fin soup was a waste. It was really tasteless compared to the one we had during CNY at the same restaurant. And the way they made it, it was not soup based actually. More like a very few spoons of gravy or paste served in a plate instead of in a bowl. They served another different kind of soup in a bowl instead and it comes together with the shark fin plate. So, I didn't had so much satisfaction in savoring the shark fin dish compared to one of the best that we had during CNY.

The roasted piglet and the steamed fish (Hoi tai kai=English translated is 'undersea chicken'. What a weird name for a fish!) were damn delicious! I just can't get enough of those. The dessert was quite a unique one. Hot sweet soup with red dates, lily bulbs, white fungus served in a coconut. It's nice and fragrant but it's a lil' too sweet for me. At least it was something different from the usual red bean sweet soup or iced longan served.

Steamed fish.

Prawn.

The vege dish - broccoli, mushroom and I don't know what's that.

Dessert. We were so busy eating that we forgot to take the pictures of other dishes.

Lunz playing cheerfully during the dinner. I'm proud of my boy who is willing to share his toys with anyone who plays with him unlike his cousins or other children about his age who will not share their toys.

Alrite...enough of the food. Back to the people. I think daddy's side of uncles and their wives are pretty open and friendly. They did karaoke and dancing that night. The youngest uncle even sang love songs to his wife in front of us. They were totally not embarrassed at all. They even hugged and kissed. Oh my! How romantic and lovely after so many years of marriage. Lai Sum (youngest uncle's wife) jokingly told daddy to learn from his uncle on how to be romantic. Hahaha....of course I know daddy will not ge la...he is not the romantic type.

Both Dominic (daddy's nephew) and Lunz played around like mad and I think the happiest person is grandma. She is a very kind and loving old lady. She loves everybody equally regardless of their status. This is a point that I respect in her. She treated Lunz equally as Dominic, both also their great-grandchild status. It is hard to find an old lady like her who is not stubborn and accept who we are.

She came towards both daddy and I during the dinner and talked to us. Asked us why didn't we joined the karaoke session. I told her we can't really sing. Then she said she love us all and asked both daddy and I to love and support each other. To live in harmony and respect. She looked at me and told me how she raised daddy from young and told me not to bully him. Must love him. Then she held our hands together, kept on asking us to love each other. The more she said, the nearer I am to crying. Firstly, I knew how much effort and love it takes to raise a child, secondly, I saw how much she loves daddy that she wanted him to be happy and thirdly, her love reminds me of my beloved grandma who passed away last year.

Scalding tears were flooding my eyes and spilling down my cheeks uncontrollably. I saw that tears were running down her cheek at the same time as well as she spoke to me. Geezzz.....she must have all the expectations and love in the world that she hope for us to be well. Daddy was also trying very hard not to cry as I can see from his facial expression. It was totally embarrassing as I realized the family members could be watching and I was crying. Haha....because the youngest uncle eventually came over and asked grandma to stop 'disturbing' us.

Later, daddy asked me whether grandma was being selfish because she kept on asking me to love daddy and not to bully him. I said I understand because I love daddy as much also. Therefore, I understand how deep her love is for daddy that she just wanted him to be happy and well taken care of. How can I think she is selfish because practically I wanted the same thing for him too? Of course, grandma also got told daddy to listen to my words la. Hahahaha....

Both Lunz and Dominic busy with Iphones at grandma's house.