Xin Nian Kuai Le (Happy Chinese New year) everyone! May it be a happy, healthy and prosperous year for you!
Now that K is home, I am spending CNY alone here. In times like this, you thank God for friends. K asked his friends to "take care of me" by asking me to join in whatever CNY gatherings there are, so I was kept quite busy over the weekend!
Saturday I had a CNY lunch with K's group of friends who made a reservation at a certain Old Mr Lee from Shanghai's restaurant. And it was not a normal restaurant. When we walked up the stairs, we emerged into a huge living room, with a massive table in the centre. It was part of Old Mr Lee's home and it appears he cooks only for one big group at any one time, giving his undivided attention. He has a head chef who came out with dishes - non stop. We ate and ate until we could eat no more. In a span of 3.5h. We were there till about 4pm and I was almost ready to roll home. And continue rolling to Lisa's place for her CNY potluck party afterwards.
Lisa is my colleague at work and we befriended each other at the common pantry. We said Hi one day and started chatting. She knew that I was not going home for CNY and kindly invited me over to join her and her group of friends on Saturday night. I went with a box of home made cookies and met some of her friends. Lisa is a Kiwi Chinese (the first I've met), and met a few more at her place, and many people of other nationalities which gave it a very international feel - Italians, Swiss, Spanish, Malaysian, Kiwis, Indian, Singaporean (=me!). I realised it has been a long time since I went to a gathering where I knew nobody and in times like this you gotta make an extra effort to smile and talk to people. Lisa was a good host and made me feel very welcomed which I appreciated a lot. Again, loads of food but I couldn't eat no more.
Sunday noon I had another potluck lunch to go to, at Ken and Yiling's. I never got to know them well because they are more of K's friends, but I've always known that Yiling cooks very well. Again, I armed myself with another box of you-know-what-now and turned up. hehe
Indeed, not one to let us down, we arrived and saw that Yiling had prepared a feast for everyone. She cooked two whole chicken, had a big pot of really yummy chicken soup, a huge plate of braised pork, a tray of roasted butternut squash, and some others brought a few other dishes. I didn't take any photos this weekend, but I do have one shot from Yiling:
Again I left with an empty cookie container :) Ok I think enough baking for now.
Tomorrow night my work team has kindly arranged a CNY dinner to celebrate with me, and we are going to Burger and Lobster! So excited.. this is a super popular restaurant here, where you pay GBP20 flat for either a whole grilled lobster, a lobster wrap, or a beef burger. I mean, seriously, who pays GBP20 for a burger? Obviously I am going to order the big lobster and get my hands dirty eating it. Can't wait.
http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/burger-lobster-soho
Now that K is home, I am spending CNY alone here. In times like this, you thank God for friends. K asked his friends to "take care of me" by asking me to join in whatever CNY gatherings there are, so I was kept quite busy over the weekend!
Saturday I had a CNY lunch with K's group of friends who made a reservation at a certain Old Mr Lee from Shanghai's restaurant. And it was not a normal restaurant. When we walked up the stairs, we emerged into a huge living room, with a massive table in the centre. It was part of Old Mr Lee's home and it appears he cooks only for one big group at any one time, giving his undivided attention. He has a head chef who came out with dishes - non stop. We ate and ate until we could eat no more. In a span of 3.5h. We were there till about 4pm and I was almost ready to roll home. And continue rolling to Lisa's place for her CNY potluck party afterwards.
Lisa is my colleague at work and we befriended each other at the common pantry. We said Hi one day and started chatting. She knew that I was not going home for CNY and kindly invited me over to join her and her group of friends on Saturday night. I went with a box of home made cookies and met some of her friends. Lisa is a Kiwi Chinese (the first I've met), and met a few more at her place, and many people of other nationalities which gave it a very international feel - Italians, Swiss, Spanish, Malaysian, Kiwis, Indian, Singaporean (=me!). I realised it has been a long time since I went to a gathering where I knew nobody and in times like this you gotta make an extra effort to smile and talk to people. Lisa was a good host and made me feel very welcomed which I appreciated a lot. Again, loads of food but I couldn't eat no more.
Sunday noon I had another potluck lunch to go to, at Ken and Yiling's. I never got to know them well because they are more of K's friends, but I've always known that Yiling cooks very well. Again, I armed myself with another box of you-know-what-now and turned up. hehe
Indeed, not one to let us down, we arrived and saw that Yiling had prepared a feast for everyone. She cooked two whole chicken, had a big pot of really yummy chicken soup, a huge plate of braised pork, a tray of roasted butternut squash, and some others brought a few other dishes. I didn't take any photos this weekend, but I do have one shot from Yiling:
 |
| Me with Cecilia with Ken and Yiling's baby Edward who is a very cute baby |
Tomorrow night my work team has kindly arranged a CNY dinner to celebrate with me, and we are going to Burger and Lobster! So excited.. this is a super popular restaurant here, where you pay GBP20 flat for either a whole grilled lobster, a lobster wrap, or a beef burger. I mean, seriously, who pays GBP20 for a burger? Obviously I am going to order the big lobster and get my hands dirty eating it. Can't wait.
http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/burger-lobster-soho
Comments