Happy 2011 birthday Darling!

Time flies and it’s that part of the year again, drum roll….Darling’s Birthday!!
I Initally planned on giving a surprise to darling but she found out about it anyway…darling is too smart!
Darling sensed that the arrangement of the pillows on our bed has changed so she started to explore before she found the flowers!

Simple "Lego-style" Birthday greetings and fresh flowers

Opps, showed darling's age unknowingly

So flowers I gave to darling, what about the present? Haha, had it all preapred!!

What's a birthday without the present?

What did Dar Dar buy for Darling???

Au Revoir

So what did Dar Dar write inside that small small card, that resulted in Darling reading it with so much interest?? Well, you can only ask Xian to be sure.

Hmm...what sweet stuff did Dar Dar write??

Judging from the smile on Darling’s face, I think Darling likes the tiny surprise I had for her!! Yay!

Happy Happy girl

Next up is Darling’s Birthday treat =)
She had this strong desire to eat hairy crabs so she requested that as her birthday treat. Hmm…I initially had another place in mind which can offer great views and good ambience but since darling is the birthday girl, she gets the final say!
The dinner venue is the same as our AD dinner venue…which is…

Grand Shanghai

Taking a pic with what we are going to eat later..hahaha

We are always amazed by the setting of Grand Shanghai…the charm it exudes, the beauty it holds…

The interior of Grang Shanghai

Here comes the menu proper =)

The Menu

The hairy crab menu

We chose the set whereby we will have 2 hairy crabs each! Haha, it is our first time eating hairy crabs and since it is a seasonal delicacy, we must truly savour this creature by eating 2!

Our dish to share, the crispy eel

Our crispy eel does not taste like eel at all leh, but it does have a certain shiokness to it. Munching it while listening to oldies and sipping tea…quite a nice combi.

Black Fungus Salad

First up is the black fungus salad. The black fungus are big big pieces and really crunchy. The dressing is mild spicy yet slight sourish, really good appetizer.

Xiao Long Bao

The Xiao Long Bao is a nice size, full of savoury juices inside. The meat is tender and when taken together with the ginger and vinegar, is simply heavenly.
Next up is the nightmare of some support groups out there…but it’s a heavenly dish for me!!

Double boiled Shark's bone with Superior Shark's Fin

The soup is full of flavour, and the shark’s fin are really big pieces! Full of Shark’s fin in every mouth! This dish we must have in our dinner banquet menu! =p
Now the main highight of the night.. …The creature that is renowed over the world…all the way from China…these hairy things that are only available a few months a year…大闸蟹!

The cute little hairy yummy thing

If you are wondering how to start tasting these little hairy creatures, heehee, there is nothing to worry about coz the waitress will help us prepare the delicacy =)

The waitress is making bite sizes of the crab in the background. The sauce for dipping is in the foreground.

All ready to go into our tummy. Look at all those yummy roe!!

The roe is the main highlight of hairy crabs and the roe is really smooth and yummy. There is also this sticky stuff around the roe area and the waitress says they are all fats… (-.-”
They have these crab meat eating tool provided so it’s really easy to finish eating the whole crab with minimal meat left behind. There is not much meat in this tiny thing but the meat is quite firm and have a good texture. Lucky we ordered 2!!

Darling using the tool to extract leg meat

After the main dish, we are going to have some fibre to help in the digestion =D

Braised Abalone with Sea Cucumber and Spinach

The sea cucumber is nice and squashy, I like!! The spinach portion is big too.
Next up is something light, also made partly with the yummy hairy crab roe.

Steamed Dumplings with Crab Roe

The dumplings itself is quite nice but I really cannot taste any crab roe. I supposed they used it to make the skin of the dumplings since the colour is yellow too.
At this point we are quite full already so it’s about time we have dessert =)

Chilled 胖大海 with Lily Bulb

We have no idea what 胖大海 is but it does taste nice and chilled…haha. A refreshing dessert.
That ends Darling’s birthday dinner! Full and satisfied!
Hmm…are we missing something here? It’s a birthday right??
YES!! The birthday cake!! it’s at our Punggol Springs love nest =x

Darling's birthday cake during the combined birthday celebration with Darling's mummy

Darling's very own birthday cake from Awfully Chocolate

Make a wish darling, and may all your wishes come true!

Happy Birthday my darling! Hope you enjoyed your birthday and your gift. May all your wishes come true!!
I love you!