You must be very very old (like me) if you know this song…but it’s just crossed my mind that when one is old, there is not much use getting presents – things that one will never get to use…or even ang paos as there will come a time when one does not need to spend anything at all – those immediate members living together with him or her would see through all of one’s needs. Perhaps we can still give it as a token or to upkeep the Chinese tradition and belief that it brings good luck but I guess that is all one needs when one grows all – good luck and good health wishes and prayers for God’s abundant blessings.
My mother-in-law celebrated her 79th birthday on Sunday…
…and we went out for dinner together – just five of us only, unfortunately – Β my missus and I and my brother-in-law and his wife, together with my mother-in-law. All the other children and grandchildren do not live in Sibu.
We had the mee sua, our traditional longevity noodles, fried and served with the lightly-fried golden eggs…
…and the Four Seasons…
I love that egg thingy in the dish – very nice and best with black vinegar added. At one time, it was the craze, this dry version of the shark’s fins dish and everyone was going for it instead of the soup version. Later, there were also people who used tung hoon (glass noodles) instead of genuine shark’s fins and of course, that would be much cheaper than the real thing but eventually the novelty wore off and it ceased to be as popular as when it first came into the scene.
I don’t know what this was in that same dish…
Maybe it was quail legs…but perhaps it was frog’s. I tried one and it tasted good – like chicken breast meat but that was it. I wouldn’t want another for the images of miserable legless frogs on wooden crutches kept playing in my mind. LOL!!!
Everything else in that dish was nice including the yam puffs…
…and other than those, we also had these prawn balls…
I think they had honey and lemon in the sauce and it tasted good.
We also had the regular – the midin (wild fern) fried with belacan…
…and the fish maw soup…
…and that was all we had for the dinner – we did not want to order too much as the ladies hardly ate much and that left only me and my brother-in-law to do most of the eating…and besides, we had the birthday cake as well for our little celebration to wish my mother-in-law good luck and good health and may God bless her always.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
“Good luck, good health, God bless you⦔ hahahaha!! true enough, i have not heard about this song before!! wow, 79th birthday, that’s really something worth celebrating!! no wonder those dishes are so yummy!! i especially love that “four seasons” because i can taste a bit of everything, best for the greedy people like me, hahahaha~~
That’s why my missus ordered that. She said can enjoy a bit of so many different things at one go… π
Very very nice Chinese banquet style dinner! I love eating stuff like this and family is always important.
Happy 79th birthday to your mother in law and God bless! π
Thanks, Huai Bin. We can go for something like this…if we have enough to make a table (10) or half (5). π
Morning STP! Happy birthday to you’d mother in law! May she be blessed with health and long life.
The prawn balls does look good. I wouldn’t mind popping some of those in my mouth π
Thank you, Isaac. Well, too bad I can’t ask you to hop over to Sibu now…or we can go for this anytime and more.Hope you and Janice are getting on well. π
Happy Birthday to your mother in law!
Which restaurant is this? Ming mei shi? Love the four season and all the foods , look great and delicious. Ya, I like the egg thing too, I remember last time they use to cook the egg with shark fin and add black vinegar , yum. I always prefer the dry version instead of the soup .
Is that the frog leg? It looks like pigeon to me. If frog leg……eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Thank you. Yes, it was Ming Mei Shi all right. Oh? You liked it too? That dry version of the sharks’ fins dish was indeed very popular at one time and more suitable for buffet dinners. I don’t know whether those were frog’s legs – we never bothered to ask. LOL!!! π
For five people, those were considered a lot already! I can imagine the two men “sapu-ing” most of the food… hahaha…. yes, love the first dish.. the yam, the “fried frog legs”.. (I think its them!) …normally I love the first dish in every dinner.. lots of varieties!
By the way.. Happy Birthday wishes to your MIL… may she continues to be filled with joy and good health!!
Thanks, Claire. You thing that was frog? Eyewwwww!!! And you love them? Double eyewwwwww!!!!! LOL!!! π
Best wishes to your mother-in-law for her 79th birthday π Those legs are too crispily black, I can’t work they are! I remember there was a similar kind of cake in a post of yours and I liked the icing flowers then, and so I like these flowers too – old fashioned and nice π
Thanks. Yes, the same guy, Marcus! We love his cakes. Any birthday, we would surely order from him. Have to order in advance, very popular – heavy demand…so last minute orders, he may not entertain.
Meant to say “I can’t work out what they are”. I am having trouble trying to write comments in your blog. It freezes every so often. I have to leave the blog, then return to re-write.
Yakah? Using your iPad or smartphone? So far, no complaints from any of the others leh?
Me using phone. Also the comment will “run””. Halfway typing the wording goes elsewhere. To delete the wording kept re-appear . Ada phone hantu
Never mind. I will edit for you… π
this is the first time I saw frog legs in the 4 season dish..
nice… and the fish maw soup looks good
You say they’re frog’s legs too? Eyewwwwww!!!! I ate one!!!! π¦
Oh…the food looks delicious…especially the yam puffs.
The food at this place is always good… You’ve never been there? π
Happy Birthday to your mother in law! The 4 season dish looks good. This is often the first dish served in wedding dinner. When I was young, I will gobbled a lot from this first dish, and by the 3rd dish, I’m already full. Those were the days. Awww, that fried midin is tempting me to fly to Sarawak right now!
Thank you, Andrew. Same here…especially after waiting so long for the dinner to be served, so hungry… Come, come on over anytime. Most welcome…
I like Fish Maw Soup!!! Its call ‘Heh Ling Tong’ rite? ^^
U r right…as the person gets older..reunion or get together with all family members is more important than other things.
I don’t know what it’s called in Cantonese. In Hokkien, we call it “hu phio”…(fish swim bladder)
I thought in Fu Chow they named this dish as ‘Heh Ling Tong’…bukan ke? ^^
There, our true blue Foochow, Annie, has answered for you… Hehehehehe!!!!
thammelissa, “heh ling tong” should be “hey leng tong” means sea cucumber soup. Fish maw should be ” nyu piew tong” . π π
Ya…it did occur to me that it was sea cucumber but I think that’s hai-reng in Foochow and hai-song in Hokkien. The recipe for these soups is the same – only the main ingredient is different depending on whether you want sea cucumber, fish maw or sharks’ fins…and in Kuching, they also have fish lips! Yum!!! I like!!!!
Annie Q – Ohh..yahor….alamak…sorry for the wrong interpretation *paiseh…
I guess your hubby’s a Foochow then? Annie’s a Foochow too…and so am I – just that I can;t speak the dialect. Blush! Blush! π¦
Happy Birthday to your MIL.
The food looks great. I miss the midin. yumm
Thanks. Well, can’t send or bring over so you will have to come again. When? When? π
Wow! What a feast! I’d go for angpow anytime, old or not. π
Me too… Money, money, money… LOL!!! π
Happy Birthday to your MIL…
Yea..the yam puff is good.
Thanks. Ya…they’re pretty good and so was everything else – except the legs. I only tried one and that was it… LOL!!! π
Happy Birthday to your Mother in Law!! II’m super hungry right now and after looking at the pics, especially the prawn balls and yam puffs, I feel like wanna throw the oatmeal right in front of me! I want yam puffs T.T!!
Thank you. Oatmeal? That’s good for health – lowers cholesterol and helps digestion – good for your bowel movement. You’re on a diet kah? Kesian… LOL!!! π
ooooo….that traditional butter cake looks so gooood la…!!! I am drooling on that picture now.
The best in town and has been all this while for so many years now…and will always be the best. None can rival! π
happy belated birthday to your mother-in-law!
we love chinese dinner because that means we get to meet other relatives, eat and catch up together π
Thanks. Ya…and more fun, if more people…lots to chat and laugh about.
oh my gosh those look iNCREDIBLE! i need one in my life right about now! haha
What? What? The food? π
aiyo! you ate those sexy legs! every photo in this post looks very appetizing except for the legs. ay…the other night i was watching Anthony Bourdain’s and he was having frogs in Singapore. I saw how the cook assassinate the frogs. Aiyo. Give me nightmare.
Hahahaha!!! You’re like me then. So put off by the looks and the killing…. They don’t taste any different from chicken breast meat actually, nothing sensational but people believe that eating them is good for some reason – make your legs strong or something.
Happy birthday to your in law. I learn a lot about names of food both Hookien and English with your postings. Thank you for always sharing.
Thanks. My readers/commentors are predominantly Chinese and Hokkien is the only Chinese dialect that I know very well – so we may use it sometimes…and at times, we may also use, Malay – our national language. Do keep dropping by, glad to have you around.
i dunno that song… =p and happy belated birthday to your mother-in-law! =D
i want to eat the midin or smtg. lol
You’re waaaaaayyyy too young! LOL!!! No plans to hop over to Sibu or Kuching. You can get to eat midin here. π Thanks for the birthday greeting.
Happy Belated Birthday to your mother-in-law. Wish her good luck, good health and all the best. All those lovely dishes, simply delicious. I love them all.
Thank you. Yes, it was a delightful dinner. Just the 5 of us, small party.