Party…

The nurses in the ward where my missus was attached to before she retired were having their annual party here on Thursday night and some fellow-retirees asked her to join, open to families as well but of course, it was not free – RM40.00 per head. My girl was keen and she insisted that I joined too so there we were, the three of us at the party.

We went earlier lest we could not find a place to park the car and had to walk a long way to the venue but I sure did not have a problem – lots of vacant spaces all around but obviously, most did not feel the need to do the same and a lot of them showed up rather late.

In the meantime, somebody brought this pulut kuning (yellow glutinous rice)…

…to share and this cheese cake with chocolate, fresh strawberries and kiwi fruit on top…

…so we were not all that hungry and did not mind the wait.

When most everybody had arrived, the food was served and we had this…

…something like what we call “the dome” at Malay banquets where all the food would be served at one go.

I was thinking to myself that if that was all we were going to get, I would have to go across the road to the burger stall opposite for something more filling. Fortunately, that was supposed to be The Four Seasons, the first dish at Chinese banquets, except that there were five and it was served in a compartmentalised plate, not a flat one.

Rice was served by the side and we had a very nice soup around that same time, something like sharks’ fins minus the offensive stuff and no, I did not spot any sea cucumber nor fish lips in  it either.

This sweet and sour fish…

…came next and yes, I loved it – it was very nicely done, I must say but the steamed chicken…

…was just steamed chicken, no ginseng or any of those so I thought it could have been better.

The mixed vegetable dish…

…followed and these lovely creamy prawns…

…came last before the pudding and watermelon…

…were served for dessert.

I had not had a sit-down dinner here for a long while – usually, we had their buffet so I asked the waitress, my ex-Kanowit student, who has been working here for as long as I can remember. Working here must be very good as I’ve noticed that the staff members here stick around till like…forever! I was quite surprised when she told me that the cost per table that night was RM371.00 only. I told her that at most hotels and restaurants, for around RM800-1K, more often than not, the food is quite disappointing or at best, quite ordinary…and she told me to just wait and see.

Needless to say, I was VERY impressed – that was so very good for less than RM400 and of course, if you would like to handpick the dishes that you like, you may need to fork out a bit more. I wouldn’t want to miss their daging masak hitam, for instance, that many feel is the best in town.

Everyone sure had a lot of fun that night, partying away with all the singing and dancing – those ladies sure deserved the break from their daily routine at the hospital. Personally, I feel that when you’re working with sick and depressed people all the time, it can’t possibly be something one would enjoy.

LI HUA HOTEL RESTAURANT (2.284477, 111.8316940) is located on the 1st floor of the hotel at the T-junction of Lorong Lanang 2 and Jalan Maju.