Easy Plates of Madai and Saba

We finally found a date to catch the friends for an overdue chat! We don't see them often enough, and when we have the time to sit down together, it's extra precious. Stopped by the casual Sushi Ichinoji (it occupies the uni that the old Sushi Matsuo vacated) at Goldhill Plaza for an early dinner. 

We didn't bother with the current promotion of an unlimited omakase set dinner at S$118++. We can't eat that much anyway, so the a la carte menu is fine for us. Had a small glass of beer to begin. Went easy on the sake. Too much of sake always gives us a headache.

The menu is classic, and some might say boring. But it doesn't trot out annoying things like foie gras and truffle oil. So nobody feels ripped off. I simply chose the things that I wanted. We took the sashimi and sushi sets and shared it. Nigiri sushi please. Nothing fancy needed. Added on some oysters and tempura, as well as sea bream sashimi and saba. NOMS. 

A Delicious Bowl of ABC Soup!

We were thoroughly pampered by the friends with a homecooked meal. They had just returned from their annual long ski vacation. They also wanted Asian food, and wanted to eat at home instead of us all going out for a meal. My flat can’t contain this number of humans. So we were invited over to their home to partake in this dinner. Awwwww. 

Sometimes we decline invitations to dine at people's homes because we're honestly not that close, and I don't want to put people out. And I don't exactly want to tell them that I'm intolerant to 1001 things/foods. Often I might choose to suffer the effects of the allergy flares (even with antihistamines) back at home. When these are good friends, I suck it up and never tell them what my food allergies are. I wouldn’t want to do it with acquaintances.

If the friends are simply interested in cooking and do this all the time, with either a hired chef, or helpers to clean up, then I'm less iffy about it. Plus I feel a lot more comfortable dining at friends' homes when we have a solid friendship and regular interactions going on throughout the year. 

There were so many delicious things on the table! There were roast pork with an awesome crackle top, easy stir-fried nai bai, steamed salmon, basil minced pork, prawn omelette and ABC soup! We contributed the home-baked/oven-grilled siu yuk and prawn omelette. I couldn’t very well go empty-handed. We feasted. I ate so much vegetables. The soup was so good that I had two servings. Wheeeeeee.

It was too cute because we all agreed to go easy on the alcohol. Only one bottle of champagne was had. Whewww! Our darling hosts wanted to open up a bottle of red. We hastily assured them that it was really not necessary. We were really happy with fruits and water after the champagne.  

A Lot Less Alcohol This Year

This year, I shall watch how much alcohol I drink. It's in relation to the muscles I wish to build, and how I feel while working out and such. I do have IBS and I have no wish for alcohol to induce flares. As we age, we lose muscle mass and water, so we feel the effects of alcohol a lot more. I'd rather build my muscles and not have that as a reason to continue drinking.

Anyway, I don't like drinking till I vomit. That's a horrible feeling. The headaches are really bad. I limit intake to a max of three glasses now, and not at dinner every night. I'm just glad I'm not actually a raving alcoholic. I don't feel uneasy or have physical symptoms of withdrawal from having less alcohol. It's A WHOLE LESS than what I'm used to having. No regrets at all. This is a form of addiction after all if I don't watch it.

I have nothing against alcohol and I like my favorite drinks. No cocktails, no odd mixes. I like my highballs and whisky. Of course I can do wine and champagne. I go a lot easier on beer and Guinness because they trigger my IBS quite badly. 

It's quite funny when many conversations among friends circle around after-alcohol pills and hydration jelly packs. We have all stocked up on it. It's to the point where many of our alcohol tolerance have decreased so much till we need these external aids to relieve hangover queasiness.  

I'm not going to say that I'm quitting alcohol. I won't be doing that, tbh. A glass or two is fine, as long as it's not a daily affair. I'm past that now. However, it's imperative that I down the volume of alcohol imbibed. This isn't a new year resolution. Nobody cares about that. I don't want my body and organs to be dehydrated either.