Fawkes & Mee Siam

We were summoned for a mee siam party at Aunty J's. Of course we happily turned up. I brought along a gift, but I forgot about the mandarin oranges. Oops. So I had to text the friends to sneak me two oranges before I stepped into the house. Hahaha. Some things don't change.

It was fun to go bully silly grouchy Fawkes again. She is a tad suspicious of strangers and very defensive; so we need to approach gently. With many dogs, never attempt to approach or touch unless the owners assent, or if the dog knows you well. Fawkes knows me, but she doesn't see me often, so I'm considered 'bad human' unless I have TREATS. And that friendliness lasts for as long as the treats go on. I generally don't attempt to pat her or rub her. I leave a 50cm gap between us when I approach because that seems to be her comfortable distance with me.

Tonight she growled at me. It was the usual warning low growl that I've heard numerous times. I sat in front of her and didn't move for three minutes. Then I took out two long pieces of venison liver treat and broke it into a few pieces (pawrents said she had no issues with said type of treats). She was totally bribed. She grimly suffered a quick 3-second head rub. Heh. She remembers me, but this four-year old dog isn't the pliable puppy anymore; she does snap too, which is a new and very bad habit that her pawrents are currently correcting.

It was sooooo good to see Aunty J and eat her food. Everything awesome about nyonya mee siam is in that gravy, and Aunty J's iteration has always been tops. Tonight was no different. It's really hard for me to eat nyonya or Malay mee siam outside at the hawker stalls. (No restaurant can replicate those flavors I prefer either.) Even the decent hawker stalls can't do it well. There were 16 people invited for the evening. We didn't need to sit together. I managed to run away from the main table to the front garden...... to plonk myself at the 'kids' table' where the alcohol was hidden at. Teeeheheh.

The one-dish meal was absolutely delightful... and dangerous. If you think you'd be hungry after, watch out. After the main meal, we were then plied with a ton of snacks (kueh bangkit, cookies, prawn crackers, the ubiquitous nyonya pineapple tarts), and fruit. Hahaha. Good gawwd. 100 calories per bite. Imagine our faces. We were all stuffed. I avoided the snacks and wisely stuck to my two servings of mee siam, and of course rather good sake and wine.