The Man's Dad's 70-something Birthday at Hai Tien Lo

Celebrated the man’s dad’s birthday at Hai Tien Lo. We don't actually know how old the Dad is since we're not privy to his NRIC numbers and private matters. LOL We placed him to be somewhere around 75. We picked it because the parentals would be more comfortable in this setting, and the restaurant does their social distancing between tables well. The food would also suit the parents' conservative tastebuds. I wouldn't say 'traditional' because they don't fancy a lot of traditional flavors. 

A standard Peking duck would be great, with the meat to be stir-fried into noodles. I kinda miss duck. The carcass was packed for the parentals' to take home to cook itek tim on another night. Oof! Ordered double-boiled soups for the parentals — a mini Buddha Jump Over the Wall (no shark's fin, yay), a clear light chicken soup with prawns, abalone, scallops and Chinese mushrooms served in young coconut. For the man and I, we went for something less adventurous. Hahaha. I wanted soup since I haven't bothered to boil those for a while, and I'm picky about Cantonese soups. Decided on a simple soup of old cucumber and pork ribs. That was immensely satisfying. They had to have bowls of steamed white rice. I skipped that, because, noodles. The rice went nicely with stir-fried grouper slices with asparagus, and broccoli with crab meat.

I caved and ate dessert—a herbal jelly. (龜苓膏, I'm happy that it's no longer made from the powder of turtle shells.) Slightly bitter and lovely because it has been chilled with a splash of honey. Heh. The restaurant served a complimentary slice of birthday cake. I was asking about it and offering to pay for a slice or a whole small 4-inch cake. But they said it would be on the house. Okaaaay. That was a nice gesture. 

Food was still good and dependable. We were relieved that our server missed out on the man's greedy order Cantonese-style stewed beef brisket and tendons. Hahahahah. We wouldn't have been able to finish it. I was stuffed. The parentals said that they had enough too. We ordered only these few items, and ensured that all dishes were non-spicy, all of which suited the parentals’ current tastebuds and dietary preferences. That was all that mattered since it was their night after all.