Dinner

On the day after lunching with our university college head, I dined with Vivian to celebrate my birthday.

Well, yes, it should be in September. Nonetheless, we were so busy after the Adler was born that we had to defer this yearly appointment again and again.

The tradition is I select a restaurant – usually not a very expensive one – that has a good reputation and Vivian and I have not tried. As you expect, I chose the place long ago. (In fact, I fixed up the selection by Easter this year.) My pick this year was a tiny one in Hung Hum that specialized in serving fried fish in Sichuan style. By mid September, I had already scanned through the menu and fixed up the dishes.

But, when I tried to double-check its address in the afternoon, it was shocking to learn that the place had closed down two weeks ago.

The poem Golden clothing (金縷衣) came through my mind again.

PS. As a surgeon, Vivian is more familiar with handling emergency. She found a seafood restaurant close to the hospital that she works – I must say I was slightly unhappy with the idea because of a personal bias against traditional Canton cuisine.

Nonetheless, I was happily wrong again. The place was superb, with conventional dishes masterly executed (and, surprisingly, not too much a trace of MSG), a gorgeous service, and an amazingly conservative price.

塞翁失馬,焉知非福.