Cantonese Boy ... bang your tin drum!

Ok ... I wish I was a better person, and I certainly wish I was a better friend. I have a partner who compensates for all the qualities that I lack ... and I sometimes wonder how I could possibly function if I ever lost my supporting arm ... I stood outside this morning in weak winter sunshine contemplating mortality and my own existence and I'm coming to the conclusion that I am nothing if not the essence that is reflected in my friends' collective eyes. I'm not sure if this is a safe place to be, but I muddle on carving an insignificant path watching others rise and fall ... watching them, in fact, live their lives ... while I simply exist.

So I cling to these moments of incidental friendship when over a fine glass of wine or a slap bang meal, we can connect and garner memories that sustain me through periods of heart wrenching emptiness when a morass of negativity decends like an asthmatic cloud ... and in many ways ... this blog is my ventolin inhaler ... providing temporary relief by raising my heartbeat ... and making me feel alive and counted.

By default.

So let me pretend to live a life less ordinary when I recount how we helped our friends transport an Ebay purchase and then sat down to an outstanding chinese meal and ended the night in quiet conversation.

With our trusty trailer in tow we shlepped out to Moorabbin to pick up a dining set - ugly table (not shown in photo below), workable chairs.

When we got back to J & CC's, D arrived for dinner. Although it was a non-alcohol day for him so he stuck to water and an orange for sustenance before our dinner in Box Hill at Canton Lake.

D was in the mood for lobster which arrived at our table perfectly cooked served with noodles - all 2 pounds worth. This was divided into individual portions by the helpful staff and devoured with enthusiasm and great relish:

D also felt like eggplant so we ordered Claypot eggplant that was sweet plummy and spicy. This was a real treat - the best eggplant claypot I have ever tasted.

We had a mixed roast plate of Char Siu and Roast Pork which was more than passable:

D's dish du'jour, the cripsy fried chicken was also the best I have ever tasted. Perfectly crisp on the outside and moist on the inside with a delicate flavour that melded well with the standard salt and white pepper accompaniment. This on its own is worth a recommendation and the trip across town ... if you are indeed across town.

Our green component was Chinese Broccoli in garlic sauce. Nicely al dente with a clear taste that we needed to cut all the richness in the other dishes served.

They serve coplimentary fruit (the mandatory mandarin and some honeydew melon) with slivers of bean jelly and also bowls of red bean soup. But as usual, some of us opted for banana fritters (they were out of pineapple) which arrive a-table with pretty patterns - a different one for each plate. Not something you normally find at your local chinese.

This wasn't one of those raucous nights where drink flowed and tongues wagged in reckless abandon. We were contemplative to say the least, but perhaps its because it felt like every other sunday and not the middle of a long weekend. It was the perfect encapsulation of twilight - polite and evasive.