A Family Affair

This past weekend, some of Rufina's relatives were in town so we all got together for a big dinner. We had 22 people spread out among two tables, which kinda followed the classic "adult table and kiddie table" format. This was the adult table with Rufina's grandmother seated in the middle.

This is another shot of the "adult table" despite having one of the younger kids at the table. While trying to figure out how everyone was related, they even busted out a pad and pen to diagram it.

We had some of the celebratory type dishes. I likened this one to the taco salad in the tortilla bowl. It had shrimp, squid, celery, cashews and shallots all in a bowl that you could eat. I think the bowl was made out of fried taro or something like that (I just picked out the cashew, shrimp and celery and passed on the squid).

Back when I was here for Chinese New Year, I passed on the abalone and shark fin soup, which everyone thought was a bit odd since those are considered delicacies. This time, I decided not to make the same faux pas. I tasted the shark fin soup (seen below), but after a few spoonfuls, I decided that rubbery bit in goo wasn't exactly my thing. At least I tried it. (Note: the abalone tasted like a chewy mushroom to me.)

Look out! It's ladies night... Tiffany (cousin), Rufina's mom, Flora (cousin), Rufina and Tracy (sister). Tiffany and Flora live in Singapore, but Flora is staying in Hong Kong for the summer to work.

After a big meal like that, you need something to wash it down, right?

One of my favorite photos... Rufina's little cousin chugging a cream soda. Look at that focus.