When I'm sick...

I should be resting at home. But instead, I went and pig out because I'm easily tempted by food. I was lured into this chamber in Imbi Palace, with promises of good wines, good company and of course the good food.

The excuse of being sick didn't work and so I thought, if I have to die tomorrow, I could have at least had a good meal the night before. Accompanying me is my two girlfriends, sister and one of my wine drinking member.

Hue Gee, Yiling (my sista) and Liwei

Don't you just lurve the champagne glass?

We started off with the champagnes. First, we had a bottle of 1999 Dom Perignon which Hue Gee had the pleasure of popping it. I don't know whether we were drinking too fast or the DP is too small, because we did pop another bottle which I was given the honour to choose. I chose a bottle of Krug Brut Grandee Cuvee. This time Liwei did the popping and guess what?!! The cork went flying across the table. Haha! Lucky she broke nothing.

Can you imagine I had 4 appetisers?!!

Then came the appetisers. As usual la, this friend of mine will order at least 3-4 appetisers (minimum) before we can adjourn to the mains. That very much explained the expanding waistline of mine. Since I've been on a diet for 2 weeks now, everything looked so good! I can even have my favourite runny yolk centre century eggs! The chicken and abalone bits soup was so good! The "char siew" is commendable but I find it still not as good as the one at Overseas Restaurant.

The ooh la la main dishes

Just as when you thought the appetiser is filling enough, we started with 1/2 a roast suckling pig. Is it to celebrate me falling ill?!! Hmm.. I put my sore throat aside and savour every roasted crispy slice. Then the cheese baked tiger prawn was served! OMG, cheese in the middle of a filling dinner? I still went ahead and ate it. The relief came when I saw the green leaves and we always have greens to end the meal. And so I thought...

The beef came in....

But I must say that the beef is tender, and cooking it with soya sauce brings out the flavour. It's such a nice dish to accompany the drinks that we were having. Actually, the main highlight of this dinner is the wines. And these wines really surprised me.

The Hermitage and Opus One

2005 Domaine JL Chave Hermitage Rouge

This wine has an inky ruby with huge aromas of red and dark berries, cherries, flowers and spices. The palate is remarkably deep with hints of red berries and spices but leaves a sweet trail. Chave says that if you insist on drinking this young, it's now because it will close up in about two or three years and not be open again for a long time.

The test begins. We were asked to rate this wine. Everyone has a guess and see who's got the closest point to Wine Spectator, Robert Parker & Tanzer's ratings. I gave this bottle a 98pointer and it appeared that WS - 98, RP - 94 and Tanzer - 97. Bravo!

2005 Domaine JL Chave Hermitage Blanc

This white has a very nice pale gold hue. The nose is fabulously complex with honeyed pear, apricot and fruity bouquet. On the palate, it's dense, you could taste the peach, and a whiplash of smoky minerals. It's still a very young wine and I felt that this wine hasn't really open up.

The rating that I gave this time was a 96-97pointer. WS - 98, RP - 96 and Tanzer - 97. Right on the dot!

Then, I have a choice between two American wines and I opted for Opus One 1999 from Napa Valley. They claimed that this is the Greatest Wine of California which is a gathering of two wine families: Rothschild and Mondavi. This wine has a dark purple red. On the nose, I could recognise the bordeaux style, with blackcurrants but subtle. It's a modest wine. There's a slight hint of olives but I wouldn't regard this as the greatest wine from California. It's good but I don't think the price is justified.

Fried crispy frog legs!

We had an extra order of fried crispy frog legs to go with the wines. It's better than KFC I tell you! It's so good when it's crispy and piping hot! I have forgotten about my sore throat. Then, I spotted a big claypot in the room! OMG, please don't give me any more food!

I'm scared of the food!

The porridge! I was sick and so my friend asked Imbi Palace to prepare a nice porridge for me. But I never expect the porridge to be laden with crabs, scallops, oysters, abalone and the other condiments! This is just over the top! I'm so spoilt...

And the ultimate end to the night was this wonderful and satisfying bowl of birds nest. My favourite dessert. Ahh... isn't it nice to be sicked and pampered? Lucky sis was driving because I was drunk and I don't even remember eating the birds nest the next day! haha...

And you know what happened the next day, my sore throat was worse than ever! I had to see the doctor for the 2nd time. It really doesn't help if I'm on diet and still writing all these gluttony past posts.