Our EVERYTHING Dinner for Two

Jack will be gone on a trip from February 23-March 6. So, we decided to celebrate our EVERYTHING dinner for two tonight. We are celebrating our 24th anniversary (Jan. 4), Valentine's Day, Lunar New Year, Jack's birthday (Feb. 21), and Jessie's birthday (Feb. 29). It's also been rainy and cold for days, so we decided we needed a splurge. So, Jack made us reservations for hot pot at our favorite restaurant on our little island.

Unlike the States, eating hotpot here is a timed event....all-you-can-eat in two hours. After being seated, you choose the kind of broth you'd like to eat. We chose 1/2 HOT and 1/2 mild.

Next, you choose the kind of meat you'd like. We chose beef, pork, and lamb.

Then, there is the WALL of veggies, seafood, noodles, etc.

We could not read many of the labels, but we were able to recognize most choices and just guessed at others like sliced lotus root, tomatoes, pumpkin, cabbage, green leaf lettuce, bok choy, string beans, broccoli, squash, corn, etc.

Then, there is the never-ending list of musrooms: abalone, enoki, beech, shiitake, etc.

And, piles of tofu: dried, frozen, "skin", fresh, and quail eggs.

Jack's favorite part, however, is concocting the dipping sauce from such ingredients as: Sesame Paste, Peanut Paste, Chili Oil, Sesame Oil, Soy Sauce, Fried Minced Garlic, Sliced Scallion, and Chopped Cilantro.

And to top it all off, there are 8 flavors of Haagen Daz ice cream and 8 flavors of Movenpick ice cream. Who can taste just one? The entire two hour experience was about $30 USD. I think Jack got off pretty cheap since we were celebrating five occasions in one meal. Tonight was our first time to make reservations, order, eat, and pay without a national's help. Maybe our language skills are improving. Come visit soon, and we'll give you the opportunity to have this incredible experience!