We kicked off December with a double celebration that felt extra meaningful this year. With my MIL’s 80th birthday coming up on 9 December, all five of her children and their families flew back from overseas for the celebration. It’s the first time ever — in all these years — that the entire family is back together under one roof. And what made it even more special was that we also got to celebrate Alycia’s 22nd birthday on the 5th of December.
To mark the occasion, we decided on a family dinner at Hut Dining Buffet at Lalaport, a Japanese eat-all-you-can buffet that has been raved about for its quality. And I must say… the reviews did not lie!
Ordering is all done via iPads placed on the tables, and every dish is freshly prepared only after an order is placed. No pre-made trays, no soggy food sitting under warmers — everything comes straight from the kitchen, beautifully plated and incredibly fresh.
And with a big family like ours, you can imagine how the ordering went.
Umpteen plates of fresh sashimi, snow crabs, hamachi, unagi, shellfish, raw oysters, wagyu beef, and so much more arrived one after another. Everyone had their favourites, and we happily ate to our hearts’ content. Dessert was a highlight too — Haagen-Dazs stick ice creams in various flavours, the perfect finishing touch to an already fantastic meal.
Honestly, it was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time.
The total bill came up to over RM4,000, generously treated by my BIL who flew in from New Zealand yesterday.
After dinner, we headed back to my SIL’s unit (same condo, just a different unit) for a simple cake-cutting session for Alycia. She turned 22 surrounded by her grandma, uncles, aunties, cousins, sisters, and all the people who love her.
It was a beautiful night — great food, laughter, bonding, and a rare gathering of the entire family. A celebration we will all remember for years to come.
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| Alycia with her Sarah ku ku from Hawaii. Alycia spent her baby and toddler days a lot with Sarah before she left to work in Saipan. The tiramisu cake is from Lacher Patisserie. |
These are just some of the dishes that we ordered, which I managed to snap photos of.
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| Baked prawns, grilled hamachi, wagyu sukiyaki, deep-fried soft shell crab, grilled saba and California rolls. |
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| Pingu Birthday cake from Alycia's high-school bff. Her bff is now living in Auckland, but she never fails to send Alycia birthday gifts since she left about 7 years ago. |
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| Fresh oysters, sashimi, snow crab chawan mushi, and I can't remember the names of some of the dishes here. |
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| Snow crabs. |
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| More fresh sashimi, baked snow crab with cheese, soft shell crab maki and wagyu don. |
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| Fresh sashimi platter. We ordered many of these. |
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| Ordering is done on an iPad. |
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| Restaurant staff singing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl, with complimentary birthday cake. |
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| Haagen Dazs stickbar ice-creams in four delicious flavours. I shared a salted caramel and macha bar with Cass. |
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| Enjoying her snow crab. |
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