I also love children's parties

In a population of Catholics, when you are invited as a sponsor to a baptism, it usually means that you are in the age group of 20 to 40. If it is a wedding, then you are forty to sixty or a politician. When the invitation is for a birthday party, people of all ages can be invited, even if the party is for a one year old child. And if the father of that child is your dear friend, it is most difficult to decline such an invitation.

Never mind if the destination for the celebration is far like the Century Seafood Restaurant (G/F Century Park Hotel Manila, 599 P. Ocampo St. 1004 Malate, Manila. Philippines Tel No. 524-1821) and it is difficult to wake at 5:00AM to catch an early flight. Luckily, the invite came two weeks earlier before the "flood with no name" submerged Metro Manila. Though billeted at Century Park Hotel, no banca rides would have been necessary for me from the airport to the hotel.

When you are the host for a children's party, you have to prepare two sets of food: one set of dishes for the children & accompanying adults, and another set for guest and friends of the family. At 7:30 PM, I was a bit hungry and thirsty; I got some food from the children's table to go with my beer which I ordered (separate bill, off course!).

Exactly 8 PM, the first dish was served and it was Fresh Fruit Platter with Mangoes, Watermelon and Cantaloupes. Now, that is a bit strange for traditional lauriat but the second dish, the Birthday Noodles set the pace for the celebration, definitely very Chinese to wish the celebrator long life.

The Cantonese Roast Pig was then served and only the very crispy skin was presented to the delight of the guests and with it the accompanying drinks, three types of French wines: Château du Tertre (Margaux) 2007, La Sirène de Giscours (Margaux) 2004 and the Château Cantermerle (Haut-Medoc) 2005. Does it not make you wonder what happened to all those roast lechon meat?

Next course was a tuna sashimi and choice cuts were served, the akami, chutoro and otoro. Slight advantage when you know which cut is most desirable and I fished the portion which is very pale pink and melts in the tongue, the otoro. Rare are the times when raw food is served in a Chinese banquet but lately -- in the last ten years -- it has been acceptable in Cantonese cuisine but only products harvested from the sea are used.

We then had the Steamed Rock Lobster with Garlic Sauce, very traditional. The main course for this feast followed, a soup called Buddha Jumped over the Wall. This is a type of shark's fin soup found in Cantonese and Fujian cuisines which is prepared with other expensive ingredients like abalone, Jinhua ham, dried scallops, ginseng, etc. Our host hails from Fujian province and he is not really generous, excuse me, only exceedingly bighearted when such expensive delicacies are served to guests (costs about 1,200 pesos per serving).

The Double Cooked Live Lapulapu was served next and by this time, I had tasted all those French wines and finally switched to my old favorite, the Hennessy X. O. extra old. None of my dinner mates took a sip and I was not driving home since my sleeping quarters was an elevator away so it was my duty to finish the bottle but age had taken its toll since I was not able to accomplish this mission.

Time for dessert, we had the regular fare but this was a children's party and ice cream, Häagen-Dazs "little favorites" were served. And with the heart of a child, your favorite food columnist tried it and like the Belgian chocolate flavor.