oh, if you ever know you'll be having a dinner like this, be sure to invite me:

(from a friend who shall remain anonymous) "I had a wicked dinner last night. chicken and taro root in coconut sauce. crispy chicken with a fermented bean curd and black bean dipping sauce. conch stir fried with pea-pods and ginger. beef tenderloin with onions in a sauce that i can't think of a way to describe. but it was red. and usually it is made with rum, but i couldn't taste the rum though. it was good anyways. and, pork chops cooked with spicy salt and red peppers (in the style of the squid, sans battering). and carrot-lotus root soup and a dessert soup with red bean and tapioca that was really weak but reminded me of grandma."