Christmas dinner with my parents' church caregroup

on friday i decided to go for my parents' caregroup's christmas dinner at a quaint little place my family loves called... *TA DA!*
it's a family-run restaurant at changi village that serves asian and VERY GOOD western food - the owner apparently used to work with the SIA kitchen or something and she makes good german food (think sausage platters and pork knuckle with saurkraut... mmm...). the food tastes yummy because it has that homemade goodness (like her pizzas are done on herb dough bases rather than just plain dough) and it's VERY AFFORDABLE. plus the whole changi village feel really helps you to chill out and enjoy your after-meal coffee.
so i got semi-dressed-up and whisked out my trusty camera so that i could amuse myself should i find myself bored and alone (which usually is the case in these gatherings with my parents' "newer" friends since i have outgrown the tagging along that i used to do as a child). spoke to a couple that were sort of newer members of the caregroup and we had a very long conversation about Warwick (started because they were SO AMUSED that there is a degree such as Film & Lit) which was pretty cool, i'd have to say.
we had a special menu because it was a big party of like 25 people which 2 choices for each course (except the appetiser) and there was a pretty good spread...we started the meal with a garden green salad and freshgrapefruit (forgot to take a picture of the salad). LOVED the grapefruit (though people who know me will say i love ANY grapefruit) because it was sweet and juicy (i had 2 because the person next to me didnt want his). the salad came with a fantastic vinegarette that had wholegrain mustard, some honey, balsamic vinegar and some other seasoning (i have yet to figure out how to make their fantastic dressing) over the fresh leaves, tomatoes and olives.
soup was a choice between cream of mushroom and cream of tomato - look at the fresh mushrooms in the soup! YUM! very good and wholesome.
[heard that the tomato soup was good too but didnt get to taste because neither my mom nor my dad ordered it]
in between courses one of the waiters came out and started playing some christmas tunes (as well as jazz) because they decided the pub next door was making too much noise so it was time for some retaliation... hmmm...
my main course was roast turkey, served with a sausage, meat stuffing, a roll of bacon, vegetables and a baked potato. my dad had the roast pork which had a generous serving of delicious crackling. the owner kept coming out with plates of extra turkey meat and pork crackling because they had extra after the initial servings. of course i helped myself...
dessert was a choice between custard and peach pudding and Birne Helene (which is a cooked pear on chocolate mousse) - preferred the latter because it was sweet yet not overpowering, as well as very unusual.
(the pear is buried under the mousse - skinned and cooked till soft and sweet...)
to end it all off, we had their homebaked fruit cake which was SOOOOO GOOD! it had the right amount of fruit and cake (not like some which has too much fruit) and had a yummy top. would have preferred it to be more moist but it was still really delicious.

and the meal came up to... *drumroll*... $26.90! no service charge or GST (only 1% CESS)! how VALUE-FOR-MONEY is that?!
another one of my artistic shots on the way home in the car - this camera really does take very good pictures in areas with minimal lighting... :)