Authentic Chinese Dinner

Tonight I take a break from my duties and responsibilities as a tourist and have a quiet dinner with a friend. We were supposed to meet up at the Watson's outlet at Suntec. Turns out it was closed for renovation. Good thing I was able to locate it. We went around the Suntec Fountain Terrace looking for a good restaurant. The air outside was so warm, I started sweating again. I decided on this Chinese restaurant (without looking at the menu) just to escape the heat. I mean, it's a Chinese restaurant, what can go wrong?

For one, none of the staff speak English, and they were asking/telling us things which I can't understand. I dug deep into my broad knowledge of Mandarin, and said, "Hao, hao." The restaurant is authentic Chinese. I can tell because the menu is only two pages, instead of the 10-page booklet from the Hong Kong restaurants. You make your choices, then make tick marks on the order form, which comes in triplicate. I was surprised when the bill came. Three dishes, rice and dessert amounted to more than S$50. That's quite expensive if you ask me. My friend insisted on paying the bill, instead of splitting it. No problem, my turn next time.