Shabu Shabu

Now here is something different from the ones I've been posting initially. And quite frankly, this is the first time that I've set foot or even heard of this place in our humble city. My first thought was that I prefer to go elsewhere as I have long been protesting paying good money to cook my own food. On the other hand, I was excited to try something out of my usual foodventures. I have had no bad experience from previous shabu shabus that I've been to in the past so why not, right? Well, why indeed.

First, which I think was very obvious - this is not a good place to bring children to. And since more than half of our pack were toddlers to grade schoolers, the thought of boiling water in a very accessible place was not something to look forward to. And then there's the time constraint. I kept thinking that it will take longer than a regular meal and I'll end up tardy for the very first time on my new post. But turns out, it was quite the opposite. No major disaster took place and instead of being an hour late (as promised to my manager), I was an hour early *moment clap*. So I was proven wrong at these two paradigm. Then there was the food, raw food. Something that I really don't like seeing since I have difficulty eating things that I witnessed being cooked. Especially if it's something whose life needs to be taken right in front of me. Nope, I'm not vegan (you wished). So there's that. But I do enjoy watching things on fire or in this case, boil.

My older brother was on constant reminder of what to "cook" first. I was not really paying much attention but pretended that I was in appreciation of his every word. So, sort of following orders, I placed the prawn first on the boiling soup (I may have skipped a few things like the unshelled egg, "gabi", and 5 other ingredients that I should have thought of first. Oh well. After seeing the immediate redding of the sea being, I took it out and pretended that it was all part of the process. So, carefully looking at the experts, my niece and nephew right across me, I placed the other ingredients in the hot pot.

Since I was now famished and I know that what I created was definitely not yet ready. I started scavenging the table for something to fill my stomach up with. And to my delight, there were thinly sliced bacon and beef right in front of me. Since they were relatively easier to cook, I dipped some in the soup and as soon as it got brown enough, I took it out and began studying it. Hmm, needs more flavor. Tons more. So I let it swim on the soy sauce provided and it was surprisingly tasty. This was what I consumed until I almost forgot the other thing I was cooking. So, I got the corn from the hot spot together with the shrimp which was really the highlight of my dinner and savored its flavor. Not bad, not bad. I could definitely do this all night. And then I the though of the cooking process again made me think twice. So I went back to the seafood and vegetable well and fished for the next best thing, kani and squid balls. They were okay but not really worth noting. And so I went ahead and enjoyed the rice noodle and vegetable which I soon left unfinished. What a meal! This may definitely be rewarding to frustrated cooks who feel a sense of accomplishment when they prepared something edible. Even though you can't really go wrong with throwing precooked food and spiced up soup. For me, I don't regret being there. It was my mom's birthday and I definitely had to be there. The food was good, true. But I'll only go back if the one paying is someone other than yours truly. Bow.

Price range: no idea
Verdict: yummy when free
Landmark: PKI

*Thumbs up if you thought pictures look crappy. That was because we were too hungry to take pictures prior to the meal :)