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Birthdays are accounted for as holidays by those who celebrate them. Everyone has a birthday, and everyone celebrates it in a different way, large or small. So for my 12^th birthday, Mom and I went back to Lai Lai Garden for another delicious meal.

Considering we have been to Lai Lai Garden two times in the past week, we know pretty much what to order for our dinner. The very first thing we put on our list was the Dan Dan Noodles, simply because I absolutely loved it. It’s so chewy and spicy and tastes just so good. The other dishes seemed problematic though. The first two times mom picked a ton of dishes since a lot of them sounded good to her. After picking most of the appealing stuff, today we are stuck without any really tempting options. Beef? Well, been there and tried that. Seafood? Had too much fish and shrimp for the past few days. So what happened for about ten minutes was a constant question and answer between Mom and me. Finally, I just told Mom to stop asking for my opinion, because most of the time I didn’t even know what food we were talking about and so I wasn’t helping at all. In the end, I settled with the items Mom selected.

There was obviously the Dan Dan Noodles, which barely lasted more than a minute against my appetite. Then on came an enormous bowl of soup or West Lake Beef Chowder. I could identify eggs, bits of beef, peas, and tiny chopped-up pieces of other veggies. It washed down some of the chili oil from the Dan Dan Noodles.

Moving on came to the main courses of Wild Mushroom with Hot Pepper and Sautéed Lambs with Cilantros, which contained a plate of mushrooms and lamb, both having large and sliced bell peppers. At first glance, the bell peppers looked bitter and intimidating, and my background knowledge backed the thought up with an image of my grandma’s cooking. After being forced by my mom to eat once, however, I noticed that I was still alive. It wasn’t so bad, and the mushroom gave flavor to the bell peppers. I tried one of the large mushrooms after, and it literally lit my mouth on fire. Seriously, I stuck my tongue in my water for a minute or so before I took it out. Then, I shoveled up three mouthfuls of steaming rice. But instead of moving on to the lamb, I ate a few more. The mushrooms were actually delicious. I liked the spice of it all, and the texture was nice, smooth, and chewy. The flavor wasn’t too shabby, either. Sautéed Lambs with Cilantros looked very simple and salty and tasted like ordinary meat but not as spicy. The lamb was tender and juicy, and there was sauce drizzled on top. It was full of taste and wonderfulness. But without the spicy stuff, the lamb seemed so different from the mushrooms. I couldn’t believe how making something spicy could change it so dramatically. It appeared to change the entire recipe.

When my stomach was about half full, on came a surprise main course of Sautéed Fresh Snake Gourd with White Fungi and Fresh Garlic contained some green stuff. Mom stated that the “green stuff” was a snake gourd that became one of the Chinese favorite veggies, and my appetite vanished at a glance. It looked like a cucumber, sliced into sections, but squishy like a sponge. I took one of them and cautiously nibbled on the edge. Now, I don’t believe dirt has a taste, and this might be because of my hate of veggies, but this veggie fits the description of the taste of soil perfectly. It was slightly bitter, stringy, and as squishy as a worm. It’s not that Lai Lai’s cooking is bad, but I don’t understand how the world could create such a fiend to people’s taste buds. This was even worse than having my tongue lit on fire, and its taste will be a lot harder to take away than just by putting my tongue in water.

Birthdays are celebrated in many different ways, whether it’s dining at a restaurant or a party. It’s a time to relax but not with snake gourd.

【红霞译文】

在乎生日的人常把这一天当节日来过，其实谁都有自己的生日，无论规模大小，人人选择庆生的方式不尽相同，而我本人十二岁生日则是在妈妈的陪伴下再次返回“来来花园”酒家同享美馔佳肴。

鉴于上周曾两度光临“来来花园”，我们对本店晚餐烹饪秘籍早已了如指掌，“担担面”必选无疑，我喜欢得要命，原因就这么简单，其面条筋斗，麻辣味道刺激，真可谓根根香浓意犹未尽。至于其它饭菜，谁也拿捏不准。嗨，怪就该怪头两回妈妈为了寻味舌尖上的乡愁，一口气几乎尝遍肆筵野肴，结果剩下可供今晚选择的菜谱屈指可数。现在我们只好跟着感觉走，矬子里面拔将军。牛肉？嘿，咱已在这儿打过牙祭；海鲜？嗬，这两天净跟鱼虾打交道。足有十分钟光景，彼此大眼瞪小眼，脑袋糊成一锅粥，说不清该吃不该吃，我拜托妈妈当机立断，千万不要指望本人来扭转乾坤。

“担担面”天下绝伦，端上来后没过多久就被我一扫而光。接着，一大碗“西湖牛羹汤”绽放诱人的芬芳，鸡蛋、牛肉末、豌豆、菜片清肠刮肚，至少可以缓解担担面带来的油腻麻辣之感。

“小椒炒山菌” 和“香菜小椒羊肉”陆续上台，两道菜都有大量青椒。乍看上去，“小椒炒山菌”的青椒苦得可怕，凭我个人经验判断，烹饪手艺很像外婆，妈妈逼我尝试一口，吃后我发觉没什么大不了的，味道说得过去，蘑菇丰富了青椒的清香，我接连吃下几大块蘑菇，辣得我满嘴冒火。说正经的，我不得不先把舌头伸进水里浸泡一两分钟，然后赶紧吞下三口米饭平息灼烧的感觉。在吃羊肉之前，我忍不住又多夹了几筷子，蘑菇特别给力提味。“小椒炒山菌”非常好吃，辣椒令人馋涎欲滴，蘑菇因柔软平滑耐嚼而大大提高了这道菜的质感，味道一点都不单调。“香菜小椒羊肉”虽说简单但有滋有味，羊肉与普通肉没什么区别，温辣肉嫩汁多外表勾芡，吃起来质地松软味道咸香，因为“香菜小椒羊肉”不及“小椒炒山菌”那么刺激，所以口感大不相同。不知为什么麻辣具有如此奇效，能够直接影响到烹调配方。

吃到这里，我已达到半饱，最后一道“蒜茸清炒银耳丝瓜”方才出锅端上桌面，妈妈事先强调的“绿色食品”原来不过是中国人爱吃的长丝瓜，我刚瞧它一眼，顿觉食欲全无。从外表上看，被切成小段的丝瓜跟黄瓜差不离，但本身粘乎乎像块海绵。我夹上一块沿周边咬了一口，怎么吃出泥巴的味道，也许因为自己一向讨厌蔬菜，否则绝不会平白无故地把它俩联系在一起。丝瓜味苦质地粘稠，软了吧唧像条蠕虫，我丝毫没有抱怨“来来花园”手艺欠佳的意思，而是想抒发内心的疑惑，世上竟然有如此苦涩的食物，吃后感觉比火烧火燎的舌头更加难受，水能消除麻辣，但却难以冲淡苦涩。

庆生的确有很多方式，不管在饭馆还是派对上聚餐，寿星们图的是轻松的心情而非丝瓜的熏陶。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2012: 生日聚会─溜冰(B-D Skating)

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