alternative house parties

i attended a "prata party" last night at someone's place and it was a lot of fun. There were a lot of instant pratas (from NTUC Fairprice) toasted on the spot on buttered hot frying pans, eaten with someone's delicious home-made curry (shiok!) and with tubs of ice-cream. We laughed and talked about everything from keeping leeches as pets, to flawed govt policies, to environmental protection, to a comparison between singapore and UK medical schools and everything irrelevant or otherwise....

Though i'm not a great host myself when it comes to house parties, i do think that, especially as age catches up with me (:O ... ), they can be such a fantastic alternative to eating out at expensive restaurants. for one, they can go on for as long as we want without worrying about waiters giving us that "look".. you know what i mean?

here are some "food-themed" house parties that i've either attended, hosted or thought of hosting before:

- cockles and D24 durian (this one actually took place at my house, with much success.. haha)
- spagetti & selection of wines from DFS
- Still Rd Black Pepper Crab (take-away) plus beer
- Lorong 9 Beef Kway Teow, plus tau hway (take-away)
- Popiah Party
- Sushi Party
- Steamboat Party
- Selection of famous take-away foods we know (e.g. chicken pie from Don Fast East Square, brownie from dunno-where, tau kwa pau from Hock Ann Eating House along Joo Chiat Rd or East Coast Park lagoon food centre, durian puffs from Puteri Mas at No. 475 Joo Chiat Road etc.).. something like that..
- Salads and Smoothies (for those who want to stay lean despite all the feasting)
- Bak Chang (Dumplings) Party
- Mooncake and Chinese tea (which must be accompanied by poetry recital, either self-written, the Tang period kind or the Charles Bukowski type.. shouldn't be fussy.. :p)

parties can be themed with photo viewing and exchange, slide shows, to look (and ooh and ahh) at someone's new baby, to watch VCDs, or just as simple get-togethers.. the idea is that it should be stress-free not just for the people attending (i.e. not too much pot-lucking and coordination) but also for the host (i.e. not too much cooking, cleaning, preparation)...

another "Great Idea from Hwee Ling" ® (hahahhaha...)

ok ok.. just taking a break from work..