I'm only here for the food

Last week my company held the annual dinner. For someone who only worked here for 2 months, there's nothing much, except for the food.

Annual dinners are supposedly the night when the company celebrates the staff but that night was short of any celebration. For one thing, instead of giving everyone a chance to attend by closing the store, they (the management) 'arranged' for those in the afternoon shift to 'take turns' to go to the dinner which was held in a nearby building. So each session will take about 1 1/2 hour. It will take about 20 minutes to go there and back to the store, which leaves them about 1 hour to eat and enjoy whatever the event promised. Luckily I was in the morning shift that day.

The dinner was abysmal, there was no theme, no games, no lucky draws, no outrageous antics, nothing fun about it. We get to eat, we watched a couple of movies (about the company, mind you), they gave out the awards (only staff who worked more than 2 years are eligible) and we get to eat some more (if you have the time).

The event started at 7:30 and ended at 10 sharp. Can you imagine? We didn't even get a second round at the buffet table! Not to mention those that has to go back to work, I pity them. They didn't get the chance to really sit down and enjoy the free food. And the food was actually quite nice.

The main table has roasted chicken, spaghetti, rice etc. The salad table was impressive. But the star of the night must be the dessert table. They have strawberry cheesecake, tiramisu in chocolate cups, lots of little cakes with adorable toppings, fresh fruits consisting of watermelons, papayas, dragonfruit, kiwis and strawberries! To close, we have 5 different flavors of ice cream, which are the usual chocolate, vanilla and strawberry plus corn and get this orange! They also have a variety of toppings like chocolate sauce, hazelnuts, normal nuts, and chocolate shavings.
Mmmm.... nice!

And I'm such a freak when it comes to ice cream. I can't take it straight up like that. I must have accessories. If I'm eating at home I will put whatever I can find to put on my ice cream. It could be the conventional chocolate sauce and chocolate rice, or whip up a decent banana royale if there's any bananas in the house. Fruits would be a nice addition. I like to put kiwis in my ice cream. At one time when I couldn't find anything in the house, I even sprinkled some Milo on my ice cream. I'm such a freak.

So, you can imagine how ecstatic I was seeing all the different toppings. I started with some kiwis and strawberries that I was able to dig up from the fruit platter. I asked the waiter to put 3 scoops of ice cream: chocolate, strawberry and orange, and I topped them with all the toppings offered on the table. I thought I could never finish it because I was quite full at the time. But I guess I found a new saying, forget the jello there's always room for ice cream .

There was a lot of talk among the staff after the dinner. There was the usual complains, the place was not that nice, the night was boring, the food was not much, yadayadayada. But personally, I thought it was a blast. well, considering that I was not up for any awards and I was only there for the food. However, until today I still have this nagging feeling, when will I ever get another decent meal like this for free?