Lunch At Forbidden City In Virginia Beach.

We'd worked up quite an appetite at the Flower and Garden Expo, and eventually ended up at Forbidden City in Virginia Beach, for lunch.

Handheld shot at 1/4 second. We liked the intimate raised dining areas with curtains.

And that arrangement in the background with the buddha was as good as anything we saw at the Flower Show.

I started out with a spring roll with beef, carrots, and garlic.

Mr. Hawthorne had the shrimp and roasted pork egg roll. That mustard sauce is outrageous. Let's just say, my sinuses were blown away. Loved it!

Apparently, this gentleman is responsible for putting the skip back into Ticky's step, the twinkle back into Ticky's eye, the lilt back into Ticky's voice, the smile back into Ticky's heart.

Crazy kids.

Ticky poignantly wrote about life recently in her blog, Reinventing A Boomer.

I've never seen corn on a Chinese menu, except for the miniature ears, so I ordered the corn soup.

Very fragrant egg-drop broth with corn, chicken, and shrimp. Crispy fried wontons. Rosie likie.

Mr. Hawthorne's dish. Chicken, sesame, noodles, egg, carrots, onion. ETA: Singapore Noodles,
which Mr. Hawthorne kept referring to as Shang Hai Noodles.

Ticky's dish. Szechuan green beans and chicken in a sweet and spicy sauce. Loved it.

Glowria's huge soup - Wor Mein - a quite hearty lobster and shrimp soup with shredded Chinese vegetables and egg noodles. I have no idea what this tasted like. Glow was not offering up any tastes and she hastily cartoned up what she didn't finish to take home with her.

Ticky's beau's meal. ETA: Lo Mein I realize I haven't seen the first Asian in here.

I ordered the duck with bok choy. I haven't had duck in ages, and I wanted different today. Even the waitress complimented me on my lunch choices: spring roll, corn soup, duck.

The skin was crisp perfection. I realized I miss duck. Hmmm. Wonder if any neighbors would complain if I picked off a few ducks out in the canal. I've been hearing shots all morning, so somebody's out there doing it. Where's a good retriever when you need one?