Storm after the party

Friday marked the start of the truffles harvest as well as hunting season, and I was to go tartufo-hunting with Imperio and his dog Tobi this morning but the sky poured since 5am and never relented. So I snuggled under the covers till 9am. It had been raining for the past few days in Tuscany but luckily for Gianluca and his wife Valentina, it was a perfectly sunny day yesterday and the air was clean and crisp. He had apparently paid for an accurate weather forecast months ago for the celebration of their gorgeous month-old newborn Petra. They had kindly invited me to join the 100-odd guests at the festa to be held at the big farmhouse on the hill overlooking the gentle carpeted hills.

Everyone pitched in with the preparations from setting the tables to chippin in with the food. The setting was like a party scene ripped from the movie 'Under The Tuscan Sun' where I was Diana Lane sipping copious amount of bubbly prosecco, tapping my feet to the live jazz set performed by a boyish French band and nibbling (ok more like gobbling) on the buffet of prosciutto ham (sliced from a whole leg!), plump figs with salame, Gorgonzola cheese on celery sticks, block of Parmiggiano with thick honey, eggplant-pomodoro-mozarella insalata, fresh fruits, Italian cheesecake and an irresistible cioccolato tart. Tutto buonissimo!

And then there was the only Cinese piatto di black pepper ginger beef squares with capsicums on cocktail sticks, courtesy of me - which was popular! Anita and her friends helped to assemble the dish and we gave it a crude name in Hokkien (after the female genitalia), and we all had a fit getting high on wine and cigarettes! It was quite delizioso - I must say. The chunk of prime beef was also molto caro at 42 euros but worth the price.

Earlier in the day during the preparation, I was amused by how much deliberation went into where the tables, chairs and table cloth should be as Gianluca and Valentina discussed and rearranged the seating till they were both pleased, occasionally asking me if it was fine. Clearly the efforts paid off as it was truly lovely under the crescent-illuminated starry night, and the guests dined at the outdoor candle-lit tables dressed with the wild grapevines, flowers and fruits plucked from the garden.

Being the only Asian, I felt like a fly on the wall observing everything but not participating as everyone was chattering in Italian and catching up with one another. So I retreated to the deck with my cigarettes and prosecco to spot the shooting stars across the dark horizon of the Tuscan hills in the cool night (14 degrees C). By midnight, the guys were getting pissed drunk on the Russian vodka so I walked down the hill guided by the moonlight, accompanied by thoughts of my friends and family.