Dim Sum...to be shared with all

And so it begins.....

The 16 hour journey over here was a breeze thanks to our good friends at Cathay Pacific. For all of you already planning your trips to come visit us, the search for tickets is over...Cathay Business is the only way to go (yes, I'm beyond spoiled). The flight attendants were super nice, the seating was extremely comfortable (extends into a flat bed), the entertainment system was wonderful (even though I watched a very depressing movie), and the food was really good according to D. I, of course, packed my cucumber and avocado sandwich on a whole wheat bagel. Who can really stomach Spicy Kung Pao Chicken at 4:30 in the morning after just waking up?

Speaking of food, yesterday D and I ventured into the Times Square area of Hong Kong and came upon a building where hoards of people where entering the doors. Curious what the big comotion was, we followed the people up two escalators and around a bend. Sure enough, DIM SUM! We figured this must have been a really good place to eat Dim Sum considering the amount of people eating here so I went up to the host and asked for a table. He told us we had to sit with other people. No problem, I thought. The tables were big so we wouldn't feel like we were eating on top of the people next to us. We sat down at our table and looked over the menu. Too bad it was entirely in Chinese! Good thing for the pictures next to each item. Dan and I circled the items we wanted, although we weren't sure what was in the insides of all of them, and handed in our sheet.

Let me start by saying we were the only non-Chinese people in the restaurant and stuck out like a sore thumb. Besides the host, we were the only people in the entire restaurant who spoke English. Two men were seated down next to us. After about 5 minutes they asked the waitress (in Chinese) to switch tables. So as not to offend us, one man grabbed his arms and said "cold" as he left the table.

Next a single woman with a terrible cough sat down. I immediately thought oh no, it's the swine flu! There are still signs around the city regarding H1N1 which doesn't please me. She was drinking lots and lots of a brown soup like/tea like substance. Thanks to my Chinese/Korean friends from work, I know you are supposed to drink these concoctions to rid the body of sickness.

Our food came and we devoured it. How could I go wrong with steamed shrimp dumplings and coconut buns? D and I are not quite sure what he ordered but the lady across from us sure seemed to like it. She had her eye on our food the entire time we were eating. When we finished D got up to use the restroom. The sick woman and I sat alone at the table. I pushed the plate which still had dim sum on it toward her and said, "would you like this?" She pointed at D's empty seat as to say he will eat it. Then she mumbled something in Chinese. I told her we were very full and rubbed my stomach to make sure she understood. She then took a small bag out of her purse, slid the steamed chicken??? and rice lotus leaf near her and dumped it into the plastic bag before returning it to her purse. I smiled at her and got up to leave the table. She looked me, smiled back, and said "thank you." I may not speak Chinese (yet) but I sure know how to speak Dim Sum.