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TRAVEL BLOGS
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August 04, 2007 HONG KONG Dim Sum Breakfast and Catching up with Old Friends
Dim Sum is a style of Chinese eating - found predominantly in the Canton region (Guangdong province and Hong Kong) - whereby a group of people sit together and order a variety of small dishes that are usually sweet and bite-size. Dim sum meals usually take place on Saturday or Sunday morning when an entire family has the opportunity to spend time together, and as was the case this morning, the restaurants are usually packed with people. After dim um, I had to hurry off to meet several friends for a drink in Hang Hau, which is only 15 minutes away from UST campus. One of the people I met for coffee was Heidi, an UST business student currently interning with a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Hong Kong. I have not seen Heidi since I left 6 months ago, but from the look of it she is still doing quite well.
After we finished eating we began wandering the streets of Mong Kok in search of dessert - Hong Kong style. It didn't take us long to find what we were looking for: a large shop selling mixed-fruit drinks with tapioca balls inside. Although I have never seen this in the United States, it is equally as refreshing as a smoothie, and not nearly as expensive. I shied away from the "bird's nest" flavor - sticking to the safe realm of strawberry and banana - and as much as my friends pressured me I was not up for trying the "turtle shell tea". I don't care how healthy "turtle shell tea" (which is actually quite famous for its medicinal uses) is because I know the taste is gut-wrenchingly awful. Maybe next time. Maybe. Knowing it would be a long time before we all see each other again, and with none of us eager for a good night to come to an end, we decided to walk a couple kilometers from Mong Kok to the Hong Kong waterfront. Although I didn't know this at the time, Shela was sneakily snapping pictures of me en route. It has been a long-running joke amongst us that I tried to date Flora in the past, but as she never showed the same interest back I have been the butt of many jokes. When I received these photos from Shela several days later I knew my attempts were not going unnoticed!
We reached the waterfront at 10pm, which was a shame because it is just after the viewing platform closed. Nevertheless, I was able to snap pictures of the most amazing city-line waterfront, but as usual they came out slightly blurred because they are all long-distance night-time shots.
Shortly after midnight I caught the last train back to the New Territories. I knew this was nearly the end of my Hong Kong adventure as tomorrow night I will move on to China. But first there was still a little more "fun to be had" as I couldn't resist posing for the following movie advertisement in the KCR station...
Childish, I know. |
Having
stayed up until 4am to watch Arsenal pull off a 2-1 win
over Lazio last night made getting up this morning
slightly more difficult than usual. However, when Alvis
told me his mom was taking us out for a dim sum
breakfast the prospects for the day significantly
improved. 
Afterward,
I was once more off and running to the bustling district of Mong Kok to
meet a group of friends for dinner at a Satay
restaurant. I have to give a big thanks to Shela for
setting everything up for me, especially considering I
only gave her 24 hours worth of notice!
