It’s Wednesday, and we have an early dim sum date with two aunts and an uncle! We have a small bite to eat, before hurrying as fast we can through some of today’s English. A 10am dim sum with family doesn’t come often enough, so school work can wait.
We are meeting them at the bus stop by Wong Tai Sin. Joe and Maylin are halfway out the door when Téa remembers that she hasn’t brushed teeth yet! We tell the others to go on ahead, we still have time to rush down the hill if we don’t take the winding bus like they plan on doing.
Téa and I leave the apartment maybe 5 minutes later, and there’s no sight of them on the bus that’s waiting by the bus stop. It usually just sits there until it’s full, before it starts its journey down through the neighbourhood to the subway.
There’s so much construction going on around here at the moment, the path to walk down the hill is NOT a straight line. We first walk uphill (it’s the steepest uphill ever, and if you live in SouthWest Ontario, your calves have never felt anything like this hill), just to cross the street and then walk downhill. Next we have to walk all the way left, just to bypass the excavation that is the dug up street.
Suddenly, Téa and I spot Maylin and Joe up ahead! It gives us an extra boost of energy, and we rush to catch up, but are hindered by street lights. Then, they take the “wrong” turn. They take the longer route! Téa and I rush the BETTER route, and arrive into uncle’s smiling embrace SO MANY SECONDS ahead of Joe and Maylin. All wins count…
Uncle leads us down a direction we’ve never been before, and then into a building that looks like some fancy office entrance. We go up a small escalator and are suddenly inside a banquet hall for full dim sum service. The aunties are waiting here, and we take our seats.
First, we order and catch up on stuff. Our seating order is me, Téa, Maylin, Joe, uncle, aunty and then the other aunty next to me. Uncle keeps getting up and walking around the table to me so he can translate the entire conversation to me, as Joe, uncle and the two aunties are discussing things all in Cantonese. It only makes sense that Joe and I switch seats. Now uncle can translate without having to get out of his chair.
My favourite thing about having dim sum with Joe’s family is the level of care they show for us. The aunties won’t be able to have a full on conversation with me or the girls, but our cups and bowls are never empty. I always drink at least an entire tea pot by myself, because whenever I put my cup down, it’s refilled, and whenever I see a full cup, I have to drink, so… It’s the most delicious circle of events, and I usually leave feeling like a tea pot myself, with all that tea rolling around inside!
The food takes FOREVER to arrive today, but once it does, it just keeps on coming. There are so many dishes, and there are 7 of us around the table. Most dishes come in portions of three, so there’s a pair of scissors on the table, and we cut each item in half, larger items in more pieces.
Closest to the camera, fish maw with shrimp paste and fish eggs. It’s so delicious, and I rarely find it in Canada. I’ve loved it since Joe’s family introduced me to it back in 2013. Clockwise from there, meat balls in yellow wraps. Next, rice roll with BBQ pork inside. The small white bowl inside the steamer at the top holds succulent, large shrimp wontons. Next is Téa’s favourite, BBQ pork steamed buns. At the 3 o’clock spot sits siu mai, pork and shrimp in yellow wraps. In the middle, the crunchy Chinese dough sticks inside rice paper rolls.
I only took two pictures, spent the rest of the time eating, drinking, listening and trying to catch a word here and there. We’re also planning a trip together coming up, so those details were discussed as well. I won’t know if and when it happens until if and when it happens, so when it comes about, you’ll know too!
After all the dim sum dishes were cleared away, and seeing as we finished every last bite on the table, the girls and I thought we were done and heading out, but we stayed and talked some more. For this, one requires one more dish, and so the aunties asked for the cold roast pork belly to be brought, complete with mustard dipping sauce. I have to say, I’d much rather have flavourful little cubes of tasty pork than a candy to end my meal!
Eventually, nearing 12pm, we do get up and leave. Joe has told the aunts and uncle that I need pants and that our plans for the day is going to find said pants, so they suggest an area to go to, with great malls. We look up the directions and head that way.
We’re confused. We don’t really know which mall they wanted us to go to, and all Hong Kong subway stations have at least 6 exits, if not more. The one we choose definitely does not exit into a mall, and we’re inside the tightest “mall” ever. It seems to be mostly vendor stalls, each “store” “locked up” by clipped sheets. We take note of the yummy eateries in there, and think to ourselves maybe we’ll come back one day for lunch. And then we head back out to find a “real” mall.
It was a very confusing neighbourhood, with small malls, lots of restaurants up into the floors, but no clothing stores that appealed to us. We did find some fun stuff though, amongst stores we spent time at was one that sold tiny things meant for doll houses or other miniature hobbies. The girls wanted a couple of things each, so now Maylin’s Doggy has a fountain drink machine (complete with “glasses”), and Téa’s Teddy has a box full of M&Ms and an iPad.
Some of the fun stuff we saw along our way today, were these:
All of this walking and searching had made us very hungry. We start hunting for a place to grab a snack, but everywhere is either a McDonald’s (seriously, these are everywhere), a Starbucks (arrrrgh), or a full on restaurants. Or, if we find something that looks promising, of course it has a loooooong line of waiting customers. I mean, I love Hong Kong, but because there are so many people here, I can’t just walk in and have a seat wherever whenever I want. For some reason, all businesses are not just waiting for me to arrive, and actually serve other customers if they arrive first!
We finally find a MilkCafé. There are a few of these out and about, but they’re often full. I love looking at their amazing bakery counter, and all the tasty creations in the window. We are guided upstairs and we are given a booth and a QR code to place our order. Only, there are no bakery items on this menu. The menu is fully cha chaan teng, fully tea restaurant, with pork chops and noodles and soups and sandwiches. Where are the muffins? Where are the croissants? Why is the bakery counter so tempting, but the menu not?
It does not matter. We need a snack, and we need a snack NOW. You haven’t known HANGER (hungry-anger) until you’re walking up staircases (not even an escalator) searching for a snack without finding one! We order a scrambled egg and cheese sandwich for Maylin, and a peanut butter and condensed milk sandwich for me, with Joe planning on stealing part of both. I mean sharing. Joe also gets the HK staple red bean creamy drink, and the girls share a glass of Horlick’s. Téa says she is still full from the dim sum, and refuses food, but takes the Horlick’s.
After our snack, we find the bus stop and head home. It’s been a weird day, food wise, so we head home after our late afternoon snack, without any real dinner planned. But, we have both siu mai and BBQ pork steamed buns in the freezer, so we steam up some of these.
It’s a calm night of blogging, playing and watching TV, especially after having been out since before 10am. Wonder what tomorrow will bring! Hopefully some sunshine, we’ve had enough of rain jackets for now, I think!
Living on the Pacific Coast, and on the Mediterranean, I completely understand the challenge of all that uphill walking. In PV my apartment was 160 stone steps up the mountain, a serious challenge with a cast (broken foot). That was halfway up so going to work, I went down the steps on my bum. Coming home, the taxi drove around and dropped me at the top, allowing me to get home by the same method.
Oh my, stone steps with a cast? NOT funny! But yes, you certainly do understand steep on a different level!