A Few More Things

Well when you read the things to do in China, eating dim sum (Chinese dumpling) is a must especially in Hong Kong. It is a Cantonese snack as popular as our chicken wings.  So, you know me, it was on my “must do” list while in Hong Kong. Our local tour guide told us the best place to go, and I think he was right. When we walked in, you could tell it was very upscale and very few tourists, only Chinese. First, reading the menu was a challenge, but luckily our waiter spoke enough English to explain what we needed to order. We had pork and prawn dumplings. But first they served us two pots, one of tea and one of hot water. We had no idea what to do with the hot water. Then Tom saw a Chinese lady taking the chop sticks, holding them in a soup bowl and pouring the boiling water over them. It was washing your dishes at the table. So Tom washed our chop sticks, soup bowls and soup spoons. Our example lady wiped the bowls, etc. on the table cloth but we settled for just washing our chop sticks. We felt the cultural experience. Later we noticed that wiping whatever, hands or bowls on the table cloth seemed to be the thing to do. There were no napkins on the table or silverware. We saw the waitress changing the table cloths after each person, so good thing to know. We had eaten dim sum along the way but Mandarin dumplings in main land China are different; definitely not as good. I only ate them once that I thought they were good. These today were delicious.  I am sorry I only had one opportunity to enjoy them in Hong Kong. Quite a treat!

    This morning ten of us from our group rode the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island and then rode the Midtown Escalator up to the midlevel. It is the world’s longest outside escalator, so of course that is another “must.” When we arrived at the streets where one was supposed to go, all of us looked up and down and said, “I’m good!” I think that means it is time to come home.

    Coming into port this morning was the USS Peleliu (LHA-5) an amphibious assault ship of the US Navy named for the Battle of Peleliu of WWII.  It was scary and exciting to see her with the Navy and Marines all lined up at attention while she was docking. She was in pretty bad shape and definitely in need of some paint, but made us proud to be Americans. Now we are packing up and getting ready for an early flight home tomorrow.

Well, I also have learned a great deal about shopping in China. If you want jade jewelry, China is the place to come. The jade factory we visited had people visit from all over the world. Also suitcases of every description, tailor made clothing, and more jade jewelry in Hong Kong. Other than that, forget it. I finally found a T-shirt that I bought, but it took about three hours of shopping.  Electronics are plentiful but you never know exactly what you are buying and they are the same price as the US. I found some name brand clothing but again same price as US. I found a three story Nike shoe store. There was not even one shoe you would recognize. They import all of the shoes we wear.  If I could find the shoe I wanted, I was told it would actually be more expensive because I would now have to pay an import tax. Crazy! So other than some trinkets, the shopping has been limited. I found that to be quite the surprise.

The End

Tom & Holly