Culture Shock

It rained, off and on, all day yesterday.  During the morning "rush hour" (a pedestrian rush hour, not so much a traffic one) people would hide under the awnings of buildings, waiting for the lights to change.  We decided to stake out one such spot, and people-watch.  It was a sea of multi-colored umbrellas - hello kitty umbrellas colliding with designer Burberry umbrellas.  Many enterprising people simply used the free morning paper that seemed to be handed out on every street corner.  We had noticed at the doorways of quite a few businesses & malls that there is a stand with oblong plastic bags and a sign that asks people to put their umbrellas in the bag to prevent slipping.

One thing is for sure:  Hong Kong is a polite city.  There are reminders to practice proper hygiene when one has a cold (that's why there are people going about their day with clinical masks on), to help children & elders (love that one), and to step to the side on an escalator to allow for a "passing lane" for those in a hurry.  Something we can't get used to is the driving on the left hand side of the road.

What I can get used to is the Dim Sum.

It goes without saying that it was the best dim sum we've ever eaten.  The glutinous rice paper was tender and flavorful and the shrimp was so fresh (well, the seafood tanks were displayed & from where we were sitting, you could tell they were handled with care).  But the piece de resistance was their BBQ pork bun with ginger soy sauce.  Apparently this is what "Very Good Seafood Restaurant" in Kowloon is known for.  We spent the equivalent of about $25 (which isn't overly cheap, as far as Asia goes).  It was an authentic spot; they had to find the English menu, and our server expressed that she was impressed with our chopsticks skills.

One thing that is rather disconcerting is the fat droplets of water that drip onto you as you walk down the street.  You look up, and all around you laundry is hanging outside.  I'm not sure if anyone owns a dryer.  But we'd take that any day over the hawkers.  They tend to gravitate to Aron:  "Hey boss, need an Italian suit?"  "copy watches, come see my shop".  Now there is a new theme and they sidle up to me: "massage... foot massage, full body massage".  Tempting, but no thanks.

For dinner last night, we were wandering about the food stalls, and I felt like soup.  I had seen a cute little kiosk with a few people in it, and we went back to find it.  I walked in and the woman behind the counter was ignoring me.  There was a customer sitting in a chair and he was trying to communicate with me, pointing right behind me at some sort of wall-hanging.  He seemed pretty strident, so I started to think I had committed a cultural faux-pas.  There was no room for me to turn around to see what the statue was; it was that small & cramped.  I figured it was Buddha and then I wondered if I had to pray to it or something?  I was about to improvise some sort of bow complete with hand gestures (like we had seen earlier in the day at the Sik Sik Yuen Temple) when Aron figured out what the man was trying to say.  The wall hanging was a turtle.  This was turtle soup!  I almost ate turtle soup!