Sat 23 Oct: Hong Kong dodged that one

Woke up to a beautiful sunny day. So the only effect of super typhoon Megi has been some strong breezes and a few drops of rain. Lucky for Hong Kong, and lucky for my tourism opportunities today. (Not so lucky were Taiwan and Fujian province…)

I discovered where they’ve hidden the coffee maker. Nice: a proper kettle and French press setup. Grabbed some croissants from Pret à Porter downstairs and had myself a nice breakfast of croissants and black coffee (no milk — demerits to the hotel for having only Coffee Mate in the cupboard). Thus energized, I set off in leisurely search of what I’m told may be the best shrimp dumplings in Hong Kong. At a place called Din Tai Fung, on the top floor of the Silvercord building, at the corner of Canton and Haiphong roads, not too far from the hotel. But I do this in the most roundabout manner — via the other side of the harbor.

The hotel shuttle drops me in Tsim Sha Tsui, near the ferry terminal, and I catch the Star Ferry across to Wan Chai on the island of Hong Kong. I walk around Wan Chai a while, take a ride on the ding ding up to Causeway Bay and back. I’m just drinking in all the sights and sounds. (And smells! The air is pretty foul today. Have you ever been in an underground bus terminal? The air is like that at the moment…) But there’s lots of good smells too. This restaurant for instance: a perfect little dive. Smells fabulous and I bet the food is fantastic, but without Cantonese talk you won’t get any… You can keep all your boulevards with Hermes, Rolex, and Chanel — gimme this authentic old back-street stuff.

I use my Blackberry to shoot pictures of various ding dings — I figure it’s only fair to pair the Lviv tram gallery with a Hong Kong ding ding gallery. After all the walking and riding around, I’m starting to want those prawn dumplings. I wander back over to the ferry and ride it back to Tsim Sha Tsui. It really is a beautiful scene, with the skyscrapers all around the sparkling harbour, boats of all sizes, and the green mountains rising behind. Near the ferry terminal on the Kowloon side is a splendid esplanade for strolling along and admiring the view. The steady breeze from the extreme edge of the typhoon makes it very comfortable weather. Perfect day — aside from the heavy smog. (Smog and strong wind: how?)

Now mid-afternoon, I stroll up Canton Road and easily find the building, head up to the top floor, and there’s the Mecca of dumpling. (Apparently a certain member of the UJC congregation keeps kosher but makes just one exception, for these dumplings…)

A quick $25 taxi ride back to the hotel — that’s just over $3.00  in green George Washingtons. (I’ve started thinking of them as pesos for quick assessment.) Back at the hotel room, I unwrap and devour my prize. The dumplings are good, but maybe not the best I’ve had here… maybe I ordered wrong? Or maybe it’s the company that is lacking. Eating alone is just not the best way to enjoy good food.