A Tea House With No Name

The primary reason for booking our Hong Kong flight is that it was our cheapest option to enter China. We were able to score tickets with a 30% discount (fare was brought down to P1,995 MNL-HK) from their August 2009 sale. From Hong Kong, we will be taking the 24-hour train to Beijing.

We aren't big city fans, but we allocated three days for Hong Kong. Its dropping December temperature will somehow prepare us for winter in northern China.

I must admit, I already liked Hong Kong even on the first half of our arrival day - and we haven't been anywhere else but the airport, IFC Mall, and Will's pad. Perhaps because it was my first trip overseas with my sister or maybe because we got a host who will provide us honest remarks about the various tourist options offered by this SAR (Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China). Hence, we avoid getting ripped off or spending money on destinations turn out to be a disappointment.

After having a short rest at Will's place, he invited us to have lunch at a tea house within walking distance. Will cannot remember the name of the tea house (after dining there several times!), nor did we notice a sign board bearing its name outside the establishment. If there was, it would probably be in Chinese characters.

Despite the swanky boutiques lined up on the same street selling ceramics and jade wares, the building where the tea house sits is a bit run down. The interiors, shabby. Will described the place as verrry authentic. By that he meant huge round wooden dining tables, waiters roving around every minute with their dimsum carts, steam-penetrated air (caused by piping hot noodles and Jasmine tea), and innumerable Chinese men reading the daily paper with their feet up. It was every bit chaotic as anticipated. I wonder how they define 'sanitation' in Hong Kong. Tea houses in Manila's Chinatown appear more conscious of public health to me now.

We shared our table with the Chinese, and no one spoke English. They motioned us that we must clean our tea cups in a small water bowl provided before we are served Jasmine tea (not that the waiter really cared).

OC Pinoys may cringe at this sight.
Our table's waiter sloppily poured the tea in our cups and laid our chopsticks on the greasy table while Will picked a stack of bamboo steamers from the dimsum cart.

No idea what we ordered, and how much each item was!
Though we never found out what kind of dimsums we ate, we totally adored them. Freshly cooked, melts-in-your-mouth texture, and their chili sauce was smokin'! Our bill came to about HK$70, very cheap for four people.

It started drizzling when we left the tea house. We started pacing mindlessly and found a 7-11 close by and bought a big bottle of Watsons water (we didn't know how to order water at the tea house), the cheapest at HK$9.95. As the bottle was passed around, we have decided to go back at Will's place. It was 2:30 PM, already late to visit the Tian Tan Buddha. A museum visit didn't interest us.

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