Sunday, March 13, 2011

A Lucky Lady who lunches...and lunches!!

In my haste to post...I forgot to mention my wonderful lunch with my new friend Laura. She took me to the Renaissance Hotel on March 4th for a "Dim Sum" lunch. The unique culinary art of dim sum originated with the Cantonese in southern China, who over the centuries transformed yum cha from a relaxing respite to a loud and happy dining experience. In Hong Kong, and in most cities and towns in Guangdong province, many restaurants start serving dim sum as early as five in the morning. It is a tradition for the elderly to gather to eat dim sum after morning exercises. For many in southern China, yum cha is treated as a weekend family day. Consistent with this tradition, dim sum restaurants typically only serve dim sum until mid-afternoon (around the time of a traditional Western 3:00 coffee break), and serve other kinds of Cantonese cuisine in the evening. Nowadays, various dim sum items are even sold as take-out for students and office workers on the go.
I had never experienced this so I told I was game to give it a try...so off we went to the lovely Chinese restaurant in the hotel. it was so delicious and a great way to experience different Chinese dishes. There is just enough of a portion to have a bit, and if you like it...you can order more. It's a lot like a buffet, but you order off a menu...and order we did! The things we liked, made an encore appearance :) I wish I had taken my camera to get some pics, but the blonde girl in me forgot it! It really was good. I got to be honest, every time I go for Chinese I am still a bit apprehensive...and then pleasantly surprised after that I really do enjoy Chinese food!!
The one sad thing, Laura may be leaving here fairly quickly. It appears her husband's job may take them somewhere else. She is someone that I just genuinely felt that "instant click" with..Know what I mean? Someone who just gets you for you? It was just that easy between us. That is definitely the drawback to coming here and making new friends...they come and go from anywhere from a month to three years! The "nature of the beast" of life as an expatriate. At least I have made friends from all over the world, and with modern technology the way it is, it's not too difficult to stay in touch.
That evening also was nice because we went to La Casa Vostra for dinner with Mark's work colleagues. It was a lovely ending to a very nice day. Such a lucky gal I am...

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