stellar126

The first time I went to Binondo I was with my then boyfriend. It was 2 in the morning, we just came from clubbing with our friends and we were both hungry. I was craving in particular for really good hargaw, prawn dumpling, and he had the bright idea to try the local Chinatown.

We immediately saw an open tea salon. It’s name was Wan Chai. A glimpse from the windows would show old men hunched with their newspapers and people our age in party clothes drinking what could only be jasmine tea. It looked like we hit the jackpot.

I immediately asked for the dimsum list and it made me swoon with the choices available. When the waitress noticed the sparkle in my eyes, she even proudly mentioned that their dimsum chef is an authentic chef from HK. I asked for the hargaw, shark’s fin, wrapped abalone, and pork siumai. I could tell that my boyfriend wanted to intervene when I was telling the waitress my third order. He was probably wondering where I’d put all that food.

Finally, the bamboo steamers were placed in front of me. These along with a pot of fragrant jasmine tea. I opened the hargaw and I was satisfied. The rice paper was nearly translucent and you can see the plump, pink prawns just waiting to be picked up by your chopsticks. I picked one, and time just stood still. It was different from all the prawn dumplings I had before. You could say that Plato’s Allegory of the Caves was running through my mind at that time. I was definitely in ecstasy.

The rest of the night is now a blur. All I remember is that even before I finished my orders, I was already thinking of ways on how I can go back.

I first came to HK with my boss for work. I never really did any sightseeing during the day, but I walked around a lot at night. I stayed at Tsim Sha Tsui, and there was a park there where I’d use to go and smoke.

I loved going back and forth Central and Tsim Sha Tsui using the ferry instead of the train. It was cheaper and more relaxing. I get to people watch and eat my breakfast while the ferry makes its way across the sea.

The next time I go to HK, I hope that my girlfriend’s with me.

I want to go to this place because of the food. Eversince I read about someone’s trip to Thailand from a food magazine on how she learned to cook Thai food, I never stopped thinking about doing the same. And it’s really a cool way to travel. Very interactive, instead of just doing your normal sightseeing.