The Yumcha Diaries: 11/07/09

The Yumcha Diaries: 11/07/09
Water, all around

Once again, a stormy day, and topics of the day seemed to revolve around water of all sorts.

With signal 3 hoisted, the restaurant was again deserted. I was the first to arrive and had a good chat with one of the waitresses. As you know, most of them are relatively new arrivals from China. First we talked about beverages. With the exception of water and perhaps tea and alcohol, most mainlanders of certain age do not drink anything. We then moved on to food and how terrible chicken taste in HK.

It's always fun to chat with people who provide services. Moreover, it can be beneficial. My old colleagues always asked me why the waitresses were so friendly to me when they actually went much more often than I. Simple, I said. Be friendly, and treat them as equals. It's gratifying to walk into a place and the person knows you want less sugar in your tea.

whlee came directly from Cheung Chau, and we talked about the island at length. Cheung Chau has been my favorite even since I spent 1 month there in 1991. In many ways, it was the nicest month I have had as an adult, for many but ultimately simple reasons.

Captain came and soon we were learning the proper way a tugboat should tow a ship. Negligence in carrying out just the little details could result in fatalities.

JC came much like a 陆客， luggage cart in tow. He and lascalawong immediately launched into an avid discussion on difficult-to-get and out-of-print CDs. JC took out several copies of Taiwan aboriginal CDs and a surprise--a Leica M8! I wonder what else was in his large cart.

I was very touched when Danz dropped by to give me the stack of Mullova Onyx CDs. What a friend!

One of my stops afterwards was Pro Sound. Mr Chu told me finally he was able to source the Nonesuch Richard Goode Beethoven concerto set, 3CDs for the price of 2. If anyone wants a copy, you can contact him or PM me through R33. If through me, you have to come to the restaurant on Saturday to pick it up.