soho

On July 4th, I went out for yam-chaa with my family. Literal translation: "drink tea", yam-chaa is a lunchtime meal eaten with family on weekends. Dishes consist of dim sam: steamed buns, noodles, dumplings with pork, shrimp, or beef and veggies. My favorite dim sum dish has always been chaa-siu-baau (Cantonese pin yin) or chao siu bao (Putonghua). It is a steamed sweet bun with barbecued pork.

After the meal we went to Hong Kong island and walked around Central and up to Soho. Known for a the many art galleries and antique shops, it is also a busy nighttime area for "gweilos" with the popular drinking spot, Lan Kwai Fong. My Uncle John was more than excited to take us to the "largest escalator in the world". Happy as can be, he led us up, up, up the Mid-Levels escalator to wander an older side of HK.

We walked along Hollywood Road, took photos, browsed shops and basically ate throughout the day. The Hong Kong eating schedule is something I will never be used to. I am constantly full and always being offered food or to go get a snack or tea. We went to a bakery known for their daan tat (egg custard tarts derived from the Portuguese egg tart pastries, which trickled into Cantonese bakeries through the Portuguese colony from Macau).

We continued to walk up and down the neighborhood and around 4pm, popped into TPK Cafe, a swanky spot to have high tea in the 1960s. Apparently my Yehyeh would used to go there and we took part in devouring a souffle in this memory.

My little cousin Jantao waits for family members to make a direction decision.

A group of 8, we walked down the sloped stone streets and my uncles recalled family history, I imagined my Yehyeh walking, hands behind his back, up and down the slanted stone roads.

I feel so connected to Hong Kong when I walk in older areas: paint chipped apartments with clothes hung to dry, hardworking people in the wet markets. Their lives seem so loud and intense, yet routine...so different than the life I have had. The commercialism that has taken over Hong Kong with shiny shopping malls, banks and businesses makes me queasy...so artificial and banal. The brand name products that many of the residents strive to own are so uninspiring. Why care about more commercial space when you have such soulful and unique neighborhoods? Forget about air conditioned, clean malls... give me real sweat and wrinkles in HK.