Typhoon

Cyclone Approaches: This is the day of the typhoon. It started as Level 1 and is now Level 3. I had my morning coffee at Starbucks, a first since I have been in China. Standard fare, but I don’t think the coffee is quite as strong as in the USA. You might also be interested in the way they serve sugar: in syrup form, a clear liquid, presumably from sugar cane. It’s much easier to use and you don’t have the waste of all those individual packets. By the way, there is no artificial sweetener in evidence here at the Dundas Street Starbucks. I dodge the raindrops back to the hotel. I write, rain falls, time passes. Lunchtime is here. I look for something other than Chinese. To the third floor of a street-side mall I wander, finding myself in front of what would seem to be a Japanese restaurant. I ask. No. It’s a sushi restaurant. Do you have soup? The reply is a menu (special one in Chinese and English). Good enough for me. I order ‘udon’ with beef curry. To drink (‘free’)? Watermelon milk. My waitress nods in approval. It soon arrives: watered down skim milk flavored with watermelon and charged with something else. My first thought is blueberries because there are darkish balls visible at the bottom on the glass. I make a mess trying to retrieve one. They are not blueberries; they are gelatin balls with little flavor, but the locals must like how they chew. The oversize straw makes it easy to slurp them up with the milk. It’s a new experience. Yes, I made a mess, which is something the Chinese here in Hong Kong do not do. I know that because there are never any napkins in these restaurants. I looked around: nobody had or needed a napkin. Except me (and it got worse after my soup arrived). Being the experienced traveler that I am, however, I quickly adapted by fishing the handipack of tissues out of my pocket.  You realize they were meant as a substitute for something other than napkins, right?  A substitute for something else that you don't consistently find in this part of the world.  so, what did I think of the soup?  I wished I had sat at the bar and fressed on the sushi as it passed by on the conveyor belt.  All the Chinese (including many high school students) seemed to be enjoying it.  What was I saying about Thai curries?

Frozen Yoghurt:  All day the rains came and went. Some pounded. I survived. In the evening, my umbrella and I went walking into the night markets nearby. In fact, the location of this Y makes it perfect for a true Hong Kong shopping experience. I ate ramen noodles and then stopped for something that seemed new here: frozen yogurt. It wasn't as good as Skinny Dip, but almost. The night markets comprise several parallel streets and cross streets. The streets are reserved for pedestrians and stalls materialize on the macadam. Prepared for the rain, they are: scaffolding and hoods over all the street vendors. I bought a pair of pants from a man who had been doing business here for 20 years. If you come to Hong Kong to shop, you should subject yourself to two experiences: (1) the night markets, and (2) the glitzy gallerias.

I am happy to say I survived the cyclone. People on the street call it a typhoon; weather forecasters call it a cyclone. I just wish it had passed directly over Hong Kong instead of targeting Hainan Island further south.


Geographically yours,

D.J.Z.