Dim Sum + Games

Eventful day yesterday!

M, D, and I went to B's house @ 9:45AMish to drop of (and eat) a wildberry frozen cheesecake D and I made Friday night. Stayed for 1 hour then went home to shower, then went to eat Dim Sum w/ B and her family! Haven't had Dim Sum since Hong Kong - almost 6 months! I (surprisingly) haven't taken many pictures recently so here's a few places we hit up in HK for some goooood Dim Sum!
The 2nd day (I think) in HK we (B and I) went to this Dim Sum restaurant w/ Steven and Kenneth. I lost the pics so I don't remember what it's called anymore but I really liked the atmosphere - it was neat - and the food tasted so good after all that Taiwanese food.
Maxims Palace - it looks more like a Chinese wedding hall, but they serve some good Dim Sum here. There's also a pretty terrific (hah who uses that word these days) harbour view! I really liked the atmosphere - classy and clean. B's aunt took us here 3 times I think. This huge place is extremely popular. In the morning, it's totally packed and you have to wait quite a while for a table, but it's worth it. They have a v. organized system that I was impressed with - esp. for such a big restaurant. On the way there, you pass by this whole undercover area full of Filipino nannies (some with Agnes B bags!) eating lunch on blankets. V. interesting!
Gold lined China. A check mark in my books =D
Prices are approx. $3/dish.
I think I was trying to take a picture of the guys in the next table who ordered a lot of food at once.
Only thing is that it's a bit chilly inside - they blast the air con (like most indoor places in HK).
Luk Yu Tea House - where the 1st traditional Dim Sum place opened in HK (and apparently the most famous) in 1933. It was one of the tourist destinations I wanted to go to from some research. There's a good mix of tourists and regulars there. As you can see, the style still dates back to that time. An interesting fact: "Luk Yu is not only famous, but infamous: On November 30, 2002, a wealthy businessman was murdered execution-style by a mainland Chinese hit man. Witnesses said the assassin was calm and cold: he ate breakfast, paid the bill, walked behind his target, shot him in the head, and strolled out of the teahouse."
What I found interesting was how the waiters seemed quite old. It matched the old-worldness of the restaurant. "Our waiter was a most genial fellow; when we enquired how long he'd been working there, he replied more than 40 years—and he'd started when he was 14 years old."
The menu, I remember, is actually a bit more expensive than Dim Sum restaurants here in Vancouver averaging around $4-5/dish compared to $2.50-4/dish here.
While I didn't find the food anything special, it was nice to know that I visited such a place!
On the other hand, both B and I thought this place to be higher than par as far as Dim Sum restaurants go! Serenade Chinese Restaurant in Kowloon (Tsim Sha Tsui Stn). It was quite inexpensive (at $2-4CDN/dish) compared to Luk Yu. A v. bright place and another great place for a wedding reception though not as elegant as Maxim's b/c the ceilings are lower.
Half-eaten food isn't so nice to take a picture of... we tried something new w/ the chilled eggplant dish and it turned out to be excellent. It's similar to Maxim's Palace in that it's a v. clean place and the view (if you get a seat next to the window) is just as nice, if not nicer. A definite recommendation and I will def. go out of my way to eat there next time I go to HK.
We went to a couple other places for Dim Sum too (I can't believe I didn't take pics there!) but I don't remember the names... B?
All in all, I don't think Dim Sum places in HK can be disappointing. Just go where the locals flock. That's true for everywhere eh?
Anyway, after Dim Sum today (yesterday), D and I studied @ my house for a few hours before she had to go out for dinner and I went to Ryan's for a games night. I love games so much - esp. board games! We played so many - Mario Party 7 in pairs where Steph + I were in 1st place for so long and then Bowzer scrambled the game around and we lost quite badly at the end ahha
Then we played this game I've never heard of before called Quelch! It's a hilariously fun game - I'm very much considering adding it to my game collection. For some reason I can't find anything about it online... maybe Quelch is spelled differently. Anyway, it's a bit like Cranium b/c you still act, hum, draw, and even write poems like limericks and haikus, but you just don't guess. They have some outrageous rules and you have to do them or you go back a certain number of spaces. In the pic below, the rule, that applies to everyone for the rest of the game, is that if you've landed on the same spot as someone else, you have to hold their hand until one of you moves forwards or backwards. There aren't very many spaces on the board so someone's always holding hands with another ahhaha
Sometimes, you have to draw something or act a certain way or replace certain words with another word before your next turn. For example, I had to write a limerick on a mosquito who drank too much blood.
Mine was something like this (it's one of those things that was so much better when you wrote it and you can't remember what it was like exactly):

There once was a mosquito who was full.
He looked like he was about to lull.
Drinking blood was his goal
As much as a bull.
But he still could go for a stroll.

Other examples include:
- Instead of saying "turn" (as in, "it's your turn"), you have to replace turn with "Moo" or else you have to go back 1 space. "It's your moo!!"
- I had to act as if I was a confused mime who broke out of jail and joined a traveling dance crew until the timer ran out.
- Make your body into a shape of an X until it's your turn again... and we had 7 ppl playing so my arms grew tired.
- Jason had to point to the ceiling and look at where he was pointing. He also couldn't speak in English (so he spoke in Cantonese) until his turn (I mean, moo) was up again.
- Lick someone's elbow. If you don't, you have to go back a couple spaces.
- Put someone else's sock on your hand like a sock puppet for the remainder of the game. Give it a cute name.
So basically there turns out to be a bunch of r. fun "roolz" - so many that you can get so caught up in your turn that you forget to do things which makes you go back spaces. Yep - it's a creative game and is great for ice breakers... 'cause you never know the next time you can be sitting on a stranger's lap (or even slow dancing with the person next to you!!)

Then we played 2 games of Wii Kablookii (v. similar to Cranium) where my team won twice. They got to see the competitive side of me for once haha. It's neat, but not worth the $40. Maybe if it was $15, I'd get it.

Ended the day off with an introduction to Guitar Heroes III. Honestly, it's not that great. It's really fun to watch if you're watching an expert like this 9 year old playing the hardest song in expert mode in Guitar Hero history: Through The Fire and Flames
**
His fingers actually fly.
Jason is actually really good!
Butchea - not really something I'd like to practice and get good at.

1. My hair is really longing for some good weightless non-Dove moisturizer conditioner
2. My nails are too long - scratched my eyeball while I was trying to take my contact out
3. ah... I got a huge zit on my forehead... haven't had one in months. I think it's from all the bad food this week.
4. Someone find me some good hair volumnizer that's under $25 'cause a lot of these serums weigh my hair down and hairspray makes it look greasy (and also weighs it down). Maybe a good mousse? Dove sucks and reeks.
5. Oh... what a v. sad week exercise-wise and food-wise

Back on track for sure tomorrow! It's a full Geog 389 day. Woo. Hoo.
Nad is HOME from NYC!!!!
It's late - 3:25AM and I'm exhausted 'cause I didn't get enough sleep last night.
Sleep well,
N