Sat, Dec 30 2006 - Dim Sum Feast (View Original Event Details)
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On a Saturday morning, Jim, Trisha, Linda, Jose and myself all met in small Chinatown. Some of us drove; others took the TTC with the exception of Jose, who brought his black bike as a mean of transportation. (Sorry to disappoint you all but Jim didnt bring his shiny racy red bike to this event, he opted to drive his boxcar.). Personally, I have to give credit to Jose for riding his bike period. It is a good way to keep oneself active and one has to be brave and courageous to hustle with the crazy traffic in Toronto.
When we met at the assigned pace, it was around 10:30 a.m. and everyone seemed to look alert and ready to go. (Good news! No hangover from the day before). We walked through the narrow pathway of small Chinatown accompanied by an abundance of vegetables and fruits boxes on the edge of the sidewalk. Occasionally, we had to negotiate our way by twisting our body positions to make way for others coming in the opposite direction.
When we reached Pearl Court restaurant, it was not very busy but one hour later, the place was packed with people. Within a few minutes, we found ourselves surrounded with the aroma of Jasmine tea. The serving cart attendants came around with the dishes of dumplings. A short time later, there were almost ten dishes at our table. Talk about a fast service! The dishes included the following: Chicken rice baked in banana leaves, assortment of dumplings (i.e. shrimp, scallop, pork beef etc.). All of us agreed to order the curry squid, which was very tasty. According to Chinese tradition, when your guests teacup is less than full, the teapot has to be refilled. The guest, normally tap his/her finger to signal when the pouring of tea should stop. Dessert such as egg tarts and sesame balls were served intermittently between the coming and going of dishes. One does not need to wait until the end of the course to eat them. Linda couldnt stop devouring the sesame balls. We ended up ordering a second round of the same dish to satisfy her craving and joined her in the pleasure of eating it.
I must say everyone maneuvered the chopsticks with little difficulty. There were no shrimp dumplings flying across the table. All the people had had dim sum at one time or other and wanted to taste it again. Besides sharing our food, we shared the stories of our lives ranging from Trishas story about what makes a car safe to Jose technological knowledge on computers. Personally, I found it a learning experience in hearing the individual points of view regarding matters of life. Through discussion, we can learn from one another and develop friendship.
The day ended with us having a full stomach. Jim appeared to enjoy the food so much that he left a piece of extra dumpling on his shirt. As it was pointed out to him, he quickly wiped it off with a giggle. (Yes, that is Jim) As we looked at our table, I think we rather did quite well with all the empty dishes lingering around. I think Jim truly enjoyed the food or else he would not have made such a mess at his end of the table. As we were getting ready to go, we all thought we might need a hike to work off such a big meal. Jose said, I guess I could use my bike to have a workout nowand Jim decided to head off and shop for an exercise machine.
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.