happy easter

met up with tintin, mittens (tintin's new girl), Q2, and JP for dim sum at golden bridge. i was the first to arrive. reaching up the top of the stairs, i was welcomed by chaos. angry sounding chinese woman barking cantonese and english numbers from her podium. grandpas and grandmas sitting in rows waiting for their tables. little tykes milling around restlessly. i push my way to the head of the line, wait for the woman to stop yelling into her mic.

v: 5 people. lifting my hand to show all five fingers

the woman hands me ticket number 64. phone rings. Q2 is on her way. shortly after, Q2 then tin tin and mittens arrive. just as our table number is called, JP comes in. we're directed to a four top.

v: i said five. again lifting my hand to show all five fingers.

woman: i'm sorry. you can squeeze into the four top?

v: sure.

we scramble around while they pull up an extra chair. finally, we are all seated. by now, it's after 1pm and the carts are slowing down, the selection is more limited, but we are all starving. the first cart rolls around. we pounce on her and order har gow, rice flour rolls filled with roast pork and ground beef, taro dumplings. five rounds later, we were all satiated. especially tin tin as we were egging him on to finish up all the dishes.

after taking care of the check (really dim sum is always more expensive then anticipated), JP, tin tin, mittens, and i walked around chinatown for a little grocery shopping. i picked up some veggies, dried plums, and roast pork. we wandered our way over to the east village and stopped by sunrise mart where i got some picked veggies, spiced squid, and brown rice. with all my arms loaded up, it was time to head home.

within ten minutes of walking through the door, the phone rings. it's Q2 and she's dying to go out. i'm cold, fighting my cold, and beat from walking around town all afternoon. . but hey, what are friends for right? we met up at cha-an for some tea then yokocho for yakitori and sake and capped it off with a drink at angel's share. . a beautiful end to a wonderful friend-filled day.