Hong Kong Day 2 of Passing out between the 3rd and 4th course

Went to the wedding of a couple I barely know. It was a 6 hour affair. We got there at 5pm. By 7pm I was passing out at my seat because of jetlag. Here are some notable dishes of the evening.



Barbecued whole suckling pig
48 tables at this wedding = 48 baby pigs sacrificed for our eating enjoyment. Pretty sure baby pigs are illegal for consumption in the U.S. (It's tasty!)



Braised shark's fin with assorted seafood in lobster bisque
A waste of perfectly good shark's fin and lobster. Why mess with a perfectly fine shark's fin soup by making it a lobster bisque? The taste of the shark's fin gets drowned out by the lobster bisque. Lobster bisque is also a waste of lobster IMO.



Braised sliced abolone with Chinese mushrooms and vegetables
Pretty good abolone, not too chewy.



Baked mini egg tarts with bird's nest and deep fried sesame dumplings with lotus paste
A waste of bird's nest! Ahhh! This egg tart is very showy but it's a a waste of bird's nest. The tart itself was not very good- I like the crust to be flaky and this one was too hard and compressed. The deep fried sesame dumpling was good. I'm not usually into then enough to order them at dim sum in the states.

Notes:
-This was a 13 course dinner (3 were dessert). By the 7th or 8th I was already really full (and taking naps between courses)

-The east and west truly do everything opposite. All the wedding activities were done backwards as compared to a typical Chinese wedding in America. What I mean to say is, they did photos on the stage first (for like the first 3 hours!), then they had the sappy slide show of the bride and groom (usually reserved for near the end at most American weddings), then the bridesmaid and best man made there speeches, then the couple came and said a few words. Then we started eating.

-The waitstaff proportion every course at a side table. In America, a big plate would just be put on the table and everyone would serve themselves. (more differences!).

-There was no open bar which made me highly not want to be there about 2 seconds after I found out. Just a lot of low quality red wine, which I drank (but not too much).

-Just realized the majority of my posts in Hong Kong will be about food. Which reminds me, I should go pick up some mango Tic Tacs.

-Sorry for the crappy iPhone photos!

Sharon's Wedding

Went to a wedding on Saturday night for my mom's friend's daughter Sharon. It was in freaking Flushing. Why? I don't know. All their relatives and friends live in Brooklyn... The grass is greener.



Tea Ceremony! She's wearing a Chinese wedding dress. Same as Michelle did at hers. It's the same dress. My mom was the tea handler person. I don't know what you'd call that in English. She's the one standing in the middle holding the tray.



Games are often played at Chinese weddings. They are playing what is, essentially Marco Polo here. The bride and gloom has to find each other.



There are also a few other games, that they didn't play. They can get pretty elaborate. I remember when I was a young lad attending a wedding in Chinatown. The only game I can remember from that involved a blindfolded gloom trying to grab boiled eggs from the bride's leg. Or something.

They had an open bar. That was the first thing my sister and I did. I had 4 rum and cokes throughout the night, but didn't even get really that tipsy. I had 2 before we started to eat. I guess the food negated it.


Cheers.

A few more photos at my flickr.