Last Sunday (31st May) I organised a yum cha outing for fellow post-doctoral researchers. Apart from myself and a Chinese Malaysian, the rest are all Westerners.
上星期日（5月31日）我負責為博士後研究生安排去飲茶，除了我和另一個來自馬來西亞的華人外，還有八個外國人 。
Fortunately they were not adverse to trying new things. All of them took the courage to try the jellyfish that accompanied the dish of roast suckling pig, but admittedly they didn’t like it too much. I wouldn’t blame them. The rubbery yet rough strips of jellyfish might not have looked the most appealing, while the association between jellyfish and toxic stings is also quite unpalatable to some. With more people to share the risk, three of us volunteered to try the quintessential dim sum of chicken feet. They seemed to cope quite well with the small bones and gelatinous skin, and one of them was even smart enough to pull out the largest bone before tackling the more delicate parts of the foot. They made a feast of the chicken feet and took a photo for the occasion.
可幸他們不怕嘗新奇事物，用以伴烤乳豬件的海蜇大家都嚐過一兩口，不過他們都不太喜歡——這也難怪，海蜇看似一條條果凍但質感像橡皮，外貌和口感對老外都不太討好，而且想起海蜇其實是水母，要把這叮人的毒東西下嚥也得克服些心理障礙。吃鳳爪時也有三個人抱著難得一試的心態，一人吃了一隻，還拍照留念，啃骨頭和咀嚼那橡皮似的雞皮似乎難不倒他們，其中一人更聰明得先把那根小腿骨拔出來才慢慢咀嚼，他們都覺得吃鳳爪有點像玩遊戲，可不像直吞下肚子那麼簡單 。
The whole table went crazy when desserts came around. The mango pudding won everyone over totally, so we ordered two more after the first one. The deep-fried dough balls sprinkled with sesame also caught their interest. The waitress decided to cut up the dough balls in the shape of petals and arranged the pieces in the shape of flowers. This piece of edible artwork was not only aesthetically pleasing but also gastronomically popular.
到飯後甜點時他們更是了迷，他們吃過芒果布丁後讚不絕口，再點了兩個，另外有人貪新鮮，看到圓球似的煎堆很有興趣，點了一盤，待應把煎堆剪成一片片，擺得像花球一樣，賣相可真吸引，我也沒想到這盤煎堆會那麼叫座。
A few of those Westerners have probably had some experience with yum cha in the past. One of them kept asking when the egg tarts would arrive, and although it did take a while, she was obviously more than pleased to see them turn up. Another person asked me to keep an eye on chive dumplings, and although she couldn’t get what she wanted, I was actually pleasantly surprised that she knew about this dim sum. On the contrary, there were also those less familiar with yum cha, and they only found out that dim sum could only be ordered from trolleys that roam about the restaurant and a tally would then be recorded on a dim sum sheet. (Interestingly, however, Hong Kong has pretty much moved towards à la carte ordering of dim sums these days, and the dim sum trolley and dim sum sheet are fast becoming history.) Some of them even asked if my family would make dim sum ourselves.
好幾個外國人想必對飲茶有點經驗，其中一個到了甜點時間便不停追問蛋撻甚麼時候會推出，願望成真後她當然吃得特別滿足，另一人我留意有沒有韭菜餃，雖然始終都沒有，但我也不禁想，這麼喜歡吃韭菜餃，似人定是懂得飲茶的人。有一兩個對飲茶不太熟悉的，來了才知道飲茶時得從點心車點食物，然後分小、中、大、特點在點心卡上記錄（點心車甚至那些傳統點心卡在香港已是稀有物種了！）也有人問我，家裡會不會做這些點心。
It’s the benefit of living in the multicultural society that people constantly learn about new things. During this yum cha, the Westerners had a chance to taste food that was a bit new to them, while I also had a rare glimpse into what they thought of yum cha and what they liked. There’s indeed more to this yum cha outing than eating; it is a cultural exchange in an informal way.
文化交融就是有這樣的好處，那些外國人有機會接觸新事物，而我也難得有機會知道他們對飲茶和不同的點心有甚麼看法，繼上一次後，這次飲茶可算是另一次文化交流吧。
After the yum cha, I went for a saunter with the Malaysian colleague in the streets of Docklands, where the restaurant was located. Although Docklands is in some ways an extension of the Melbourne CBD, it feels a bit isolated from the rest of the city and we don’t frequent that area much. So after the yum cha, we felt it was our turn to try something new and explore the streets.
飲茶後跟那個馬來西亞人在附近逛逛。酒樓座落在船塢區（Docklands），雖說那裡緊貼市中心，但地點始終有點僻，我倆也不常到那裡，所以飲茶後輪到我貪新鮮，隨意在該區的街道走走。
A Rubik's cube in Docklands?
灰色扭計骰（魔術方塊）
An eagle perching in the middle of city水泥森林中鷹視眈眈
We reached the banks of Yarra River after a while and discovered a new bridge – well, it’s not that new as it’s probably been built two to three years ago, but I was in Germany at that time so I haven’t been aware of it until then. The bridge was a link between Docklands and the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, and once we’ve crossed the bridge, it was just another 5-minute walk before we ended up in the hustle and bustle of the casino area. It is funny that I have never noticed the bridge whenever I passed by the casino area, but that was probably because the bend of the river bank has hidden the bridge out of view. This little corner of the city enjoyed tranquillity and scenic views against the backdrop of some modern architecture. If that place were in Hong Kong, it would have been swarmed by photography enthusiasts a long time ago fighting for the best vantage points.
不經不覺來到雅拉河（Yarra River）畔，發現那裡建了一道新橋——其實應該是兩三年前當我仍在德國的時候已築好了，祇是我一直沒留意而已。那道橋連接船塢區和墨爾本會議及展覽中心，跨橋後沿河畔走，原來祇消五分鐘左右便是繁華的賭場地帶，祇不過那段路是彎路，從賭場望過去是不輕易察覺那道橋的，我也因此一直忽略了市區這一個角落。這一片小天地有自己的景色，開揚、恬靜中帶有城市的現代氣息，換了在香港早已吸引不少人來拍照了。
A bridge with artistic curves 充滿曲線美的橋
A view of Melbourne's 'West End'
墨爾本城西一景
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
墨爾本會議及展覽中心
There are always some parts of a city that are neglected or overlooked by its residents, even those who have been living there through all their lives. It is therefore sometimes quite fun to be a ‘local tourist’, embark on a journey of discovery and explore some new facets of a place that we often think we know it all.
就算在一個地方住得久了——甚至一輩子住在那裡，總會有些部分是從未踏足過的，所以偶而做一個「地道遊客」，發掘新事物，看看城市的另一面貌，也是一樁樂事。
上星期日（5月31日）我負責為博士後研究生安排去飲茶，除了我和另一個來自馬來西亞的華人外，還有八個外國人 。
Fortunately they were not adverse to trying new things. All of them took the courage to try the jellyfish that accompanied the dish of roast suckling pig, but admittedly they didn’t like it too much. I wouldn’t blame them. The rubbery yet rough strips of jellyfish might not have looked the most appealing, while the association between jellyfish and toxic stings is also quite unpalatable to some. With more people to share the risk, three of us volunteered to try the quintessential dim sum of chicken feet. They seemed to cope quite well with the small bones and gelatinous skin, and one of them was even smart enough to pull out the largest bone before tackling the more delicate parts of the foot. They made a feast of the chicken feet and took a photo for the occasion.
可幸他們不怕嘗新奇事物，用以伴烤乳豬件的海蜇大家都嚐過一兩口，不過他們都不太喜歡——這也難怪，海蜇看似一條條果凍但質感像橡皮，外貌和口感對老外都不太討好，而且想起海蜇其實是水母，要把這叮人的毒東西下嚥也得克服些心理障礙。吃鳳爪時也有三個人抱著難得一試的心態，一人吃了一隻，還拍照留念，啃骨頭和咀嚼那橡皮似的雞皮似乎難不倒他們，其中一人更聰明得先把那根小腿骨拔出來才慢慢咀嚼，他們都覺得吃鳳爪有點像玩遊戲，可不像直吞下肚子那麼簡單 。
The whole table went crazy when desserts came around. The mango pudding won everyone over totally, so we ordered two more after the first one. The deep-fried dough balls sprinkled with sesame also caught their interest. The waitress decided to cut up the dough balls in the shape of petals and arranged the pieces in the shape of flowers. This piece of edible artwork was not only aesthetically pleasing but also gastronomically popular.
到飯後甜點時他們更是了迷，他們吃過芒果布丁後讚不絕口，再點了兩個，另外有人貪新鮮，看到圓球似的煎堆很有興趣，點了一盤，待應把煎堆剪成一片片，擺得像花球一樣，賣相可真吸引，我也沒想到這盤煎堆會那麼叫座。
A few of those Westerners have probably had some experience with yum cha in the past. One of them kept asking when the egg tarts would arrive, and although it did take a while, she was obviously more than pleased to see them turn up. Another person asked me to keep an eye on chive dumplings, and although she couldn’t get what she wanted, I was actually pleasantly surprised that she knew about this dim sum. On the contrary, there were also those less familiar with yum cha, and they only found out that dim sum could only be ordered from trolleys that roam about the restaurant and a tally would then be recorded on a dim sum sheet. (Interestingly, however, Hong Kong has pretty much moved towards à la carte ordering of dim sums these days, and the dim sum trolley and dim sum sheet are fast becoming history.) Some of them even asked if my family would make dim sum ourselves.
好幾個外國人想必對飲茶有點經驗，其中一個到了甜點時間便不停追問蛋撻甚麼時候會推出，願望成真後她當然吃得特別滿足，另一人我留意有沒有韭菜餃，雖然始終都沒有，但我也不禁想，這麼喜歡吃韭菜餃，似人定是懂得飲茶的人。有一兩個對飲茶不太熟悉的，來了才知道飲茶時得從點心車點食物，然後分小、中、大、特點在點心卡上記錄（點心車甚至那些傳統點心卡在香港已是稀有物種了！）也有人問我，家裡會不會做這些點心。
It’s the benefit of living in the multicultural society that people constantly learn about new things. During this yum cha, the Westerners had a chance to taste food that was a bit new to them, while I also had a rare glimpse into what they thought of yum cha and what they liked. There’s indeed more to this yum cha outing than eating; it is a cultural exchange in an informal way.
文化交融就是有這樣的好處，那些外國人有機會接觸新事物，而我也難得有機會知道他們對飲茶和不同的點心有甚麼看法，繼上一次後，這次飲茶可算是另一次文化交流吧。
* * *
After the yum cha, I went for a saunter with the Malaysian colleague in the streets of Docklands, where the restaurant was located. Although Docklands is in some ways an extension of the Melbourne CBD, it feels a bit isolated from the rest of the city and we don’t frequent that area much. So after the yum cha, we felt it was our turn to try something new and explore the streets.
飲茶後跟那個馬來西亞人在附近逛逛。酒樓座落在船塢區（Docklands），雖說那裡緊貼市中心，但地點始終有點僻，我倆也不常到那裡，所以飲茶後輪到我貪新鮮，隨意在該區的街道走走。
A Rubik's cube in Docklands?
灰色扭計骰（魔術方塊）
An eagle perching in the middle of city水泥森林中鷹視眈眈
We reached the banks of Yarra River after a while and discovered a new bridge – well, it’s not that new as it’s probably been built two to three years ago, but I was in Germany at that time so I haven’t been aware of it until then. The bridge was a link between Docklands and the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, and once we’ve crossed the bridge, it was just another 5-minute walk before we ended up in the hustle and bustle of the casino area. It is funny that I have never noticed the bridge whenever I passed by the casino area, but that was probably because the bend of the river bank has hidden the bridge out of view. This little corner of the city enjoyed tranquillity and scenic views against the backdrop of some modern architecture. If that place were in Hong Kong, it would have been swarmed by photography enthusiasts a long time ago fighting for the best vantage points.
不經不覺來到雅拉河（Yarra River）畔，發現那裡建了一道新橋——其實應該是兩三年前當我仍在德國的時候已築好了，祇是我一直沒留意而已。那道橋連接船塢區和墨爾本會議及展覽中心，跨橋後沿河畔走，原來祇消五分鐘左右便是繁華的賭場地帶，祇不過那段路是彎路，從賭場望過去是不輕易察覺那道橋的，我也因此一直忽略了市區這一個角落。這一片小天地有自己的景色，開揚、恬靜中帶有城市的現代氣息，換了在香港早已吸引不少人來拍照了。
A bridge with artistic curves 充滿曲線美的橋
A view of Melbourne's 'West End'
墨爾本城西一景
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
墨爾本會議及展覽中心
There are always some parts of a city that are neglected or overlooked by its residents, even those who have been living there through all their lives. It is therefore sometimes quite fun to be a ‘local tourist’, embark on a journey of discovery and explore some new facets of a place that we often think we know it all.
就算在一個地方住得久了——甚至一輩子住在那裡，總會有些部分是從未踏足過的，所以偶而做一個「地道遊客」，發掘新事物，看看城市的另一面貌，也是一樁樂事。
Comments
I think they quite liked it because it was chewy and different!
I also order steam eels with black beam sauce... and they loved it!!!
I think my colleagues are quite adventrous with food.
RC: your colleagues are quite atypical, I must say. I generally find that Westerners like strong flavours (like the black bean sauce) and big slabs of meat with no bones or a few big bones. That's why I'm surprised that your colleagues didn't complain about the bones of the eel nor the blend taste of jellyfish. Trying to pick out the bones from the eel must have been a very challenging exercise for them!
最識叫嘢食嘅喺溫哥華嘅西人，因為真喺好多選擇又好食。最唔敢試嘅喺我而家嘅同事。
又難怪，呢度啲中餐喺好唔掂。我煮嘅仲好過佢哋囉。