In the Orient Page 2

  At almost six feet tall, Dr. Chen was very fit, and the tailored blue suit, white shirt, and silver tie added to the distinguished look that set him apart from all the other people milling around the airport. He wore thin wire-rimmed glasses, and his engaging smile was accented by some of the whitest teeth Archibald had ever seen.

  Robert Liu could not have been more different than his employer. The shiny hairless head that sat atop his rotund five-foot-five-inch, forty-year old frame was moist with perspiration. Dr. Chen’s driver wore a dark suit, but it clearly had been purchased off a bargain basement rack with minimal, if any, alterations. His white shirt seemed one size too small for his bulging neck, and his black tie appeared as though it was slowly choking him, like a python crushing a defenseless piglet. He also wore glasses, but his were horn-rimmed with quarter-inch lenses.

  Dr. Chen

  However, what defined Robert Liu’s strange appearance wasn’t his bald head, his height, his weight, his glasses, or his clothes—no, not one of those unusual characteristics distinguished him in Archibald’s eyes. It was his teeth. When his full lips parted in a broad smile, two rows of highly polished gold teeth gleamed in the fluorescent light that illuminated the bustling baggage area!

  While Dr. Chen waited with Archibald for his luggage to arrive, Robert Liu waddled off to fetch his pride and joy, a black Mercedes-Benz W123 four-door sedan.

  As they waited, Dr. Chen explained that Robert’s father, Liu Dingxiang, had been his own father’s trusted driver and bodyguard for many years. He also said that in addition to driving duties, Robert served as his bodyguard as well, adding that out of the thousands of people he employed inside and outside Hong Kong, none was more loyal than Robert.

  Twenty minutes later, Dr. Chen and Archibald were sitting comfortably in the air-conditioned back seat of the Mercedes, sipping cold water as Robert navigated a very familiar route toward the Cross-Harbour Tunnel that ran under Victoria Harbour between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Dr. Chen explained that before the tunnel was finished in 1972, the only way to reach his home on Hong Kong Island from Kowloon was by ferry.

  Robert Liu

  Although Archibald had seen dozens of photographs of Hong Kong at night, they didn’t do justice to the breathtaking panorama spread out before his tired eyes. He couldn’t get over the dazzling maze of lights and skyscrapers that rose up on both the Hong Kong and Kowloon sides of Victoria Harbour.

  In fact, Archibald thought that the whole atmosphere was uniquely different. From the moment he deplaned, he’d noticed that the air seemed heavier and more humid. More than that, Hong Kong was bustling and alive with strange sounds and foreign smells that were more exotic than anything he’d ever experienced.

  ‘The Peak’

  “Dr. Chen, would you please tell me about Victoria Peak before we get there?” Archibald asked as the Mercedes entered the large Cross-Harbour Tunnel.

  “Well, Archibald,” Dr. Chen answered in a clipped British accent, “Victoria Peak, or ‘The Peak’ as most locals call it, is really a mountain situated in the western half of Hong Kong Island. In fact, it’s the highest mountain on the island, but not in all of Hong Kong. That record is reserved for Tai Mo Shan, an extinct volcano in the center of the New Territories on the Kowloon side. Ah, but that’s a trifle more information than you need.

  “So, let me get back to your original question. To begin with, the apex of The Peak is a smidgen more than five hundred meters above sea level. For you Americans, that translates to just about eighteen hundred feet. On top of The Peak sits a radio and communications facility that isn’t accessible to the public. Just below the communications facility is the most expensive residential real estate in all of Hong Kong. According to some, the property there is potentially some of the most valuable property in the whole world.

  “In addition to providing truly spectacular views of Victoria Harbour, Central Hong Kong, and many of the surrounding islands, The Peak boasts a much more temperate climate compared to the rest of Hong Kong. You’re visiting us in summer, and by the time you leave in August, high temperatures will average around thirty-three degrees Celsius, or about ninety-two degrees Fahrenheit. So you see, my boy, living higher up in a cooler environment does have definite advantages.”

  Archibald nodded and then asked, “Dr. Chen, when I was researching Hong Kong, I read that Victoria Peak is also one of Hong Kong’s major tourist attractions. Is that right?”

  “Yes it is, but not in the exact area where we live,” answered Dr. Chen. “I must tell you that the Peak wasn’t always a place where tourists visited and well-to-do people lived. The area was largely inaccessible until The Peak Tram, which was rope-driven, opened in 1888. Incredibly, that same tram system is still running today.

  “When the tram increased access to The Peak and made it a desirable place to live, not all people with means were able to make their home there. Back in the early 1900s, an official ordinance restricted the Chinese from buying property on The Peak. When the ordinance was lifted in 1930, my grandfather was the first Chinese person to purchase several estates there. We now reside on the site of one of those original houses today. When I finished building our current home a decade ago, I renamed it ‘Jade Place’ in honor of Mrs. Chen’s birthstone.”

  During the remainder of the drive to Jade Place, Dr. Chen and Archibald continued to discuss The Peak’s history. As interesting as their discussion was, Archibald was thankful when Robert Liu drove the Mercedes through a remote-controlled wrought iron gate and down a steep driveway into an underground four-car garage. Although he was exhausted and just wanted to go to sleep, he also was very excited to meet the other members of his host family.

  Mrs. Chen, William, and May were all waiting to greet their American guest when Dr. Chen escorted him into the large formal living room.

  After shaking hands, Mrs. Chen said, “I know how tired you must be, Archibald. If you are hungry, our cook, Kuang Jianguo, can prepare a light meal for you. If you are not, please join us for some tea while Ah-lam, our maid, prepares your room. I promise we won’t keep you long.”

  Jade Place

  Ah-lam and Kuang Jianquo

  Although Archibald’s eyes were beginning to burn from lack of sleep, he knew from his briefing materials that if his host family upon arrival offered him tea, he needed to accept. Hoping that he would be in bed soon, he fought back a yawn and replied, “A cup of tea would be just fine, thank you.”

  Mrs. Chen was true to her word, and fifteen minutes later Archibald was shown to his second-floor bedroom by Ah-lam. When she opened the bedroom door and asked if there was anything else he required, he was surprised to find that his suitcase had been unpacked. Best of all, however, his bed had already been turned down.

  Ten minutes after saying, “No, thank you, Ah-lam, I’m all set,” the young American was fast asleep.

  Saturday Morning in Hong Kong

  Archibald had indeed been exhausted from his long journey, and he slept until almost ten o’clock the next morning. After a quick shower and shave, he put on a white polo shirt, khaki shorts, and a new pair of low-cut Converse tennis shoes. While tying his laces, he realized just how hungry he was, and as he left the bedroom in search of his host family, he wondered what type of breakfast he’d be served.

  “Good morning, Archibald. Did you sleep well?” May asked as she stood at the bottom of the staircase that led to the main level where the living room, library, dining room, and kitchen were located.

  “Like a log,” he answered, quickly covering the last few stairs between him and the five-foot-four-inch, dark-haired young woman who was smiling up at him. May had just returned from an hour-long lesson with Wu Feng, and she was still wearing her traditional Chinese martial arts uniform, or gi, as she called it.

  “And just how does a log sleep?” she asked, not familiar with the colloquialism he’d just used.

  “Let’s put it this way, ten minutes after I said good night to you, I was out like a light!
” he laughed.

  “Well, it seems that your light is back on, and you’re wide awake now,” she replied as she led Archibald into the kitchen. “Since you didn’t eat anything last night, you must be very hungry. We’ve already eaten, but Kuang Jianquo will fix you breakfast. You may have either a traditional Chinese or English breakfast. Mother and Father prefer Chinese, but William and I are partial to fried eggs, bacon, roasted tomato, and toast. The choice is yours.”

  Archibald was surprised at the size of the kitchen. About thirty feet square, its walls were covered in gleaming white tiles. Kuang Jianquo was standing between the large stainless steel stove that stood against one wall and the butcher block island that was in the middle of the room. The portly Chinese cook dressed all in white looked up expectantly, waiting for the young houseguest to place his order.

  “Alright, Archibald, what will it be for you this morning—Chinese or English?” May asked.

  Archibald had no idea what a Chinese breakfast included. However, remembering that one of his father’s favorite sayings was, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” he decided to chance it, answering, “Chinese, please.”

  Ah-lam, who’d just walked in, smiled and asked Archibald whether he’d like to be served at the table in the corner of the kitchen or in the formal dining room. Before he could answer, May replied, “Let’s eat in here, if you don’t mind. I’ll have some tea and a sesame cake with you.”

  Minutes later, Archibald was having his first taste of hot yum cha, which literally translated to “drink tea.” The traditional morning tea was followed by successive small bowls of sweet and savory soymilk porridge and spinach dumplings, all of which were accompanied by Chinese crullers and sesame cakes.

  Halfway through the meal, Mrs. Chen arrived and apologized to Archibald for not having been there to greet him when he came downstairs that morning, explaining that she had to leave early for an appointment.

  “Mr. Chen is also sorry he wasn’t here,” she continued, “but he needs to spend the better part of the day at his office. However, he has arranged for Robert to take you, May, and William on a tour of Hong Kong Island just as soon as William returns from his cricket practice.”

  Raising an eyebrow at her daughter, Mrs. Chen cleared her throat and then said, “May, I trust that as soon as Archibald has finished his breakfast, you’ll excuse yourself to change into something more suitable for the tour.”

  “Yes, mah ma,” May answered, winking at Archibald as she bowed and turned her head so her mother couldn’t see.

  Touring Hong Kong Island

  It was late morning when Robert Liu drove his three young passengers out of the garage at Jade Place en route to the first of several stops he would make that afternoon.

  As soon as a brief driving tour of Victoria Peak was concluded, the Mercedes-Benz turned east along the waterfront on Gloucester Road, and then south on Route 1 toward their initial destination, Ocean Park.

  William began reading the first of many passages he would recite from a Hong Kong tour book. “Ocean Park opened in 1977, and today it is one of the foremost parks housing marine mammals, other creatures that live in the sea and on land, and an array of amusement rides. It is not only one of the most popular tourist attractions in Hong Kong, but also throughout the Far East.”

  “I’ve been there several times,” May chimed in, “and we don’t have enough time today to do it justice. However, if you like it, we can always come back another time.”

  Later, while standing at Ocean Park’s dolphin pool, Archibald was reminded of the pink dolphins he’d seen while out on the Amazon River with Jockabeb and Uncle Charlie. Although the Hong Kong dolphins were gray and much larger, they played in the water just like their pink cousins in Brazil.

  After spending an hour walking through the sections of Ocean Park that were devoted to marine mammals and fish, William looked at his watch and announced, “Alright, your tour guide needs to keep you on schedule, so it’s time to head to Repulse Bay.”

  As the car headed east along the south coast of Hong Kong Island, William adjusted his glasses and referred to his tour book once again. Leafing through the pages, he found the write-up on Repulse Bay, and then began to read.

  “Repulse Bay’s name dates back to the early 1840s when the bay was used as a staging area for pirates who attacked foreign merchant ships trading with China,” he began. “The British fleet finally repulsed the pirates, hence the name ‘Repulse Bay.’ Repulse Bay was developed into a beach in the early 1900s, and today it boasts some of the most beautiful and expensive beach front property anywhere in Hong Kong.”

  As they passed Deep Water Bay and arrived at the outskirts of Repulse Bay, Archibald thought to himself that he was seeing some of the prettiest natural shoreline anywhere in the world. He also thought back to Dorothy’s famous line in The Wizard of Oz: “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

  After a quick barefoot walk on the white sand beach, they began their journey to the last stop of the afternoon—the world-famous Stanley Market located on a peninsula at the southernmost tip of Hong Kong Island.

  On the way there, William explained that the town of Stanley had been a fishing village long before the British arrived, and it was the last stand for the British before they surrendered to the Japanese in 1941. Then he added, “While few people would travel to Stanley to buy fresh fish today, many tourists and locals flock there to shop for clothes, antiques, electronics, and all sorts of other merchandise.”

  The market was bustling when they arrived. Since they’d skipped lunch, the first stop was a row of street food vendors. Archibald was totally confused by the number of unfamiliar foods, and the variety of different smells completely overwhelmed him.

  After some discussion, William opted for fried tofu, while May talked Archibald into joining her for a combo of fried fish balls and octopus arms. Although somewhat hesitant about eating octopus, Archibald was pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted.

  Forty-five minutes later after Archibald had visited several of the merchant stalls, he finally made his first four purchases in Hong Kong—a silk scarf for his mother, a beaded necklace for Tess, a jade-handled letter opener for his father, and a T-shirt for his brother.

  The T-shirt had the Chinese characters sun wukong on the front. The shopkeeper said that Sun Wukong was the name of the famous Chinese Monkey King.

  During the drive from Stanley back to The Peak, jet lag finally caught up with Archibald, and he dozed off for about twenty minutes. William remembered how the same thing had happened to him the day after he’d landed in San Francisco, and then again when he returned to Hong Kong, so he whispered to his sister, “Just let him sleep. He needs it.”

  It was seven o’clock when Robert Liu parked the car in the garage at Jade Place. Once upstairs on the main level, Archibald, William, and May were informed by Ah-lam that Dr. and Mrs. Chen were out, but they would meet them for dinner at eight o’clock at Dr. Chen’s favorite dim sum restaurant, Fook Lam Moon.

  Ah-lam then passed on the instructions she’d received earlier, saying, “Mrs. Chen told me to tell you that the car will depart for the restaurant at a quarter to eight. She also told me to tell you that the dress code for the evening is sport coats for the men and informal dresses for the women.”

  Since Archibald’s choice of a sport coat and for shoes was limited to a blue blazer and black loafers, his remaining decisions were whether to wear khaki or gray slacks, and whether a light blue or white shirt would look best. After a quick shower, he chose the khakis and a white button-down collared shirt.

  In the car on the way to the restaurant, Archibald was a bit embarrassed when he asked, “I know I should know this, but can you tell me what dim sum is?”

  “Sure,” William replied. “It’s a traditional style of Cantonese cooking where bite-sized portions of food are brought to the table on small plates or in individual steamer baskets. Sometimes the dim sum comes wrapped in a dumpling, and
sometimes not. It is served family style, where everyone shares. Because the portions are small, we traditionally have a variety of different dishes. It’s really quite good, and this restaurant is one of father’s favorites for good reason.”

  “If you don’t like dim sum, there’ll be other choices on the menu,” May chimed in. Then she smiled and added, “Personally, I love dim sum.”

  A Dinner to Remember

  Fook Lam Moon was located in the Wan Chai district on Hong Kong Island, not far from the base of Victoria Peak. Since it opened in 1973, the restaurant’s reputation for serving some of the best Cantonese food in Hong Kong had grown steadily with both tourists and locals alike. Archibald figured that the food must be good because he could see a number of people waiting for tables as he followed William and May through the restaurant’s front door at precisely eight o’clock.

  Dr. and Mrs. Chen were already seated when a hostess wearing a cheongsam, the traditional Chinese embroidered long dress, showed their children and Archibald to the round lazy susan table. Approaching the table, Archibald was struck by the myriad of sounds and smells in the bustling, brightly colored restaurant.

  “Well now, Archibald,” Dr. Chen said as he stood and waved his hand toward the open seat to his left, “sit down next to me and tell us what you thought of the tour this afternoon.”

  “Perhaps we should all look at the menu and order before Archibald gives us his impressions of our little island,” Mrs. Chen suggested, patting her husband on his forearm.

  “Right you are,” Dr. Chen answered. “Archibald, if you need help with the menu, May will explain the various dishes to you. I hope you like dim sum because Fook Lam Moon is, in my humble opinion, the premiere dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong.”

  After everyone had selected their top choices, Dr. Chen ordered for the table. Finally, after drink orders were given—hot tea for each of the Chen family members, and a cold bottle of Coca-Cola for the American—Archibald proceeded to answer Dr. Chen’s initial question.