Tea at the Peninsula

On the morning of November 20th, 2007 I was late for afternoon tea because I spent too long in the cemetery…..it was one of those days…..

That was to be the first high tea experience of my young life, and I celebrated it alone. 

I had done minimal research before leaving Los Angeles for Hong Kong, but the one thing that kept popping up on every website was "High Tea at the Peninsula." Such a thing appealed to me because at the time I had just begun working my first "real" job and the disposable income I was earning lead me to fantasize about myself as an aristocrat. Having high tea at a hotel I could never afford to stay in seemed like it went along with my desire to live like a rich person for a day. 

So after spending several afternoons eating $3 (USD mind you) lunches on the street, I sat down for a whopping $30 tea and pastry fare.  

 I remember choosing Darjeeling tea because I had just seem the movie Darjeeling Limited. I know that's a lame reason, but for someone who knows less than nothing about tea you have to admit that was a little cute of me. 

At the time, I was engrossed in the Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. I never felt alone in Hong Kong as long as I carried that book with me. I spent my afternoon at the Penninsula reading in between sips of tea. The waiter was so kind as to snap this photograph of me.

Apparently I can only seem to take creepy pictures of myself. 

I can't believe I finished it all! It didn't look  like much but I was outrageously stuffed by the time I was done. 

This was all that was left....