Hot Pot, Bitter Tea

March 31: Jet lag caught up today. Sleeping through 20-some hours of flights before arriving at night was not a good idea. I couldn’t sleep the first two nights I spent in Hong Kong, and on my third day, today, I crashed.

When I woke, Joyce’s parents had the table prepared with a hot pot – a boiling pot of water surrounded by plates of raw beef, chicken (Joyce’s mother selected the live bird in the morning and had it feathered and boned while she waited…service included in the price), squid balls, partially-cooked bouncy beef, three types of leafy greens, tofu and bean curd sheet.



After dinner, I drank dose #1 of my herbal tea prescription. After a few hours boiling on the stove, Mrs. Choi poured the tea in a wide bowl and placed it on the table.

“Ho fu,” she said.

“Very bitter,” Joyce said.

Mrs. Choi set a bag prunes on the table: “This will help. Sweet.”

I took a small drink. Not bad.

I took a big drink and shivered, took a big bite of a prune.

Not sure if it was the tea, but when I woke the next morning, my injured shoulder felt good.