Chinatown & the Wanamaker's Pipe Organ

We were the first arrivals at the Green Land Tea House, Thea and I. Surprisingly, neither lightning nor a meteor struck the place. Thea and I tried out pork dumplings, $0.70 each, and a I tried a peanut sticky rice ball. The dumpling was ok, though the bread coating was a little on the greasy side, and the sticky rice ball is probably an acquired taste. I liked the ground peanut filling and the coconut coating, but the sticky rice was exactly as its name described. Glutenous, adhesive-like, bland. The good news we got from the home while at the bakery was that Micah had decided to go pee on the potty.


The Shanghai Bazaar and New China Bookstore was the next stop, but Thea and I were in more of a looking than a buying mode. We got a wooden dog pull-toy for Micah, now named Pee-Pee Puppy. It was interesting, but it doesn't hold a candle to A Gift from China in GuangZhou.


Next we went to hear the noon concert of the pipe organ, which is impressive for its size and the number of pipes it has. While waiting for the concert to end so that we could tour the console area, we went down to the first floor where Macy's has a red mail box for letters to Santa. I saw a commercial that I only half paid attention to that said that for every letter to Santa, Macy's would make a contribution to a charity (which one I don't remember) up to one million dollars. Thea and her friend Kalani wrote notes. Thea couldn't think of anything to put on her list, so she wrote out "Thank you for all the presents you've brought me."

Then we went to Ocean Harbor, a dim sum restaurant on Race Street. Very popular place from the lines coming out the door. Carts zipping around with the various offerings. Even chicken feet. From all the reading I've done about Chinese cooking, the best part, most flavorful part doesn't come from the breast, but 40+ years of conditioning with Perdue under the plastic wrap is hard to break down. And I've seen the places those chicken feet walk, and most of them are woefully overdue for a poultry pedicure. I passed, I am a culinary coward and quite happy in that role. Thea and I had shrimp, which comes with all its bits still there, and if one is doing it the proper way, one sucks out the head. I'm not a shrimp head sucker, either.

I may need to come back and read the bit about the note from Santa after awhile, because the same child who wrote that earlier today is being a major pain in the rear this evening. The needle on my Whine-o-Meter is off the charts, and most of the noise is coming from the older one. (Micah does whine at times, but he usually will try whacking something or someone as his first approach.)