This Actually Happened — January 21st, 2012

Chinese Food

Today’s post will be my attempt to get back to some form of normalcy.

     The other day, while in Chinatown, we experienced an unbelievable occurrence. After our meeting, we headed to Bank of America to handle some business, and the helpful young woman suggested a couple places to eat, since we were starving. (My stomach was growling like the belly of a hungry college student who woke up too late to eat breakfast before an early morning class!) We chose a restaurant called Hop Woo, conveniently located across the street from the bank. A bonus was the fact that they offered reasonably priced combination plates. We crossed the street, at the crosswalk, and entered the establishment. (Los Angeles doesn’t play around with jaywalking!) Upon entering, we were happy to see a great selection of Chinese cuisine, right before our eyes. We looked over the various dishes and prepared to make our choices. The woman asked whether we wanted to dine in or if we preferred take-out and I replied, for here. She grabbed a couple menus and led us to an empty table. The restaurant was about half-full but not overly busy. We looked over the menus while the waitress brought a plate of appetizers and some tea. Everything was going swimmingly, until she asked if we were ready to order. @EFidalgo12 went first and he wanted to create a combination plate from the choices that we saw at the entrance. There was a problem; we could either order the items as separate dishes and eat in the restaurant, or take the food to go. After much confusion, we elected to get the take-out and leave. (I poured a cup of tea, but didn’t even take a sip!) At the counter, we selected our respective combination plates and prepared to pay. I offered to pay for the meal with my debit card, but there was another problem; the minimum purchase was fifteen dollars. I agreed to the policy and added two drinks to our order. The total was $10.19; we had to pay cash. For the life of me, I can’t understand why the restaurant didn’t allow patrons to choose from the take-out menu and be served on plates, but I guess this will just be a mystery that will never be solved. Not only did we get the plates and drinks for fewer than eleven bucks, but they threw in a couple soups. We left with our meals and wandered the streets. It was a beautiful day, so we planned on finding some park benches and enjoying our lunch, but to our surprise, there was a lovely outdoor public eating area only a couple blocks away. This was the most challenging Chinese food experience of my life! BELIEVE IT OR NOT!

Let’s go Ravens!!!

Hopefully, we’ll be able to hunt down a great apartment, soon!

@PeteTeix617