Colossians 2:16-17
"Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink,
or with regard to a religious festival,
a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
These are a shadow of the things that were to come;
the reality, however, is found in Christ."
It all started with Sarah saying that she would be spending the night on Friday because Zac had an out-of-town tournament, and Annie wanting to celebrate Chinese New Year. We had agreed with Annie that we would all go out for Chinese for for Chinese New Year. Our only hitch was waiting for Corey to get off work at seven. With this in mind, Sarah said that she would show up at about 6:30. Riley had come home early and it struck me that we could take the kids over to Green Gables for Annie to watch for about 30 minutes before Heidi got home from work. Well it turned out that Annie wasn't home, she was at the grocery store. No problem, we packed the kids in the car and went to the grocery store to get Annie and took them all to Green Gables. It was almost 5 o'clock but I still wanted coffee, so we headed to Peet's. However, just a few blocks from Peet's was Corey, who had obviously gotten off work early. She spotted us and jumped up and down waving her arms. 
We circled the block and collected her. She decided that she wanted to go to Green Gable so back we went, dropping Corey off with the others. Again we headed for Peet's.
It was past five by now, but I still wanted some coffee. Peet's was quite crowded and we couldn't find a parking space. So I suggested that we try the new coffee shop, Cafe d'Arte. Riley like the idea, and we found a parking spot right away even though Cafe d'Arte is only one block from Peet's. The only customers at the time were Ethiopians and punks. But I wasn't going to worry about feeling uncomfortable, I wanted a cup of coffee. I ordered a 12 ounce Americano with a big dollop of foam in a to-here cup. And while my back was turned Riley ordered a chewy chocolate cookie. The coffee was really good, and that cookie was probably the best cookie I have ever eaten. 
Seriously. I have got to figure out how to make those. It was chewy, dark-chocolatey, and had nuts. We did a cross-word puzzle and had a generally very nice time, but just as we finished Sarah called, wondering where we were, as she was at our house.We hurried home and collected her. Then we went and collected Annie, Corey, and Tia. We decided on the Orient, as there are not all that many Chinese restaurants in the city.
Chinese food has definitely been eclipsed by Thai food, understandably so. Now that doesn't mean that I think Thai food is better than Chinese food. It's the Chinese food that is made to please the American pallet that isn't as good. The Chinese food in Hong Kong is fabulous! We were quickly seated at a rectangular table, sitting two to the side and one on each end. That was the best way and I was quite pleased. 
We had no trouble deciding on what to have: (1) two orders of fried wontons, (2) on order of pot stickers, (3) dry fried shredded beef, extra crispy, (4) baby shrimp in spicy chili sauce, (5) broccoli in tangy sauce, and (6) sesame chicken. Over-all it was a very tasty and amiable meal and we all laughed a lot about our fortunes.
If we had been in Hong Kong we would have order hot and sour soup for starters, but it just isn't as good in American, quite disappointing, so that's why we ordered the appetizers. We would have ordered the dry fried shredded beef and the baby shrimp in chili sauce, and instead of the sesame chicken, which is a Mandarin deep fried dish, we would have ordered either Szechwan chicken with out the bones, or orange beef, which comes on a bed of deep fried spinach.
And finally, if we were to order a vegetable it would have been either choy sum or long beans. I love both of those dishes and could eat an excess amount of them. In Hong Kong the food would have been so hot that tears would be running down our cheeks, That never happens in America, or should I say, in Portland. I would so so love to spend a fortnight eating in Hong Kong. We would eat lots of fabulous dim sum, and sichuan food, and absolutely exquisite Indian food, and German food, and British food, and ......"The man who doesn’t read good books
has no advantage over the man who can’t read them."
Albert Einstein
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