chinatown

you gotta love chinatown. I think it is a requirement.

despite the tourist traps and the bad restaurants and the crowds, you have to love it. my favorite trips to chinatown are in the off hours, the early mornings before the continental breakfast at the hyatt is over and the hordes pour in, and the late nights when the damp, empty streets reflect the colors of the neon signs. I guess that's what happens when you grow up in a tourist trap-- you appreciate the down time more. the behind the scenes bits more exciting and entrancing than the show itself.

the thing about food in chinatown is that a lot of it is tourist food and a lot of it is cheap no-frills grub. holes-in- the-wall. being the behind- the-scenes fan that I am, it follows that I am also a fan of the local dive. so when coworker suggested a tiny shack at the top of some rickety stairs, I was in. what you don't have in flavor, you can easily make up for in flavor. and sam wo has flavor (even if it is a sorta tourist trap). you walk in through the kitchen and up a narrow stairwell to the tiny dining room where the waitstaff of one will certainly not harass you. the food is not bad, the tea is good, despite the styrofoam cups, and the check comes with tasty milk flavored candy.

but the best part? grabbing a milk tea (with pudding not pearl) and walking back through the emptying streets and the closing shops, talking about nothing in particular. chinatown shops are fun and filled with many hilarious things you can buy for just one dollar, but chinatown, just chinatown, all by itself, is even better.