Dimsum at the China Club - at random

There I was, young, ignorant and quite out of touch with reality, to be honest, striding with an air of determination and vigor towards the old Bank of China building. Head bent, knees awhir and heels clacking on the uneven Hong Kong pavement, I nodded eagerly to whatever nonsense a firm executive was half speaking and half spitting into my right ear. The sleek Coach briefcase I clutched tightly encased a handful of presentations still warm from the printer, presentations full of useful information that would eventually be yanked fresh from its fine carrying case and dutifully discarded into the trashbin under my desk, three and a half hours after the stress involved in proofing, printing, and binding them.

We hurried up the steps that led to the elevator lobby of the venerable and humble predecessor of the tremendous steel and glass giant looming close by that now represented the Bank of China. The elevator doors closed upon our party of four and reopened to a dimly lit, carpeted foyer. A sense of old Hong Kong suggested itself through the oak finishings, antique ornaments and plush armchairs that rested like distinguished elderly gentlemen lounging in an afternoon salon, a bit worn, a bit wrinkled, but with an air of history and refinement. We were conveyed by a pleasant hostess through heavy frosted glass doors, past the general sitting area humming with executives engrossed in high class dimsum and important conversation, and entered a private room in the back. The first thing I noticed about the well-lighted dining room were the rather anachronistic wall hangings. Large modernistic paintings in bold blues and reds hung against a backdrop of softly toned wallpaper, the most promininent being a juxtaposition of the old and new Bank of China buildings standing one next to another, a nondescript matronly form in the foreground dressed in what seemed like soft silk burgundy pajamas.

Two of the five invited guests had already arrived, and after a round of introductions and fumbling with namecards we were all seated at the round table, patiently engaging in polite conversation as we waited for the remaining guests to arrive. Mostly I attempted to appear as interested as possible, bobbing with a complaisant smile between two lines of conversation split across the table. Intently I stared at the quivering waddles of each person as he or she spoke, taking in the details of a tie, a gesture, a tone of voice and the range of accents that skirted the table. Perhaps I should be just as involved in the actual content of the conversation, I thought to myself as "content is king!" erupted from one particularly stubbly waddle in a rather predictable manner, commenting intelligently on the telecommunications industry. I couldn't resist taking the time to notice the China Club design that sprouted on the napkin and glossed the fine china. A small red star, overlaid by a large yellow star which in turn enveloped a smaller white star, suggesting what I could not begin to fathom. Just as I was happily surprised to find the same star logo embossed on the wet handtowel I was using, someone said something delightful and a round of chuckles and nods rippled around the table. I participated, of course, seemingly engaged and truly enthralled by whatever I had missed.

As the food began to arrive, placed neatly before each of us in nicely sized portions, the usual fear began sneaking into my psyche- will I make an absolute fool out of myself by dropping a chopstick, dripping a sauce or projecting some morsel, Pretty Woman-style? "Slippery suckers," I would say with a laugh to recover my composure. I wondered then if anyone else at this table harbored the same concerns. Glancing around the table I detected no visible traces of consternation within the animated faces of three high-powered executives from blue chip corporations, two partners from a renowned American law firm that dominated the Asia Pacific legal world, and four finance gurus from a struggling international investment bank. Ho-hum. Snapping back into the flow of conversation I abandoned the wanderings of my slightly neurotic mind and refocused instead on the dimsum. [tbc]