Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree: Another Perspective

Tripp beat me to the punch telling our audience (read: one reader) about last night's exploration in the Tai Po area. He explained the gist of the tourist attraction-- the banyan tree granting wishes-- but I wanted to post two bits out in cyberspace because the two factors that stood out to me were different from his. The first was the public toilet on the grounds. In Hong Kong, public toilets are foul, decrepit, unsanitary and generally unsafe. Homeless people linger there to do their bathing and business. Sweet Cecelia (mentioned in previous post) told me to check them out. They weren't a five star hotel lobby's restroom, or even reminiscent of your master bath at home, but what I liked about it was the pride the overseer of the ladies room clearly has for her job. She is paid 5000HKD a month (about US $645) but she spend over 300HKD of her paltry salary on fresh flowers for the shelves above the sinks so the visitors to the temple can enjoy them. I will say she keeps the cleanest squatties I have seen in Asia. The other thing I loved about our post work adventure was the fantastic restaurant we happened upon in Tai Po. Luca's Italian was a legitimate gourmet alfresco place in the middle of a really remote area. I was thrilled to not only have an English menu, but also a really delicious meal and overall dining experience that we have yet to find close to our flats. The waitstaff spoke great English and brought out tomato focaccia bread with balsamic vinegar and EVOO while we debated the menu. Tripp chose a spicy tandoori chicken pizza with mint yogurt and I got an incredible pasta dish with fresh crab meat and huge shrimp tossed in a light lemon butter sauce. We didn't get any photos but there was a breeze, outdoor patio, and fairy lights, so you can imagine it was much better than sweating over a grilled cheese over my two burner stove!