Page 164 - A Banker Down the Rabbit Hole

every Indian customer sitting in front of us in our cabin was a multi-
millionaire or a billionaire. We had a feeling that we had lowered our
status after coming to Hong Kong in spite of higher income as compared
to what we had in India.

The Food Puzzle - Hard to find vegetarian food
It was a tough call to find vegetarian food in Hong Kong. We had to be
very careful in selecting vegetarian dishes in a buffet. Once I picked up
some amount of white color cheese like pieces sprinkled with some spices
assuming them to be Cheese, (at least, that is what I assumed it to be).
One of my other colleagues cautioned me that it was a non-vegetarian
fish item. I had to change the plate as I was a strict vegetarian. This was
a lesson for the rest of my tenure in Hong Kong to ask for clarification to
be sure and not to presume anything.

He also advised me to ask repeatedly and listen to the local Chinese very
carefully when they respond. Surprisingly, on several occasions it had
happened that I received the same answer for exactly opposite queries!
Let me share this with you. On one such dining occasion, I asked, "Is this
a vegetarian dish?" And prompt came the answer of the Chinese boy,
"yes, Sir". But fortunately, my doubt persisted and I did not eat it. And
then on another occasion, for the same dish/preparation I asked the
Chinese waiter, "Is this a non-vegetarian dish?", and before batting an
eyelid, the answer came, "yes, Sir." This was due to difference in language
and also the phonetics. Once we asked a local waiter serving food in a
restaurant about a dish whether that was a meat dish and he replied,
"No Sir, It is Chicken."

Once, we went out for a dinner in a 5- star hotel. To our surprise, we
found Water Melon being served as one of the sweet dish delicacy on
the menu. In India, we never saw such fruits lined up as a sweet dish in
star hotels. This could be part of fruit salad only at the most. But on
tasting it, we found it was very compact, sweet and also a seedless variety
that I had never seen in India till that point.

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