Since this is my lovely wife’s first Mother’s Day as a mom, I thought I’d do something special. After doing the “card and two dozen roses” thing, I decided to do the “Dim Sum” thing. Where? Koi Palace in Daly City. It’s really good and deserves its reputation.

I figured we’d get there right as they opened, and avoid the rush.

wrong. never underestimate:

1. the Chinese tendency to clump.

2. the power of Chinese word-of-mouth

3. Eating as the official sport of the Chinese culture

4. Chinese deference to elders

5. Chinese love for family

6. the power of Chinese moms.

It should have been obvious, but I guess I’m still a little dumb around the edges.

We arrived at 9:00 on the dot (opening time), and there was more than 150 people already in line. For every one person in line, there were 4 or 5 in a minivan nearby waiting for the signal. Some parties had twenty or more people. At 9:01 the restaurant was almost full. We decided to wait anyway. at 9:07 they announced that the restaurant was full and the wait would be around 2 hours. people started leaving in droves. We eventually got to the front, took a number, and by virtue of being only two adults and a zen baby, sat down almost immediately. Score one for not-giving-up. Damn - the sugared egg doughnut things were great.