Grape Wine Journey

Artist: Charles Kaufman

When you go on business trip, do you feel uneasy to dine by yourself in a restaurant? For me, I’ve always enjoyed going to a restaurant, just because they offer much more choices.

But in China, the restaurant experience could sometimes be quite amusing when it comes to ordering wines.  I just learnt something new from a recent trip to Beijing!

Flying to Beijing is always a daunting experience; you could never be sure on the arrival time. This time, the flight was actually on time when we got to Beijing, but it took the pilot 2 attempts to be on the ground and then forever to get to the gate. I was happy when I made it to the hotel, the restaurant was still serving.

The hotel was part of the Shangri-la group, so I had a bit of confidence with the wine list. It actually offered a good selection of reds and whites, surprisingly all had a choice of by the glass, half bottle and full bottle.

While I was deciding, the waitress offered her recommendation, pointing to the most popular wine on the list. ‘ Well ok,’ I said, ‘ and a half bottle please.’

You could imagine how puzzle I was when she came walking back holding a full bottle in her hand. I questioned her, and she responded in a very confident tone, ‘ yes and this bottle is half empty, so half bottle!’

Well she was literally correct, right?!