I Love Going to the Dentist!

It's not just that my dentist, Dr Pacheco, is adorable, always smiling, never causes me pain and charges me a fraction of what those ladrones (thieves) charge in the U.S. Oh, all those things make me very happy, especially after some really bad experiences with dentists in that country up north. But the real excitement for me is the dim sum! Gene and I have a whole tradition wrapped around our trips to the dentist. We usually go for our appointments together. Afterwards, if we are able to eat, we go down to the next block and across the street to Restaurante Don Wang for a dim sum feast. If it's a day like today when I don't even have an appointment, but decide to tag along anyhow, so much the better! They offer a grand selection (46 different items) of dim sum, in addition to other types of Chinese dishes. We usually order from 4 to 6 different items to share (3 - 4 pieces in each little basket) and are totally stuffed by the time we leave. Yesterday we ordered just 4 things and the total bill, if we hadn't ordered the overpriced capuccinos, would have been just over 5,000 colones total ($10 or so). I have mentioned before that I DO NOT eat Chinese food in Costa Rica, since it is consistently inedible. Dim sum is different. It is the exception. This is one of my very favorite restaurants in this country. Its only shortcoming is that it is ordered off the menu rather than chosen from carts wheeled around the room. The place to go for the traditional service from carts is the Chinese Cultural Association in San Jose. That is a whole other experience, best done for lunch on a Saturday or Sunday when everyone else is there. Need to try that again soon, too!