Pen Stay(ca)tion: Pink afternoon tea

Less than two hours after finishing lunch, we sat down again at another one of the Peninsula Hong Kong's F and B outlets.  Knowing that we wouldn't be able to put any more food into our stomachs, we called for reinforcements for our afternoon tea session at the Lobby.

As we exited the elevator on the lobby level, we saw a very long line of people waiting for a table, and found our friends at the very back of that line.  We quickly pulled them away and marched towards the front of the line.  After all, we were in-house guests who have a confirmed booking... so there was absolutely no need to line up.

After being seated, we proposed that our friends take the Peninsula in Pink Afternoon Tea for two.  This was a special version of the classic afternoon tea set, but designed in pink to raise awareness for breast cancer as the entire hotel runs the Peninsula in Pink campaign.

The highlights seemed to be the top plate of pink-colored sweets such as macarons.

The finger sandwiches and savory tarts seemed alright...

Hello Kitty and I just ordered drinks without any additional food, although we did share one of the scones from our friends' tea set.

I must confess that it's been more than a decade - perhaps more than 15 years, even - since I last sat down to afternoon tea here.  Dare I say that nowadays I would prefer the scones served by Smith and Hsu in Taipei, over the one I just had here today?

I ordered some Moroccan mint tea in the hopes of aiding my digestion.  I hadn't realized that I have been spoiled by the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong over the last few years, as they have been serving me Moroccan mint leaves - which are very, very nice.  The tea that came out of my pot certainly contained more than just mint and tea leaves, as the scent of rosemary and other herbs was pretty strong.  Unfortunately rosemary is one of my least-favorite herbs, and I found my tea unpalatable.

Thankfully the staff were more than happy to let me switch to something I prefer, and offered to bring me a pot with just mint leaves.  That went down much, much better.

I think our reinforcements - who are visiting from North America - were pretty happy to have gotten to opportunity to do afternoon tea at the Pen.  We were glad that they were able to join us this afternoon for a short gathering.  Thankfully Hello Kitty and I didn't have to eat much, because dinner was coming out in another couple of hours...