EATING SAND FOR SUPPER

 By Bob Walsh

 

 

The restaurant was towed away last Tuesday, where it was intended to be moved to a lower-cost site where maintenance could be carried out

Only a few days after it was towed away from the city, Hong Kong’s iconic Jumbo Floating Restaurant, whose past guests have included the likes of Queen Elizabeth II and Tom Cruise, capsized in the South China Sea on Sunday

 

The Jumbo Floating Restaurant is, or more precisely was, an icon in Hong Kong harbor.  After attempts to find a new owner the Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises, Ltd. had it towed out of the harbor.  The restaurant was featured in any number of major films but closed down in 2020 due to the inability to staff it due to the Covid plague.  

The restaurant was en route to an unspecified lower cost storage and maintenance area when it started taking on water in the south china sea.  It sank like a restaurant full of water, hitting bottom about 3,300 feet down.  It is unlikely to be salvaged.  The rumors that it was scuttled for insurance purposes are rampant.

By the way, the "Eating Sand For Supper" was a line by Clifton Webb in one of the many film versions of the sinking of the Titanic.  It is my favorite version, although there are other good ones.  Even the Nazi's made one, in which a German junior officer was a hero of the day.  I have a copy.  It actually isn't bad.