I Hope You Got Fat

Before I begin today's blog I just want to start with a warning that there could possibly be plot spoilers for the 2002 thriller TRAPPED staring Charlize Theron AND Kevin Bacon! There's no plan to go there but it may be difficult to stay away.

So far we have been living out of the same three suitcases we left with. Our air shipment did arrive within two weeks as promised however we had no room in our current apartment to fit the boxes and we found out it was up to us to move everything (including all 8 cases of wine) to our permanent apartment once we get one, so we are keeping everything in storage until then. I won't go into details on the issues of trying to get a place as I'm sure Lisa will have a very generous blog (rant) dedicated solely to the experience once we move.

With that said, I have been in desperate need of a pair of jeans and seeing as Hong Kong is one of the largest consumer shopping areas in the world it should have been an easy task. However two major issues arose. One is that in the plethora of malls out here almost all of them are filled with the most high end stores on earth - Luis Vuitton and Gucci are no problem, but finding a GAP is impossible (really there isn't one or anything like it). However we were able to find a place with some "lower end" stores like Ralph Lauren and Armani and possibly find a pair of jeans under $700.00.

This is when the "bigger" issue arose. The largest size jeans anyone carries is a 36 W. I don't know if it is fortunate or not that this is my size (I'd like to be smaller but at least I made the cut) but many places we went in did not break a 30 in pants. Eventually I found a pair of overpriced denim and it worked out fine but if any of my portly friends are planning a visit (I won't name names, but you know who you are) I would suggest you pack an extra pair or two of pants. If any incidents happened with your clothes, you would have the benefit of water proof trousers, but face facts - most people are going to realize your wearing a shower curtain.

Always living on the edge and right after I was confronted with the fact that I'm mere centimeters away from being too fat to live in this country in socially acceptable outfits, we stopped and made dinner reservations on our walk home. In a very cool looking place, with dining right on the street, called Wagyu. We stumbled upon this place one day and had a very good brunch there and got a look at the dinner menu which appeared much more interesting than most we have seen and reasonably priced for the type of place.

For those of you that don't know, Wagyu is a Japanese beef that is known for its special marbling and is rumored to actually melt at room temperature. The place is mainly Australian inspired but this of course is their signature dish and is priced accordingly.

We were only able to get a very late reservation which was fine by us and we walked back that night. Of course once we got there the reasonably priced, interesting choices went out the window and we both wanted to try the insanely priced steak. Sharing was not an option and Lisa went for the small cut fillet mignon while I went for the larger (I'm sure moo moo's are going to be fashion by summer).

Well with a pretty good bottle of pinot noir the steak did not disappoint. One of the best either of us have ever had. I'd love to say we are going to go back to try some of the other items that originally caught our eye on the menu, but they offer several different cuts of the Wagyu beef and I can't see myself satisfied until I've tried every part of that bovine. I'm even looking forward to the hoof and snout hot dog (just kidding - I mean that they have one - I would seriously be open to trying it).

The sure sign of a good steak dinner is when your heart hurts just a little, so I tried putting out the fire with an ice cream sunday and then some beers in the bar ridden section of Lan Kwai Fong. But before I get into that maybe I can offer a little personal helpful traveling advice when dining in other countries.

I am by no means claiming to be a serious world traveler, however I have been to a fair amount of non-native English speaking countries. Hong Kong has been quite simple so far as we have not ventured too far from the beaten path and English is prevalent everywhere. But I'm sure that will change as we begin to explore some more. Most travel books suggest you try and learn a few local words for food you may want to order off a menu if you end up in a place that does not offer a translation. While this is good advice, may I also suggest you learn some words you may want to avoid on a menu. Things like raw, feet and necks comes to mind. In their local language whether it be Spanish, Italian or Cantonese, they always seem to sound quite delicious and when put together almost irresistible. They usually pop up when you are at your hungriest and seem like the best deal on the menu, usually between $3 and $7 a bucket. Adventurous is great but it's nice to know what's coming.

Anyway back to LKF. It seems like most other countries have an area like this that attracts tourists and college kids alike. Just several blocks of bars that you are free to walk in and out of with your drinks and the streets are closed to traffic and packed with people. We have both outgrown these types of areas to a degree but it was minutes from the restaurant and we were just grabbing a drink or two before going home so we decided to relive the experience once again. Honing in on some skills from my youth I noticed a small taco stand that had super cheap bottle beers. As long as you can live with the pathetic look you get from the people behind the counter, now that you're almost 40 and not ordering any food but clearly just grabbing a drink for five bucks less then you're going to pay in one of the 65 packed bars, you're good to go (besides I need to start saving for my next steak). We walked around the blocks for a while listening to all the American standards blaring from the bars and made fun of the drunk kids with almost no jealousy.

Due to the late dinner reservation, time went by quickly and for the first time since arriving we were out past 1 am. It wasn't a school night so this was no big deal except for the fact that the escalator stops running at 1:00. So we had to take the long upward hike home with a slight sway in our steps, with the humidity pulling an all-nighter. Hopefully the long walk will help keep me in pants for a little while longer.

I could go on forever (mostly b/c I decided to write this while Lisa got ready, but the shower hasn't started yet) but we're headed out tonight with camera in hand to add a little color to these updates.

I think what Vinny, Wanda and I really learned is that it's well worth swallowing some pride if it in the end it gives you a chance to swallow some extra Japanese beef.....

Blog ya' later.