A Helluva Town

Helluva, used on Broadway, was changed to "wonderful" for the movie as Comden and Green's lyric was too racy for Hollywood.  New York is many spectacular and awe-inspiring things, but, truthfully, wonderful "honk honk" isn't one of them.  Still, where better for a quick weekend away On the Town?  SS got a nice Valentine's gift.  Or so it seemed.  Our near private bulkhead deuce at the front of economy disappeared mysteriously the day before departure.  AC switched the aircraft.  I phoned (24 minutes on hold) to ask why (7 minutes on hold for staff to ask the help desk).  No one knew.  So, so much for paying for premium seats.  Thanks AC, voted best airline in North America something like five years in a row.

 

Lower Manhattan from the plane upon descent to LGA

We had a smooth leg to YYZ where the snow on the ground looked ominous, connected through the new crazy-ass CDN to US system where you wait in a lounge for your name to appear on a reader board before joining an enormous US Customs queue (thank goodness for Nexus) and the last hour, in the back row of an old 34 row Embraer, was rocky at best.  A cryptic figure eight descent took us twice past the Statue of Liberty before landing at LGA.  I will not weigh in on the 80 mph cab ride near death swerve entering the Queens Midtown tunnel.

 

We checked in to the year old Refinery Hotel, a renovated millinery in what remains of the garment district.  This is the first time we’ve ever had “front” windows in a NYC hotel, which is novel in a way.  The Empire State Building hovers a couple of blocks away.

 

Despite the cold, we walked ten blocks south to the Nomad which has a wonderful bar restaurant on 28^th.  On the way back we reacquainted ourselves with an east coast winter specialty: Wind chill.

 

Friday dawned a beautiful day.  But traffic also let us know it was time to rise and shine.  Few sirens too.  We had coffee in the room then suited up with scarves and gloves (and, glorious thermal socks).  Walked over the Grand Central and caught the IRT express to 86^th.  Forty blocks in seven minutes; match that Skytrain.  Then an exceedingly brisk walk to the Met. 

 

It’s been near two decades since I’d made the trek.  Still a glorious outpost for cultural significance.  When you need to look at art three or four millennia old, this should be your first stop.

 

Egyptian wooden sculpture, 2000 BC, brewery and bakery

 

Gold Gazelle on a headband

 

Mirrors.  Such as they are.

 

 

Roof of a Papua New Guinea traditional home

Papua New Guinea statues in the Oceania hall

 

 

Cameroon Royal Couple

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three hours later we made our ways back to the Herald Square Macys which has a wonderful outpost on the seventh floor called Stella: www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/16/tables-two-20

 

Afterwards we did something uniquely NY by traipsing through the design center at 200 Lexington, which is, essentially, an outpost for the trade, dozens of brands with boutiques for furniture, lighting, antiques and such.  The whole tenth floor is 1^st Dibs, if anyone is crazy enough to get their enticing email blasts (which I do, and drool over their multitude of over priced original artifacts).  $7000 tray anyone?  It reminded me of Woody Allen’s Alice when Julie Kavner, an interior decorator, arrives with an eel trap which she recommends could be used as a lamp shade, or a vase, and adds “It’s a steal at $9,000.”

 

Prison shank collection.  I kid you not.  $3400.



Fornasetti dog umbrella stands.  Doberman and collie here, boxer and German shepherd also available.  From $6300 to $9000.  I am not making this up....

We headed back to the Refinery for some pre-dinner R&R.

 

I phoned Batard to make a dinner reservation six weeks before our visit; they wouldn't take reservations until one month out. I called one month out; 5:30 or 10.  We went to Brooklyn instead.

 

Dinner was at Delaware and Hudson, a surprise in the One Michelin Star category earlier this year in NYC.  Although in Brooklyn it was actually an easier subway journey than the upper east side, south to 14 then under the river to Bedford.  Signs of the "storm of the century," not, still dotted the curbs.  I’ve only ever been to Brooklyn three times, tops, and each time the changes are uber profound.  Williamsburg in particular has the feel of what made Toronto interesting in the 80s. 

 

D&H has a sorta set menu where you choose a main, but you share tapas starters, then there is a small first course, then after a main there is dessert and house made chocolates.  $54 per; not bad considering a slider hamburger at the Nomad was $18.  The chef's grandfather worked for the D&H railway, which linked NY with Montreal.  It ran as the oldest independently owned railway until sold to CPR in 1991.  Anyway...  The starters included a borscht with dill and crème fraiche, a spaghetti squash slaw, home-made pretzel bread, blue fish pate (superb), lamb meatballs and fried Maine sardines.  The first course was a ricotta ravioli with a Virginia ham and Swiss chard.  For mains I had a snapper on cauliflower puree with tiny baby Brussels sprouts; SS had a winter vegetable hash.  For dessert they gave SS cheese, I had a shoefly pie on crème anglaise with a warm chocolate fondant.  The chocolates were exquisite, SS even had a salted caramel.  All hell breaks loose in NYC!  It is a helluva town...

 

We have something of a view with the ESB not too distant.  But what is wonderfully NY is that the ESB at night, through our hotel room window, transitions through colours and hues.

 

 

 

 

 

Ingenious Imitation of Nature by Man

I have no idea what that title means but it’s the title of a garden SS went to this morning.  Although it was our most beautiful day in Hong Kong, mostly blue sky, warm but not too hot, no humidity, I just couldn’t get my act together so SS headed out on his own early in the day to the Nan Lian Garden.

Steve Whysall, the Vancouver Sun garden columnist, had recommended Nan Lian.  (The Sun has axed Doonesbury and Cul de Sac, my two favorite comics, but left us with Betty, it’s only a heartbeat until they ditch their garden columnist.)   The garden is located deep into Kowloon, about nine metro stops from our hotel.  Connected to a Buddhist nunnery, the garden is a contemporary version planted with reference to the Tang Dynasty.  The pamphlet you receive upon entering reminds patrons: No bawling and brawling; no frolicking or running; no carving or graffiti; no hawking or touting.  Visitors are also requested not to wear graduation gown, wedding gown or other similar costumes, which would disturb the serene ambience of the garden.  I will not apologize for their grammar or subject verb agreement.

Bonsai trees

Tree ferns

Pines in Kowloon

Ground cover

Buddhist nunnery

We met up for lunch at Lupo.  Iron Chef Mario Batali has an outpost here in an office complex near Central Station.  The lunch buffet is a reasonable $25 Canadian, give or take drinks, or mains.  The mainly antipasto salad bar was more than sufficient for me, although SS added on a delectable gnocchi.  The style is in the way of Joe Allen, contemporary American, but there were so many hiccups in service and casual mistakes it was hard to believe the Batali name was anything except a marquee.  The Bastianich clan is perhaps more famous for Lidia or Joe, who hosts on Master Chef--and if you’ve seen Joe Attitude in action your expectations on arrival at a place associated with that family are of a sort fastidious, with exceptional attention to detail and aspiring to a level of excellence.  Sorry Mario: Food an eight, the venue and service four.

Antipasto buffet options

After lunch we strolled the side streets checking out shops and markets we’d missed over the last few days.  There is a gallery in our neck of the woods showing gigantic prints by Sebastiao Salgado.  I had to Google him to find out he's a Brazilian born living in France expat economist turned photographer.  His photos sell for about $10k a pop.  And they're astonishingly captivating.  These pics don't do justice to how great his work is.

The city was hopping, teeming with workers, locals, tourists.  We had maybe heard seven sirens in Tokyo in nearly two weeks, but the horn honking and traffic snarls here compete with Athens for noisiest on the planet.  We wound our way back to the hotel.

 

They both called shotgun

Our flight home is a red-eye.  We’d paid a half day’s hotel rate to stay on site until six, which gave us time to pack, freshen up, and organize all our loot.  We were advised it would be impossible to catch a cab, and it was, so we hauled our bags back to the local subway, which involved some serious stairs, then transferred at Central to the Airport Express.  On the flight in, Cathay had a metro offer: We paid about $40 each for a pass that would get us into HKG on the airport express, then three days unlimited travel on the subway, then the train back to the terminal.  At the terminal I returned our passes and was refunded about $10.  Where in the world can you get a deal like that?  (Certainly not HKG duty free, where a Lacoste polo sells “tax free” for $140 CDN…)

Our check-in was pretty seamless. We did a looksee around the shops which was tiresome then hit the lounge.  There are six CP lounges in the HKG terminal, some just for first, some both biz and first. The main lounge, The Wing, is probably the best I’ve ever encountered.  On one level there are showers and quiet zones plus the usual beverage area.  Most travellers are upstairs.  There’s a large standard lounge with comfy seating and work pods, an enormous marble bar for drinking/working.  Standard western and Asian foods, hot and cold.  Lots of reading material in various languages.  Then down a hall there are two more rooms: A coffee lounge with a barista and sweet stuff, then next to that a really large Asian room called the Noodle Bar where you order off a menu.  SS had some dumplings and I had Dan Dan, which are egg noodles in spicy peanut sauce.  Of special note was the service, attentive, and on the alert to clear.  Show up at a US lounge and meet Surly, she’s just next to Grumpy, who will check your boarding pass before you have to deal with Resentful, who won’t fix the coffee machine which has been on the fritz since last week…

The Noodle Bar at The Wing, HKG

The Long Bar at The Wing, HKG

After a while in The Wing we got bored!  So we traipsed out to The Bridge, the newest of the Cathay lounges and designed by Norman (the London Pickle) Foster.  We went from gate 2 to gate 35 and it may sound close but if was four of those long moving walkways.  A very big airport.  You know you’re somewhere big when one airline is BA, another Emirates, the third Scoot and next to that Virgin Space.  I’m joking about the last, but not Scoot.  Who is flying Scoot?

The Bridge was beautifully designed with great relaxation areas, a selection of western foods, dim sum, a long bar, and USB ports in every chair.  Our gate didn’t appear until an hour before the flight.  64.  So we left The Bridge and walked another click or so it seemed to gate 64.  Where there was no plane yet.  But there was yet another lounge, The Pier.  This was huge, including showers, a First section, and an enormous bar.  But it was old and dated and in need of refurbishment.  One business man layed out all three of his mobile phones on his chair.  Cripes!  We waited and waited and waited and then asked about our flight.  Apparently, the plane was at HKG but was “late in being towed.”  I have never heard that before.  Sure enough, late, our 777 was towed into gate 64.  Our departure was bumped from one a.m. to 1:50 a.m.  Sigh.  At least we watched a cleaning crew of six, including a vacuum, descend on the craft (something you don’t see on AC). 

 

Entrance to The Bridge

Very busy at midnight at The Bridge

Eventually we boarded and then were delayed due to heavy traffic.  Seriously.  It was nearly two a.m. and there was heavy departure traffic at HKG!  We took off just before 2:30.  I was glad I had noodles at eight!

The cabin crew was super-efficient upon departure, with the hot towels, getting the meal cart into the aisle, etc.  The “supper” was a little basic; SS had the beef pot pie and I had the Asian spare ribs.  There was a cheese course which I passed on but how could I decline the chocolates?  SS and I both got some sleep, then a few hours watching movies, then about 1.5 hours before landing they offered a brunch which somehow seemed weird. Time-wise this is an awkward flight.  It leaves past midnight.  So supper at one a.m., brunch near arrival, which is several hours BEFORE you left Hong Kong and is really Vancouver dinner time!  There was a fruit salad followed by yogurt and cereal then a choice of hot entrees; both SS and I had the dim sum.  I pity the travellers en route to NYC—they will be toast on arrival.  We actually did this exact flight, in reverse, from NYC to Vancouver after Chile.  But we did it in First Class, drinking Krug Champagne and ensconced in a personal pod.

 

Getting close to 1 a.m. at the rather tired looking The Pier

The newly introduced Cathay business won an award this year for best biz class and on international flights and it probably is.  Pure 100% lie flat beds as long if not longer than AC, large AV screens, superb service, great storage in your pod, and a nice touch with orchids in each bay.  I really can’t complain.  Except: Who was responsible for “towing” the aircraft late?

Incredible trip with a really enjoyable long-haul flight home.  So ends the vac.

That's a wrap

The Cause is in the Way

Don’t let the pictures below fool you: It was gorgeous today.  A fair bit of cloud, and only intermittent blue sky, but 24 degrees, a light breeze, zero humidity.  It always gives me a thrill to be somewhere outside in a t-shirt in November and find it hot.

The humidity has been playing havoc with my hair. 

Exterior shot of The Putman hotel

We set out for The Peak Tram.  It’s pretty much obligatory; they ask you at Immigration upon arrival in HK which day you’ll do The Peak.  You are committed.  Although there are two, and they go up the mountain every eight minutes, the hordes descend en masse, especially on a Sunday, especially in good weather.  It’s antique and on the rickety side, takes 95 seated and another 25 standing, at times hitting a staggering 27 degree incline. But as funiculars go I felt much safer than the public transport versions we took in Valparaiso, Chile, a few years back.

 

View from the tram on the ascent.  27 degree incline!

Hiking the road up to Victoria Peak Garden

View from the highest point on Hong Kong Island

Looking west towards Kowloon

South of the peak there is another peak, a "sugar loaf" like mountain; the small dots are hikers

At the top of the tram they suggest you a) do some shopping because nothing would be worthwhile in HK without a mall, b) visit the Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, because there is always a wax Marilyn with her dress up that tourists like to get shot with then c) sit down for a meal.  They also recommend you pay double your fare to enter an observation deck called the Sky Terrace.  Another alternative is free: Take a hike to the top of the mountain, another 30 minutes (from 1300 feet at the tram to 1800 at the lookout) which we did.  This was a lovely windy road uphill trek, sometimes a slog, but mitigated by the breeze.  The pics were compromised by the cloud cover but to the naked eye it was still spectacular, seeing HK Island, Kowloon to the west, and east to Mainland China.

The peak was not initially developed, too steep and seemingly remote, but eventually with the outbreak of disease it was decided to create a hospice for ill soldiers in a removed environment with the attendant healthfulness of nature.  Unfortunately, the reputed health giving properties of the altitude did not provide any positive outcomes.  After some time it became the governor’s summer home, the Mountain Lodge.  In the Scottish baronial tradition.  Of course.  All that is gone today, except the gate house.  There is a Hong Kong version of an English garden which is, of all things, a dog park, and excellent viewpoints.  There were hibiscus in bloom, a bit beaten from the recent wind, but a nice tropical touch to the route.

 

Victoria Peak Garden

The Gate House to what was once the governor's summer residence

Upon our return down the tram we took the subway to the Causeway Bay area.  This is a mecca for two things: First, mainly, shopping.  Super uber high end shopping as well as street vendors and hawkers.  You can’t go two feet without stumbling across a jeweller's. But second it’s also the current site of the protesters that are all over the news.  Who, in my uneducated view, have a very similar position this many weeks in as did those at the tent city which sprung up at the Vancouver Art Gallery a few years back: They are attracting attention, and disrupting traffic, but it looked like Van Cleef and Arpels, Chanel, Valentino and all the rest were doing quite OK.

We had lunch at Paradise Dynasty—you gotta love that name.  SS is extremely fond of dim sum so we made an effort and wound up in a luxe mall where there was a line up of Asian families to take Sunday lunch. We were probably only one of three deuces.  The meal was excellent, steamed and fried dumplings, crispy fish, pork with green beans, cucumber with garlic salad, really good.

An explanation on how to eat Xiao Long Bao: Start with the white, original flavour. Then the green, ginseng.  Then the pink, foie gras. Then the black, black truffle.  Then the yellow, cheesy.  Then the redder one, crab roe.  Then the purplish dumpling, garlic.  And finally the red one, Szechuan.

Xiao Long Bao.  See detailed description above!

Four Dim Sum Chefs

After lunch we attempted to walk all the way back to the hotel.  The only problem is that geography (the sea, the steep hills) prevent any roads except the major arteries from running any distance.  After a couple of clicks the noise gets unbearable.  At one point I hopped on a commuter tram, or “ding ding” as they are called.  Cramped, old, double decker trams reminiscent of the colonial period, they are a total trip.

A sidebar on construction: They build with bamboo scaffolding.  When you think of the height of what's built, and then combine that with the hilly terrain, it's truly terrifying.

Demonstration central at Causeway Bay. Thousands and thousands of shoppers had to walk around the demonstration...

Burdened by the demonstrationists, man does his best to manage ("boy, you're gonna carry that weight...")

The paint job is a ruse.  The "ding dings" have wooden frames inside!

Sunday at the market

The Pawn.  A pawn shop a century ago, a trendy eatery today

They are chairs.  Fooled ya.

For dinner we went to Sohofama, a local place that specializes in regional ingredients, farm to table, no-MSG, all that stuff the "young people" are into.  It's located in a reconfigured building that began life as Queen's College then, after WWII, became a barracks for married "Chinese" police.  From college to barracks to galleries, it's now host to workshops, studios, HK hipsters, etc. It was too dark to shoot the food, which was all lovely, and read like standard Chinese (pork dumplings, Kung Pao chicken, Tam Tam noodles) but was in fact much more like Bao Bei in Vancouver, unique and savory twists on old favorites.

There is real bar but no license, so the bartenders mix up mocktails

Another neon light en route to dinner