A Kiss may be grand !

“A kiss may be grand but it wont pay the rental on your humble flat” so the song goes as in Diamonds are a girls best friend. Now if diamonds are a girl’s best friend what is their worst enemy? (Ok apart from myself that is)

Speaking of diamonds, a recent sale of a certain diamond (as pictured) sold for several million US dollars in New York it seems some people at least have no problem paying the rent or buying 10 carat diamonds.

In Hong Kong there seems to be no shortage of flash and cash and a bit of fling for some bling. With so many local yokels stashed up on the cash and their Tai Tai’s in tow LV embossed one really does wonder if the place ever did suffer from dare I say the R word……Recession. (there I said it) Hong Kong’s idea of a recession are outlet malls and posh restaurants only 80% full. With bankers going bonkers both in Lan Kwai Fong and Wanchai, with the former being with their wives and girlfriends and the latter being for more fun on the side than you can poke a wad of cash at. Ok more on Wanchai later but in the meantime what about all that bling around town? We simply cannot be that affected by a downturn, business and first class flights are full as is the lounge and it cant all be upgrades on points? Actually from what I hear it’s the airlines cutting back on flights and just squeezing more people in. Now talking about squeeze, even patrons on the MTR have a bit of bling on their ring fingers and more diamond's that you can blink at (and that’s just the men!). Here in HK absolutely everything has a bit of bling to it. Fancy a diamond encrusted Vertu phone? All yours and readily available, (crap now wont you be really pissed off if you left that one in a cab!) Yes from diamond phones to bejeweled door bell buttons (well Swarovski crystal at least and yes they do exist!) there is a bit of sparkle all over Hong Kong. Be it the sparkling light show over the city dubbed the Symphony of lights as its set to classical music or the crystal meth on the streets a bit of bling lights up the city somewhere at some time. As I look out from my humble flat albeit with a Harbour view, the city’s lights, light up each and every evening from 8pm sharp!. Of particular note is the newly completed “Masterpiece” building, lit up in the shape of giant M. All 80 stories of it complete with the newest Hyatt Hotel in Asia occupying the top floors, and all of course with a sparkling view of Hong Kong Harbour.

So like scattered diamonds twinkling on both sides of the Harbour the lights of Hong Kong truly do reflect the bling of city in every possible way. Meanwhile we wont mention the blight over the city…..being the pollution ah…. Hong Kong beautiful one day …hazy the next it truly does light up my life.
Anthony Arrigo is a seasoned expat living and working in Hong Kong and has (apparently) a sparking personality.

Gluttony and Lust (my favorite sins)

What do gluttony and lust have to do with Danish Pastries and Thai Women?

Well if my recent trip to Bangkok is anything to go by then they have lots in common. For example both have an effect on your hip in some way. The effects of Danish pastries add to the hip while most Thai women are adept in reducing your hip…pocket that is. Of course this is all done (allegedly) in the most tasteful way. So while a Danish is soft fluffy and melts in your mouth, Thai women are mouth watering in their own right. After all what's one little tart going to do? Needless to say both go down very well; and the incongruous effect of a night out on the town in Bangkok complete with delectable bevy of beauties often on offer in buffet like fashion is then further complemented by the range of Danish Pastries on the breakfast buffet the next morning. Interestingly enough the indulgence of which can be justified by the physical activity earlier so who said we had to count calories?

At my age I am lucky to be able to count at all given the fact ageing eyesight is out of focus without the aid of reading glasses. Noticeably this vastly improves early evening as a result of copious amounts of alcohol and even makes the down and dirty side of Bangkok seemingly sparkle with clarity. Then like a child lost in a candy store one become lost in the maze of lane ways and neon lights at ground level and shimmering shimmies at well….eye level.

So is love for sale the ultimate bargain? Is pleasure available for a price or will compensated dating just take over all together? Doesn't dating always involving some type of compensation for either side or am I being banal? At the end of the day like the delectable Danish Pastries if looks good eat it, if it’s on offer take it and if it looks too good to be true then is usually is. In the meantime is love being bought or merely rented? Is it better to have loved and lost than never loved before ,even if it is just for 2 hours short time or over night long time? OK so many questions, and like so many women and so little time I can’t even begin to choose. It is for the individual to choose what is right for them at the end of the day and it is not for us to judge the actions of others or others our own if just for one moment in time, we count our sins as a blessing to enjoy a little bliss just once in a while even if it is for one night only!

Anthony Arrigo is an ageing sexpat living and working in Asia and enjoys fine food, wine and women but not always in that order

No Sex in the City????

No sex in the city?

The thing I like about Hong Kong is its diversity, a place filled with hard edged people pretty much hard at it at work but if the survey is true then with one of the lowest rates of sexual activity per capita anywhere in Asia as well. Now this is based on a survey of local HK residents, perhaps one thing they don’t brag about is their sex life and may well play down the reality of it all. Seems hard to believe in a place where its easier for a Hooker to get multiple re-entries (into HK that is) on her Passport than it was for my wife when she was travelling on a Taiwan Passport….I digress, but yes, when undertaking research for this blog (well someone had to do it) I was promptly informed by ladies of the evening of their in’s and out’s and how they go about getting in and out of HK and how they take on Immigration in the process. The mostly Philippine and Thai ladies get two week visas at a time but then they can just pop, cherry like, in and out of Shenzhen or Macau and get into HK again. Perhaps this explains why the ferries and trains are so jam packed with “visitors”.

While the traveling businessman may be well serviced by the local take on the worlds oldest profession what do the business men and women living in HK do? Statistics: the dating site Adultfreidnfinder.com for Hong Kong has over 100,000 men listed as seeking women and less than 8,000 women seeking men! But with a 180,000 listings in total it seems a lot of in between activity is going on somewhere! So based on that are women in HK even looking for sex?

If my marginal group of friends and associates are anything to go by more of the females are single and loving it, while my male counter parts are attached and it’s hard to tell if they are having as good a time as the single women. For some reason Hong Kong is a place where I constantly meet sexy, good looking single women. Not that anything comes of it, nor do I seek it (at least not when sober) I am just stunned by the beauty and availability of it all. Whether it is out at Lan Kwai Fong, Soho or Wanchai revelers abound and this really is a city that does not sleep. Perhaps that’s why it has a low sexual activity rate, too busy partying and then to sloshed to do anything about it. I can hear it now…. “sorry love can’t stay at home and get it on tonight gotta meet up with the guys out in LKF”. (oh and that’s what the women say to the men!)

Me? Alone in HK while the wife and kids are safely and sanely at home in Australia.

I stay at home and just write blogs about sex, wine and food….now that’s a situation Freud could have field day with, but that’s another story!

Anthony Arrigo is just another sex starved sexpat living in Asia, any names in the above have not been changed to expose the guilty.

Divine Wine - Review The Pawn Wanchai-Hong Kong, by Anthony Arrigo

Divine Wine - Massimo Gavina, the newly installed General Manager of The Pawn in Wanchai, is most certainly the best thing to happen to the place since it opened! Massimo now having found his way back to the right side of Hong Kong after 24 months over at the dark side (i.e. Kowloon) is set to make his mark at this landmark establishment. There is no dark side to Massimo and his welcoming personality makes one feel more at home that just out on the town. Now more places in Hong Kong need more people like him to give places a dose of reality, lift their game and put some meaning to the term “Asia’s world city” that’s often over used to describe Hong Kong.

The Pawn is unique in Hong Kong as it’s located in a colonial building, being one of those rarely preserved venues and was in fact a old Pawn brokers shop, hence the name and established way back when in 1888. Originally with the shop front located at ground level and housing residential living on upper floors of this three story building. It is now lovingly restored and offering a comfy and stylish respite to some of Wanchai’s “other” bars.

Last night The Pawn held an inaugural wine tasting evening, instigated by Massimo the event both worked well and was a real treat. At the event where Mo, Tin and his lovely wife Gloria, George fresh off the plane from Prague joined later adding even more fun along the way. The “Tasting Menu” of wine and cocktails, featured both old and new world wines (French and Australian) The former being a simply delicious Sauvignon Blanc by Alain Brumont along with South Australian wines by The Lackey, additionally some nice Shiraz and Merlot as well. While these were served with limited “Tapas” the intention and thought behind the event was well received. It was a good example of adding value to the guest experience while at the same time enhancing and building on loyalty. Top marks to Massimo and his team and looking forward to spending more time over that way in the coming weeks.

Anthony Arrigo is a resident expat in Hong Kong, living and working in Asia for 15 years.