China Genesis

I first came to Beijing in early 1994, just after Chinese New Year in March. Without sounding too cliché but yes….:”back in those days” landing into what was laughingly called Beijing Capital Airport albeit with the letters “PEK” for Peking on the luggage tag, can only be described as a complete and utter farce. In reality it was originally some type of converted military airfield gone wrong. Ok so how was it or how bad was it? The sublime did indeed follow the ridiculous. I connected via one of the world’s best airports, Changi Singapore and landed in the world’s worst airport being a mix mash of wooden, metal and bare concrete with cracked thin glass windows, and once I actually got to the terminal it went progressively down hill. Dark dingy mold colored green corridors channeled a small but outgoing bunch to linger in a poorly lit holding area beneath a un welcoming sign titled “Boarder Control”.

Having completed mountains of paperwork, Customs Declarations forms, Health Declarations forms and Immigration Declaration forms, each collected at a separate counter we finally waited for immigration clearance. We appeared to be the only flight in that afternoon in a semi deserted area of town. I stood in a short queue while just ahead of me behind bars and yet more cracked glass stood a thin soldier like person in an ill fitting uniform. Taking my Passport and various bits of even thinner flimsy paper being the immigration forms, he studied it for an immense amount of time (and I thought like whom or why would anyone even bother to fake it to get into this dump anyway?) A loud stamping sound concluded the matter and I wandered over wooden floors to the ……wait for it…alleged baggage collection area. What unfolded before my eyes was a broken carousel, with dubious flight arrival details clinging precariously from above. Finally bags followed. So much for my arrival into a country steeped with history. With bags in hand I proceeded with quite some caution to cast my eye around the place looking for the promised someone from the then SAS Royal Hotel Beijing with a sign bearing my name. Then ensconced in a Volvo speeding down what was actually the only highway in China at the time I had survived the Arrival and now the real adventure lay ahead, one that takes me through are fifteen year journey.

Immediate thoughts and sights and sounds in Beijing for the first time??? Grey and dull, with packs of people clothed only in black, walking down or cycling along grey streets before flats in a colour that I dubbed Commie Mould green; buildings all thrown up based on old Soviet plans. What soon became obvious, was that there were no office buildings to speak of, and the only structures of any significance or substance were new 4 and 5 star international Hotels. But for who? at the time no locals could go in let alone afford to dine or stay in one. Yes Beijing had just started to be a city under reconstruction, so Genesis like, a new world is about to come screaming into the late 20th Century…….and then.

Fast forward 15 years later to late 2009 and poles apart cannot even begin to describe Beijing or indeed China today. I think and feel fortunate to have witnessed the so called rise of China and now wonder will I be around to witness the fall?

Coming up…..China travels spanning more than a decade and the cities of the middle kingdom laid bare.

Anthony Arrigo has either lived or worked in more cities in China than he can care to remember or count, and enjoys Peking Duck when in Beijing.

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.

Reality Check-in

Now for a Reality Check-in

Who doesn't yearn for five-star hotel treatment? Lavish bathrooms piled high with big white towels, little soaps and the obligatory triangle fold on the toilet paper. Little touches that bring so much more to life. However, so too can we ache when we see the bill at the end.

Hotels stand for an escape from reality. What they don't sometimes stand for, or rather stand by, is their advertising literature. It's the best fiction available. Particularly if you end up in a resort that looked fantastic in the brochure and was praised by the travel agent, but when you get there the "ocean views" have turned out to be far-off glimpses, provided you stand on the sagging bed.

Photographs in hotels' brochures, unlike breakfast cereal boxes with their serving suggestions, come with no warning or waiver. One hotel employed a much sought-after international photographer. Enhancements employed included lighting at the back of chairs, beds, plants and behind closed curtains. The photographer had rearranged the furniture so that any prospective guest would need to be a gymnast to get around it in real life.

So the inviting photo of your hotel room, complete with a happy couple sitting on the bed or an executive type in the background, surrounded by dozens of flowers is often in stark contrast to reality.

Size does matter. What appears in the brochure to be a bed the size of a landing field can turn out to be an overdressed tatami mat.

To the Japanese, the size of your hotel room is considered "great face". So small are hotel rooms in Tokyo that while using the toilet you can simultaneously turn down your bed, manually change television channels and open the door to the hallway.

At the extreme opposite, in the Middle East, where space is as endless as the desert, one room I had was so large that by the time I got to the door to answer room service's knock, they had usually given up and left. My attempt to convince the room service manager that I was in my room eagerly awaiting my food was a dumb show worthy of Fawlty Towers.

Combine this with things that don't work in a hotel room, or can't be found. One big hotel group never has the hair dryer in the bathroom. It's "located in the bureau" and welded to the socket, so you have to stand in the middle of the room to dry your hair. The same room has electric curtains that sound like a Scalextric slot-car set. My children had a lot of fun with those bedside buttons. It kind of made up for the fact the room backed on to a freeway.
So why do we leave the comforts of home – where we know we won't be allergic to the soap, have 121 cable channels and, most important, cant lock ourselves out without the embarrassment of asking a bewildered front-desk clerk for a replacement key while standing in our dressing gown? (I've lost count of how many times this has happened to me, and no it's not what you think.) Simply put, we leave the cosy confines of our inner sanctum for adventure. For the unknown and for something different. After all, nothing beats getting out of the house for a few days, just as nothing is better than the feeling of coming home. We leave for the joy of returning – but is it to our home or to a hotel?

Salad Anyone? A salad Review

The quest for the perfect Caesar Salad

To quote Caesar “I came, I saw, I conquered.” It seems to have been easier for Caesar to have made that statement than for many a Restaurant to be able to actually make this sought after salad properly. Certainly recent experiences dining out in Hong Kong has proved challenging to say the least. It is also worth noting that while not actually named in honor of Julius Caesar it was funnily enough reputed to be named after the creator apparently being an Italian born Mexican. The story goes he invented the dish in 1924 when a rush depleted the kitchen's supplies. Caesar Cardini made do with what he had, adding the dramatic flair of the table-side tossing "by the chef". Of special note the original recipe uses Worcestershire sauce as the Anchovies were a later adaptation.


So it’s not really Italian after all, once when I was game enough to ask an Italian Chef if he could make one anyway he was aghast at my request with the quick retort “but its net even Italian!” That said, I like it and I am sure most people dining out in Hong Kong enjoy it too and have had their fair share of fair to middling attempts. So here is the short list of the places in HK that I have tried, liked or hated depending on what was put in front of me. Note all salads should be served and eaten when chilled and at not room temperature, only rabbits eat salad at room temperature.

My best tips HK Island side for a good Caesar Salad and one to avoid…..

Cru Soho – Excellent, as Cru does one of the best Caesar Salads around town with what is the closest you will ever get to being a genuine dressing as well, just ask them to go light on the dressing or have on the side to be safe. Tasty crisp romaine lettuce with all the right trimmings. My best recommendation is to have it with Salmon.

Jaspers Soho – Always good as far as restaurants go they also do a fab Caesar Salad and I suggest the Chicken there as this place is best at meat.

Isola Central – Headed by an Italian Manager, Carlo and an Italian head chef too you have a choice of fresh on the semi buffet or al a carte, either way they do a good job and certainly have the finest ingredients.

Press Room- Well it comes as no surprise here that a salad, any salad at Press Room is pretty much hit and miss. Descriptions that come to; mind, limp and soggy while at the same time missing key ingredients all together!

Now for those wanting to make one at home….. Please message me and I will send you my favorite recipe….in the meantime happy dining in Hong Kong.

La Piazzetta Review -Opening Party Soho Hong Kong

Leading on from the poor lunch at Classifieds earlier that day it was a delight to support Paolo of La Piazzetta Soho later that evening at the re-opening party of his newly refurbished restaurant tucked away on Tsun Wing Lane. Like all good treasures this one is worth venturing a field to discover quality, value and good service can go actually hand in hand in Hong Kong!

La Piazzetta itself was already home to good food but Paolo still wanted to give his valued patrons even more and fully refitted this tiny but fulfilling cavern of a Trattorria. Personally I really like the new chairs, stylish in a classical way but also attractive and comfortable. Complete with a new interior right down to the last mosaic tile it is now an even more pleasurable place to have what I consider some of the best Italian food in Hong Kong. I can only thank my good friend S.F for introducing it to me almost two years ago.

The opening party was a raging success and while Paolo may have been tempting fate by even promoting the event on You Tube, all went well and the guests were varied and valued past and present patrons gained over the years. While it was a casual affair, excellent Italian red and white wine flowed freely accompanied by pasta, pizza, assorted salads and finely sliced Parma ham, salami and other tasty Italian morsels. While S.F would have very much enjoyed the event, but sadly waylaid in India, G and A came along and it was nice to catch up with M at the same time.

La Piazzetta, also now has its own sister restaurant in Wanchai where Pomodoro use to be. Again, Paolo with his love of the finer things in life has completely re-fitted the venue and this promises to provide Wanchai with not just an other Italian restaurant but also another quality one at that. More details later!

Note: Only first name initials of friends are being used for the purposes of privacy, all comments made are based on my own personal opinion.