Running away from the credit crunch (or trying to...)

As our holiday draws to a close, here are some of our (in fact, these are written by BB) most memorable moments of our trip to London and Vienna:

1. picking newly hatched conkers for DB's first time (even more amazingly, in the gardens of the spectacular Schonbrunn Palace);
2. watching the horses train at Spanish Riding School (it's only now that we can appreciate the equestrian events at the Olympics);
3. eating weiner schnitzel at Figmuller where the schitzels are bigger than the plates themselves;
4. trekking round Vienna at night looking for an emergency chemist (for nurofen, not durex);
5. enjoying an organ concert at St Peters Church in Vienna;
6. celebrating Ian's wedding at Whitehall Place (one of the most lavish weddings we've been to in UK);
7. looking round the Natural History Museum in London (who said it's just for kids?);
8. lunching at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay (the first and hopefully not the last time we will be eating in such an amazing restaurant);
9. taking in the aroma of a box of fresh white truffles (at RGR);
10. DB being in Rothko paradise, surrounded by his paintings at Tate Modern;
11. BB being in shoe shop hell, surrounded by shelves upon shelves of boots (in both Vienna and London);
12. savouring the mushroom cheese pancakes at the Hampstead Creperie;
13. using the shopping scanners at Waitrose;
14. standing outside Covent Garden tube station in the rush hour and pouring rain;
15. getting used to London transport again;
16. getting used to having a bath every night rather than a shower;
17. catching up with friends and family; and
18. wishing that the economic doom and gloom will have blown over by the time we come back.

Photos to follow when we are back in HK.

Gratitude (Posted by BB).

From DBJ: Today it is my prerogative (or that is what I have told BB) to have someone else write my blog for me. So, over to BB.

From BB:

Once in a while DBJ has her "me-time". Today is one of those days. This is "divide and conquer" according to what we studied at Care Group. So DBJ is off (and this is not supposed to sound too SATC) to get her hair done and enjoy lunch with some girlfriends and then have dinner with parents.

Today is also DBJ's birthday. In the card I scribbled last night, I tried to jot down our highlights of the past year. My memory (and DBJ's, she will readily admit) gets worse and worse but our personal highlights ranged from the spiritually significant (finding a Care Group, DBJ's mum accepting Christ) to the more worldly and trivial (enjoying some great holidays, Nespresso parties and discovering "Settlers" and Ian McEwan's writing).

I hope we get the chance to sing Matt Redman's "Blessed Be Your Name" at tomorrow's service. If not, then we will be doing so in our hearts.

The long weekend

This is BB here - DBJ has given me permission to write another guest blog while she parties away on her hen weekend in Zhong Shan.

After another challenging week at work (bosses in every part of the company wanted to please a certain client that was also ringing me for midnight con calls), it was great to have a long weekend.

Escaping the Saturday rain, I went to the movies and saw "Die Hard 4" with two uni friends who, like me, have made HK their home for the next few years. Cool as Bruce Willis is, the plot and action scenes were just too OTT. Even for me. "24" is better.

Saturday dinner was enjoyably spent at a restaurant that I had been wanting to visit for ages, but somehow never managed to. I'll definitely come back (next time with DBJ who won't be pleased that I've gone to another decent restaurant w/out her).

I can't really comment on the restaurant reviews that say it's a NY style brasserie. I've never been to NY, much to Americans' disbelief. What I do know is that the food and atmosphere were great. Floor to ceiling windows, an open kitchen, chalkboard containing my favourite dishes, some good wines and a very respectable selection of cheeses (alas we were too full to try the cheeseboard), make this place well worth a visit. We had a very fresh endive, pear and blue cheese salad (perfect to get the gastric juices flowing), foie gras terrine (decent size portion though there could have been a bit more jam/quince), great burger with all the trimmings, asparagus (nicely grilled and presented), creamed spinach, profiteroles, apple crumble etc.. You get the picture. I am a fan of such high quality and generously portioned comfort food! (The place also does brunch, so I can see Phoenix facing some stiff competition.)

The only gripe I have is that, having spent a reasonable sum on a wine, the glasses were unisex white/red ones which could not give justice to the Bordeaux. (I hate to admit that I am becoming a Frasier or Niles in being so judgemental, but this is a warning to DB's readers who do like their wine).

All in all, a very enjoyable Saturday.

Long may the weekend continue!

Wedding and all things related.

Hi, it's BB again.

We've just come back from a wedding banquet. One of my ex-colleagues. It must be the first time (apart from my own wedding!) that I've sat so close to the head table. Normally, as any HK wedding banquet goer will know, colleagues and "other friends" are relegated to sitting on table 37 right at the back corner of the venue, probably by some loudspeakers in the corner. Tonight we were lucky. And the table seating plan was good. All were ex-colleagues (or spouses) and it was great to catch up with good friends. (Whilst we love to moan about our old law firm, there's no doubt that our time in private practice has forged some good friendships which continue long after we left). We must be getting old though. The suggestion of going for drinks after the banquet had a lukewarm response and I think a number of us were secretly relieved to grab a taxi back home rather than try our luck queuing at some nightspot in Soho/Lan Kwai. The groom was one of the last remaining bachelors in our circle of ex-colleagues and, now that he has settled down with his true love, it means no more stag nights for a long time :-(

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This week has flown by. It is with a sigh of relief that we managed to sell our old flat. The intention had been that we would be able to sell our old place and move into the marital home at the same time. Wishful thinking! 9 painful months later of carrying two mortgages and we can now breathe easier. [Note from DBJ: that means BB no longer has any excuse not take me to all those new posh restaurants!]

[Note #2 from DBJ: BB has not forgotten to write about our dinner at Spoon. But being a perfectionist, he has to draft the post, revise it, revise it some more, proof-read, and proof-read some more before he can post it on-line. He has started drafting, so please expect to see it in a couple of months' time. Stay tuned.]

mos burger and agnès b. le pain grillé - worth the wait?

After months of complaining, I, Dai Bun's husband, have been given permission to write today's blog.

We had marked today in our diary more than a month ago. DB had been calling and calling a certain French bistro (opened last year) and, after literally 15 phone calls, she had finally secured a table. While the day was filled with other things (more of which later), this was the highlight of the week. We pass by the restaurant every day, to and from work, and often gazed longingly through the windows wondering whether the restaurant really can deliver the perfect onion soup and duck confit...

Our first task of the day was to clear out my old flat in Island East in preparation for its sale. So we grabbed a taxi back to our old neighbourhood and, since it was lunch time, went to the newly opened Mos Burger just outside Jusco. There were 20 people queuing outside... so first we went to our old hang-out (Jusco) and ordered siu mai and curry fish balls. $10 each. Ever dependable, full and flavour and bringing back many happy memories of my time there.

We then decided to queue for a Mos Burger and, after 15 minutes, ordered our burger and chicken set. DB said that when it first opened, people were queuing for 2 hours! Mad, but this is HK where people queue for anything and everything. The chicken burger was pretty decent but the fried chicken was much better (excellent piece of meat, dusted in seasoned flour and deep fried). It's what I'd call the Japanese equivalent of Triple O and KFC. But, being a Japanese sensation, it has more "delicate" (i.e. smaller) portions. It was pretty tasty, but it's hard to beat the filling sensation that a Triple O burger or finger licking good KFC meal delivers.

Back to Agnes B. Soon. I dragged DB to a body combat class (my 2nd time) to pre-emptively burn off some calories. All credit to the instructor for giving us a great work out. At the end of the class (I had admitted at the start I was a novice), she gave me a few words of encouragement. Then again, it could have been sympathy when she saw how shattered I looked. DB and I spent the next three hours back at home recovering, too tired to even talk to each other.

So, the main event. For such an auspicious occasion, we had invited Mr & Mrs S. Where there's good food or a new restaurant, rest assured that they will be there! The menu (classic French bistro) looked great. Everything you could want. So we ordered everything. Soups (bisque, onion soup), salads (grilled bacon, grilled lobster), mussels (the smaller, sweeter ones rather than the over-sized green lips normally found in Asia), grilled lobster, duck confit (my choice - meat was succulent, falling off the bone), sole and more lobster, soufflés (very generous portions - by the end we were all stuffed) and a delicious looking apple tart tatin (ordered by Mrs S). Even though my chocolate soufflé was pretty good, the proverbial grass is always greener on the other side, and with hindsight I would have preferred Mrs S' tart tatin which Mrs S admitted was excellent. So excellent, in fact, that I noticed Mr S only managed to get a bite right at the end.
































I ought to wrap up and gather my thoughts as to what really has been a day of gluttony and, thank God, a carefree day where I have been able to rest and chill out with my wife and dear friends. What I will remember is just how damn difficult it was to book a place at Agnes B. What I have learned is that (and this is where I try to be Anthony Bourdain) food isn't necessarily about trying the most recent fad (be it Japanese or French). It's about what satisfies the soul. And for me, it was the humble siu mai/fish ball food stall which brought back so many happy memories of my time in Island East with, coming around full circle, Mr & Mrs S and DB.

One final note: thanks for DB for letting me write today.

BB