Champagne Wishes and Kowloon Dreams

The Last Post

2013-07-15T20:28:00.002-07:00

Yesterday marked my last day with the HOFWs and my last day in Kwun Tong, Kowloon. As such, the Kowloon blog has come to an end point. But first, let me bring it up to speed.

After the amazing Domani wine dinner, Wednesday was filled with an interview and an awesome port tasting. Johnny Symington, part of the 13th generation of family owners for brands like Dow's, Grahams, Warre's, Qutina do Bomfim to name a few, was in town and was going to lead a tasting through some of his Dow's ports. Unfortunately he had to go home for a family emergency, but the tasting went on.

Jorge telling us about Dow's

The Asian brand manager (obviously he's not Asian) led the tasting of some really delicious ports. We had a white mixed with tonic (Portonic, cleverly), then a Ruby Reserve made specifically to pair with chocolate, brilliant. Then a 10 and 20 year Tawny (divine), a Quinta vintage port (2010 I think) and finally a 1994 Dow's vintage port. If you're not into Port, you're not a real person. They are so deliciously warming, sweet, and full of fire. Get into it.

Then Paul and I met for a lovely sushi date at a sushi place we never noticed in our hood. And it twas delicious. Then more interviews Thursday followed by some wineing and dining. This woman I interviewed the previous week invited me out for a drink at one of her customer's places; Armani Aqua. I cannot believe I haven't been here before. Although with $150 cocktails, I guess yes I can.

Egg, tuna and salmon rolls

It's an amazing outdoor bar in the heart of Central, and had I not known which country I was in, I would have sworn I was in New York. Lounge-y with loud music and beautiful people and fancy cocktails. I could get used to this.

Courtney at the Phoenix

Then Paul and I went over to Courtney and Patrick's for some wine and chatting. I love summer.

Friday I worked allllllll day at a wedding expo and then met Allison and Kass (new Canadian friend who is super sweet) for some natural wines in Soho. I actually have a lunch meeting with the owners of the natural wine bar tomorrow, La Cabane a Vin. Amazing natural wines from France (soon to cover more countries), girl talk, and North American friends. Get better.

Last HOFWs event. Me, Phil and Sean

Saturday worked alllllll day at the stupid wedding expo, and then Paul and I went out for some lovely cocktails at the Pawn, followed by a going away party for Kelcy. Another one bites the dust.

Birthday cocktails with Paul at the Pawn

Sunday was my last birthday in my 20s and my last birthday as a McPhate. And it was an awesome birthday!! 22 of my most favorite Hong Kongers came out to help me celebrate with bottomless Champers, oysters, crab, sushi, Indian, Thai, and much much more. Jumbo Floating restaurant is a perennial favorite (we've been 4/5 times now) and it was fun to introduce it to several people who hadn't been. If you come to HK, it's a must.

Will, Sarah and Jackie

Justin

Me and Julia

Court, Patrick and Alicia

Sarah and I

Paul knows me. Chocolate cake covered in chocolate adorned with chocolate (and wine bottle) Well done, Paul, and well done Ms. B!

Brunch on a giant boat (you ferry to it from Aberdeen), sitting outside, with fantastic service that doesn't allow your drink to get dry. Perfect.

Js. Jackie, Justin, Joey and Julia

And to make it even better, I got to go home and chat with my best friend from high school. So great to catch up with Kati, and to begin a big year of firsts.

So there you have it.

Kowloon, it's been a good run, but this kid is on to bigger and better. xo

And the Hunt Continues

2013-07-15T05:36:00.001-07:00

This week and last have been all about the interview. First, second, and even third round interviews, and thankfully one offer has come in already. I should let you know that this blog, in all its Kowloon fine-ness, will be shut down after next Friday, my last day in Kowloon ever (until Owl City comes in August). But don't worry, my blogging journey will continue!

This gem has been going for a solid 2 years now, and now that we've moved out of Kowloon, and my new job will not be in Kowloon (everywhere I've interviewed is on the island), I think it's only right to close out my Kowloon Dreams. New blog title suggestions welcome.

The new blog will be more focused on my journey in Hong Kong as told through my wine-ing. The WSET diploma is no joke, and from what I gather year 2 is taste, taste, taste, and this will serve as one of my memory aids. If I start getting boring/losing you, please just give a shout.

Anyway, yes, the job search continues. Two second round interviews tonight, one of which is super interesting but could be a super terrible or super lucrative and challenging decision (I hope to figure out which tonight), and the other another sales job. Lots of sales jobs available in HK.

Anyway, what have we been up to this week....

Oh yeah, totally rad events, dinners and, meh, work. One more week of work.... (did you know in Europe they teach not to use the Oxford comma? It just looks wrong without)

Monday I skipped outta work early for the first ever in HK Guild Somm event. The Guild is a US organization of, you guessed it, sommeliers. Hands down, this was the single best event in terms of wine studying helpfulness, I have ever been to. I walked in at 2:45 sharp, which was the beginning time, to realize I was the last one there, which never ever ever happens. People in HK make it a habit to always show up at least 10 minutes late. And it's usually much more.

Anyway, walk into to a roundtable of Somms and Somm-pretend to bes (me, Ian, and Louis). For those of you not in the know, there's this new movie out call 'Somm' and it's sweeping the wine world. It's a fantastic look into what it takes to become a Master Sommelier (similar-ish to becoming an MW). I highly recommend you give it a watch. So one of the people in the movie is Geoff Kruth MS. And that's precisely who led our seminar.

This was a class on how to improve your blind tasting skills. Geoff outlined several key aspects of wine that if present, make it easier to deduce which wine you are drinking. For example, if you detect pyrazines (herbal/green bell pepper flavours), there's a good chance you're looking at Sauv Blanc, Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Carmenere or Merlot. Just one thing detected and you can narrow down your choices from hundreds (thousands really) to just a few. Other examples were botrytis (noble rot usually in sweet wines), Terpenes (aromatic compounds), Rotundone (black/white pepper flavours), new oak (used for expensive wines), raisination. high volatile acidity (associated with high booze count), Brett, oxidation, lees contact, and carbonic maceration.

Then to highlight this point, we tasted 4 whites and 4 reds blind. We methodically went through to see if any of the above were present, and if yes, then move onto flavors, alcohol, body, and acidity to figure out what we were probably looking at. I can't say enough how helpful it is to have this list and to think of it in this way.

We all walked out totally pleased and I'm really looking forward to seeing a Guild presence in HK! Thanks, Geoff!

This was followed by an interview and then my first paid model/acting (and probably only) gig. This woman, Jolene, who organized bazaars here, asked if I would be in her friend's advertisement. I met her and the crew at the Airport Express train where we were let in. Her friend did my makeup (to erase my black circles) and then we shot. I was a tourist who was very frustrated that I could not get Wi-Fi on the train! In total Asian humor, I shook the ipad around, made an angry face, and acted like a spoiled child. Did this for several angles, various degrees of shaking, and I was done and a few bills richer. This is way more fun than tutoring. I have to go next Tuesday to do a quick voice over and then hopefully I will get a copy of the commercial to post.

Then Tuesday was a full day of work followed by 2 back to back interviews, and then the most amazing wine dinner I have ever been to. I may have mentioned a while back that I took some wine tasting classes with JC who is going for his MW. Well, he just saw mid-August for the test, and this was a 'Thank god it's over' dinner.

Thank you, Roland!

There were a solid 21 of us and everyone was required to bring one bottle. After a Prosecco reception with amazing homemade bread covered in amazing meat, we sat down, new friends and old to begin the meal. It was pretty amazing that I was a part of this group, and amazing to me, that after a year in the wine I know so many talented and successful people in the industry.

JC started bottles at various people around the table and instructed us to pass the bottles in one direction or another. We were each armed with 2 glasses, and managed to try every single one of those 21 bottles. Impressive, no!? There was an amazing Rioja white and the most interesting of the reds was for sure a 1967 Barolo. And the food. The food, the food. Caprese salad made from the freshest mozzarella, a cheesy risotto covered in foie gras and figs, ulta rare filet with eggplant mash (brillant), completed with creme brulee. Lovely.

And that was just Tuesday.

Flying Curious

2013-07-07T02:51:00.001-07:00

Sometimes Paul and I sit back and have a chuckle about how silly and amazing our lives are here. Today was one of those days. But we'll get to that when we get to that.

Thursday I left work early for a French wine tasting at the Mira hotel. I only had time to try a few of the hundred or so wines offered, but a couple of the Muscadet Sur Lies from the Loire stood out and stuck on my tongue for hours. Wonderful and not your everyday wines, and if you haven't had one, I totally suggest you seek one out for summer.

Grabbed a handful of cheese on the way out to 4 back to back interviews. They were all very positive for very different companies, and 2 of which are very very interesting to me. Hopefully I'll hear something soon.

Louis de Sacy Champagne at the American Club

Then ran out of the last one after an hour and a half of chatting to hit up BFelix for a wine pop up shop with one of my favorite wine companies, Amorosso Fine Wines. Brilliant idea. Wine shop in a furniture shop for a limited time only. Alison was there pouring our some lovely Rioja whites and reds, and my Spanish wine friend from the Island East Market was serving some amazing Spanish ham. Paul was there chatting with Ali (WineTimesHK) and Alison, and new friends who have just left Korea to travel the world.

Red Head's Barrel Monkeys

Friday ran out of work for a Cru Magazine/Bacchus wine tasting at the American Club. I got to catch up with my wine friends, Gerrie, Stephen, Jon, and Simon, and met some new wine enthusiasts and negociants. There were some amazing Champagnes, great young Bordeauxs, but my favorites of the night were, for sure, the Red Head wines from Australia (Whip Hand- aaahhhhmazing), and the Barbera, Nebbiolos, and Barolos from Pelassa. Divine.

View from the American Club

Saturday Paul worked in the morning while I went to the pool for some laps, the library for some research for my diploma case study (if anyone has any insight into the convergence of supply and demand for wine using the 2012 harvest as evidence, contact me!), had an interview, then met Paul for an Indian buffet lunch.

We head home to unload before hiking and it dumped rain. Dumped dumped dumped. And then all of the sudden the sun shone and life was good again. So we head to the Dragon's Back for a wonderful hike with Nina, Kenny, Katie and Lisa. Nice breeze, clear blue sky, and a non-strenuous workout. Totally typical day that couldn't possibly be recreated anywhere else.

View from the trail post storm

Post hike Nina and Kenny introduced us all to a new favorite; Ben's Back Beach Bar in Shek O. We've been coming to Shek O for 2 years and had never been to the back beach. How could this be!? It's quiet and has this islandy-almost-Thailand feeling bar, Ben's, where you can chill and have a Brooklyn Beer!!! Or two. And some yellow, two blue, and a black, if you know what I mean. If you don't know what I mean, I mean Lays chips. But seriously, how did we not know about this sooner?

Paul, Kenny, Nina, Lisa, Me, Katie at Ben's

Post brews we went through some creepy alleyways, which again, we had never ventured down before, past some cats, a lot of cats, to Black Sheep. This is a place I'd been hearing about, but the one time previous Paul and I attempted in, it twas full. This time it was not. At all.

Sarong covered tables. Disco Ball solar systems. Fish tanks. Awesome. We had a fantastic pizza dinner and made it home at the ripe old hour of 11 on a Saturday night. Perfect!

And now the clencher parte uno to The Best Week Ever. We went flying with Kenny!!! In a tiny little Cessna that seats 4. I don't think I've ever seen a plane this small, much less been in and flown (for like a second with Kenny's hands still firmly on his control). We flew out of a Chinese air force base, through the New Territories, down by Sai Kung, through the Harbour right by the ICC (right by!), around the Southside, back through the NT to the base.

So small

Captain Kenny

Greenery

ICC

Totally surreal, and totally amazing, and totally made our week/day/month! We hit some bumps coming through the mountains but had an ultra smooth landing. Kenny is an amazing pilot and made us feel totally comfortable the entire time despite the fact that half an inch of 30 year old tin stood between us and the Pacific Ocean. Well done, Kenny, well done, indeed.

Foodie Event at Sal

We topped the day off with brunch at Sal Curiouso. Paul and I went to a Foodie event last month at SC and had some truly clever and tasty cocktails, which resulted in us walking away with a buy one get one brunch coupon. Sarah, Will, Nina and Lisa joined us for what turned out to a totally tasty Sunday afternoon.

Buffet

Starts with a coffee/tea and a buffet; hummus/guac/salsa, squid salad, tortas, Iberco ham, salmon, chorizo and sardine salad, gazpacho panzanella salad, cured duck, tuna, and I'm sure much more I'm forgetting.

Then the chef himself, Chris Woodyard, (who turns out to be the father of one of Paul's students from Tutor Time!) came and presented us with course after course of absolute deliciousness. Lisa our resident veg, made vocal her contraints, and Chris was all too accommodating. Started with a Turkish egg dish, followed by pork sliders, followed by suckling pig and pears, followed by tuna and squid over chorizo deliciousness, followed by Portabello over curry-ish chickpeas and peas, followed by scallops over avocado salasa, lamb meatballs, veg and non veg jumbalayas, and finally ribs. Every single thing that came before us was delectable. There was no 'meh' in the entire (ridiculously massive) menagerie of courses.

Food.

To really finish it off right the dessert course was comprised of 2 dishes. One with churros, cheesecake, chocolate crumbs, rockyroad fudge and chocolate whip cream. The other with grapes, fruit rope, mango sorbet, and a rocky crumb cookie-ish thing. Amaze. Amaze. Amaze. 2 and a half hours later and we were finished.

Chris came back at the end with his son and daughter who said a very polite and heart melting, 'Hi Mr. Paul' and twas time to go. I should mention Chris is also the owner and chef of Madam Sixty Ate, and it's no surprise as they are both spot on fantastic.

Now time to blog, answer emails, pretend to wedding plan, and finally watch SOMM. Life is beautiful.

2 weeks til freedom-> Shanghai->Seoul->new job, I hope.

3 Years

2013-07-05T01:57:00.002-07:00

I forgot to mention THE best thing about last week in the last post. Paul and I just celebrated our 3 year anniversary on July 3rd. Woot.

With interviews and end of school, we celebrated a day early with dinner at Madam Sixty Ate. I've been hearing for months and months about how creative and tasty the Madam is, but just hadn't had a chance to check it out yet. It was superb!! If you haven't been you absolutely must. I've been pretty disappointed in some of the restaurants we've been to recently, and Madam made me excited about going out again.

bad picture- It was really pretty in person

We started with fantastic cocktails, a dark and stormy and a twist on the classic martini, then ordered the meal of the day. Everyday there is a new plate offered at a spectacular price given the quality and location, and we lucked out with a fish course. Sole filet with pink grapefruit, delicious chunky mashed potatoes, with a complementary sweet pink foam. Twas as pretty as twas tasty. I suppose the restaurants we've been to recently have either slacked on quality of product or on inventiveness of the dish, but this had both, and to top it off the service was right on. Oh and the dinner was served with a paired glass of wine which happened to be a New Zealand Pinot Noir., which was just the perfect weight and fruitiness to match the sweetness and the fishiness.

Just a quick cab home and we were home early on a school night. It was a perfect evening to catch up on the craziness that surrounds our urban lives, with just the right cocktail, right dish, right wine, right service, right ambiance, and Mr. Right.

Happy Anniversary, P <3

Sun Shine Fun Week

2013-07-02T22:51:00.002-07:00

This past weekend the sun actually managed to show its face more than once! Although a tropical storm did blow through...

New co-worker Florian

Friday night after a great interview Paul and I went to our friend's happy hour. Mingled a bit and called it an early night as Paul had to work. I had a super successful Saturday am filled with hiking, gym, and shopping. In the afternoon we met Peenalope (Justin's) ex girl friend Shannon in Central. We met last year at Chetta's wedding and she mentioned she's out here every quarter or so.

Shannon and Cider. PS am I the last to learn about Snapchat!?

She'd been before but never seen Central!! We all had a tasty Thai lunch, refreshing cider's at the Globe, followed by some frosty brews with Court and Patrick at Beer Bay, which happens to be Paul's most happy place in the world.

Jackie and Justin

Again called it an early night (like 7pm) so we
could go home and get ready for the 'Merica junk! This is our third year running and we didn't want to disappoint. I made amazing Japanese Miso noodles, recipe below, and ~~Paul made~~ and then I made a 7 layer dip. USA. If you've never cooked with soba (buckwheat) noodles, you absolutely must. Not only are they tasty, but after a quick google search found out they're pretty amazing for you too. Full of Omega-3s and B2s and junk.

Miso Amazeball Noodles:

400 grams soba (1lb)
Carrot slices/peels
Raw cabbage (I used purple and green)
Lightly cooked broccoli

For dressing:
big tablespoon of miso paste
1 raw egg
some cut up raw ginger
squirt of wasabi
1/2 cup olive oil
splash of sesame oil

Blend it all together and you've got a dressing. You could totally throw any veg in there and have an amazing Japanese meal in less than 15 minutes.

Me and Shannon

Anyway, the junk was amazing!! Super sunny weather, amazing people that we've known for 2 years now (crazy!) and probably too much booze. Oh and a serious lack of utensils. Patrick made some amazing pulled pork, and Kelcy made some amazing pies, but other than that no one really brought any food. There were 30 of us.

But it was so much fun chatting and swimming, and chatting and swimming, that it always seems to fly by!

America! (my shady hallway)

Monday (SAR Establishment day!) we got up and head to Cheung Chau with Will and Sarah. We've been trying to go for weeks, but the rain had kept us away. We arrive at noon and it's gorgeous and sunny.

noon

Derek and Laura and Sam and Zara arrive at 1:30 and it's starting to look a little shaky. Then totally black. Then we run for cover as we're pretty sure the zombie apocalypse is upon us. Nope just some violent tropical storm rain which served as a lovely soundtrack to our South African lunch at the Stoep.

1:30

Twas a lovely long weekend! This week has been equally as lovely so far. I took off at 3 yesterday for 2 interviews, I have one and wine tasting tonight, leaving at noon tomorrow for a tasting with my new friend Simone, followed by 3 interviews and a glass of wine with a friend (which hopefully leads to more interviews), followed by Friday and a wine tasting with said friend above. Woot.

Finding jobs is so fun and I have recently decided that once I leave HOFWs on the 19th, I'm not going to start my new (hypothetical) job until August 12th, which gives me a lovely 3 week break to play.

I <3 Summer!

Apparently I am Moving On

2013-06-27T18:39:00.001-07:00

I have been trying to write this post for a week now, but somehow I keep getting sidetracked. So here it goes...

Do you have the same routine every morning? I pretty much do. Wake up with Paul at 6:30. Actually, let me rephrase. Paul's alarm goes off at 6:30, Lauren drags Paul out of bed by 6:40. Semantics. I used to go running, but with this ungodly heat and foot/shoulder pain I have kept my exercise to a minimum; doing sit ups and pushups with Anderson Cooper. Then off around 8am, 30 minutes earlier than necessary because I CANNOT STAND the MTR at 8:30.

Anywho, get my paper from the same smiley dude with a big 'Josan!', head town and push through the crowds to the MTR. Try to ignore the masses, make my way out in Kwun Tong where I try not to get in a fist fight with the swarms of idiots trying to smoosh my lunch bag. Down to escalator, give my paper to this cute old lady with a smile and a 'Josan' and then make my way through the APM mall to the street. I'm not joking when I tell you that people queue up for the escalator. There are stairs next to the escalator. It's one flight and it's down. Come on people!

Anywho, get my $8 water from my newsstand guy who knows I like the warm one out of the box, not the cold one from the fridge (makes my hands cold!) and mosey on through the sport court to my warehouse building.

You know what I'm going to miss about this? Not a g*#)d)(^& thing. F-off, Kwun Tong!!

So I guess I should have prefaced all of this with I accidentally quit my job. I had my 'annual' (one an half years in?) review and as I sat down Greg says, 'We're going to change it up this time, you speak first.'

So I spoke, 'I think I'm ready to start looking around.'

Blank face. 'Well I think if that's the case, we shouldn't drag it out. How bout 30 days?'

Wha!? But in the end it's all positive. There are no hard feelings and Greg and Sean are understanding and supportive. This week I met with two companies, one of which has a job ready for me now in Shanghai (with apartment!), but Paul just put his deposit in for school, so we're locked to HK for at least the next 2 years. Not ready to leave anyway, especially if I never have to come back to Kwun Tong again.

The other woman is leaving her company for Pernod Ricard (dream job!) and is really pushing for me to be her replacement. My fingers are crossed because it would be a wonderful opportunity. I have an interview tonight with a big company, and then 2 Tuesday and one next Thursday. Also have some other promising leads, so it's looking like I won't starve. Hopefully.

Last night was my last wine tasting with the HOFWs. Good times, but definitely makes me realize it's time to move to greener pastures. Better wine lists. Wine mentors. Bigger clients. Let's hope.

In other fantastic news, I bought my dress!!!! It went on 50% off, and after trying a myriad of wedding dresses, I decided that a Monique Lhullier evening gown is the one for me!! I love the simplicity because it means I can get a sick headband. An across the forehead headband. Please keep your eyes out!

3 day weekend here! Saturday some wedding errands and a hike with Peen's ex-gf who's in town for business, followed by a Sunday America junk, followed by Monday beach BBQ. I shouldn't even mention this but, the sun is shining and forecasted to shine til Sunday!!!! Bring it!

It Stopped

2013-06-18T22:00:00.001-07:00

The rain finally subsided yesterday. I'm not convinced it won't start again soon....

So much to catch up on. Here's the not cool things:

I ran last week in my super old sneakers (like 2 years with no soles), was trying on super high heels with wedding dresses, and took one ill fated step at the MTR on one of the blind people bumps on the sidewalk and bruised my Metatarsals bone. Poor foot. Read more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metatarsalgia

Then Friday I had to say goodbye to Julia, my colleague and friend for the past year :( She came as an intern only for 6 months and ended up staying one full year. But now she's off home to attend to some family matters and figure out what it is she wants to do next. She thinks South America, but I suspect she'll be back here....I do have a wonderful new colleague from the same Masters program Julia did. Florian is 24 (babies, the lot of em!) energetic, full of passion and enthusiasm, and I think will make a great addition to the HOFWs team. Picture coming soon...

So I hobbled around for a couple days and then picked up this lovely sinus infection, to which I will say I had the most pleasant and efficient doctor's visit I have ever had.

Stupid health expo

Worked all rainy Sunday at a stupid health expo only to wake up with tense and sore shoulders, neck and back. I feel like I'm 1,000 years old this week!

After chatting with various people I have decided to slow down, relax, and just take it easy for a while, and I must say that today I am feeling much much better. Although this could also be due to the fact that the sun in finally shining!!! How do people in Seattle do it?

JUNK. Sarah, new friend Cass, Me

Onto more fun news. I've been trying on more and more dresses, and I still keep coming back to the Monique. I'm hitting an Oscar de La Renta bridal trunk show Saturday morning, and if there's nothing there I'm making a decision. It's either Monique or get one made. But I must say I have the sweetest girlfriends here who have been helping me out so much!! Big thanks to Jackie, Laura and Sarah, who come to watch me as I dismiss dress after dress without even a drop of bubbles. Hong Kong really doesn't know how to do bridal!

Ok la

Last Wednesday we had a public holiday for the Dragon Boat Festival. It of course rained, and we obviously didn't dragon boat (never again), so we head over to Brad's house with Kenny for a rooftop semi-dry BBQ. Kenny grilled up some amazing rack of lamb and burgers and then we moseyed over to Central to meet up with Sarah and Will for a pint of cider.

Pup eyeing Kenny's rack of lamb

So I hear from my favorite bar owner, Toby of the Globe, that cider is all the rage now. He says even in the US everyone's all about the boozy apple punch. I'm totally into it. I love me a nice dry cider. Thoughts?

Happy Birthday, Allison!

Last Saturday we had an awesome birthday junk for Allison's 26th! We knew a few people (Will and Sarah) and met a bunch of cool new people. It obviously rained the whole time, so I didn't make it into the water, but it was super nice being out of the city for a day.

We followed up with a fantastic dinner on Monday. We met Allison and Michael at Mayta, the newest restaurant from Dining Concepts. It's a Peruvian restaurant which was totally new to me. Although I don't think the quality of the ingredients was the highest (for the price) the food was still all good. The service spotty, but food good. We haven't been out on a proper couple nice dinner date in a while, and we decided we need to go it more often!

ha just for fun

Last night after dress shopping with Sarah, I met Paul and we picked up some new books from a craigslist ad and then cabbed it home. As we're walking from the cab I realize that my phone had fallen out of my pocket. Cab gone. Ahhhhh! I should mention that the cab was getting a ticket while we walked away for an illegal stop, so we totally booked it feeling at least partially responsible.

We definitely thought there was no way he would return it, but lo and behold one hour later I had that phone back in my hand. God bless you nice taxi man!!! It was just the icing on an already sick/sore/sick of how f8(##(08 crowded Kwun Tong is day.

my nice taxi <3

I've been on leave of all physical activities and decided my body needs some alignment so I hit up a yoga class at a studio that's 2 minutes walking from my door. I have been toying with the idea of yoga classes for a while, I just can't bring myself to get a membership. I hate feeling obligated. Physical, my current gym, would ague that I do not in fact feel obligated- I think I've been once in 2 months. Worst. Gym. Ever.

Anyway, this was my first hot yoga class and it was surprisingly difficult and hot! I was sweating like a pig, and so was everyone else! But it felt so good and my neck has zero pain since. The facilities are amazing as well. Something to think about....

NOTHING on schedule tonight. My friend Jon at Cru magazine traded me a wine documentary DVD (Cannubi di Barolo if you're interested) for a truffle oil while I was in a wedding dress (true story), so I think I may cozy up on the couch with a glass of Barolo and watch it as Paul grades. Grades due Monday!!!

Oh did I mention we're going to Seoul??? August 2-6th! Pajeon. Galbi. Soondoobu. Magkeolli. Daegutong. Al Tong. Ms. Han!!

Still raining

2013-06-11T00:00:00.001-07:00

Just in case you were wondering.

Post China Recap

2013-06-10T03:59:00.003-07:00

Since China I've been soaking in all HK has to offer. But when isn't that true.

House warming at Matt's. Katie, Sarah, Nina, Paul, Kenny and Will

I had my wine test a week ago which I'm hoping went alright. One portion was blind tasting 3 fortifieds. There are 25 points; some for appearance, nose, palate, grape (only 2pts), and quality assessment. Of the 3 I got 2 grapes right. Who's ever had a Sercial Madeira before!?? Not this kid.

7 hours and 15 wines between Jean and I. Well done!

Anyway, rest of the week was filled with free Foodie happy hours at Sal Curiousio, followed by Flying Winemaker tasting, Pier Bar tastings, Tastings Wine Bar date night.

Bon voyage duck! It's off to Pittsburgh!

Saturday we head up to Sai Kung to drop off some books with Ian, then back to TST for an 'Old World Gems' tasting, which was just lovely. Later on that very same day, we met back up with Csilla and Ian. Csilla is my Hungarian friend who is just a doll. She had her own Hungarian wine company and is pretty much the sweetest lady there is. Her husband Ian is from New York and is equally as awesome. We've gone out to dinner with them before, and then met up with some of their friends for a Shanghainese meal on Saturday.

Woman drying egg yolks in Sai Kung

Honestly, I wasn't looking forward to it after being inundated with Chinese food the weekend before, but hey. Turns out Shanghainese is totally better (read less greasy) than Guangzhou food. We had veg and pork dumplings, tofu green stuff that was amazing, tofu and cashews which was my favorite of the night, stinky tofu which no one really got into except Ian and it actually almost ruined Paul's meal who thought it smelled like 'poop'. His words. There was also some sliced pork, which I didn't try but everyone else was super into, and a pork rice noodle thing that was good. The noodles at least. And it was all super cheap to boot.

Sunday I went dress shopping!!!! After a super long much needed run. I always quit my morning workouts before tests in favor of Starbuck's cramming, and it felt sooooo good to get out there again, despite the 8000 percent humidity.

Looooove this. Too bad it's blue

Then I met Jackie for some shoppppppping! The place we initially planned to go turned out to be closed (when does that happen in HK?) so we hit Harvey Nichols instead. HV is the ultra luxury store, and it was kind of more for shits and giggles than seriously trying to find a dress, until I found a dress! A Monique Lhullier dress called my name from the rack. I knew I would love it before trying it on, so I tried it last of 3, and it was totally it. Just my size, white, fitted, elegant, simple, and would look awesome with a headband, which I am totally into right now. I'm talking across the forehead headband, not kindergarten girl headband fyi.

Squeezing into Oscar de La Renta.

Absolutely love this dress. For the Oscars, not a wedding.

Then I had found this random wedding place in some magazine so we made a quick appointment and went in. Woah Chinese wedding shop. This place was a factory. You walk in and are 'greeted' and ushered to a chair. "Which is bride." me! 'Congrats- now pick what you like from this iPad and I pull for you.' Ok and we were left to ourselves.

snuck photo. It was worse than it looks

Woah Chinese wedding gowns. They were full, sparkley, pink, blue, and all sorts of crazy in between. It was pretty clear early on that there was nothing here for me, so we picked some of the most ridiculous ones they had. She came back and pulled them and informed us that these were only for rent. ~$1,000usd to rent a gown (a ridiculous gown) and tux for 3 days. What? Why not just buy a dres?? Anyway, we weren't allowed to take pictures, because obviously you'd steal their couture designs and run to Shenzen (really, you'd be silly not to), so Jackie snuck a few. Ferry godmother blue? Check. Fake feathers, feather dress? Double check. We wanted to try on more but were sternly told that it would cost $500 ($65usd) per 2 dresses. Um no thank you.

Not real feathers. I kid not.

Next we hit another high end department store Joyce. Ohh the dresses! And the service! I tried on Oscar de La Renta (beautiful green dress!), Giamberto Valle (Ohhh my favorite red dress ever- $58,000hkd!) and some others, but nothing was really talking to me.

Then went outside and it was pouring. Again. We called it a day feeling pretty successful and celebrated with a lovely Jaspas lunch. I'm going back to Harvey tomorrow after work to try it on one last time and make a decision. I love it and it's on sale. What more can you ask?

Today I had lunch with the China crew. Sean and I met Andy and Anita and her son for a catch up lunch at Oolaa. I've been dying to go to Oolaa (it's THE Sunday brunch place), and I can see why. You walk in and your in hipster New York. Seirously, all white dudes with big rimmed glasses, graphic tees, and women with funky lipstick and hair. Awesome. My fish was good, but the salad bar, ooooh the salad bar. Anyway, we got our salads, and then everyone sat down and got on their phones. No talking, just eat, text, email, eat. I don't think I'll get used to this....

Tonight we're having Kina over for BBQ sans BBQ. We're cooking up Paul's own specially marinated burgers, watermelon feta salad, potato salad, with chocolate chip cookies and Madeira for dessert. Tuesday is the new Friday because Wednesday is a public holiday for dragon boating. Who knows? But it means I can go to the beach and not work so I'm all for it.

The spiders are back!

Happy Monday!

Oh, China!

2013-06-07T17:20:00.002-07:00

What a strange, interesting, and slightly alarming trip to Guangzhou! It was like seeing all of the clichés I've been hearing over the past couple years come true.

Enormous booth

We left Hong Kong Wednesday evening with the big boss herself, Anita, her driver, Sean, and Iris, one of Anita's employees. We get to the border where I am removed from the car and led into a concrete room to wait while I am processed. My name is Lauren and I am an overstayer. A quick 3p minute fine and some paperwork later (paid for by Anita thank you) and I am allowed to return to the vehicle.

SIDENOTE: So I guess I haven't been in a non-taxi/van car for a while and I was super impressed with Anita's car. It was an Audi SUV and had little trays on the back of the front seats, blinds that you pulled up the windows, and the softest leather I have ever felt in a car.

cartoons to market wine. great

Anyway, we finally pull in at 12:30 to middle of nowhere China to this humungo hotel. I was pleasantly surprised at my room. Large, clean (although the ashtrays everywhere made me a little nervous), and a huge bathroom with tub. Well done, Grandly Pacific (my client).

Wake up ridic early the next day, have a 'Western' breakfast in the 'Western' hotel (I've never seen congee in the breakfast buffet in Gladstone) and were off for the 40 minute drive to the expo centre. I should note at this point that there are roughly 10 of us. Sean and myself, Anita, Andy (my client), Darren, Karen, Iris, Michelle, and some other people whos names I never caught from Grandly, and 2 Spanish guys- one a winemaker and one a supplier to Anita's other business, recyclables (that's where all the $$ is from- def not from the wine).

In casual conversation it comes up that Anita has purchased the dress that Iris is wearing. Strange. And then in the car it gets even weirder. Anita starts talking about how her son (19) asked her for makeup one day for 'Cos Play.' For those of you not familiar, cos play is when boys and girls (men and women) get dressed up like anime characters, run around the streets, and have other people take their pictures. I kid you not. Some dude got the idea when he went to a Star Wars movie in the US and saw people in the audience dressed up. Brought it over to Asia and obviously manifested it x 1,000,000. You see these people running around Stanley on Sundays....

Anyway, so she didn't know which color foundation to buy for her eldest son, so she just bought one of each, and then gave the leftovers to the Michelle and Iris who are in their early 20s. I passed piles of makeup from Anita's bag to the girls in the back. Piles. I'm beginning to sense an almost Godfather-ness here.

Just one tiny piece of the massive expo conplex

The expo was ridiculous. This convention plaza has got to be the largest in the world. It's the size of Giants Stadium x 15. We finally find our way to the right hall and to the booth, which again is ridiculous. It's by far the largest booth in the expo, complete with full bar, tables, VIP room, 2 men dressed up in inflatable wine bottles, and 6 models, oh and I should mention like 20 staff in varying outfits from uniforms to truck driver hats and tanks (on the men).

Me, winebottle man, Sean

No one at this expo except the winemakers and export managers speak English. None of the people know a thing about wine, and no one wants to stop and talk to me. I got the occasional photo request, but that was it. I sort of wandered from the front to the back of the booth about 400 times, and finally Anita told me to either walk around, take a rest, or just take pictures with people.

Whole fish

I walked around and discovered that the level of wines present was very low. Mass produced bulk wine :( I had fun talking to the winemakers, even found some Marsala and Sherries, but was overall disappointed at the selection.

Felix and advertising for his wine at the 'office'

This makes me laugh

Darren, Andy, Sean, Anita

Apparently we did ok. 10 containers sold in one day! Apparently. You can never tell who's telling the truth, or what version of the truth is being told. I should mention we went to get lunch late and as a consequence were left with the shit rice lunchboxes. Rice. Slime. Pork. I had about 3 bites of rice and quit. We left the expo at 6, totally starving, and then were told to reconvene in the hotel lobby at 8. We FINALLY went to dinner, where Anita dictated where we all sat. Then the food started coming as it was ready. A soup here, a soup there (to Anita first of course) and then silence except for slurping. Slurp, slurp, slurp. All I could think the whole time was that my mom would be horrified. I can't tell you how many times I heard 'stop slurping' growing up. Then mid-meal, which is a free for all, spin the lazy susan left, then right, then back, etc. Anita stands up and declares 'Gambe' to which everyone stand up and chugs their beer. Not a full mug, but a full cup for sure. Are we at a frat party? PS is this not a wine company? Why are we drinking 50 cent TsingTao and not wine? There's a winemaker at our table for crying out loud!

The big bosses 'office'

More office

These are all things I had heard go on in China, but thought were exaggerated and maybe only once in a while things. No, these are everyday things that happen at every dinner, especially when the big boss is involved.

Fancy dinner

Special Eggplant

Filet cooked in Sake

Don't be fooled, that's beer in my wine glass

The next night was more of the same. Although first we were made to go on a tour of the 'office' of the local Chinese company's business. This place was ridiculous. Marble, gold, ivory, this looked more like a music video than an office. Once everyone was convinced that we were all impressed we were ushered to dinner. Same restaurant as the night before, but upstairs to a private room,. We all had tea and then sat down to an incredible meal. One thing I will say about Chinese that I don't like is that it all comes at once. Everything is loaded onto the table and you just go at it. I kind of like the idea of courses where there's a build up. What's coming next!?

The food was all great, but nothing I would really want to eat again except for the salmon sashimi. Yum. 3 or 4 beer chugs later and it was time to head next door to the kareoke. This was a first for me in HK/China, and wow. Everyone was just so happy and relaxed and was genuinely enjoying this totally weird to me environment.

We're brought to this hige room with chandaliers and big sofas, and we have our own staff who keep refilling the chicken feet (seriously), Budweisers, and screwdrivers. All the meanwhile people are playing dice and singing to the TV. Me and the Spanish dudes sat together in awe, and I just kept thinking, 'where is the wine!?'

My new friends who spoke 0 english

Eventually the singing stopped, the music became a little louder, and the lights were dimmed. Everyone jumped up on a table and started dancing. Everyone. Boys with boys. Boys with girls. Boss with minions. We had our own private Grandly Pacific club going until the ripe old hour of 1am. This is a school night!

Karen was the sweetest! Want to put her in my pocket

7:45 we all meet up the next morning as per the request of big boss. Why, I'm not sure. We all sat at breakfast tired. And sat and sat until about 9:15 when we finally left for the last day of the expo. Saturday at the expo was dead. Half the vendors had packed up, so Andy the girls and I walked around trying whatever was left. Finally we were off to the trainstation for the 3 hour journey home. One hour to Shenzen. Through customs and onto the MTR for another hour and half until I was back.

Til next time! Me, Andy, Karen, Michelle

Back in sunny Hong Kong. How I missed thee, the land of sandwiches, salads, and good wine.

Lessons

2013-05-27T22:16:00.003-07:00

A very important thing to remember when living abroad is to check your visa status. Perhaps because I was so back and forth (literally to Macau) when unemployed, it did not occur to me that my work visa was up for expiry. Yup, realized it 7 days past.

Here's how it works in HK. You're getting close to expiry and you go onto this very easy website, enter your info, and request to make an appointment at your convenience.

You go over expiry and you are not allowed to make an appointment, you have to go in person. So I did just that this AM. Line up at 7am hoping to in early when they open. Only did I realize at 8:30 when the man came out with a megaphone yelling in Chinese, that there are only a certain amount of people allowed in a day. I did not make this quota and was told by my new friend 'people get here the night before.' For real?

Not to believe this, I head down to Wan Chai, the central immigration office where I was told basically the same thing. She suggested I show up before 6am tomorrow to get a spot. Awesome, thanks.

Lessons. It's all about the lessons.

Anyway, cancelled my pho dinner plans and plan on sleeping at 8pm.

But last night Paul and I had the best little date night. We've been all about Spain recently and so have been stocking up on our Spanish tapas. I made some guac (I know it's not Spanish), we opened up some spicy canned sardines, canned clams, and I brought home from work goose terrine and our newest awesome product; cod/prawn stuffed peppers from Spain. Amazing. We washed it all down with some Tio Pepe Sherry, and wrapped it up with Bottle Shock. Have you seen this movie? Totally cheesy, but perfect for a Monday night with Sherry :) And I talked to my mom. Best. Night. Ever.

2 days til China!

Seriously, enough with the rain!

2013-05-27T02:53:00.002-07:00

After the last post, I kid you not the day after the last post it rained so hard that HK declared a 'black rain emergency' and we (as a country) were advised to stay indoors. School was cancelled for the day. Work was delayed until after 10pm when the Black Rain advisory was lifted. This kid played tough and braved the waterfall rain and was in the office by 8:30. Someone's got to hold it down.

Patrick and I at the Pier Bar

The rain finally subsided late afternoon and everyone else strolled into work. We've had a T10 and Black Rain in the past year, what's next?

Thursday evening I had another successful (one terrine sold-ha) tasting at the Pier Bar. We had a nice little crowd, some tasty Cali wines, and of course foie gras and truffles!

Cheese and foie gras bacon toasts

Friday was fantastic. I left early for a 3pm Amarone tasting with Amorosso Fine Wines at Stone Nullah Tavern. My biggest gripe with SNT is the price. It's way expensive for what it is (read small portions) but when you're at a free event, it's totally amazing. A beautiful cheese plate, duck liver and home cured bacon toasts, and grilled veg followed by a vertical tasting of Amarone. 2007->2006->2004->1999->1998->1996. I preferred the 1998 and 2004; the sweetest and most concentrated of the bunch.

Through the vintages

After the tasting I met Paul, Laura and Derek for a quick drink at the Globe, where I tried watermelon beer. Fantastic for summer and really tasting like watermelon and beer. One was enough. Post Globe Paul and I head over to Catharine's for her going away party. Boo! Catharine always throws amazing rooftop parties, and this was no exception. Great people, great view, great goodbye. See you at Christmas, Catharine! And we stayed out til 2am!

Bowling

Saturday we had a proper lay in as Sarah would say. 11:30! Then due to the rain (of course it's raining on Saturday), beach birthday plans diverted to bowling birthday plans. I was not looking forward to this as my last little bowling round got a bit tedious and I don't believe I ever even broke 60, but things fared differently this go round. We had a big group, cupcakes, beer tours, Champagne, and I even managed a few strikes here and there. 66, and get this, 94 my second round!! Paul had a 100 and 98 for the record.

Happy Birthday Matt and Hailey!

Beer, cake, Champers and boys

Then we did what everyone should go on their birthday. We rolled over to Linguini Fini for a feast. Bottomless wine, seemingly bottomless food, things got silly around cake time when the birthday boy decided to start throwing things. In proper LF fashion, all was all right. No complaints about us. Just great food, wines, and service. Meat plate followed by homemade sausage, then caprese salad (to die for!), eggplant parm, super moist chicken, gooey banana chocolate cake and cookies. Well done!

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

No birthday is complete without a night out to LKF. So we went. Jello shots. Tallboys from 711. The typical LKF experience.

Welcome to LKF

Sunday, fun productive, tasty delicious day. After a lovely Korean lunch, we hit the local Starbuck's for a couple of hours with Sherry (me) and grading (not me). Then off to cook up some cauliflower to bring to an amazing dinner party at Kina's. They never disappoint, and this was no exception. It felt like Thanksgiving. There must have been 15 or so of us including new friends, old friends, and home friends. And always (always!) a fantastic spread.

Hailey and figgy toasts!

Duck confit with mash. Fried chicken. Fennel citus salad. Quinoa/lentil salad. Roasted cauliflower (a feat with no oven-ahem). Brussel sprouts. Corn salad. Oh and I can't forget the amazing hors d'oeuvres; fig, ricotta and honey bruschetta, and feta mushroom toasts. Delish. All of this followed by homemade cake and massive cookies.

The spread

The desserts

And am totally exhausted in the best possible way today!

Korbin Kameron 2004- amazing!

Oh and did I mention? I'm off to CHINA! My first ever client, Andy, asked Sean and I to join him for a wine expo in Guangzhou Thursday through Saturday. We'll be pouring his wines and chatting amongst his customers to solidify our base in China. Super pumped to go to China with people who actually know China! Woot.

HK Hearts Rain

2013-05-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

All it's done for the past several months has been to rain. And be miserable. And then rain some more. If it's not 99% humidity, it's because it's raining. And not like a little bit of rain, like India during monsoon rain. It wasn't this bad last year!

Other than getting wet, there hasn't been a whole lot going on. We had a 3 day weekend (thank you, Buddha) so Paul and I did a wee bit of travelling. Friday we got some studying in and then went over to Jackie and Justin's for a lovely rooftop BBQ. Luckily no rain!

Then Saturday we got up fairly early, MTRed it to the Macau Ferry Pier in Sheung Wan, and wow is it soooo much easier going to Macau from the Island than it was from Kowloon. From Kowloon you had to MTR to TST, then walk through the swarms of 20000 mainland tourists, then hope to get the next boat.

From the island you go right up from the MTR to the ferry pier, there's some dude at the top of the escalator selling discount tickets and you walk right in and onto your boat. Waaaay less people, waaay less hassle. An hour ferry later and we're in a new country. Amazing.

First we hit up the Macau Wine Museum. Since I'm studying Port and Madeira, and since Macau is an ex-Portuguese colony, it seemed only right to make this a scholarly excursion. The museum itself was pretty small and not too informative (well not at this level, I spose) but had some interesting vines, barrel, and bottles to look at. But the best part was for sure the wine tasting at the end. For ~$5usd you can taste 6 of the wines; 3 of which were fortified. They were all of acceptable (not good) quality and it good practice for me to lead Paul in a very formal tasting :)

We then went for lunch and found this cute little place, Escada. Octopus salad, croquettes, whole sardines, and some cod veggies. <3 Portuguese food.

To continue with the studies, I had read that there would be a New Zealand wine tasting at the Galaxy, Macau's newest casino, so we hoofed it all the way to Cotai (South Macau island) only to find out the tasting was the day before. Whatever. We walked around the casino, oohing and awing at the ridiculousness, had some milk tea on the floor, and decided to hit the Venetian.

We quickly lost our $100 each allotment (I didn't realize my first bet was $50- Chinese slot machines!!!), and decided we'd had enough with the casino. We walked from the Venetian down these super cute cobblestone roads, and found the sweetest little road of amazing little restaurants. Who knew Macau had so much character!?

Ham and cheese plates served alongside port and wine. I will never go to the casinos again, these restaurants are way more fun (and probably cheaper!) and have so much personality. After eating entirely too much, we head home on the 9:30 ferry. Although barely because most of the ferries had sold out-aye.

Sunday Funday. We did absolutely nothing. Nada. Not one thing all day except catch up on shows and bad TV. It was amazing, and needs not to be repeated for a while. I hate feeling like you've wasted a day. I did wake up totally fresh on Monday though....

and now it's raining.

Distinction

2013-05-13T01:30:00.001-07:00

Fortified tasting

I passed my first WSET exam (unit 2 viticulture and vinification) with distinction, which is the highest you can get. Woot! One down 7 to go....

The Pier Bar

I went on to celebrate at Central Pier 3 with a foie gras tasting where no one was too interested in trying foie gras. Perhaps Tuesday isn't the best day to expect people to be boozing it pierside. Giving it another shot this Thursday...

Wednesday I got to go to HOFEX! For the second half of the afternoon at least, and immediately after walking in Greg and I go to a led Austrian tasting. He has to leave for 'business' but I got to stay all hour and a half (and 15 wines) of it. Austrian wines aren't my favorite, but they aren't horrible either. I think a little too $$ for what they are....

There were a bunch of people at HOFEX, but a bunch of us working a small booth, too. It was fun to go around and see my wine friends, see new vendors, and talk to some of the F&B guys. I love expos, but man are they exhausting. Standing on your feet all day, talking all day, and tasting wines all day, is definitely taxing. The vendor next to us was a Russian vodka company. I managed to avoid them.

Breakfast beer from NZ!

HOFEX day 4 and I was back in the office. It pretty much rained and poured all day, and come 4:30 when I needed a van to my event, it poured even harder. Took forever to get a van and when he finally dropped me off, it was a block from the venue. Poor me pushing a trolley of wine in heels down the street :)

The event was the launch of the new pent house suites at the Lanson Place hotel (5 star long term hotel). I thought it was more of an all night thing, but was only a couple hours which was nice. We had some really nice wines (Champagne, Pouilly Fuisse, Chateaueneuf du Pape 2003, Brunello di Montalcino 2007, and Echo Lynch Bage 2007) which was exciting for me as I hadn't tried the Brunello or Echo before. Swank.

Salmon Rillettes

Saturday a tad tired (loved the Echo and Champagne!) and I head to Causeway Bay for a quick study and massage. Then Paul and I met for an amazing French lunch complete with French 'natural' wines. Don't get me started, but the lunch was delish. Then we met Courtney and Patrick for some bayside beers, and called it quits early for we both had to work the next day.

Potatoes n tomatoes n sour cream n homemade bread...

We hit up Taverna del Mar for some tapas, and holy oh my dear love of all things tapas, we decided right there and then when we could realistically move to Spain. The decision was 5 years. It will take me 1.5 more to finish my WSET diploma, and figure 3 for the MW. Paul still needs to find a school (again, don't get me started), apply, and do it...so we're looking at least 5 years. Then it's anchovies and sherry galore.....

Pork loin, anchovies, Iberico ham, baby eels on cod toasts, and chorizo. <3 Spain.

Sunday Paul took an English test, turns out he knows it, and I worked the Island East Market where it rained all. day. long. Julia and I had fun anyway, and ended almost selling out.

IEM in the rain

Quite Monday, quiet Tuesday (both with awesome new track workouts), and tis Wednesday. Off for the end of season Island East Market hh, followed by NZ wine tasting with Paul and Derek, followed by Thursday which is full of meetings and tastings. Followed by 3 day weekend. Happy hump day!

Greg made Julia and I do a tasting with this guy.....

Fortified Wines

2013-05-06T23:20:00.002-07:00

Paul and I had a lovely weekend of not working! Friday night I stayed in doing absolutely nothing but reading wine trade magazines, watching cooking shows on TLC, and sipping on some fortified Greek wine. Perfect.

Saturday Paul went on a junk and I went to Sai Kung. I decided to forgo the junk for academic pursuits. I went to Sai Kung to meet up with my WSET level 3 educator (their word, not mine) and to gather some books. Ian has been such a mentor and incredible source of knowledge, and really a driving motivator to keep up to date on industry trends. He's totally knowledgeable about wines, knows anyone who's anyone in HK in terms of wine, and knows anyone who's anyone in London in terms on wine!

After studying and asking Ian a million questions, I hit the local wine shops. Schmidt Vinothek is my local wine shop in Qbay, and they just opened a new outlet in Sai Kung. I popped in to see if my other favorite wine guys, Kevin, was in, but he wasn't. Tony was in, and Tony is absolutely fab. He insisted I try all the open wines they had, and then asked for my autograph for when I become famous. I love him and I need to start hanging out in Sai Kung more often :)

Then off to Kwun Tong (on my day off no less!) for Gary's warehouse warming. Gary's another local wine importer. He's awesome. Full of smiles, always super helpful and super honest, and to show off his new warehouse he opened one of all of his wines! Amazing. Ali, my favorite HK blogger, was there, and eventually Greg and Sean came by.

Fun little afternoon followed by some visits to my new favorite bars (Stone's in Tai Hang is great!) and I was asleep by the ripe old hour of 10. I think Paul made it to about 8 post-junk. ha.

Sunday we met up with Kina, Kenny's parents, Katie, and Hailey and Matt for some Po Toi lunch. Po Toi is this almost deserted island that's a 30 minute ferry south of Stanley (which is the southernmost part of HK). We ran into my friend, wine writer Stephen, at the pier who was going for the same thing; seafood.

This place is amazing. You sit on little plastic stools and indulge in your favorite fried sea creatures. The salt and pepper squid is the shit. Should I not mention shit while talking about food?

Paul ran into a colleague and we all ran into our friend Mike who leads sailing lessons. Small little world HK. Next time we're totally coming back, just eating squid, and bringing a ton of white wine. Corkage is $30 (~$4usd) which is unheard of and amazing by HK standards.

Monday after work I met with some of my diploma classmates (sans class- what's the word for that?) for a tasting of all things fortified. Angel was awesome to organize, and she led us through a blind tasting; flights of 2 at a time. My god I love fortified wines. No one at the table shared my affinity for Sherry, but I'm still confident that there will be a Sherry revolution in HK this year! Sales in the UK are up 1% this past quarter and it's driven by Manzanilla and Fino sherries, which are perfect for summer cocktails. But, ooo, Olorosso or Amontillado alone (no food not sans company, although I guess that would be fine too) on the couch at night are perfection.

The results of my last test are in, and I have to go pick them up after work (won't tell you over the phone- ugh) then go to Central Pier 3 to do a tasting of our foie gras and truffles. This also means pier side wine. Tough times. Tomorrow and Thursday at HOFEX and Friday I get to host an amazing wine reception for the launch of these new luxury pent houses for this 5 star long term stay hotel; Lanson Place. I need a new dress!

This is kind of rambling, but my colleagues are out of the office for the first day of HOFEX, which is an F&B expo, and I don't have much else to do. I should study. Or write new tasting notes. Or probably do a number of other things, but I decided to catch you up on the life of Lauren. Caught?

Po Toi

2013-05-05T04:57:00.001-07:00

A visual recap of my weekend

New books from Ian, my WSET 3 educator/wine mentor!

Canary Island Wine at Gary's

Gary's 'warehouse warming' in Kwun Tong. LOVE the new Caliu!

Wedding Wines! xo

What I LOVE (study/live/breathe) right now. Sherry REVOLUTION!

Warhol. Fancy American beers. New friends. Stone's, Tai Hang.

Bird watchers. I just don't get it.

Quick post lunch hike, Po Toi.

Po Toi. 30 minute ferry south of Stanley

Stanley Plaza

Matt, Hailey, Kenny's Mom and Dad

Po Toi.

Po Toi

Mr. Baccow, Mr and Mrs Baccow

Post Oysters

2013-05-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

The oyster dinner at the Bostonian was lovely. Nothing mind blowing, but certainly tasty. And the funniest part for me was that the second wine selection was one that I had the previous day with none other than the winemaker himself from Miguel Torres, Chile!

Saturday Paul joined me on a stroll to visit some customers and then we hit La Feria. My friend Allison from Amorosso Fine Wines (who also used to be a sommelier in Arlington, VA!), was kind enough to give me two tickets. Since it was free we didn't have much to lose. Had we paid the $200 face value (each!) we would have been a touch disappointed.

The event used to be at the Jockey Club, but for whatever reason they moved to Cyberport. I don't know if I've mentioned Cyberport before, but what a waste of space. It's supposed to be the tech hub of HK, but instead it's just office space, a movie theatre, a toy store, and that's about it. They used to have weekend markets once a month which HOFWs always participated in, and they were the worst! My friend Cathy lives in Cyberport and didn't even know where the market was. No one knew where the market was. Luckily it got shut down for noise violations, which is really unfathomable on account of the desolation that is Cyberport.

Anyway, the venue was not suited for this event. Perhaps for noise reasons, or perhaps not, they held it inside which was ridiculous. Cyberport is right on the water, has huge potential, but somehow always kills an event. Hm.

Sherry from the barrel! Amorosso

With your ticket you get one free drink, some lucky draw tickets, and a wine glass (which is nice), I got a glass of Fino Sherry with mint, and Paul got an Estrella beer, which I would argue is maybe the best beer on draft. Ever.

Inside Cyberport

I am currently studying fortified wines, and as such have been drinking a pretty substantial number of them. I am totally hooked on Sherry. It's amazing, and amazingly underrated. I've been chatting with some people (Allison's boss) and listening to some podcasts (Guild of Sommeliers) and I think we all agree that Sherry is on the verge of a renaissance. You heard it here first, kids. I still have a bottle of Olorosso at home that I am dying to tear open. I just know once I do, the rest of the evening is shot (22%!). While in KL I had a Sherry cocktail, and Fino Sherry with some mint, perhaps some Sprite if that's your thing, is the perfect refreshment in summer. And it's ideal with seafood...I could go on....

Paul, Patrick, Laura

Anyway, the event. Strange as it was, it was a fun way to kill a couple hours. Word to the wise, don't pregame a night junk with Sherry. It's just not a good idea. We had a great time, but the end of the evening is a tad fuzzy. We celebrated Katrina's birthday with a Disney firework show from the sea. (PS Disney, I expected more).

Happy Birthday, Katrina!

Sunday, we recovered, studied, cooked, and I closed out the Island East Market. I love that market!

This week is another full on week. I suppose they all are! Monday Paul and I went to the Foodie Awards party which hosted anyone who's anyone in the F&B trade in HK. Tuesday I had wine class with JC, a Master of Wine candidate. After working out way through 15 or so sweet wines (oh my god it was heaven!), I stayed to chat briefly with him about his MW journey. He sits for the final exam in June, and I have no doubt he will pass. He's a great teacher, and I look forward to sitting down with him post MW test to find out more about the process. JC seems to think it's possible to do in just 2 years....

My first Sauternes!!

Wednesday was a holiday! Yey, Chinese Labour Day! Again, visited more clients and studied which was perfect because the weather has been shit. Back to work Thurs followed by an amazing evening of art, music, food, and wine at my friend's gallery Collin's and Kent. (Not her gallery, but she manages it and hosted the event). It was superb!

Great event, Alicia (far right)

Tonight I am pouring wines for happy hour at a local Kwun Tong restaurant; I'm sure you've heard me mention because we always host events there; Factory 99. John, the owner, has agreed to take on our wines for his wine list, and in return I have to promote happy hour. I've been handing out business cards with HH details, and tonight I shall pour!

I got my ring!!

Paul's on a junk tomorrow, so I have the whole day to study!!!! Asa! <3 wine studies.... <3 wine study tastings :)

And if you haven't heard, there's a large duck in Victoria Harbour

Winner Winner Oyster Dinner

2013-04-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

Paul and I have won a 7 course wine oyster and wine pairing dinner from LifestyleAsia.com. Thank you!!

STDs (thanks for the acronym mom) are out! Check the mail!

Here's the menu:

Nice bread selection

A Night of Oyster and Wine Menu

Blue lump crab salad
Lime scented Galway Bay oyster jelly
Domaine Levin Cuvée, Levin Sauvignon Blanc, Loire Valley, France
Torres Santa Digna, Sauvignon Blanc, Curico Vally, Chile

Chestnut crusted sea scallops
Champagne oyster nage
Craggy Range, Te Muna Road Sauvignon Blanc, Martinborough, New Zealand
Cloudy Bay, Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand

Butter sautéed corn-fed chicken
Smoky Bay oysters, Pacific prawn, basil-soya glaze
Robert Mondavi, Fume Blanc, Napa Valley, U.S.A.

Totally feel like an ass taking pictures of every course, but I do it for you. And for when I print my blog some years down the road....

Pan-seared petit Angus beef mignon Coromandel oysters,
buttered wilted spinach, shallot glazed mushrooms, brandy-veal jus
Walnut Block, Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand

This was totally the best!!

Bitter chocolate layers, maple walnut ice cream, chocolate-vanilla sauce
Forest, The Doctor Sauvignon Blanc "Stelvin Seal", Marlborough, New Zealand

Malaysia, Truly Asia

2013-04-22T00:32:00.000-07:00

I realized on the flight over to Malaysia, that I have only spent time away from Paul twice since knowing home. The first is when Emily and I went to Malaysia (KL and Langkawi), and the second when I went home for Maria's wedding. Now almost 3 years later I'm leaving for KL and Maria!

We had such a blast!!!! KL is so much fun, and it's even more fun with your best friends. I didn't get to Maria's hotel (which was huge and awesome) until after 2am on Friday, but that didn't deter us. We stayed up chatting and sipping some wine until 4 when we both were so tired we could barely sit up.

Saturday we were up pretty early given our late night, and had a fantastic buffet breakfast before heading out to the Batu Caves. I had been twice before, but seriously, every time was different. First time was full of snakes and monkeys, second there were no monkeys to be seen!, and this time, yes lots of monkeys, but kind of walked away with 'this could use a paint job' kind of a feel. Kind of reminded me of all of the tourist attractions at Paul's favorite resort in Wulai, Taiwan (read: was probably cool 30 years ago).

Then our driver took us to this cute Batik store where we learned that Batik is a style of painting on fabric. Catherine played model and Maria and I oohed and awed. Then we hit up Central Market for shopping, coffee, delicious sweet green stuff, and a new fruit that none of us had ever seen or tried before. And it wasn't bad.

Then we retired back to the hotel for a much needed mid-day siesta. Naps followed by snacks in bed and chatting, followed by showers and some bubbley!

We went out to the BEST Malay dinner. This was upscale Malaysian dining at its best. We ordered a bottle of Spanish wine (I think a year past its prime) and the following:

Chicken curry- awesome

Squid ink squid- fantastic but too salty- needed some rice

Coconut rice- blander than expected

Jackfruit coconut salad- this was a huge surprise and success!

Everything was really good and it gave us a good idea of what Malaysia cooking is all about...coconut! After stuffing ourselves, catching up on all things everything, and enjoying the amazing smells wafting from the kitchen, it was time to move out to meet Maria's friend Prathesh (probably spelled really wrong) from IBM.

We met at this amazing bar in Patronas tower 3, which none of us even knew existed. Prathesh is from Bangalore but has lived in KL for the past 2 years with his wife, so he knows all of the ins and outs of what's good. We had fantastic cocktails with a stunning view of the towers, and I was surprised to see a Prosecco that I import into HK is the Prosecco of choice at Marini's 57! We hit one other bar and then called it a night....

Sunday we think we wandered into the red light district, found some kimchi to snack on, then made our way to Chinatown. In search of Indian, we moseyed onward, but disappointingly couldn't find anything too appealing. Lonely Planet led us to Sister's which we were super excited for...until we found out it was closed, so we hit the Indian buffet downstairs and were all pleasantly surprised.

It was so sad to have to say goodbye! We only just said hello. But as with all best friends, when we were together it felt like zero time had passed since the last time we saw each other. Only 8 months til Christmas.

I miss you Maria!!!

PS I have vowed after this trip never ever ever to fly Air Asia again.

Life Cheese

2013-04-14T06:09:00.000-07:00

I am not exaggerating when I say that a wine and cheese pairing just changed my life. I will never be the same again.

Red bleu cheese- I kid not. Picked up in Tai Hang today, and I believe to be of English origin.

Stinky French cow's cheese from Monsieur Chatte.

Petite Chablis 2009.

When their powers combine, the Chablis goes from nice and acidic to amaze-balls and almost sweet. The transformation is incredible! Incredible!!

AMAZING.

I always knew food and wine pairings were important (but generally ignore them because I drink wine a) among friends and it doesn't matter about pairing, more about talking b) at home after dinner before bed), but have never found one that totally transformed the wine like this! I've had ones that don't work; Chateauneuf du Pape 2003 with Indian curry; those that do; Cava and Samosas; but this honestly blew my socks off. It was a totally different wine after that cheese.

Also got some amazing nitrogen frozen ice cream in Tai Hang. Greek yogurt with granola and blueberries.

This, I believe, is attributable to several factors. One, the wine is high on the acid. Sans food this may seem a bit biting. Two, the cheese is heavy on the salt and may seem...salty. If ever you want to create a good pairing, match acid and salt. On top of this the cheese wasn't ultra creamy or delicate, but instead poweful, musty, and just totally rockin with Chablis.

This was entirely too much on cheese and wine...what else have Lauren and Paul been up to. Well, I can tell you nothing as spectacular as the last 15 minutes with Chablis and cheese.

Friday night I hosted a wine tasting for 25+ recruiters and their clients at Randstad. Not spending much time thinking or preparing for it as I had my dip test to worry about, I found that the night went suprisingly well. I got nervous 3 minutes before when I realized I had to talk for the next 2 hours about wine, all of which I know through and through, but in front of 25 or so guillos in their 20s-50s.

Calm before the storm

I think it started off a bit tense with some 'uhhs' and 'umms' but the audience was fantastic, full of questions and answers when I asked, and tons and tons of enthusiasm, so after the first round I was more into it and much more confident.

Custom placemats

We hosted a tasting for Randstad about a year ago, but at the time we had JC to host. Now it was me!! We asked Thibaut, a rep of our Burgundy wines, to come and speak a bit too. He was great and the highlight for me was that a women ching-chinged her glass with a fork at the end of the evening to say in more or less words 'Thank you Lauren for an informative and fun night. We all learned a lot!' It was so sweet and I am feeling more and more confident in my presentation skills. And more importantly, I LOVE sharing my wine knowledge. I know I know my shit. And it's so much fun to shed some light on wine things for others.

It's strange for me to think that my entire life revolves around a beverage. But I know it's much much more than that. It's a tradition. A history. A passion. Culture. Family. Friends. Community. Life. Wine. Is. Awesome. I. Love. My. Job.

The crowd

Anyway, test on viticulture and vinification followed in the morning. There are 40 or so people doing the dip with me, and I am definitely the only blondey in there. A French guy, an Italian guy, a gingery guy, and me and 45 Asians.

The test was harder than I thought, with a lot more questions about stuff that wasn't in the book. But it's how they weed out the non-wine-lifers I suppose. I was the first kid done, thank you. On the way out I chat with another early finisher who concurred it was more difficult and off book than expected. But what was strange to me is that this guy was a banker! Just doing this for fun...for now. Man, everyone in HK thinks they can have a wine company. Nuts!

Saturday post test was Beertopia!! More on that later....

Post Office

2013-04-10T23:18:00.000-07:00

If you've ever met me, there's a good chance you've realized I'm not the most patient of people. I don't like waiting in lines. I don't like incompetence. And I certainly don't like people who stand on the left side of the escalator. For all of these reasons, plus the language barrier, I hate the post office. Especially in Kwun Tong. Especially at lunch.

Today is a cold, rainy, and totally miserable day. I have been summoned by not only the post office, but also the bank to pick up my new card, so I begrudgingly make plans to venture to the island during lunch.

I trudged out in the cold and the wet all the way to Quarry Bay to the post office. The MTR surprisingly not too packed. Walking down the sidewalk, even with all of the umbrellas, pales in comparison to the clusterf&(k that is Kwun Tong.

I walk in and no less than 4 employees beckon for my attention from behind their plastic partition. Say, what!? I quickly hand them my wet package slip and they immediately hand me 2 packages, don't ask for my ID, and tell me to have a wonderful day.

Total time in post office < 1 minute.

I hustle across the street to HSBC prepared for war, walk straight up to the counter (which is upstairs, which is mildly annoying in my sopping wet shoes) hand my letter to the lady with my HKID, and just a couple minutes later I have my very own HSBC card: McPhate Lauren C.

Total time in HSBC <3 minutes.

Wouldn't it be nice if the bank and post office could always be this pleasant?

PS THANK YOU CHETTA AND RYAN!!! We can't wait to open and play the game!!

Rain Rain Rain

2013-04-10T01:59:00.000-07:00

Here it is 5 days since my last post and it's still grey and miserable. Meh. I suppose it's good for studying. First wine test on Saturday!!

Banchans, dak galbi and haemul soondoobu

So our quiet night of nothing on Friday turned into an excellent night of Korean. Paul stumbled upon this Korean restaurant just steps from our apartment (but around a corner we never go down), so we decided to check it out. It was fantastic and had one of our favorites, dak galbi (chicken stirfry), which you never see in restaurants. It wasn't 100% spot on Korea, but it had good banchans (side dishes), which is always my gage.

Sprouts, celery, potato, kimchi, pumpkin and greens!

Saturday I studied, Paul graded, and then I found my new favorite place; Stone's Tavern in Tai Hang. Tai Hang is this super cute neighborhood full of restaurants, coffee shops, and that's about it. Stone's came recommended to me by my beer guy Jon, so I followed through and went in for a pint. Great little restaurant with a fantastic beer selection. And the owner Joel is great. He's super chatty and passionate about his restaurant and love of Hong Kong and Tai Hang.

Japanese made, Belgian brewed rose-flavored beer at Stone's

Then Paul and I went to meet Michael for dinner at Linguini Fini's newest institution Stone Nullah Tavern. It's advertised as an American tapas cum speakeasy. The cocktail list looked impressive, the wine was nice, the atmosphere was beautiful and could have been in DC or NYC, my man Wahid was there!, but the food... Ugh. Over priced. Small. And just ok. I suppose we expected too much. Linguini Fini/Posto Pubblico kick it's ass.

This place has been boasting about it's gourmet tater tots with homemade sriacha ketchup all over the media, but there was no potato in our tots. Just fried bits through and through!

Then we got the calamari salad which was nice and citrusy, but was a tough share due to its teeny portion.

The brussel sprouts were amazing, but same problem, teeny tiny.

The foie gras burger came recommended and was even cut into cute little quarters for the 3 of us to share. Bland. There was nothing special about it. Couldn't taste the foie. And the bread was too big. Miss.

I will say the highlight for me was def the mac and cheese. I'm a mac and cheese sucker, and the raw egg yolk mixed onto the steaming hot shells was spot on. But itsy bitsy and gone in seconds.

Then Wahid hooked up a special surprise which I had been reading about in the local mags; Fat Kid cake. Base of red velvet cake with a layer of tiramisu, a layer of cheesecake and a layer of creme brulee. Delish.

We weren't famished walking in, and we certainly weren't full walking out. It was alright...pretty good, but at the price and expectation level, it fell a little short. Fun to catch up with Michael though!

Then Paul and I worked the Island East Market on Sunday. It surprisingly didn't rain, we hit our all time (events without big bosses) high revenue, and were situated right nect to my favorite vendor; the girl with the chocolate chip cookie cheesecake.

IEM from our balcony

And then rain and gloom and studying until Saturday!!

Stopped into my favorite wine shop to chat with Kevin last night and he poured me this...100% Pinot Meunier from Germany! Never had a red Pinot Meunier (usually a blending grape in Champagne)!!

Coming soon....

It's Friday!!

2013-04-05T02:17:00.000-07:00

It's been downpouring for the past week, especially today. The skies went black at 10am and have remained so ever since. Bah.

But it's Friday and I have zero plans and love it. And no plans tomorrow. LOVE IT. And then work on Sunday, not so much love, but at least its the Island East Market which is my fav.

So the other day a friend of mine introduced his friend to the HOFWs. Nick, the friend, works just down the street and was looking for some local wine supplier. He's sick of paying retail; and who can blame him. Wines in HK are expensive!

Anyway, he orders some wines and then invites us to come over to his office anytime. He makes books in China and exports them all over the world. So today Greg, Julia, and I walk over with 14 bottles of wine and have a field day in his office. I got some storage boxes, note books, blank cards, a flask, cards and dice, and some books for tutoring. And we could have gotten tons more, but you know, don't want to look greedy.

And now I'm off to party in the blackness...Korean or Japanese dinner with Paul!

In Other News

2013-04-01T05:03:00.003-07:00

Paul and I had a lovely day frequenting new bars about HK. We found Ted's Lookout, which had wonderful cocktails, but was also wonderfully over priced, and eventually made our way back home where we found the best thing of all; our own cooking.

I made a pumpkin/coconut curry over cauliflower, beets, and broccoli, and Paul made a tomato spinach cream pasta.

Now we're a glass deep in a Montagny 1er Cru from Kina (Thanks, it's awesome!!!!) and about to start the Game of Thrones.

<3 Public holidays. Thanks, HK!

Happy Easter, China!

2013-04-01T04:48:00.001-07:00

Finally, after more than a year and a half living just minutes from China, Paul and I have crossed the border and made it to the mainland. [disclaimer; we did spend the night in Beijing during a 13 hour layover, but stayed at a random airline hotel and didn't get to see anything]

We got our visas and planned to go for a night or so to Guangzhau or Shenzen. As luck would have it a Groupon showed up on Thursday that suit our weekend plans.

Paul crossing the river.

For $118 (~$15usd) you can visit the Water House Spa in Shenzen, get a 60 minute foot massage, 90 minute full body massage, enjoy fruits and tea, play billards or ping pong, watch tv, relax, and even spend the night. We didn't have high expectations that this would all pan out, but we (I) didn't have big expectations for Shenzen in general. In fact, I was pretty confident the whole place would be a big shit hole.

Luckily, I was wrong. Shenzen was LOVELY!

We took a quick hour long MTR ride up to the border, walked through customs with very little hassle, borded the Shenzen MTR and were in Shenzen proper. I expected huge industrial run down shithole, but in fact, it twas lovely.

We were immediately greeted by Dunkin Donuts (at which we bought 2 coffees and a donut for $7usd!), then wandered down the very wide, very new, very commercial streets of Shenzen. The lovely concierge at the local Sheraton guided us to Coco Plaze and City Walk, two areas with restaurants and shops. Very commerical, vewry new, very nice. We settled on a habachi lunch complete with salmon fried rice, sashimi, soft eggs, and grilled beef n onions.

Seeing as it was pouring rain and we had no plans, we head to our Groupon destination where we braced for a rip off. Shockingly, the place was gorgeous...and more importantly, clean! We each went to our designated areas to change into Asian PJs, then head upstairs to the uni-sex area for a foot massage and some TV watching. There are tons of recliners with personal TVs, self serve fruit bar, billiards, pool, cinema, and I'm sure much more, but seeing as not one person-----I stand corrected, one person did speak English, and he was our personal tranlator for the afternoon. He arranged our foot massage on our recliner where we enjoyed Chinese tea, watermelon, and The Rock, and then we head upstairs for our full body massage.

Paul loved his full body, ,mine was a bit of a tickle fest. She had tiny little fingers and spent the whole time testing my tickle patience. I finally freaked out when she went for the inner thighs....my neck had been killing me (I have bad push up form) and she relaxed it a bit. Post massage it was only 7pm, and we didn't feel like hanging about to get ripped off for god knows what, and there was only one English channel on TV), so we got our bill. It was exacltly what they said it would be. WHAT!? When does that ever happen!?

See? Not shitty!

Walked through the rain to the MTR. Through customs. 1.5 hour MTR ride home. And made it home just in time to get to bed by 9:30. Asa! We <3 China.

And given our visa status, we're free to go again in 30 days!