"More Eating" and "Fitting Day"

Day 31 - "More Eating" - Hong Kong, China

I've been having a hankering for some good congee and my friend Jenny suggested "Tasty Congee & Noodle Wantun Shop" in the IFC building. Probably twice as expensive as a local hole in the wall, but heck, it was still reasonably priced and indeed, was very tasty. I had the congee with savory pork and preserved egg and Eric had congee with sliced fish, ginger and scallion. We topped it off with some fried dough (yao tew). Definitely hit the spot.

We then met up with Jenny to check out this local men's tailor that both she and my cousin Michelle's boyfriend recommended called "Roger Concepts". We were initially going to get a dress shirt made, just for the experience, but after seeing all the business in the place and the quality of his workmanship, Eric decided to get a new suit made and a few dress shirts. I tried to convince him to get a tux, but I guess that would be a bit impractical. We spent some time checking out shirt materials. We're trying to branch out from the basic blues a bit. Jenny and I agreed on this white dress shirt with a maroon-ish stripe pattern. Eric and Jenny chose a blue with a pink stripe. PINK, yes PINK. Rest assured, it's still a very "manly" shirt! Anyhow, Roger took a quick look at Eric and pinned him as a conservative dresser. Bingo! He recommended a dark suit with a dark stripe in a two button design with side flares. For the lining, he recommended a greyish blue fabric. Eric was on board. He measured Eric and asked him to come back tomorrow for a fitting. Man, they're quick!

Afterwards, I tried on some cheong sams (chinese dresses) at this store across the street. They had some pretty ones, but I decided to hold out for what the bridal shop could provide me. Eric then went back to Jenny's aunt's store to buy another jacket for his brother. This time, he chose emporio armani. good choice.

By then, we were hungry and were meeting Eric's Uncle Paul and Aunt Nancy for dinner in Central. We met up at The Landmark (our normal meeting place) and walked over to the Shanghai Fraternity Association Restaurant in Central. Dinner consisted of shanghai dumplings, pan fried pork buns, vegetable rolls, a bean curd dish, sweet and sour pork ribs, and a pan fried sticky rice with red bean dessert. As usual, delish. Eric likes the Shanghainese food.

After dinner, we were so stuffed so we decided to take a walk around the IFC Mall, another one of our familiar haunts. We considered watching a movie, but there really wasn't anything interesting showing, so we just browsed the grocery store and did a little window shopping. Some of the stores here close late, around 10pm. They have the same stores that we have in the US, Zara, Mango, etc. but I think the prices here are a little more expensive.

As usual, we walked passed all the lively clubs and bars beckoning us, and retired like old fogeys for the evening.


Day 32 - "Fitting Day" - Hong Kong, China

Today was the day I pick up my wedding dress!!! Aunt Jamila graciously offered to take us back to Tsim Sha Tsui to pick up the dress. Before we went, we decided to meet up for breakfast on the Peak. We took the Peak Tram up to the Peak Galleria around 8:30 a.m. The tram is similar to the cable car in SF, but the ride is even steeper! It was a nice ride up, but unfortunately, on a weekday, not much was open that early! It was kind of a ghost town. We ended up eating breakfast at this little place with eggs, sausage, waffles and bacon. It wasn't all that great, but that's not what we were there for. We were there for the view of HK. It was really nice and peaceful, particularly since not that many people were out and about yet. I was able to find my grandma's place at Chi Fu in Pokfulum down at the bottom of the peak.

Good thing we got there when we did because when we headed back down the tram was jam packed with parents and these elementary school kids. Seemed like a school field trip of sorts.

Anyhoo, we headed to Tsim Sha Tsui and I was reunited with my wedding dress. Yay, it wasn't a scam! I also found my cheong sam there. We didn't have time to tailor it, but the length was right. The stomach area is a bit big, but I figured since I *hopefully* will lose weight before next year, I will have to alter it again anyway, so decided to just buy as is. I have prelminarily put in an order for my bridesmaid dresses. I just need to give them a ring if I decided to have them make the dresses. Feels good to have things start to fall into place.

After that, Eric and I decided to part ways for a few hours. Personally, I think he was getting tired of seeing me 24-7 and needed the break. heehe. I headed to the MTR to catch the subway to Admiralty and he headed back to Central to go to his suit fitting. I met up with my Uncle George, Aunt Donna and cousin Dominic to head to the Golf Club in Fanling for lunch and then Aunt Donna and I went to the Fanling cemetary to give respects to my yeh yeh (grandfather). We then headed to Sha Tin to give respects to my Aunt Mandy. It made me sad, but it was nice to see how peaceful and beautiful her resting place is. I then headed back to SoHo to meet up with Eric for dinner.

While I was gone, Eric went to his fitting with Roger. He had a one sleeve jacket and a no-waistband pair of pants to try on. I think he was a little skeptical at first as to how the finished product would be but Roger reassured him that it would look terrific. To celebrate his freedom from me, he got to gorge on a make-your-own burger with truffle cream sauce.

We then headed to dinner on our own to Pacific Grill. After our recent gorging, we decided to make it a little light. Seared scallops on pumpkin puree topped with caviar for a starter and then a greek salad for me and a king prawn caesar salad for Eric. Again, we passed by all the drunk people on our way home. Oh, but wait! We decided to get a little crazy and headed to the Wellcome super market to buy some ice cream bars. Man, we're wild.

For pictures of Days 31 and 32, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5396228265571426097&authkey=Gv1sRgCI__-L3qw6qCCw&feat=email