it's been quite a while since i've been curious with the resto that replaced our old crispy pata haunt. so i decided to invite some friends and give it a try over the weekend.
the resto's name is il padrino located at wo on lane in central.
upon entry, i immediately felt the place was pretentious. it was trying to have this italian al fresco feel but trying to be high-class as well.
i had a booking, so the lady front of house led me to our table. it's a pizzeria so i was wearing simple shirt and jeans, and i was tugging along my gym bag as i always do for saturday dinner.
i sat down and settled in, then instead of handing me a menu, a waitress approached me and asked "do you have a booking?" as if questioning why i am there. note that the place is practically empty and that there's only 5 of us in the booking list. i said yes and she went to get the menu.
i booked a table for 4, but since friends cancelled, dinner ended up to be a "date" with lou. unfortunately lou fell asleep and left the house late.
i waited for lou for about half an hour, but that was okay. what i didn't appreciate was the look i was getting at the resto. there were these two papa bears - one chinese and one caucasian - who kept on giving me a look that says "are you going to order or what?". we reckon they are either the owners or managers.
you see them look at your table then check the pos terminal then have a heated discussion with the wait staff. hey, all these in full view of all customers.
throughout the night, these negative vibe from these two papa bears - especially the caucasian - was a cloud over your head that prevented you from enjoying your meal. in tagalog, masyado silang maligalig. papa bears were wearing black t-shirts. they kept walking back and forth looking stressed and concerned and grump. you just end up feeling uncomfortable and unwelcomed.
it doesn't help that you notice these papa bears give personal treatment to caucasian customers, and do not attend to asian customers unless they're with caucasians. the chinese papa bear spoke to the chinese sitting behind us, but i guess that's because they were dressed-up to the nines.
as for lou and i, we weren't dressed like trash, but we were made to feel like we weren't supposed to be there. and when we left the resto, the chinese papa bear said goodbye without even facing us or making any eye contact. ang bastos!
some of the wait staff saved this place from becoming a total crap. the lady fronting the house was smiling and was always helpful. the pinay who served most of our dishes was very helpful too (except that she kept on calling me "kuya"!). the rest were indifferent.
i know, italian meals are supposed to be about fun and family, not snobbish. the food at il padrino was great. but the place was cold and unwelcoming.
so if you're looking for good pasta and pizza, and nice warm service at a place that's very welcoming then il padrino is definitely NOT the resto to go to.
il padrino
cold brrrrrr!
21 days and counting.
we're on a prolonged cold spell and the hong kong observatory confirms that this is the longest cold spell in 40 years.
it's no fun, and it's wreaking havoc on everyone's health. i, for one, have been downed with a flu over the lunar new year weekend, and am now suffering a bad throat from the very very dry air.
i'm seriously hating it!
rat
the year of the rat is officially here!
today is chinese new year. and the atmosphere in hk is simply electric. malls and groceries are abuzz til past midnight. restos are filled to the brim. and new year fairs are fully packed.
seeing all these plus feeling the chilly winter breeze, you just can't help but feel quite festive too - not exactly party-hearty festive, but more like high-serotonin festive.
i don't think my friends are feeling the same festive high as i am. plus i think they'd prefer to just rest (we're all dead stressed at work).
so as much as i'd want to in the middle of the festivities, i don't want to be in it alone. i'll just feel like a loser. so i opted - reluctantly - to just head home.
now, here i am, home alone, munching on low-fat popcorn, sitting in front of the computer, answering random just-for-fun quizzes from blogthings, and blogging. so much for being in the middle of chinese new year's eve festivities.
kung hei fat choi! 恭喜發財 萬事如意! prosperity and success in the year of the rat!
gotta snooze now.
taking stock: the bloodbath
worldwide stock markets are going down ... no, crashing ... no, plumetting. it's a bloodbath out there. and the future remains volatile, at the very least, uncertain.
i've just lost at least 16% of my portfolio's value and it may take some time before i recover. well there's no use fretting about it. so while in recovery, i'll just busy myself bargain hunting.
taking stock (pt. 2)
okay so i wasn't able to get any shares of "the baba", but that didn't stop me from venturing into the risky world of the stock market.
hey, practically everyone here is doing it. and when in rome, do as the romans do ... so in hong kong, do as the hongkees do.
so early this week, i took a gamble and bought one share-lot of some cheap property stock. my thinking is, property is hot here so sooner or later, property stocks will eventually go up.
then towards the end of the week, i bought three share-lots of a semi-public utility company. my thinking this time was, hey, i give them a bit of cash daily, why not earn back some of those right?
so how did i fare?
i lost 300 bucks. and if you consider all other charges, then my net loss is about 700 bucks or about 0.7% of total investment.
i'm getting anxious, but i'm staying optimistic that all this gamble will really pay off ... especially considering that i - very unintentionally, to my surprise - practically zeroed-out all my liquid cash to buy these stocks.
taking stock
so "the baba", the biggest competitor of the company i'm working for (a.ka. "the source"), has unveiled its ipo here in hk.
and since it's the largest e-commerce company in china, everyone just wants a piece of it ... including myself.
yes, this clueless, uninitiated guy is venturing into the risky world of the stock market.
but with great reviews surrounding the ipo (read more 1, 2, 3), why shouldn't i pass off the opportunity to - hopefully - grow some money.
besides, "the baba" seems like a very dynamic company. sort of google-like, if i may add, and very asian. it's chairman is young, warm and charismatic. he doesn't come off stiff, rigid and overly scientific.
all of these, i think, are the secrets of the baba's huge success in china - almost 70% market share compared with only 8% for "the source".
so why wouldn't a stock market newbie like me consider this a good investment?
nrsw africa
coming up - nike rockstar workout africa. we're undergoing instructor training this weekend. and hopefully the program will launch by early next month.
check out the new routine:
mr. hong kong 2007
tonight, i followed the telecast of mr. hong kong 2007 for the very first time in its 3-year run. out of sheer curiosity, i guess.
it was interesting. but i just don't get the process.
there were 12 contestants - some i question how they got into the competition - divided into two groups: one for 18-25 years old, then another for above 25.
they go through your usual competitions: talent, swimwear, casual wear/interviews. then the audience votes decide who gets eliminated at the end of each competition.
then they select one "winner" per group - then one wild card from all eliminated finalists. the final three do a "showcase" (martial arts this year) from which mr. hong kong will be chosen - still by audience votes.
it's a good thing the good ones end up chosen. we all know how audience voting has ruined reality shows.
the winner, benjamin yuen (photo). i must say, among the lot, he's indeed a good choice - at least in the looks department.
it may be a cultural thing, and it may be a result of to much exposure to miss universe-type of pageants.
but after watching the telecast, the production, the whole she-bang, and after living here in hk for exactly 5 years, i guess, there are just some things i still don't get.