GIANDO

Which restaurant in town carries this view, overlooking the 'Gates of Victoria Harbor'?  Giando!  Opened less than a year ago, it is located at The Fleet Arcade in Wan Chai, across the street from the APA.  A bit of nostalgia if you walk around, remembering the area as the hot bed of international naval traffic during the Vietnam War when Hong Kong was the #1 R&R location to many sailors, soldiers and marines who did not mind spending $ as it could well be, literally, their last hurrah.

Aside from picking a great venue, Giando also picked an interesting menu of mostly southern Italian recipes, inter-spaced with the classics. Not unlike many new eateries, creativity seems to be characteristic of the starters, while the mains almost never offer surprises. Face it, between meat, poultry and fish how creative can one be? My recommendation is to exhaust their starters, then order the very well done thin crusted pizzas, and ask for the check!  Good wine selections, matching the rustic style of the menu, and more importantly, reasonably priced.  Do a recce first, try their $258 luncheon to enjoy the day view, as shown, even though the night scene is outstanding.  Valet parking right in front in the evenings, very convenient.

Sergio Pusterla, the Manager hails from a town near Milan, a very friendly man who loves Hong Kong.

GIANDO : 1F The Fleet Arcade at Fenwick Pier @ 2511 8912 (www.giandorestaurant.com)  

BULL SHEET

No, I did not spell it wrong even though it may remind you of my dialect.  It is indeed ... BULL SHEET ... the official monthly publication of the Kansas City Barbeque Society.  This is a 40+ pages monthly event, complete with society news, recipes, BBQ tips, new members list - a geographic spread from all over America, chat section, and editorials under BBQ Confidential.  Of course there are also advertisements galore, where to get what so you have the perfect BBQ in your backyard .... reads like a thesaurus.  

Say all you want about the declining economy, about unemployment, about making ends meet and you ask yourself, what is wrong with this picture?  Yes ... 'Only in America' ... as we love to say.  

I WISH .....

These two words have caused a lot of misery in my life lately.  Saying 'I wish' either openly or quietly denotes that circumstances have come to a dead end, that alternatives are exhausted and, more often than not, the 'wish' has become 'mission impossible'.  Here are a few examples that are applicable to my 'I Wish List'.  

*  I wish I am 135 pounds ... I am 175 now

*  I wish I could go to the gym more ... I have not been in weeks, due to travels

*  I wish the dynamics in my family could be more balanced ... it is not

*  I wish everyone around me could be happier so I can be happy too ... they are not

*  I wish I have kept up with the TangCanCook Blog ... I have not

On the Blog I have been delinquent, again.  The last entry was December 28th 2012 or 4 months ago, to the date which is a real shame. I blogged very little of my Istanbul sojourn to learn Mezze in October 2012. Since the new year I have been to Myanmar and Italy, 3-weeks each, but have blogged zilch.  I have received messages, polite as well as rude ones, as to what happened.  The irony is 'nothing has happened' since my write-up on the delicious Shanghainese drunken crab.

I am now taking blogging off the 'I Wish List' and will start writing again ... I owe myself, watch this space.