Kampong Boy in the Big Apple

Having gone Hong Kong twice for work in the last 1 year and not experiencing much beyond the food and shopping, my expectations were never high for this Singapore-like city to begin with. Moreover, the organizing bank of this Fixed Income training had (very intelligently) put the seminar in a god-forsaken place in HK, beyond Yuen Long, which I had previously redefined the word "far" for Hong Kongers. That means no travelling to the city for shopping nor finding good food in Tsim Sha Tsui. Guess I have to be content with being stuck in the hotel for the whole week.

First stop after touching down was Elements in Kowloon. Easily accessible via the Airport Express, Elements also has baggage storage, thanks to the multiple buses to Mainland China that depart from here. That means I could dump all my stuff and find food and shopping. The lunch at Xi Yan was really a non-affair, and I thought the hype it gets here in Singapore was overrated. The fusion food served was not that different from your Char Chan Teng, though ingredients were definitely much fresher and tastier.

Took the MTR to Mongkok East, hoping to find my favorite shop on Fa Yuen Street. After changing three lines (I'm starting to appreciate the integration we have in Singapore), I reach my destination, only to find that Mr Dark Clouds has started to spew cats and dogs on an otherwise bright and cheery Sunday afternoon. But never fret in HK about the weather. Within two minutes, entrepreneurial uncles have set up shop at the MTR exit selling a wide assortment of umbrellas! Cool stuff!

$3 poorer later and I'm off to shopping. I must be terrible with directions, because after ploughing through Fa Yuen Street thrice, I still couldn't find the shop I wanted! So it's a wet and sad journey back to Elements and the hotel. The cab ride was so long I thought I had to stamp my passport at some point in time in the journey.

First night, welcome/orientation dinner. Excellent fusion east-meets-west food. Here begins a wonderful journey to the world of Fixed Income. And a world of new friends.

Well tonight's my last night here in New York City. Gonna head out tmr night.
It has been a whirlwind tour. and a very tough few weeks for me.
But it has certainly widened my view of the world, stretched my thinking, increased my capacity, enlarged my heart.
It's hard to put down in words the things i see and experience, but NYC has been the focal point of so many movies, pop icons and culture that being immersed here for a month is simply a privileged. I came here a wide-eyed boy, but return home a wide-minded man.

To quote my colleague, "Yes, I know the feeling. My first month in NY was magical. As you alluded to, NY has always had a mystique for first timers, because it occupies such a vaulted position in American culture and the economy at large. Enjoy yourself now; it will never feel like that again, even if you go back. Nothing like your first time."

So i pay tribute to the greatest city in the greatest country in the world - New York New York.

It's last week here and my busiest week too, had two counterparty dinners to go to. Not that I'm complaining though! The food was fabulous, especially at SD26.

I had Wild Boar Ragu pasta to start and entree was Venison, topped off with white truffle. It's my first time eating truffles! it's super ex, i heard it costs $2000 per pound, crazyyyyy. But normally we eat only a few shavings each time. I thought it was a bit overrated, just a lil salty and fragrant, but definitely not worth the top dollars paid for it, esp since truffles are hunted out by pigs! But yes, my very exotic meal was sumptuous!

Next day we had wine tasting with another company and ate atas tapas at Italian Wine Merchants, which is only 10 min walk away from my apartment.

The outside looked so unassuming but inside was gorgeous! And could fill the 125 pax who turned up for the event! I have never really liked wine, so it was interesting to try out so many types hurhur

I spent one of my most beautiful Saturdays ever upstate in Connecticut, which is about an hour plus drive from Midtown Manhatten. The drive was along a very scenic route along the Hudson River and then on the Merritt Highway, which was flanked by rows of trees in full colors of the fall, green, yellow, orange, red, purple and what have yous.

Arriving at her place, we drove up a 100 meter long driveway to her very quaint and pretty house. The houses in the suburbs are HUGE! Her place was surrounded by so much flora i thought she lived in a nature reserve! it's SOOOO beautiful! After meeting the family and having a nice coffee and bagels, we spent the morning house-hunting for one of my colleagues. It was such great fun as we visited million dollar homes that were so well furnished and mind-blowingly awesome!

Coming up north and visiting these houses was like living out a Hollywood movie. I remember watching "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" when i was younger and loved those big houses that those people lived in. Everything is there for them, the fireplaces (yes, one house has like 5-6 fireplaces!), the bathtubs, the swirling stairwells. You can even break the house into East and West wings! that's how huge it is. And there's like gigantic basements, and attics that house your imaginary "monsters".

Problem is that every house sits on such huge lands that the nearest amenity is at least 10-15 min away! And it's just a simple town with some grocery stores, some food outlets and shopping places. I guess growing up in Singapore got me accustomed to doing many things all the time and all day long, even my nights are always filled up. But here, you've really got to be prepared to spend time only with you family cos that's probably the only entertainment you have most of the time!

But well, after a nice lunch the Tavern, we went to buy pumpkins! I was just in time for Halloween! We bought some back and i volunteered to carve one together with my boss' husband. Oh man! It was tough work!!! It was just fantastic that i got to celebrate my first Halloween ever, in a traditional American home! Check out her super cute kids too! They were having fun removing the seeds from the pumpkin while the two of us slogged it out. But after one hour plus, TA-DA! Check my Bat pumpkin out! And Kenny's Wolves pumpkin! Not bad for a first timer huh!

We roasted the pumpkin seeds with some salt and they tasted fantastic! Kenny and I were so hungry we ate cereal and milk! It was strange for our stomach though, cos there was like nachos, salsa, wine, cereal and milk inside. The "wine latte" inside isn't too good for our tummies eh? hahah

This is one of the most magical Saturdays for me. Visiting such a nice home, being able to live out the American dream for one day, spending time with the most beautiful kids ever, carving my first pumpkin by the fireplace, i guess this is one experience no money can buy. Loved it.

My JC classmate Xinghan and her boyfriend just flew over from LA for a few days in town! Yay! got company, won't feel so bored. Brought them to my fave Basta Pasta for dinner of course, to try out the Shiso Tobiko, Cheese Wheel Pasta and Chilean Sea Bass Ragu (which was too spicy for my liking).

I spent Thursday night having dinner at Applebee's (i saw so many of their commercials online in Singapore!) and watching Chicago. Seemed interesting and it was enjoyable, but no where near the grandeur of Phantom. The script was witty, but i didn't like how the scenes always just stuck to a few simple backdrop and the story line wasn't too impressive. But overall i thought it was light hearted and enjoyable!

Tiff says with all the skimpily-clothed girls in the musical it's hard for any guy not to like right? hahaha x)