In Hong kong With Style

I am in Hong kong for a little over five years now. And I must say that change was inevitable. I have a come a long way since the first time I placed my dainty foot on the the Hong kong airport. Dressed up in a salwar kameez, totally irritated because I was travelling all alone with cabin baggage and a child. My hair dishevelled and I basically all over the place.

My sister had come to visit me in the first few months that I was here. Now she wanted to buy a pair of designer sunglasses from Hong kong. At this I was still very raw. This is a thing about Maharashtrians, we are a tribe which is extremely down to earth. Buying designer labels, spending our hard earned money on fashion, is something that we are averse to. Now what do we spend money on – actually we don’t. As a tribe we actually take pride in showing off , how much we have saved over the years, by living modestly. Now coming back to the sunglasses. So, we only new brands like Prada, Armani, Gucci, Chanel and a brand here and there. So as we were looking through some shops in Casueway Bay, we came across a pair that we just loved. And started to wonder if it was by one of the design labels that we liked. We couldn’t make out and soon came to know that it was Coach. And we both looked at each other with vacant expressions. Neither of us knew what that brand was. I even went on to say, ” that it must be some new unknown brand”. Obviously, we did not buy that pair and ended up buying some other brand known to us. Happy with our shopping we set off for Central. And as we were passing over the bridge near Times Square, we saw a huge billboard, with Coach on it. And we couldn’t stop laughing. This happened in 2007.

Today, I was getting off from a bus chatting with someone I recently was introduced to. We had a great conversation about children, schools, their timetables, etc. Finally we reached our stop and said our good byes. And as we were getting off, I realized that I was checking out the brand of her purse and shoes. And as I thought, I realized that, I was a changed person. I can actually name at least 10 brands in one breath. And everytime I am somewhere, I check out brands that different women are wearing. This is happening in 2012.

And for this I would like to thank Hong kong. Over the years, Hong kong has taught me how to live. It has taught me that it is ok to spend a little and look awesome. It absolutely alright, to look stunning and let people around, admire you for that. I feel that I have reached a good balance in life. My Maharashtrian roots have taught me the importance of modesty, while Hong kong has taught me the importance of living. And I have brought a good balance with these two teaching. I owe it to HK.

Bring Back My Jack

There used to be a restaurant on Lan Kwai Fong on the first floor. A lovely Irish pub with an amazing lunchtime set meal.

My husband and I first discovered this restaurant-when we didn’t get a single booking for one of our lunchtime dates. As always we were looking for something new. And if we didn’t get it we would end up at one of our other regular restaurant. However, that place, didn’t have a table for us and our search was back. Since it was a lunchtime date neither of us had enough time to look for something new. So we ended up in this restaurant situated on the first floor.

We were welcomed by a tall friendly looking gentlemen who was very warm. I started to wonder if I knew him from before. Speaking about an exceptional host. We were soon seated at one of the tables and then greeted by every wait staff as if we were regular there. I wondered if I was having an amnesia. Had I visited here before and didn’t remember.

Our daughter was with us that day and in an unexceptionally bad mood. (which is quite surprising since attending luncheons is her favorite thing to do). But the staff there did not go out of their way to entertain her or made us feel that we should leave. And I must point out that the restaurant wasn’t empty. So having an irritable child was not exactly what they were expecting. This was really nice, since most restaurants in Hong kong are quite cold during the peak hours of lunch. And their laid back attitude did make us feel more comfortable in dealing with her.

Finally we were all settled and waiting for our order. We were really hungry and needed asap to get some food in our daughter to calm her down. Finally our food arrived and it did not take very long. It was lovely. Just simple flavors and definitely not pretending to be something they were not. The owners are extremely down to earth which comes across in the food. It is a very hearty warm meal. Eating out need not bring out the satisfaction. But with Dublin Jack, every mouthful was satisfying.

Unfortunately the restaurant is taking a break currently, due to the rise in rent. I sincerely hope that they open again. It is very rare to be in a restaurant, where the hosts are happy to entertain guests and make them feel at home.

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On The Track – Once Again

Alright then, I had my baby and a lot of pampering during pregnancy. Moreso, because my husband was scared to say, ‘darling, don’t eat it, you will get fat’. So from puranpolis to an all I can eat a la carte lunch at one of my favorite restaurants. I had ‘eat’ all.

But, looks like now the party is over, and the hangover is killing me. I mean literally, my stomach is hanging over and it is killing. It definitely is the time to get on track once again. So one slow step at a time, everyone has been telling me. But, here is what I think. Bad habits – you stop those right away. You cannot say, I will start slow. One cigarette instead of the regular 10. Or just one cup of tea instead of sipping it all through the day. You can either do it or you don’t. Getting rid of bad habits is not easy. So we have to attack those and make our life as miserable as possible. The truth is you might slip. But, ask yourself this, would you not slip if you took it slow? You are probably nodding a yes. And weight loss is actually an easy thing to do. In my head it is. Because, I don’t have bad habits. I do not snack through the day, my sweet tooth isn’t desperate to satisfy its needs and I am happy to eat what common sense expects us to eat. The problem is – having the discipline.

Discipline is required for weight-loss. Planning your meals way ahead. That is a weekly task. So your helper or you do not wake up in the morning looking for stuff to cook. So you have got to make sure that the pantry is stocked at all times. Eating every couple of hours. Drinking loads of water.

Now that I have decided to get on track – there is just one thing I have to work at. Discipline.