Canned Fish and Kahlua

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One of the really great things about travel is that even the most mundane of daily activities takes on a piquancy that can only come from being somewhere different.

I was awoken this morning from my Unisom-induced slumber by a truly wicked thunderstorm. Outside the windows the rain was pouring down in sheets so that I could barely see the islands across the water.

Needless to say, I rolled back over and slept some more.

When I finally roused myself, the rain was still pouring down and I decided that it would be a rest day.

The only problem is that my friend, in true bachelor style, has absolutely nothing to eat or drink in his apartment, unless you happen to be a fan of canned fish and Kahlua. I was reluctant to jump out into the rain, so I decided to check out the clubhouse restaurant that Travis had mentioned.

I should put in a word here about this apartment complex. Bel Air on the Peak is a massive, multi-acre set of high-rises that give you neck strain when looking up from below. They are almost self-contained, and require the use of an Octopus (basically multi-purpose) card.

The thing is, when you're someplace new, simple tasks such as taking the elevator can be a bit more complex than you imagined. When I tried to leave the apartment yesterday, I stood in the elevator for about 10 minutes, fruitlessly pushing buttons and getting absolutely nowhere, until I realized that you have to press "Enter" after your floor number.

I got off at almost every floor trying to find the ground floor, since who on earth would guess that it was on level "P"?

Then I reached the "P" level and could not determine how to get out of the front doors. I had to wait until a tiny woman walking eight tiny dogs got off the elevator, pressed an impossibly tiny button next to the doors, in order to follow her out.

After enduring all of this, and with what I thought was a pretty good sense of humor at my own expense, I felt that perhaps I could figure out the clubhouse as well. Of course, I had no idea where on this massive complex it was located, so after wandering around out in the rain without an umbrella, I finally located it along the covered walkway from my building (go figure). I swiped the Octopus card, walked inside, and looked around. I turned around and walked right back out again.

I guess I'm just not used to the glamourous good life, or to lots of pretentious ritziness (whichever you think it is), but when I walked into the marble-floored bronze-statued crystal-chandeliered soft-elevator-music-playing Persian-carpeted foyer, I realized I was not in Kansas anymore, and I was out of my league. It reminded me of all the fancy shops along the rue de Rivoli in Paris: Lanvin, Yves St-Laurent, Hermes, Gucci. They are all brightly-lit and ultra-chic, and exude an attitude of "You know you can't afford anything in here, what are you doing even looking?" I was never able to get up the nerve to walk past the black-suited fashion "bouncers" that manned their front doors; I was always afraid they'd take one look at my clothes and toss me back out on the street. I felt the exact same way about the Bel Air Clubhouse.

So it was off to the market to stock up on some food basics. The nearest supermarket was a place called "International" over at the Cyberport, a huge high-tech industry complex. Here, I was able to stock up on sandwich supplies, Oreos, and Coca-Cola. But I also elected to sample a few things you just can't find at H.E.B. These included exotically flavored Chinese Ramen-style noodles, wasabi-flavored macadamia nuts, shrimp crunchies (sorry, they call them prawn crackers, but I prefer my name), and pomegranate-blueberry juice.

FYI, I'm pretty sure the folks who work in the store think I'm nuts for taking pictures of their stock, but I guess I'll never see them again, so who cares? Anyway, this afternoon I am sitting on the couch and reading up on the history of Hong Kong, snacking on Oreos, and looking suspiciously at the bag of prawn crackers.

I have a contest: Name That Fruit. The first person who can correctly identify the fruit in this picture will get a postcard from Hong Kong. Please respond by sending me a public comment.

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Photos

NAME THAT FRUIT!
First person to get it right gets a postcard from Hong Kong!

Comments

[Ken Ivie]

Dragon Fruit
Dragon Fruit BTW...a google search of "strange fruit" gets some interesting results! Yes, I cheated. Make to post card out to Jack and Kate.

[Jill]

is it....
.... a squid fruit?

[drofykceb]

We Have a Winner!
I'm impressed! One postcard coming, to Jack and Kate! Good job, Ken, nice googling!

[amber]

And here I was wondering if YOU even knew the name of it! Did you try one? (Hi, Jill!)

[Dad]

I knew that!
I actually found it independently before I saw Ken's answer! But for awhile I thought I was going to have to crop someone else's picture from the market to show just the Chinese name on the label.

[Shira]

Nice Place
Wow your friend Travis has a nice pad!