Sunday, August 7, 2011

Happy Birthday, Ken

What to do to celebrate a birthday half way around the world from all of your family and friends? Well, I tried my best and I think Ken had a fun birthday. His big day was on Saturday so he took Friday off work. (Makes sense to me.) We were trying to figure out what to do on a very hot day and, of course, we decided to do something that would keep us in the sun for a long stretch. In our defense, it was partly cloudy when we started out, but by the time we rode the ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui on Kowloon all the clouds were gone.


Ken had not yet seen Hong Kong's "Avenue of the Stars" so we decided to take a stroll. At the start is the statue that represents their film awards like Oscar does for us. Only they have a naked lady wrapped in film - where did we go wrong.




And of course there is the obligatory pose with that world renown star Mickey Mouse.




We even had an opportunity to help in the filming.





Ken has always wanted to direct!


He had a brief moment with Bruce Lee...




And then it was off to do a little birthday shopping. We stopped on the way home for a bit of Happy Hour. Yes, he had a beer. We chatted with our friend Anna who manages Cochran's and then headed home for a quiet dinner.


On Saturday we took a tram to Causeway Bay to check out the Adidas store. Ken was watching a tennis tournament and saw an outfit he liked. This is his favorite way to choose tennis wear. He went on line but could only find the shirt and not the shorts. When we got to the store, the first thing he found? The shorts. Of course they didn't have the shirt in the color combo he wanted. So, we got the shorts and the on-line store will provide the shirt. There is always a solution when it comes to his sports gear.


Saturday night we were hosted by our friend Rommel for a Filipino dinner. Friends of Rom were in visiting from China. Rafael and Grace are delightful and Grace's birthday was Sunday so it was a double celebration.





As is our custom, we let Rom and Rafael order since they know what they are doing. We had authentic Filipino food that included a soup that was fantastic, egg rolls, beef in peanut sauce, the accountant's special (chicken, pork & adobo - CPA, get it? Rom's joke, not mine) veggies, noodles, and more. 







One of the dishes was called Sasa (might be spelled wrong). It's the one in the top photo with the orchid on the plate. It looked like a chopped salad and had a vinegary topping but was crunchier that I expected. After two helpings, Rom told us the secret ingredient - pig's ears! If you don't know, it makes it easier to be adventurous. Very little goes to waste in any type of Asian cooking and pig's ears are proof positive. Another dish which we knew we were eating was fried pork knuckles.




It is actually hunks of the leg and joints that are deep fried and served with several toppings. The meat is tasty and I actually liked it plain. It would make great bar food. 


Our dinning enjoyment was enhanced by a pair of singers who had beautiful voices and sang everything from The Eagles to Bruno Mars to The Captain and Tennile.




We went back to Rom's apartment in Wan Chai for a bit and admired the view from his balcony. Then it was back to Central and up through Lan Kwai Fong. 




It is always a happening place and especially on a Saturday night.


And what would a birthday be without a few little presents. So what did Ken get?
From me two shirts he has been coveting for quite some time.




They are the real deal (I found a great sale) and he is quite pleased with them.


From Shayne he got another gadget that will help him when he has those long conference calls.




It is an old fashioned hand set that works with your mobile phone. We tried it out and he said he can hear better with it than with either his phone or the blue tooth. He loves it.


And of course there is Kyle's gift.




Despite the tease, we are already trying to figure out how to get all of our stuff home so it makes sense not to send one more thing that we would have to ship back. He knows he will love it no matter what.


And of course, what would a birthday be without a birthday cake?




So Happy Birthday, my dear. We are once again the same age!

No comments:

Post a Comment