Trish and I embarked on our first big international trip together on a crisp (i.e. 20 F) Chicago evening.
We arrived at the airport about two and a half hours before our non-stop flight to Auckland. We were a bit daunted by a long check-in line. Fortunately, we sweet talked our way into the business class and premium economy line because of our “sky couch” tickets (more on that later). This left us with plenty of time to relax in the Priority One lounge.
Trish was suitably impressed by the variety of free snacks, beverages, booze, and especially this turkey and brie sandwich.
We also had an excellent view of our air craft’s preparations and could even see the pilots doing their pre-flight checks.
Air New Zealand now operates a direct Chicago-Auckland route, which clocks in at about 16 hours and 20 minutes. (That’s long but so much more pleasant than a 22+ hour trip with a connection through LAX.)
Even better, they offer a type of seat called a “Sky Couch.” What this means is you get a whole row of economy seats to yourself. Each seat has also been equipped with a special footrest that flips up and turns the row into a flat bench/bed. They also supply bedding. Two adults who don’t mind snuggling can share one row. You can use the seats normally until you’re ready to sleep.
My dinner was a serviceable beef bolognese:
Trish’s was… slop.
It’s some kind of chicken pesto… thing.
The salad was quite tasty. It had hominy on top with a light dressing. They also served some decent New Zealand wines. My Syrah actually went pretty well with the beef bolognese!
We learned to boomerang from our wedding photographer. No, that’s not a euphemism for anything scandalous. It’s an Instagram filter.
We stayed up for a few hours after dinner doing our best to get onto Auckland time. With about 11 hours left in flight, we called it a night and set up our Sky Couch. Put together, it looked something like this:
We actually slept amazingly well. It’s just a good thing we like cuddling!
I’d say we had our eyes shut for about 9-10 hours and probably got at least 7 hours of very decent sleep. We felt very well rested and ready to greet the day when they served breakfast before landing.
We’d been fighting some headwinds the whole way, so were running about 20 minutes late upon arrival. Thanks to the magic of the international date line, we left Chicago at 7:10 PM on Wednesday March 6th and arrived 16 hours and 40 minutes later at 6:50 AM Friday March 8th (which was a weird way to start my birthday!).
Bradley Cooper and Lady GaGa in A STAR IS BORN (2018)
TL;DR Solid script and movie. Not sure why we remade this story for the fourth time.
Dani’s Grades: Film: A-
Screenplay: A-
This year, A Star Is Born is nominated for multiple Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. This is the fourth incarnation of the following tale.
A male star struggles with alcoholism and a declining career.
He meets/discovers an extremely talented woman who just hasn’t managed to break into the business yet.
They get into a relationship.
His connections jumpstart her career.
She rises to stardom, wins a prestigious award, and he embarrasses her during the awards ceremony.
She stays with him.
He briefly improves.
Then, realizing he’ll always be holding her back, he commits suicide.
She ends the film with a solo number, her career now a tribute to the man she loved.
The History
The original, from 1937, starred Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. It wasn’t a musical. Instead, it was inspired by the true life story of actress Barbara Stanwyck and her husband Frank Fay, a famous Vaudeville comedian. This script won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Next, the film got a musical makeover in 1954, with Judy Garland and James Mason. This version was well reviewed and earned six Oscar nominations, though it didn’t bring home any trophies.
In 1976, the next iteration shifted the focus from Hollywood to the music business. Barbara Streisand starred opposite Kris Kristofferson. Financially, this version was a huge success. Barbara Streisand’s ballad “Evergreen” earned three Grammy nominations and took home the Oscar for Best Original Song.
As a brief aside, one thing you may have noticed from each incarnation is that the featured women have achieved lasting stardom. The men… not so much. Bradley Cooper may have cause to be concerned…
The Script
So, let’s talk about the script. It’s solid.
The protagonist isn’t Lady GaGa’s character, Ally. It’s Bradley Cooper’s character, Jackson Maine.
His flaw? Lack of self-worth.
Does he overcome it? No. This is a tragedy.
Who’s the antagonist? I think some might be tempted to say the antagonist is his addiction. In a very meta way I suppose that’s true. But from a story structure perspective, it’s always better to have a person stand in as the symbol of that intangible adversary.
In this case, it’s Ally’s manager who wants to keep Jackson as far away from her career (and preferably her) as possible.
Breaking Down Act 3 This script has a very short Act 3 because Jackson is unable to overcome his lack of self-worth. The black moment occurs after Ally’s manager stops by unannounced to confront a (currently) sober Jackson. The manager says,
“We’re not exactly friends here. While you’ve been away, we’ve been back here in serious triage, trying to clean up your fucking mess. Barely finding our way through it. You almost single-handedly derailed her whole career. You understand that? She’s never gonna say this to you. She loves you too much. Just by staying married to you, she looks like a joke. It’s embarrassing.”
He gestures to Jackson’s seltzer water.
“Let’s be honest, we both know it’s only a matter of time before that’s pushed aside again for the real thing. And when that happens, I don’t want her anywhere near you.”
At that moment, Jackson is overcome by his lack of self-worth. However, he fails to achieve a true epiphany and is thus unable to overcome it. Instead, his plan is to commit suicide.
The climax of the film cuts between Jackson’s preparations and backstage moments at Ally’s concert when she asks if Jackson has arrived yet.
The resolution plays out fairly quickly. Ally tries to cope with her grief. Ultimately, she stages a concert to honor Jackson and sings the last song he wrote for her.
In Conclusion
From a purely structural standpoint, this is a solid script featuring talented actors, great performances, and catchy music.
However, I’m left wondering why we felt the need to remake this movie for the fourth time. Particularly compared to the 1976 version, this incarnation doesn’t do much to update the narrative. In fact, it continues to rely heavily on the outdated trope that a woman’s job is to fix the failings of the men she dates/marries.
The next time Hollywood decides to remake this film (as I’m sure they will) I hope we’ll get to see a more interesting and nuanced update on the basic tale. At the very least, I hope the woman is the protagonist next time!
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TL;DR Doesn’t live up to the hype. There’s no protagonist. Weird/artistic doesn’t automatically equal good.
Dani’s Grades: Film: C Screenplay: D
I’ll preface this analysis by saying I’m clearly in the minority when it comes to this movie. A film doesn’t get 10 Oscar Nominations by accident. I’m just scratching my head about some of them.
The film does have three fantastic performances at its core. But Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Olivia Colman, and witty dialogue can only do so much to rescue a poorly structured script.
The most glaring problem is that it lacks a protagonist. Despite having three compelling and incredibly flawed women to choose from, not a single one of them has a complete character arc.
Emma Stone’s character, Abigail, is selfish. Rachel Weisz’s Lady Sarah is overconfident. Olivia Colman’s Queen Anne is either naive or lacking self-confidence (either way, it results in an inability to think for herself). None change by the end of the film.
Here’s a brief summary of the film’s third act.
Abigail schemes (successfully) to get Lady Sarah expelled from court, cementing her place by the Queen’s side. The Queen falls apart without Sarah. Abigail realizes she’s in far over her head yet continues to block Sarah’s letter from reaching the Queen. Lady Sarah refuses to admit she’s been bested by Abigail. The Queen takes no action to fix her situation.
I can reimagine three different endings that would dramatically improve the film by revealing the protagonist through her epiphany and providing a satisfying conclusion.
Abigail as the protagonist Abigail successfully gets Lady Sarah expelled from court. She briefly enjoys her elevated social status, then realizes the Queen is falling apart. When she intercepts and reads Lady Sarah’s letter to the Queen she contemplates burning it in the fire. However, realizing her selfishness has hurt the Queen, she takes it to her and tells her she should invite Sarah back to court. Abigail gracefully bows out of the picture.
Lady Sarah as the protagonist Exiled from court, Sarah realizes her overconfidence has prevented her from seeing Abigail has successfully outflanked her. She writes to Abigail admitting her defeat. She asks Abigail to allow her to return to court.
Queen Anne as the protagonist Lady Sarah’s exile from court produces a political power vacuum. The stress weighs heavily on the Queen. Abigail is too busy reveling in her victory over Sarah and selfishly indulging her new social privileges to care for the Queen. Anne finally realizes she has been trapped between the two women all along as they manipulated her. She exiles Abigail from court, dos NOT invite Lady Sarah back, and rises to the occasion to lead her country herself.
Of course, the problem with all those endings is they didn’t happen in real life. That’s one of the dangers of adapting history.
I’ll come back to this point in just a moment but, first, I want to talk about one other unique feature of this script: the chapter titles. Periodically, a black screen appears with a chapter title. Usually they’re quotes from the next section of the film, like “This Mud Stinks” and “I Dreamt I Stabbed You in the Eye.”
At first, I thought perhaps the screenwriters, Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, might have tried to apply story structure to each individual chapter, rather than the film as a whole. While that would have been an interesting (though I wouldn’t necessarily guarantee successful) tactic, I don’t think that’s what happened.
The chapter titles don’t appear in the final draft of the shooting script. This is just conjecture on my part, but I suspect adding the chapter titles was a decision made during post production to make the film more “artistic.”
However, the segmenting of the script imposed by the chapter titles does reveal something interesting. One chapter in particular, works better than the others. It’s the part when Abigail first gets to know the Queen. By itself, it works because it shows A) the Queen (aka the protagonist) changing and B) Lady Sarah as an antagonist being defeated.
This brings me back to my point about adapting history. It would have been completely possible (and perhaps advisable) to zoom in on this particular part of the story. In which case, Abigail’s character would merely be a supporting role to the struggle between Queen Anne’s naïveté and Lady Sarah’s overconfidence.
Now, is that the whole story? Does everyone live happily ever after once the Queen gains the confidence to reject Sarah’s policy decisions in favor of her own? Of course not.
But a screenwriter’s primary job is not to teach a history class, it is to craft well structured stories. That isolated moment fits three act structure much more cleanly than the extended period the screenwriters chose to tackle.
Personally, I feel like the unusual characteristics of this film, from its unusual segmented format to the extreme wide-angle lens shots (a topic for another blog) are being over-hyped as original and artistic. Coupled with the admittedly stunning performances and well-written dialogue, I think critics are glossing over the poor story structure.
Just because something is weird, doesn’t make it good.
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I have been remiss in my duties as documenter of kittenhood! Allow me to remedy the situation and provide an update on Agent Thunderpuff.
He continues to grow like a weed (he’s gained 2 pounds since we got him!). However, the growth spurts don’t happen all at once.
First, his legs grow. Then, his body lengthens. Finally, his head catches up. All in time for the cycle to start over again. Here he is in a “spider legs” phase:
Looong Legs
He continues to be my steadfast office mate and “editor.”
Heeeeere’s Thunderpuff!
Does anyone know of a position title that means the opposite of quality assurance? Asking for a friend.
Cat-sulting
His balance is excellent:
It’s his circus act
Although we can’t figure out where he thinks he’s going…
But where are you trying to go?
Delilah remains displeased her nap schedule has been semi-permanently disturbed. First, she tried using our stuffed animals as camouflage. It wasn’t effective enough. So she upped her game by using laundry as cover:
However, occasionally peace reigns throughout our household.
Delilah and Thunderpuff don’t agree on much, but they do agree on a few things, including:
1. Whatever the humans are eating, it’s probably better than cat food.
I don’t know what it is, but I know I want it.
2. Boxes are AMAZING.
Yo, kat, I heard you liked boxes so I put a box in your box
3. Closets should be explored whenever the opportunity arises.
Oh, hello there.
4. All differences can be put aside in the service of destroying things.
This lamp would look excellent on the floor.
So far, we don’t think much of his opinions on interior decorating.
Sadly, the days of him not realizing he can get on the counter are over. This is the scene we discovered after a day out and about running errands:
Incriminating evidence
All in all, being a kitten is a lot of work. There are so many new experiences discovered on a daily basis! Like clocks that need destroying!
Meerkat pose
New toys, like trashcans.
Kitten charmer
Rainstorms.
But where does the water come from??
And moving pictures!
Watching one of his namesakes, Thunder, on Black Lighting
But as a kitten, some things need to be learned the hard way, like “sticking your nose in water makes you sneeze. Yes, every time.”
Or “don’t jump in the tub when it’s full…”
Soggy kitten
And “assisting” with chores just takes so much time and effort!
You’re not laundry
Really, it’s a lot of work.
Tired kitten
He doesn’t actually nap that much (ask Delilah), but he’s just so darn cute when he does. Here are a bunch of pictures of him sleeping:
We also have options for our family Christmas photo 😉
Option 1
Option 2
Also, rest assured, my parents are thoroughly enjoying spoiling their grandkitty.
To close out this update, here are some more pictures of him being generally adorable:
Posted inAgent Thunderpuff, Cats|Comments Off on Diaries of Parenting a Kitten: Vol 4
Agent Thunderpuff and Delilah continue to bond. Huge steps are being made. They shared a lap for 20 whole seconds!
Delilah really wishes he’d get the hint about naptime though.
I would have given less than 50% odds the expensive cat tree we bought would ever get used, but it’s actually quite popular. Though Trish remains Delilah’s favorite climbing platform.
He continues to be a silly goofball with feet he needs to grow into.
He’s also an active little guy, and he’s teething. Unfortunately, we’re the favorite chew toy at the moment. We’ve started keeping a box full of toys on the couch we can throw to distract him. But sometimes the box is the best toy.
Despite it being part of his namesake, he wasn’t too sure about the thunder that rolled through. But raindrops are FASCINATING. I realize, as a former California cat, he probably hasn’t seen much rain.
Shoulder catting is going well.
And I continue to receive much supervision during work hours.
He’s also very “helpful” around the house. He participates in all sorts of chores.
And he has also developed a fondness for participating in other daily rituals. Like restful weekend mornings and family dinner time.
Speaking of family, Steve and Linda Alcorn have been at it again. On a rainy day, a stray cat in their neighborhood deposited a two-week-old kitten on their front porch. For anyone keeping track, that means they’ve found three kittens in two months.
Current theories include:
1. Some higher power REALLY wants them to have a kitten and they’re just not getting the hint.
2. They’re being karmically punished for buying purebred cats. And if they’re paying off their debt by the pound they have at least one more kitten to go!
At any rate, they took the poor thing in, took her to the vet, and started round the clock feedings.
It was touch and go for a while because she didn’t take to the bottle AT ALL but, eventually, they started getting some human baby food into her and figured out she’d nurse if they put the bottle inside a sock so it felt fluffy.
Now she’s a perky but tiny little thing.
It’s even more dramatic when you compare her to the enormous Maine Coons. It’s like they’re two different species… she’s literally still smaller than their heads.
My parents swore up one side and down the other they were NOT keeping her. Yeah. That lasted about two weeks.
So, meet the newest Alcorn, Chessie.
She’s named after Chessie the Railroad Kitten.
No matter how big she gets, she’ll always be half the size of her “siblings” 🙂
…which was not repeated any other day this week. Ah well. Sleep is for the weak.
This week, a new toy appeared! The ever-popular three-way tunnel. Agent Thunderpuff deemed it most acceptable.
We also discovered faucets this week. But the question remains, where does the water go??
Thunderpuff is a very affectionate kitty and has the most wonderful purr. His whole body rumbles when he gets going.
I’ve been sleeping in the guest room with Agent Thunderpuff while Trish and Delilah stay in our room. On Sunday, Trish and Delilah decided to sleep in (a luxury I don’t expect to be afforded any time soon!). Instead, we took the opportunity to explore the rest of the house!
We may have a future pianist on our hands! Fortunately, unlike pianos, keyboards can be unplugged 😉
However, I don’t think he’s noticed the view yet.
Lessons in shoulder-catting continue, though this one didn’t go exactly as planned.
The week’s biggest milestone was being allowed out into the house with Delilah. Previously, they’d only looked at each other through the glass doors, and briefly in his bedroom.
She’s taking it pretty well. Although she’s not exactly pleased to be sharing her favorite spots…
After a few *active* hours, a truce was reached and mutual naptime ensued.
He’s an active little man but, eventually, he passes out in a nest of many toys.
And he takes his duties as work su-purr-visor VERY seriously.
Posted inAgent Thunderpuff, Cats|Comments Off on Diaries of Parenting a Kitten: Vol 2
Because he will permanently be wearing a tuxedo, we considered all sorts of names that conveyed dignity and class… then we met him.
So, everyone, please welcome Agent Thunderpuff to the Alcorn-Lawlis household! He’s 10(ish) weeks old and is a bundle of energy.
We met each other over the weekend at his foster mom’s apartment.
And it was love at first wiggle.
I have flown many times, but never with a pet. I think I was more nervous than he was!
Despite his rambunctious personality, he was a complete angel. Not even a squirm or mew of protest through security and boarding.
However, he wasn’t pleased about being put under the seat in front of me. He protested till I defied aircraft safety regulations and put him on my lap instead. The flight attendant was kind enough to look the other way.
He protested a little more and for ten minutes I was afraid I should have given him the tiny diazepam pill his vet supplied that I was too chicken to use. But, finally, I realized he didn’t want out of the carrier, he just wanted to hold my hand! As soon as I stuck it into the carrier with him he used it as a pillow and dozed through the rest of the flight!
Trish met us at the airport and (saint that she is) let us go relax in the car while she collected my bag.
Once we got home, he settled right in.
The next morning, I was informed breakfast needs to be served promptly at dawn.
Sleeping with a kitten is kind of like sleeping with Sonic the Hedgehog if he had razor blades strapped to his back. Anything not under the covers is considered a chew toy… #Parenthood?
He spent the rest of his first day as a Chicago cat exploring his new room, murdering his feather teaser, and getting lessons from Trish about how to be a shoulder cat.
I attempted to do some work in the afternoon and he “helped.”
Clearly, laps are meant for cats, not computers.
He finally wore himself out and we had a good cuddle session.
Day two he got to explore a new room! The home office.
He’s found his favorite spots but I’m afraid he won’t fit very long!
The room has glass doors so he and Delilah got to see eye to eye. There was some perfunctory hissing, but no growling or puffed up tails.
We’ll take things slow, but I think they’ll get along just fine.
Delilah’s calorie expenditure is about to skyrocket…
Posted inAgent Thunderpuff, Cats|Comments Off on Diaries of Parenting a Kitten: Vol 1
This was our last day in Hong Kong. I finally remembered to document the difference between the items we selected on the breakfast buffet.
My breakfast
Mom’s breakfast
We had to check out of the hotel at 1pm, but our flight to Sydney wasn’t until almost 9pm, so we had a whole day to spend in the city. The only problem was we didn’t want to get super sweaty before a 9 hour flight to Australia.
Dad decided to stay in the hotel lounge and catch up on his computer work. Mom and I contemplated going to some antique shops we’d passed earlier in the trip, but ultimately decided to check off one more touristy item from our list and take the funicular tram up to The Peak for a last view of the beautiful city.
The tram has been running since the late 1800s but has gone through a few refurbishments over the years. The last round returned it to a retro look.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait too long in the queue even though the weather was clear. The journey up is so steep the floors are slanted to help people keep their feet. We sat, but it was still pretty extreme! I used the level function in my phone to estimate the incline and the steepest part was about a 30 degree angle.
The top was a touristy mall that we basically ignored. Instead, we crossed the street to have lunch at a lovely restaurant called The Peak Lookout. It’s been serving refreshments since 1947 and has an eclectic menu to please any palate.
We ate nachos and tandoori chicken and drank Australian chardonnay in an English tea garden on top of a mountain in Hong Kong. It doesn’t get any more international than that!
Lunch was delicious and very pleasant (except for a butterfly that got trapped in the solarium with us and terrified Mom).
After lunch we went for a lovely amble along a flat and shady path on the side of the mountain. We couldn’t see how far down the trail went after it started to descend, but we suspect it might have gone all the way to the bottom.
We went up onto the 360 degree viewing platform on top of the mall that was included in our ticket (it was hot and not very inspiring). I did take a selfie of the southern part of the island we didn’t get to on this trip. It’s much more rural and full of beaches.
We descended via the funicular and again struggled to get a cab back to the hotel to meet up with Dad. Eventually we made it and collected our bags.
A nice driver loaded us and our luggage into a van and took us to the airport. The Hong Kong airport is enormous. There are literally hundreds of gates spread out over miles of hallways.
The super duper lounge my parents were entitled to was on the other side of the airport, so we all made do with the regular lounge our American Express cards get us access to. They served food and I had a descent bowl of noodles (just in case the flight didn’t include dinner).
Though sad to leave Hong Kong, I felt like we’d seen a lot of stuff during our stay. I’d been keeping a little black notebook of interesting sights gleaned from my review of the guidebook on the flight over. We crossed many of them off!
Posted inHong Kong, Travel|Comments Off on Hong Kong 2017 – Day 6
Today we were tourists doing touristy things on Lantau Island. Many companies offer guided tours but we decided to roll our own adventure based on the sights/activities I read about in the Lonely Planet guidebook.
Po Lin monastery and the Buddha statue are located at the top of a mountain on Lantau Island. It turns out getting there is more than half the fun.
The most scenic way to go is to take a 20-minute cable car journey from Tung Chung (a city near the airport) up to Ngong Ping (a touristy village with souvenir shops).
The views were stunning and we sprung for the “Crystal Cabin” which had a glass floor. It was neat to be able to see through the floor but it actually didn’t inspire much vertigo, perhaps because we were seated on regular benches.
We also downloaded their guided narration to accompany the journey up. A dry English narrator imparted a few interesting facts about the construction of the cable car towers. It was quite a feat of engineering. Donkeys were needed to cart supplies up the mountains, since many places are not accessible by vehicle. The number of towers was also reduced to lower the environmental impact. That’s also why there’s a funny turn on airport island instead of a tower built in the water.
The cars weren’t air conditioned, but they had air vents built into the sides and top which funneled a lovely breeze through the cabin and kept things nice and cool. Below our feet, we could see a long trail winding up and down, populated by a few brave hikers trekking up to Ngong Ping on foot. The most impressive sight was the Big Buddha in the distance as we approached the top.
Close to the terminal, Mom looked through the floor and said she could see a “ball,” or maybe a “bowl,” but I didn’t figured out what she actually saw/said until a bit later (see below).
Ngong Ping was (as expected) a tourist trap. But it was a nice tourist trap. We had an incredibly oily lunch before heading to the monastery and the Buddha statue.
On our way out of Ngong Ping we saw a cow in a planter! All that time Mom had been saying she’d seen a “bull.”
And then we saw a whole herd of cows resting by the side of the path. They must belong to the monastery and appear in thousands of selfies a day.
Mom and I decided to hoof it up the 260 steps to see the Big Buddha up close. We tackled the 16 flights a few at a time, pausing frequently to let Mom (definitely Mom, not me) rest.
We made it to the top (eventually).
V for victory
It’s a long way to the bottom
We discovered stunning views of the South China Sea and a cool ocean breeze that felt heavenly. There were many tourists taking selfies, but there were also a large number of people praying.
The Big Buddha was quite impressive and an engineering marvel. It took almost 10 years to complete and ended up made of thin bronze sheets cast to fit over a framework. Artisans overcame numerous obstacles to cast the Buddha’s face as one sheet so no seams marred his serine visage. He did look very peaceful.
We headed back down and rejoined Dad to explore Po Lin monastery.
Mom observed it was fascinating to study the architecture because it’s in a style we’re used to seeing only shiny and new at a theme park or old and behind glass in a museum. This was a real, working monastery (evidenced by the chanting we heard drifting from a private building towards the back).
After wandering around for a bit, we headed back to the village and discovered one of the cows wanted to go shopping (aka stand in the shade). A local lured him out with an apple.
We got cold beverages with the most appetizing names.
The Pocari Sweat was basically just gatorade. The Jelly Grass Drink wasn’t terrible. It was a bit earthy and there really were cubes of gelatin in the bottom (which made for an interesting consistency). It reminded me of an aloe drink I had once.
Mom and I indulged in some retail therapy and purchased a few souvenirs and gifts. We spent enough money that we got several “free” perks, including silly photos in front of a green screen.
Before we left, we ordered egg waffles (made to order) to try out street food Dad was interested in. Mine was chocolate and I was a big fan.
We were all a bit touristed out so we decided to skip Tai O fishing village. Instead, we took the cable car back down the mountain.
We made great time on the MTR back to Hong Kong island, but then had incredible difficulty finding a cab. We stood at a cab stand for more than 30 minutes watching cabswith out of service signs whiz by.
We were cutting our 7pm dinner reservation at Pierre pretty close since we all needed to shower. Fortunately, they didn’t mind pushing it back for us.
Unfortunately, the meal was terrible.
Here’s Dad’s Yelp review of the experience (I’ll let him eviscerate it in his own words):
Pierre offers a lovely room with a great ambiance and view. It’s the kind you’d expect to find in a top rated restaurant. Unfortunately, the view is about the only thing that is top rated about it.
At a price equal to or above the nearby Amber and l’Atelier, it’s hard to imagine anyone returning to Pierre for a second visit. The six-course tasting meal we had was, frankly, poor. There wasn’t a single stand-out course, and no one in our party had more than a taste of the grouse entree, which had a very unpleasant bitter taste. Mine even still had a piece of lead birdshot in it.
They’ve tried to make up in quantity what they lack in quality, with a half dozen small plates bearing amuse bouche at the start, and another half dozen plates of dessert at the end. But not one of them was truly good. It’s as if they’re firing scattershot, to see if they can hit anything.
Service was also hit or miss, with the wine list not even offered until the food began showing up, and empty water glasses sitting for long stretches of time.
At about $10,000HKD for our party of three’s food alone, this must be one of the worst buys in the city. And the wine prices are just as unreasonable.
Posted inHong Kong, Travel|Comments Off on Hong Kong 2017 – Day 5
We started our day with a leisurely breakfast upstairs and debated what we should do for the day. Yvonne warned us Sunday would be very crowded. Despite that, we briefly considered going up to The Peak, however it started to pour while we were still at breakfast so we thought better of that plan.
Instead, we decided to relax and hang out in the room for a bit before venturing out for lunch.
Originally, I was interested in visiting a rabbit cafe, which is exactly what it sounds like: a cafe where you can hang out with rabbits. But a quick Google search revealed they were currently engaged in a legal battle over their lack of having a food license. So we scrapped that plan too.
Finally, we settled on The Cat Store, a cat cafe located near a part of town called Times Square. The rain stopped around lunchtime, so we grabbed a cab and headed out. The cab driver said that since it was Sunday some of the streets around our destination were closed to vehicular traffic, but that he could drop us of nearby and point us in the right direction.
The drive took us east into Wan Chai, which didn’t seem dramatically different from Central. The Times Square area was quite busy with tourists and locals alike, but the cab got us within spitting distance.
The Times Square neighborhood was fascinating. It was different than any city we’ve been to because, block by block, it fluctuated between high end designer stores in sleek modern buildings and much more modest (even decrepit) buildings with a mix of commercial and residential.
The address of the cat cafe led us to a six-story building in the middle of a short block. Having learned our lesson at Yum Cha, we realized the address was on the 3rd floor, though it was strange that the building seemed to be mostly apartments.
The entryway to the building, the hallway, and elevator did not inspire much confidence. They were somewhat less than glamorous. Seedy is the word that came to mind.
But we persevered and found the door to the cat cafe, which turned out to be a charming little shop. It was cozy, tidy, and packed with people. All the tables were taken but the hostess said we could come back in about an hour and a half and she’d reserve us a table.
To kill time, we wandered around the shops nearby for a while, ultimately ending up in a mall across the street. We could actually see the cat cafe’s window from over there, so when it looked like there were empty tables we repeated the journey through the world’s strangest elevators and returned to get our dose of fur therapy.
We only saw one cat curled up asleep when we arrived. Understandably, the cafe has signage requesting that patrons refrain from bothering sleeping or eating kitties. Patience was required.
We ordered some food, again the criteria was cute things shaped like cats. I chose garlic toasts, toast with chocolate sauce and sweetened condensed milk, and cat-shaped butter cookies. I mean this as a complement, but Mom grills leftover hot dog buns in butter and the garlic toasts bore a remarkable resemblance to that. The butter cookies were excellent.
Dad had homemade caramel ice cream with apple and graham cracker dust.
Mom had a smoked salmon pizza (with corn?!).
While we waited for the cat to wake up, we enjoyed going through the literature on the table. All but one of the cats were rescues, and in case you’d never seen a cat before, there was a handy-dandy guide about how to pet them.
Most of the other patrons were families there with their daughters, so we fit right in. Of course, the other girls were all about 6 years old, but so what?
At long last, a cat emerged from slumber and joined the party. His name was JJ and he liked to talk. He had a raspy little mew and though complained a lot was very patient with the little girls (including me).
His activity spurred lunch time and the opening cans woke two other cats.
The cats are permitted in the kitchen, which horrified one table of guests, but I figure there’s been at least one cat in the kitchen at home my whole life and it hasn’t killed me yet. Plus I got to pet kitties.
We headed back to the hotel for the rest of the afternoon. Though it wasn’t raining anymore, the clouds continued to whiz by. I took the opportunity to film some time lapse of Victoria Harbour.
After a couple hours we dressed for dinner and headed to Amber, which was recently ranked the 24th best restaurant in the world. It lived up to the hype!
Our table was lovely, nestled in the back corner of the restaurant with plenty of elbow room.
The food was exquisite and the wine pairing was incredibly educational. It included six wines, all from Burgundy.
The only problem is I never finish a wine pairing, and apparently in this culture leaving wine on the table is even worse than leaving food on your plate. But since all six glasses totaled up to more than a bottle of wine, I would have been on the floor if I tried to drink it all. Other than the worried looks that caused the staff, it was a lovely meal and managed to top L’Atelier (which I wasn’t sure was possible).
