Shopping in Kowloon and Dining in Soho

Late yesterday we met a local, name of Linda Chow. Linda Chow or Auntie Linda as she is known to many of her clients is a custom Tailor. She comes recommended by the Four Seasons Hotel so you know she has a decent reputation. I have never had a made-to-measure suit and I had heard that Hong Kong has the best and most affordable tailors anywhere, so we went across to Kowloon and found her establishment in a broom closet (no bigger than 15'x15') on the 11th floor of an old office building not far from the famous Peninsula Hotel. Her office has cloth stacked in shelves on two walls and on the third wall photos of Linda with all of her famous clients which include Jennifer Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jet Li, Arnold Schwarzenegger and almost every Admiral in the U.S. Navy, who go to her for their dress uniforms.

My wife Linda and Auntie Linda hit it off pretty well and before you could shake a stick we had a pattern picked out along with two matching shirt cloths and I had completed my first fitting. I have shopped at some high-end places and bought some expensive suits before but never in my life have I ever been fitted like that. I was measured everywhere! There were literally 2-dozen separate measurements, with Auntie Linda holding the tape and barking out measurements to her assistant May in Chinese.

It was less than 24 hours later and I had already seen a mostly finished product during a second fitting today. The wife says it already looks pretty amazing. I have to agree with what I saw in the mirror. But the coolest part was that Auntie Linda and May have become our buddies. May personally took us on a tour of the area, provided us with Maps of how to get to the establishments that my Linda wanted to see and Auntie Linda even introduced us to her friend the Jade dealer and another buddy who sold 'higher quality' illegal knock-off hand-bags. Both these things were establishments that were on the wife's list of shopping missions that we had to find so Auntie Linda was very helpful in allowing us to cut to the chase. The wife is triumphant in two successful purchases of a nice Jade item and a couple of handbags from friends of Linda Chow.

This evening we wandered up to Soho and found a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. We both had a tasty salad and some pasta. The food seems to taste better here and I think it is because we are closer to the farms. In Calgary during the winter we eat the produce but we forget what it is supposed to taste like because we are eating stuff that is so far from the farm. Here we can only be a day at most from the farm whereas in Calgary where winter produce is probably mostly from California we are several days of freshness away from the farm. I find the prices are better here than in Calgary but an automatic 10% tip is added to every bill and then you feel obligated to add something extra. I guess that's fair enough if you consider 10% as a base gratuity. I assume the minimum wage is very low here.

There are dozens of really neat restaurants up in Soho. Everything you could ever desire and mostly all smaller 10-20 table establishments chiseled out of the narrow buildings along the narrow lanes that are really only roomy enough for one car and a very narrow sidewalk. Given the uneven pavement and the steep inclines it is not a good idea to drink too much at dinner because the escalators only go up and most of the hotels are down on the harbour-front. I am curious about the Mexican restaurants I saw today. Maybe tomorrow...

Sorry about there being no pictures so far, we are having camera troubles. I do not think we have lost any pics and eventually they will make their way unto the blog at some point in the near future (I am listening K.O'D.)