Where is my Riedel Sommelier?!

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Another month has gone by pretty fast, and time for another dinner with Mo' Unni.  It seems we are taking turns picking the venues, and she's decided to check out 121BC.  To be honest, I vaguely remember hearing about it (among the dozens of restaurants that had opened recently) and had no idea what the place was about - as I'm a total ignoramus and don't keep track of restaurants beyond the Not-So-Fragrant-Harbor.  But hey, Mo' Unni wants, Mo' Unni gets.

Upon arrival, I was led to our seats in the middle of the lone, long communal table.  I'd done a little research beforehand, so I knew this place was extremely casual.  Even so, I didn't expect it to be essentially a bar... which is what it really is, more than a restaurant.

We scanned the chalkboard on the wall for the dishes they have available today.  This is a night out with No Fish, so the sardines and mullet are off the table... and we picked non-fishy items instead.

Octopus, potato, olive - pretty good.  The octopus tentacles were very tender, and tons of smoky and charred flavors here.

The long lunch

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For the last few years I've been getting invitations to join some friends for a "long lunch" in mid-December.  A bunch of wine lovers take half a day of work, get together and unwind as we close out the year.  Unfortunately for one reason or another, I've never been able to attend in past years.  This year, though, I decided that I needed a break from work... so I put my hand up and asked the boss for a half-day off.

I arrived at Hong Kong Wine Vault and headed for the rooftop.  The weather turned out to be real nice today, and as the sun came out the temperature actually got pretty warm.  More than 20 of us gathered at lunch today, including most of the MNSC boys.  The Ox had arranged for the Press Room to cater the event since there were barbecue grills on premise, and we had plenty of food to go around.  I nibbled on some corn on the cob, yummy, fatty lamb chops, sliders, barbecued chicken wings... but kept my food intake in moderation.

The three co-hosts had all celebrated their 40th birthdays this year, and were rolling out some birth vintage wines along with others.  Some of the guests brought along other interesting bottles, and as usual some of us went downstairs to dig out more bottles from our cellars as the day progressed.  This would turn out to be a real eclectic mix...

One.more.Tang

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Year end is always busy season for the MNSC boys, as half the birthdays are bunched up in the last quarter.  Two weeks after our last mind-blowing tasting, we're back sitting at the same table and, surprisingly, sharing it with the wives.  Time to tone down the conversation... =P

Juliano played host and called us to China Tang (唐人館), the new outlet opened by the foodie tycoon. Normally I would have waited a little before visiting a place this new, but I was actually curious to see how it positions itself versus the other Tang cousins around town.  I'm a big fan of Island Tang (港島廳), and apparently this is meant to sit slightly higher up on the scale...

We started with some nibbles and appetizers:

Pan-fried Shanghainese dumplings (上海生煎包) - not a fan.  The dough was just too soggy, mushy and stuck to my teeth, and that ain't the way it's done in Shanghai.

Junk food day

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Two weeks after the last time I hit my new low in terms of weight - and subsequently rebounding after numerous cheat meals - I've finally brought my weight down enough to hit a new low.  I honestly can't remember the last time I weighed this little... probably would have to go back 4 or 5 years, maybe more.

So it was entirely appropriate that once again, I found myself at I Love Lubutin's home for a little gathering.  The last time I was here, my weight had also hit a new low that very morning after jogging, and subsequently bounced up after indulging in yummy food...

I was running errands and arrived pretty late... and I was starving by the time I showed up at the door.  When you're on a diet, you never wanna be at a point where you starve... becos what happens next becomes animal instinct...

Shrinking Boy, four months in

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It's now 4 months since I started on my diet, and I've made a little more progress during the last month, which is meant to be the "maintenance" phase of the program.  I was, of course, not really interested in just maintaining my weight, and wanted to keep going down.

Weight loss so far: 8.5kg.
Unlike the first three months when I was losing 2.5kg a month consistently, this past month has been much more difficult.  My weight's basically been like a yo-yo... swinging up and down within a range while trying to push lower.  A string of big dinners - three over the course of the week, all at the same restaurant - really didn't help.  I had lost up to 9kg the very morning before the first of those three meals, only to experience the biggest spike up during the last four months.