Picture of the Day: Trumping the Rooster

The giant inflatable rooster that bears a resemblance to Donald Trump

Well, it is the Year of the Rooster and the Year of Trump.

So why not mash them together?

That's what a Seattle-based graphic artist had in mind when he designed giant inflatable roosters whose headgear look very similar to the new American president.

"I can definitely say Mr Trump has a lot of similarities in that he likes to tweet," says Casey Latiolais.

"And he also likes to tweet at or around sunrise, and if you take away the fact that roosters are kind of loud and self-absorbed, then I think you can start drawing similarities that way."

The factory in Zhejiang province producing these inflatable birds can't keep up with demand for these Trump-like roosters, with workers going on their annual Spring Festival holiday.

But it's funny how Latiolais has drawn a link between the rooster and Trump, who likes to rule the roost, strut his stuff and puff up his chest...

Observations of Seattle and Hong Kong

A snowman checking his iPhone in the shop window

Living in Hong Kong, going to the United States reminds you what real customer service is.

Rockefeller Center a la Tiffany & Co

As soon as you walk into a shop, staff greet you with, "How are you doing today? Is there anything I can help you with?" which takes you aback because you're not used to such friendliness. In Hong Kong, retail staff just go through the motions because that's what their boss told them to do.

Even more jarring is paying at the cashier, and they ask you again how your day is going, did you find everything you needed? At this point I just want to pay and leave. But at places like Target, there are extra savings if you have the store card, and even better if you have coupons in hand. Makes it an even longer wait for people behind...

And you can pretty much return everything (except sale items). Apparently Nordrstrom has a very good return policy. A friend who was returning some items at the counter, was told by the staff there that someone returned an item of clothing that was bought over 20 years ago! The store did honour it and gave them back the money...

The stores, particularly the big box ones like Walmart, Costco and Target make you realize how much stuff Americans buy. There are rows and rows of items many are useful, others... have no real use, or don't have a good design or made well and end up in the sale heap.

In front of the Seattle Art Museum

How do people come up with these products but more importantly how do they wind up on the shelves of these stores?

Being in Seattle after Christmas, there were major holiday sales. My friend went to Gymboree and managed to get children's clothes for under $3. She also got a casual top at Banana Republic for less than $7. It really makes you question why pay full price for anything...

Which brings me back to Hong Kong -- we don't really have outlet stores (unless Citygate in Tung Chung counts), and everyone is out to find a bargain. People outside of the city have the perception that we can buy anything we want in Hong Kong, but in many cases you do have to pay a premium for it. 

This leads to the discrepancy between the rich and the poor -- the wealth gap in Hong Kong is every increasing, while in the United States at least, the poor and middle class can get by if they look for deals.

A gorgeous blue sky day at Pike Place Market

Here's hoping 2015 will be about greater equality for the vast majority of the people in Hong Kong who just want to be able to live decent lives. Is that too much to ask?

Succulent Seafood @ Steelhead

Looking at the open kitchen and the artwork above it with a fishing theme

I have a former classmate who lives in Seattle and I asked her what recommendations she had for restaurants downtown.

One she has visited and enjoyed is Steelhead Diner at Pike Place Market and so after our first day of shopping we headed there for a late dinner.

A half pint of the Kilt Lifter ruby ale

It's a block up from the touristy seafood market and it's next to Rachel's Ginger Beer that is known for making handcrafted ginger beers using natural ingredients.

The diner itself really does look like a diner with booth seating and old school formica tables, though the ceilings are very high. And the restaurant has a fly fishing theme, as the logo is a fly -- used by anglers to catch fish, while there are some of the real thing put together in plexiglass boxes.

The theme also hints the restaurant focuses mainly on local seafood, being steps away from the fresh seafood market, while there are a few meat dishes to keep carnivores happy.

In keeping with the local theme, the diner also has some craft beers on tap and I ordered a half pint of The Pike Brewing Company's Kilt Lifter ruby ale. It really does have a lovely ruby gem-like hue and as the waitress sold it to me, takes quite balanced with a slight taste of smokiness.

With that, we started our dinner with dungeness crab and bay shrimp tater tots ($9), featuring the crab and shrimp meat mixed in with mashed potatoes and deep fried then garnished with roast red peppers and cilantro. There was a lovely seafood taste from each bite, thanks to the meatiness of the seafood.

Delicious crab and shrimp tater tots

Another winner was the Alaskan razor clam chowder ($10 bowl), a white chowder with apple smoked bacon and flavoured with the delicious smelling truffle oil.

I ordered the Pike Place cioppino ($25) that was a massive bowl choc full of plump Mediterranean mussels, massive though slightly overcooked Gulf shrimp, perfectly cooked fin fish and large sweet clams in a spicy tomato broth with torchio pasta and diced potato.

It was quite overwhelming for one person to finish, but it was so delicious -- savouring the succulent seafood, and enjoying the flavourful broth -- that I soon realized I would finish the dish (minus some pasta). The cioppino definitely hit the spot.

The very large but satisfying cioppino with local seafood

We also enjoyed the steamed Totten Inlet mussels a la Vercruz ($15), again featuring the juicy mussels with some spiciness from the Spanish chorizo, and more fresh flavours from the basil, white wine and dried tomatoes.

The jumbo lump Dungeness crab cake ($17) were really large and thick, almost all made of crab meat and panfried for a slight crunch.

If that wasn't enough, we were intrigued by the peppermint cheesecake ($10) for dessert. It's actually a subtly flavoured mini cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crust topped with finely chopped candy cane cake bark and whipped cream.

It tasted more of the mintiness from the candy cane which made it more refreshing in a way to balance out what many perceive is the heaviness of cheesecake. I could only manage eat one bite, while my two companions couldn't stop eating the delicious dessert and cleaned up the plate.

The peppermint cheesecake on a plate decorated with flies!

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit here and fondly remember our lip-smacking dishes...

Steelhead Diner

95 Pine Street, Suite 17

Seattle, WA
98101

(206) 625 0129

steelheaddiner.com

Flocking with the Chinese

I just returned from an overnight trip to Seattle with some good friends where we shopped, ate, and saw a few sights.

Yesterday morning we headed out early to avoid long waits at the Peace Arch border crossing, but many others had the same idea as us. However we were lucky with a relatively short wait and we were soon on our way.

Our first stop was at Seattle Premium Outlets which features many brand names such as Polo Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers, Swarovski, DKNY, Michael Kors, Coach and Kate Spade.

What was most interesting about this indoor/outdoor outlet was that periodically there would be announcements broadcast in Putonghua, welcoming visitors to the outlet to shop. The message was not translated into English or in any other language.

And pretty much everywhere you looked, there were mainlanders in many of the stores. The vast majority of customers in Burberry were from China because the clothing and accessories here were priced at over $100, from blouses to handbags to raincoats.

At Lacoste a somewhat stylish Chinese woman made her son or nephew do all the simultaneous translation for her, asking about polo shirts with the ubiquitous crocodile logo.

Then about 20 minutes later I saw them again at Tumi, where she and her friends were interested in buying some suitcases, where they were served by a young Chinese American man who didn't speak Mandarin.

Again the son or nephew had to translate again, and they would ask such inane questions as, "Is Tumi one of the best luggage brands?"

What else can the sales person say?

Perhaps the funniest part of visiting this outlet was bumping into my good friend from Hong Kong. I knew she was in Vancouver for the holidays but had no idea she would be in Seattle too!

Seattle Premium Outlets

10600 Quil Ceda Boulevard

Tualip, WA 98271
(360) 654 3000