Hong Kong Pizza

I don't know how it happened. Perhaps it was one of those stories where someone was cooking in the kitchen and an ingredient was accidentally added and they liked it so much it stuck. I'm thinking more along the lines of a lack of creativity...Any way you slice it, using Thousand Island dressing as pizza sauce is just not good in anyway. That's how Hong Kong people like it. They like it so much the Pizza Hut chain in China gives the option of Thousand Island dressing. Some pizzas only come with it. (I may have just puked a little in my mouth) With all of this food confusion going on it seems impossible for a guy to find a decent slice of pizza. Then came Paisano's Pizza, New York Style Pizza. This stuff is the real deal. Sold by the slice and bigger than your head the pizza is awesome! The other night we went in to get some Calzones for dinner and the following situation occurred. Three characters: Big Al- The Italian New Yorker who owns the place (and doubles as my next door neighbor), The Local- Just another young kid with his priorities messed up, and James- The fly on the wall.
Al- "What can I get fo' ya?"
The Local- "I would like this one," pointing to the top pizza, "with Thousand Island dressing."
Al- "What!? You must be confused! That place is around the corner...We don't do that here. That's just wrong! It's the worst possible combination! I'll put it on your salad, but not on your pizza."
The Local-"But we are local people and that is what we like."
Al- "Then you can go to Pizza Hut, but this is real New York Pizza!"
After a little more clarification he was able to convince the kid and his friends to get "The Godfather" fully loaded with the best Italian meats. Its good to know that when we have had enough rice we will always have Paisano's, and Al can continue to tell people to go to Pizza Hut if they want Thousand Island dressing, it doesn't seem to slow the demand for the real deal.

Settle Down!

Cassie pointed out to me today that ever since we've been married we haven't planned on staying somewhere longer than a year. We've lived in Cedar, Hong Kong, Dallas and now we are back. This time we hope to be here for a while, however, as all the foreigners here know, Hong Kong is just a temporary home before we all return to our homes. Until that time comes for us we have been putting our house together step by step. This is the closest we have ever been to having a place full of our own furniture. This week we got a TV stand and a rug and WOW! It really makes a difference. I was excited when Cassie was out doing hair and they called to tell me the stuff was coming early. I wanted to surprise my wife with the new layout so I hurried to do my own arranging. She loved it! I love it! It feels good to have a place where we can have family and friends over and feel good about having them in our home. So here is the open welcome. If you are ever in Hong Kong you are welcome to come stay over, have a BBQ, or just relax...

Floored!

We wanted to save some money opening our new business so we decided to do the floor ourselves. We started at 5:30pm Friday night and finished just before 12:30 Saturday morning. We were so determined to finish it and now we feel like anything is possible! The exciting thing is that we have a great company culture. My business partner, Koon and I were set on doing it ourselves. The receptionists thought that it would be a good experience and came to lend a hand. Even after telling them a number of times that they didn't have to stay and that they could go home, they wanted to stay and see the project through. We are about having fun and working together to do it. What an awesome thing! We are now counting down the days to opening. It's going to be awesome!

First BBQ of the Season!

I know that you are probably a little jealous that the BBQ season starts the first week in March here as opposed to May or June back in the States. Don't worry it is supposed to drop down to 50 degrees Fahrenheit this week (10 Celsius) which for us is a bit chilly, so needless to say we will not be heating up the grills every week. It was fun though to have my buddy Tyler and his wife over for the initial cook out. We only had a little rain but not enough to ruin our parade!

Small World Indeed!

Let me put things in perspective for you...there are about 7 billion people in the world and about 7 million of those people live in Hong Kong. There are 1.3 billion people in China and .3 billion in the US. That's a lot of people. The other day there was an ad for a free table near the place we live so I jumped on it since we didn't have one. If it wasn't too great it could at least go on our roof to start my ultimate BBQ pad! I woke up Saturday morning and climbed to the top of the mountain behind our house, (awesome experience, different story). I came home and headed to get the table. I was a bit worn out and really surprised at how heavy the glass top table was that we were getting. While I talked with Simon, the owner of the table who was giving it away, he asked me what I did and how long I had been in Hong Kong. Typical small talk...I told him that for two years I was a missionary for the Church, and he said, "Oh, so you probably know Scott and Doris!" Being new the the ward we are still in the remembering names and faces mode, but I finally realized that I did know them and that he knew that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are better known as Mormons. I thought, wow what a small world...then he said, "I've been to Utah." He had gone there on vacation. I told him I was from there and of course asked him if he had ever been to Cedar City. He thought for a moment and then said, "The Shakespeare Festival, right"...you have got to be kidding me. Then he asked me if I went to BYU, I proudly said that I went to SUU. "My wife went to SUU!" was his reply. I could not believe it. This is a kid who grew up in England, his parents are from Hong Kong, as well as his wife, and he knows other Mormons in our area and his wife is a Thunderbird. Unbelievable... The table weighed a ton, and two hours later I finally got it to a taxi stand where a nice couple with three dogs informed me that they have never seen taxis come to that taxi stand, but they said they could give me a ride. There are good people in this world! After I got the table all put back together at our house I realized I needed some chairs. Just as I'm putting on my shoes to go buy some cheap fold up chairs I hear the neighbor ask someone if they knew anyone who needed some chairs. I was so blessed today! I ran down and talked him and got 6 chairs that used to be at his restaurant and they look pretty sweet! (Its all about the law of attraction. Again, another story.) It was awesome to sit down with my family and have dinner at a table instead of the floor we have been enjoying for the last month. Life is great.