Tango in Buenos Aires

To most Argentineans Tango is more than just a dance, it is a passion and culture. 

We were told a tango show is a must for first timer to this city (that's me) and I really didn't need much persuasion as that was THE top item on my list for coming to BA. Made a few enquiries at the hotel counter and we chose Carlos Gardel for no particular reason except it had gourmet(!) dinner included. 

For the show and dinner it cost US$100 each which we thought was over priced but by the end of the evening we had to admit that it was worth the price. Only much later that I learnt that Carlos Gardel was referred to as the King of Tango, not for the dancing but for the tango songs he wrote and sang. 

Transport was provided (pickup from the hotel) so we felt safe to bring along the camera and very glad we did as we would not be able to capture anything with the phone camera given the lighting conditions. 

The 'gourmet' meal...

For appetizers we chose tenderloin carpaccio and buffalo mozzarella with parma ham. Both fantastic. We made the mistake of ordering the same main course which was quite disappointing considering BA's reputation for great steaks.  

Free flow of the wine. Desserts (especially the mascarpone ice-cream) were just as good as the starters and I had this tiny cup of expresso which was so potent and thick but as I figured I couldn't sleep anyway, why not?

The show that followed was truly awesome, very professional yet with such passion and gusto that made me want to learn Tango so badly knowing very well that would surely give me a twisted back on my 1st try. All the superlatives I know won't be able to describe the amazing show. Hubby took all these photos as I was too overwhelmed by the show (tried so hard not to blink my eyes and at the same time, tried hard to keep my mouth that look like that (:0) close). Poor K complained about having to come back for another show as he didn't get to see it at all as he was behind the camera the whole time because whenever he put down the camera, I kept saying'Take that, take that. Don't miss that!' I better post more of these shots to justify his efforts :p.

The dance troupe

And the orchestra with a 'mermaid' at the violin.

Buenos Aires

I know, I am so behind in my posting! It is more than a month since my trip to Buenos Aires, my photos are still not fully sorted out yet and in the midst of all these I had to, yes so willingly, chaperon Leanne and Bryan to Hong Kong last week for the school holiday.

Yes, Hong Kong for three whole days with one full day doing nothing during the onslaught of Typhoon Nuri which disrupted most flights and we only managed to get back to KK yesterday! That will be in another post soon, I promise! 

Buenos Aires. 

We arrived at 3 pm. At the immigration there were close to 300 (just from one 747) and more arriving passengers! It's alright, told myself, I've seen longer queues at airport security and they cleared pretty fast. An hour later and I was no way near the end of queue. The line was just crawling and when I saw there were only 3 counters manned I knew I was in for a long, hot and stuffy wait. All I wanted to do then was to lie down somewhere and sleep as my internal clock tells me it is about 3 am back home in Malaysia! 

I was a total zombie when (at almost 5.30pm) questioned by the immigration officer in Spanish but still managed to answered very proficiently with 'si, si, si':-p. 

By the time we got to the hotel, I just crushed and slept. Woke up in the middle of the night and watch Spanish speaking TV for the rest of the night until the wee morning dozing on and off on the sofa. The cough that I was nursing before the trip which mysterious disappeared in Cape Town resurfaced here in BA with a vengeance probably due to the extremely cold and dry air.  

The next day was not any better as it was colder and rained the whole day.

We did managed to strolled along the famous stretch of Florida Street for pedestrian. This is a shoppers' paradise for leather goods - handbags, shoes, jackets and accessories.  

We were told not to bring that big conspicuous camera of mine as it would attract unfavorable attention. Pick pockets and snatchers are very prevalent here in the city and so are the beggers. So all the photos you see on this post were taken with hubby's hand phone camera. 

Here are most of the food we had in BA and I really didn't get to enjoy them as much as I'd like to as I was coughing, cold and jet-lagged most of the time, a real bummer when traveling. 

1) Breakfast in the hotel (PanAmericana, very conveniently situated right along the shopping street).

2) Cheesy in-between snacks

3) A buffet joint run by Chinese,

4) An Estancia (cattle ranch) in the middle of the city,

The estancia way of cooking the meat - pork, beef, mutton...

Our order of  ribs and steak with the pickles accompanying. 

5) By the waterfront

A meal I didn't quite remember...