¡Tango!
4 June 2005 (Saturday) – Buenos Aires, Argentina
I have an idea to look out for necklaces, earrings and rings here in South America to, hopefully, sell them back in my country. But they must be something special, not like all those common stuff I see all over. Well, I would see if I find anything.
Weekends here in Buenos Aires are full of ferias (fairs). There are found in different places and as they do not really start til late afternoon, it is just not possible to visit them within the same day. Buenos Aires is just too huge.
There is one in front of Recoleta cemetery, at Parque Centenario, at Plaza Belgrano, at Parque Lezama, at Plaza Dorrego in San Telmo and I heard of a new one near Retiro as well.
I chose Feria de Plaza Francia near Recoleta cemetery as I had liked that place very much. I arranged to meet, yes, yet another new friend whom I contacted through VT in front of the cemetery. Sabrina first brought me to a charming little restaurant nearby to eat AMAZING pancakes! I was a little hungry but after sharing a tuna pancake, it was enough for me. But later, when she ordered the dulce de leche pancake, I took a small bite out of it and I DIED. I just fell over and died. It was one of the most INCREDIBLE pancakes ever ever ever in the whole wide world. I am so going back there to eat it again!
She is an English teacher but we talked nearly always in castellano (Argentine Spanish). But at least, she could give me hints when I made a mistake, or when I struggled for words.
We strolled through the feria and wow, I managed to find some necklaces, earrings and rings that I found rather special and very pretty. I have never seen this kind in Singapore. I bought quite a lot. Sabrina helped me choose some. We have quite the same taste in colours and kept selecting those of turqoise shade. But, they are really very pretty. And Sabrina is just great, a very mature and pretty lady, and so patient as we spent hours browsing through the stalls.
Hmm… I am on a US$10 a day budget (more or less, God / Allah / Buddha / Ganesh willing…) but this, I had to treat as a form of ‘investment’, another set of expenditure nevertheless but not counted in my budget. Oh, I hope I am able to sell them!! But if not, I guess, my girl friends are in luck!
That night, Pablo brought me to Confiteria Ideal, a charming old-world confectionary that had Tango Shows called Amigotan (Amigo + Tango) on Saturdays. It is located right in town, but rather hidden on Suipacha 300+. The confectionary is in a huge hall, with a really charming ambience, classical baroque details all over the room on the cornices and pillars, aged glass counters displaying pastries that looked a hundred years old, huge old-style mirrors and lamps, peeling paint and all, and lovely little wooden tables and antique chairs. I felt myself transported to another world, to the 1920s, to a silent black-and-white movie. It was an utterly incredible setting. In the brochure, the show was to start at 9:30pm but of course, the hall was completely empty when we arrived. Since when does anything start on time here? We took a table more or less in front of the stage and waited.
Soon, people trickled in. It was a mix of locals and tourists but there were only about 8 tables filled by the time the show started. It did not feel really touristy or splashy. Just very cozy.
And the tango dancers were absolutely spectacular. I had only seen street tango so far, which is really cheap or free actually, but now I realise, it is indeed worth the money to come watch a show such as this. Of course, with my budget, this is just perfect – 25 pesos. I could not afford anything more fancy.
There were 3 pairs of dancers. Sometimes, all 3 of them were on stage; other times, just 1 pair was dancing. Various types of tango were performed, regular tango, milonga, vals (waltz) and moderno (that from revolutionary Astor Piazzolla). OK, I am obviously not the right person to discuss the fine art of tango. I just figure that in tango (and this is just my opinion), everyone has a poker face and no one smiles; in milonga, the beat seem happier and faster and the dancers smile; in vals, there is the distinct ‘pom-chat-chat’ in the beat, and moderno, everything sounds sharp and abrupt.
A tango singer filled the gap in-between when all of the dancers had to change. This guy is really good, really sorrowful and passionate in his moanings of the tango songs. He even looked the part, with his sad, soulful face that seem permanently tortured with nostalgia and unrequited love. This show was exactly what I was looking for! It was simply fantastic and it would go a long way in my fond memories of this city.
When the show ended, we went upstairs to take a look at a milonga where people gathered in order to pluck a partner from the floor to dance tango around the hall. It was beautiful to observe these young and elderly porteños expressing their passions and feelings on the dance-floor.
It was past midnight when we departed and Pablo and I decided to walk back home. Afterall, this city never sleeps. Today, it had rained and was rather cold, so the streets were not so full. Otherwise, on Saturday nights, it would be crowded through and through.
But still, Av. Corrientes was busy. Some restaurants and cafes that we passed were completely filled with diners, not just young people but people of all ages. I always wonder about the metabolism rate of the Argentines. I mean I put on weight just by looking at food after 11pm. And yet these people almost never consider dinner until around 11pm-1am. Here they are, chomping down food like pizza and meat, drinking gaseosa (gassy drinks like Coke) or wine, considering flan de dulce de leche for dessert later… and they are thin. Thin. Thin. Thin. Either I am looking at a nation of bulimics or there are some serious liposuction going on around here.
Tags: 01) Imagining Argentina, Buenos Aires
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