Buenos Aires by Night
11 June 2005 (Saturday) – Buenos Aires, Argentina
My lunch appointment today was with Carla and her Chinese teacher and friends from her Chinese class. I met up with them at Riobamba 600+ before heading off to a Chinese restaurant off Av. Cordoba. But alas, they are just studying the language and have not reached the level of being able to understand or speak.
Maria, their Chinese teacher, ordered a lot of food. I mean, a lot of food. The rest of them just wanted to try all sorts of Chinese food and left the decision to her. I sat, bemused, as she rattled off all sort of food from the menu to try. When the food arrived, I have to admit, they are indeed very, very good Chinese food, not the best in the world, but very good. Again, I had underestimated the stomach capabilities of the Argentines. Whatever food placed before them, they could just gobble them up effortlessly, given time and a lot of jokes and chit-chats.
I wanted to invite Claudia, Claudio and Leo to dinner today. But poor Leo was not feeling well, so it was just Claudia and Claudio. I checked my remaining pesos. Darn. It is my last night here in Argentina, and with my share of the huge lunch today, I was left with 49 pesos. I hope it is enough for the dinner tonight. Gulp.
We left the apartment at around 10:30pm in Claudio’s taxi. He is a taxi driver, so it is great we had a car for transportation tonight. Claudio drove us to a traditional parrillada place in Puerto Madero, near the Buenos Aires Casino. Only when I got off the taxi did I realise I forgot my camera!! Argh!!!!!! Buenos Aires looks great at night, and I had forgotten my camera! Soy turista y soy estúpida! (Unfortunately, this rhymes too!)
Claudio gamely and smilingly suggested that we drive home to pick it up. Oh my goodness!!!!!! I was really really touched. I am such an idiot, I know. And again, we did another tour of Buenos Aires by night by a different route. Both of them were rather excited in showing me the places. They kept calling my name and telling me what this building is, look at that huge flag of Argentina, isn’t it lovely?, etc… It was great to hear their delight and excitement, as they showed that they have so much pride for the city that they live in.
We finally returned to the parrillada and ordered parrilla for 3 persons. I was the only one who looked shocked at the portion when it arrived. But Claudio and Claudia just calmly and automatically began the food intake, silently passing over the asado, morchilla, etc… and expertly sawing them apart. I had 1 tira de asado and half a chorizo. Yet, somehow, over the next 2 hours, the rest of the massive food disappeared between them two. Wow, we never see wasted food here in Argentina. The bill came up to 46 pesos, which I just had enough but Claudia, my ever sweet and generous host, decided to put in a 10 peso portion so that I did not end up with only 3 pesos to my name… just in case I need anything for emergency tomorrow. Oh, how great of her!!!
Then, we truly started our tour of Buenos Aires as Claudio went down this avenue and that, stopping his car for me to snap some scenic pictures of the lovely city, like the Buenos Aires Casino, the Puente de la Mujer (Woman’s Bridge) along Puerto Madero and the Obelisco by night. The Hilton Hotel looks fantastic as well. I think I am staying there when I return, heh heh. Even Claudia had been surprised by the changes in the city as there are many places she has not been to in a long time. Claudio even spun by Barrio Parque, where the richest of the filthiest rich people live in luxurious houses and ostentatious mansions. The apartments in that area are also horrendously expensive. Oh, one is for sale: call 4801 7900.
I had a wonderful wonderful wonderful time tonight. I was really touched by the effort they had put in to make my stay here comfortable and problem-free, and they had helped me with downloading of music and my photos, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g and tonight had been amazing!!! And yet, late at night, Claudia even THANKED me for coming! Can you beat that?? She thanked me for opening up her eyes to the outside world that she had not gotten the chance to see. Wow, she is just wonderful.
Tags: 01) Imagining Argentina, Buenos Aires
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