A Night Out in Town – Finally!

28-May-2011, 1715

Memorial Day Weekend is here, at least for you guys over there in mainland US that is!  It’s that time again, the time that will soon herald the coming of hot summer months, with heat and humidity, cooler beach waters of Misquamicut and Rocky Neck, warm, blue and chlorinated swimming pools, swimsuits, barbecues, potato salads, watermelons (yes Preston, red, ripe, and juicy watermelons!!!), ICE CREAM, and…well at least during the last two years in our family, Orlando Florida!  Though, I must say that it is still undecided whether vacation in the Sunshine State will have to be re-scheduled sometime in November when I get back or not.  It is also time to memorialize and commemorate all those who gave for the freedom of the country.  I salute all of the veterans, wherever they may be at this time!  I must say it is rather fitting for this weekend indeed because Pearl Harbor, starring Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, and Kate Beckinsale, is going to be on in one of the HBO channels this Sunday. 

Last night, Friday, Tom decided to take me out for dinner at The Pallazzo, a rather modern, upper class, Westernized restaurant inside the La Mana Hotel in Waigani, NCD.  The restaurant also happened to be situated beside The Gold Club – a club and bar that, just like The Palazzo, has been designed to capture the essence of night life in the West, and of course the destined place that expatriates frequent very often.  The refreshing difference though is its open roof design.  One can dance the night away under the glinting shine and sparkle of the moon and the stars.  The common sights inside a bar—billiards, smoking area, ashtrays, and a generous dance floor space—are found inside its perimeter.  There’s even a small section where slot machines are located, imagine that!  It was also nice to see the familiar lights and sounds of a bar and club, with tunes in the likes of Pit Bull, Jennifer Lopez, and Beyonce, bellowing out of the loud speakers.  At least now I realized that there is a little bit of nightlife found in Port Moresby, with local Papuans and expatriates as patrons.  I just don’t think that I will be frequenting this place alone as much as I would like to.  I remember the “Be Safe” mandate from Global Security when I attended the weeklong orientation in New York City.  In addition, I also have some mandates from my brothers to just stay at home during the off-shifts and weekends for safety and security’s sakes.  I guess I will heed the mandates, eh?  So, as Tom and I watched the very physically demanding Australian Rugby (and I mean physical, worse than American football!) in the two large and wide screen TVs, I just thought that by the time I come back home in late October, it will be time again to cheer for Tom Brady and Wes Welker of The New England Patriots at Chili’s in East Haven Frontage Road.  I say, “C’mon October already!!!”

It is really uncommon for me to order Indian food.  I remember one Indian dish that a co-worker ordered and it smelled quite alright, but judging by the looks of it—pieces of meat, chicken, pork, or otherwise, mixed with green and red bell peppers and smothered in a very rich, flowing sauce that was somewhat pink in color—I was immediately turned off.  But, last night was unprecedented since for the very first time, I stepped outside of my comfort and zone of normalcy.  I figured I am in a foreign land so I might as well be bold, daring, different, and exotic.  Well, OK, probably not the very last one as I just got carried away here, you see?  I ordered a curried fish dish called Barramundi Fish Goanese Curry over white Jasmine rice, figuring that it will not turn out to be pink since it is curry.  It really wasn’t that bad, as a matter of fact, it was very good!  It actually reminded me of a Thai dish called Massaman Curry (choice of your own meat of course).  In comparing and contrasting the cuisine style, the Thai dish that I know from the carts outside of Yale New Haven Hospital and Siam Orchid at Branford, are only mildly spicy.  The Indian dish that I had last night however, was all-out spicy and hot!  I mean I really could have become Eragon the fire-spitting and breathing dragon!  Some of these little slivers of red, hot, chili peppers, hot enough to cause vasodilation, induce hyperhidrosis, and what I expected to be a very bad case of acid reflux, were sliced thinly and diagonally, almost Julienne like, sprinkled ever generously over the bowl, in addition to the whole ones, which I remember were two or three medium sized peppers!  But, even though it was really spicy, I was still able to savor the decadent taste of the fish, curry, sauce, and the other spices.  For those of you who know me very well, just imagine table napkins on my head as I wipe my hair and forehead with sweat!  Tom was laughing!  It did helped to have a glass of ice cold SP, the local beer in town.  Overall, the dish was great, Grade A!  And, I think I will order this again!  We’ll see…  In the interim, in the spirit of summer, please enjoy a bottle or two of Bud Light Lime for me!