Shock and Horror (but, with a happy ending!)

There was some good news, some bad news and some more good news the other evening. First, we got a chance to meet up with Tall Asian Dude and SWLBJAA (hooray)! But when we went to Chinatown - gasp! - Wing's Kitchen was closed (Argghhh!). The place is still there (the front part dark, but a diligent chef could be seen chopping something vigorously in the back kitchen), but the critical Chinese characters on the sign changed - meaning that the place was no longer our beloved Shanghai-style eatery, but a pale Cantonese copy (evidently, the place has gone through countless permutations - the English sign stays the same, so as to trick the foolish licensing board-people into thinking it is the same establishment - but the Chinese characters tell the true story of the culinary tectonics occurring behind the facade... um, did I just let the cat out of the bag?). Kind of like some sort of restaurant version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. However, luckily, there just happened to be another restaurant in Chinatown (go figure) - okay, that was incredibly facetious of me - let me rephrase: Tall Asian Dude and SWLBJAA both knew of a slightly-less awesome place - so we hopped over (after a suitable moment of mourning in the rain) and had a delightful meal. Now, usually I refrain from using words like "delightful" to describe meals (it makes me sound like a second-string New York Times food critic, and slightly unmanly), but the combination of yumminess, good conversation and atmosphere just made for a great all-around meal. Not to mention, have you ever had a hankering for a particular dish (I mean, you have the object perfectly visualized in your head, and you remember the last time you had it - and it was just freakin' awesome - in some Chinese restaurant in some corner of Tokyo a long, long time ago...), and you see something that sounds like it, and you order it - and it comes out - FAST (like they can only do in Chinatowns across the globe) - and there, sizzling in golden fried perfection is that fish dish you remembered, and the smell hits you, and you are transported back (while meanwhile your dinner companions are looking at the one tear streaming down your cheek, and they are starting to panic because it looks like maybe you are suffering from a stroke...). Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. Well, that dish hit the table, and I knew we hit the culinary home run. Everything else: lotus root (with Chinese sausage), pea pod stems in garlic, dry fried pork chops, and real fried rice (not that greasy crap that we grew up on here in the suburbs of Boston) with dried scallops and egg - just amazing! It was beautiful, man. After dinner Tall Asian Dude and SWLBJAA then took me back to their new (um, well, relatively new...) digs in Waltham. We had some dark chocolate (with individual pieces from various cocoa-producing countries in Africa - good lord, talk about decadence... I mean, we're talking almost Roman Emperor-esque decadence here...), and then a absolutely amazing after-dinner concoction from Spain called 43 - an amber liqueur that tastes and smells of vanilla with a faint hint of orange. Whoa. Then, completely satiated - driven home to ponder how in the world I ever got lucky enough to have such fine friends as these. But don't let me stop there - let me also fete my good friend, Tim-san, and the amazing home-brewed beer and chili a few nights back! And my other friends and family who have taken time out of their hectic and busy lives to spend some quality time with me, and share a lot of laughs and quite a bit of excellent food. I am on the cusp of getting ready to fly back to Chicago tomorrow morning - This past week was perfect - PERFECT - in every way. Mobilization awaits, but I am heading out with a full and happy heart.