Starting with a breakfast of Foie Gras omelette, before a 2 hour drive to Carmel, did not seem to me like a good idea (".. we might both have heart attacks on Highway 1!..")but I could not disappoint my host down when he looked please as punch with his birthday surprise for me. Our first cooking session went off well. We didnt get into each other's way,shared utensils and workload. But I was let off washing-up.
The drive was very pleasant and though it was Fall/ Winter, the sun was up and welcoming. We got into Carmel with time to spare before the Carmel Walking Tour. We waited in the pretty courtyard of Pine Hotel, Carmel's oldest.
We were the only asians in the group, and I really don't know what they expected to hear when they asked us what we did to the dogs,( Carmel they said, was the most dog-friendly place CA) where we came from, but to their horror, Hock in all cheekiness said,"Eat them!"
Since the spots we were visiting sounded promising on the brochure, I felt a great urgency to salvage our reputation and promptly explained that H was joking, and we mostly kept dogs as pets but did not dress them up with coats and boots. Whew!
The tour brought us to picturesque courtyards of little hotels, churches and a boutique florist. Doris Day is Carmel's Hollywood claim to fame as is today's Clint Eastwood who used to be mayor. Hog's Breath Inn, a cosy basement hamburger joint used to be owned by Eastwood, and I'd remember going there for tea and sitting next to the fireplace on a cold and windy evening, with B. H did not know this eating joint although he claims to know Carmel very well and will show me around..Ha Ha!
It was gallery crawling after the walk, and we visited two familiar long -standing galleries. I was particularly looking out for SC Yuan, but his works are now in the tens of thousands. These galleries mostly housed pioneer artists, or contemporary artists from other parts of the US.
A call came from B and I left the gallery to get better reception, abandoning Hk to the explanations of the Manager. When I got back, Hk announced in a booming voice of revelation that all the artists in that gallery were dead!..as though I would not know. I almost keeled over with laughter, after which I launched into certain enquiries about the works on sale and their artists, without asking prices. When the gallery owner was duly impressed, I ushered us out of there to browse at another gallery.
It was comforting to see all the same galleries from about 10 years ago, still doing business. Though the works were out of my range(despite being told not to ask for their $$, Hk was still at it), I still felt very privileged to be able to view such old works and styles.
