Rip off city

Porco hates shopping but he is compelled to visit retail outlet malls while on business trips because things are so much more expensive in Singapore, even during the Great Sale. For example, a pair of Armani Jeans are S$420 in Singapore but only US$75 in Woodbury Common. This has been common piggsley knowledge for many years but to his surprise, when he dropped into Watsons, G.O.D. and Muji in Hong Kong, stuff there was about 30% cheaper and there was much more range and choice. Boo!  

Anything but Bordeaux

It has been many weeks since my last confession on these pages and about the same length of time since Porco opened a bottle of Bordeaux. Mrs P and I have been drinking a variety of things – mainly Loire whites or New World reds. Just when we thought the shops were running out of 2003 Pouilly Fume, Porco found a stash going at a discount. Two reds have also stood out in the last fortnight – a Te Awa Boundary 2004 (Hawkes Bay, Merlot, fruit, punchy, long finish) which we picked up on our honeymoon and a Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2001 we found at the airport with massive cassis and a silky smooth finish. On the buy side, picked up some odd years of Stags Leap Petite Syrah 2000, 2002 and 2003 all going at the same price in a supermarket. Also yet to make my mind up on a bottle of Teofilo Reyes Crianza 2001 which wasn’t bad but would Porco be better off with a New World red at the price?