Buenos Aires or BA for short. The name itself sounds so grand. Bueno in Spanish means good. I suppose if there is an ‘s’ at the back of Buenos, it probably means lots of goodness. Hehe…but don’t quote me on this. My Spanish isn’t that great. So, what would u associate Argentina with? I suppose Evita, Maradonna, football, great beef, superb South American wine? I bet not many people know why Evita is so famous except that Madonna kept singing to Argentina to stop crying for her….I had to google her to make myself look smart and less ignorant. She was the first lady of the former Prime Minister who did well for her country. She is quite a feminist in fact. Bravo, I say….
So what brings me to this part of the world? Another work trip I am afraid. It is my first trip to Argentina. Before I arrived, I have met quite a lot of people who gave good remarks about the country. They said the men there are super hot, and the women are sexy. They even call Argentina the Europe of South America.
Taxi cost about 65pesos (standard rate) from the airport to the city center. You can order a taxi from a counter at the airport. As soon as I got out of the taxi, I was quite dismayed with what I saw. Buildings were mostly run down, paint were peeling off the walls and lots of rusty metal protruding out of the buildings. So to compare it to a city in Europe is like comparing the Ah Beng’s rave up cars in Malaysia to the cars you see in the Fast and Furious movie.
I was staying in the NH City Hotel which is located in the heart of the city (Bolivar Str). A very good location indeed and the cost of the room was not too expensive. It is walking distance to the shopping district of Buenos Aires (Florida Str). Needless to say, I started my day with shopping, shopping, shopping. I started off my shopping spree with buying good quality, cheap leather. The best part is you can bargain for a good price too. But make sure to bring lots of cash with you if you would like to bargain. They don’t do plastic here. After a hard day’s work, I did what every other Argentinean does, drink their famous Mate tea. It has a pretty interesting after taste to it, but it does help quench the thirst. Apparently, it is good for dieting too coz it slows down your appetite. You normally drink this tea with a funny straw in a stout little cup.
Come dinner time, I was recommended by the hotel reception to try out Puerto Madero. It certainly was a great recommendation. Puerto Madero is actually the port area. All the superbly, wonderfully delicious restaurants are located at the Marina. Some even boast Michelin Star chefs. I for one am broke from all the shopping, so no Michelin Star chef for me tonite. I tried out a restaurant called Happenings. It was ‘happening indeed’. I was there at 8.00pm but apparently, that was too early. There were only 2 tables seated. After some enquires, the dinner time in Argentina starts at 9pm.
This restaurant boasts one of the best beef steaks in the city. You have to try the medium rare sirloin steak. It was mouth watering and juicy to the last piece. Of course, don’t forget to order the beautiful Argentinean wine to accompany the delish steak. You are spoilt for choices. If you know your wine well, it pays off. With the help of a Argentinean map on the winelist, you could choose the vintage, the area from which the wine comes from (north of Argentina, south etc) and of course if you know the name of the vineyard, that would be even more impressive. A bottle of wine could cost you between 6EUR to 20EUR depending on the quality of it.
Since all the restaurants are situated at the port, you are able to enjoy the beautiful skyline with your meal. Across the other side of the port are all the modern skyscrapers. All the famous IT companies like 3M, HP, Siemens are situated there, together with the Hilton Hotel. Indeed it is a huge contrast from what is on this side of the city. Seems like the other side is more geared towards the modernization and development of BA while this side of the city still has the reminiscences of the older buildings built in the 1920s. Oh, by the way, Puerto Madero is mostly geared towards tourist? So, eating out here is slightly more expensive compared to the other parts of the city.
To get rid of the meat sweats, I took a walk along the port. There is a beautiful bridge which joins the two ports together. Apparently, it is designed by a renowned local architect. It is called ‘FAT LADY’. Doesn’t resemble a fat lady, but it certainly looks state of the art. There is also an old ship built in the 20th century which is docking at the port and it doubles as a maritime museum as well. It is a huge ship with sails on it which reminds me a lot of the “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Too bad there is no Johnny Depp to be found on the ship.
So, after ridding the meat sweats, I noticed that it is only 10.30pm. What to do, what to do? That’s rite! Let’s paint the town red!! Apparently, BA doesn’t agree with me. All clubs and bars are not open til after 12 midnite. No kidding. What am I to do? Since I did not want to loiter for another 2 hours, I decided to go back to the hotel to have a short nap. And I certainly did not want to be the first person in an empty bar or club. That would make me look desperate. I probably already give out that vibe, but I didn’t want to push my luck.
As I set my alarm for 12 a.m., I shook my head and shrugged to myself. Why am I torturing myself? Then I reminded myself, I am doing this for the benefit of other single women traveler, who would be venturing to Argentina alone, and looking for yummy men but have no clue on where to go or what to do. Yes, yes, I shall sacrifice my youth and earn extra wrinkles for the benefit of women kind. 12 a.m., alarm rang. Time to get up. I had to force myself to get up. I wonder how these South Americans do it every weekend!! I went to the only lesbian club in Buenos Aires and it is called Verona Disco (Hipolito Yrigoyen 968). It was 1 a.m. and the line to get into the club was still super long and to add insult to injury, it was drizzling.
It seems like everyone was dressed pretty casually and are all wide awake, while I am yawning away. Finally about 20minutes later, I finally got into the club. It was packed to the brim…I am spoilt for choice…. Plenty of eye candy. Lots of beautiful, young chicas shaking their booty to the Latin music. Some were singing along. The DJ kept changing the music genre as the night grew younger, infusing House with Salsa, Meringue with Electronica. Few women approached me, but unless you speak the language of love (Spanish was what I meant ;-p), you won’t get too far with them…well, unless you do not mind just having mind blowing ‘ehem’ ….drinks.
Although this club is the only lesbian club in the city, it is huge!! It has 2 floors and both equally huge and is filled with women of all ages. Most of the women were long haired and pretty feminine looking. Drinks are pretty cheap, especially if you order beer. I ordered myself a gin tonic and it seems to be drowned with tonic water more than alchohol though. So, choose your alchohol beverages carefully.
So, 2 dance floors, yet both DJs play the same type of music so I am not too sure why they have 2 floors. Probably to accomodate the number of girls who frequented the place. They even have a drag queen show during the night. Although I hardly understood a word of Spanish, he was super hilarious. He even did a solo Tango Number, fully equip with the traditional tango costume.
At about 2am, the gogo dancers started shaking their booty at the podium to keep the people in the mood for dancing, not that it was necessary.
At about 5 a.m., people were still dancing the nite away. I was fully exhausted but it seems like I am the only one. Crazy. I decided to put up my white flag at 6 a.m. Turns out, 7.30am is their closing time.
The next night, I decided to do a very touristy thing…that is to go to a Tango show. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, its cheesy, its touristy, its overpriced, but you will not live to tell people that you went to Argentina without having to watch a Tango performance. This is where Tango is born. Again, from the recommendation by my clients, I went to one of the best Tango show in BA. It is in El Quarandi (www.elquarandi.ar ). It is reputed to be the best historical tango show in the city. It is advisable to make a booking before you go since it could be packed. It cost me a whopping 40EUR for the whole thing but it was magnificent. You get a full 3 course meal with a whole bottle of wine. I didn’t have to share the wine since I was all by myself. A word of advice, do not order fish. Meat is what they are good at, stick to that. I regretted ordering fish and I look on my neighbor with envy as he savour his piece of meat!!
The show starts after everyone completes their meal. It was excellent, to say the least. It is like a mini theater show with short stories and plots to keep you entertain. The tenor and soprano were also incredible. They were accompanied by a group of magnificent musicians: pianist, a cellist, a violinist and an accordionist. They certainly earned their rights to be on the stage by themselves…and of course the stars of the show, 3 pairs of graceful tango dancers, kicking their heels and showing off their knickers. Needless to say, after the whole bottle of wine, I was trying to keep myself sober enough to get back to my hotel.
Next day, I ventured to Palermo, an area which is geared towards the rich people of BA. It is separated into two parts: Palermo Hollywood and Palermo Soho. As you can tell by the name, it is definitely up-market. There are actually a few film studios in this area and certain parts of it does resemble Beverly Hills, with plenty of branded and trendy stores glittering and shimmering on every block of the street. But what I enjoyed most here is not those branded or trendy stores, but more of those cute, little stores that sell novelty stuff which I think give Palermo its character. Most of the buildings here are also very well kept which is quite a contrast from the city center. The funny thing about this area is that there are so many pet grooming stores, and in case you have doubts about the number of dogs around, there are plenty of dog poo to substantiate the evidence. I suppose they know their niche market. Also plenty around this area are the side walk cafes and nicely themed restaurants. Maybe this is why they call BA the Europe of South America?
As I was strolling through the area, hopping away from one dog poo to another, I stumbled across a handicraft market. Would you have imagined that a handicraft market be situated in an up-market area? Amazing, I wonder what is at the next corner? Perhaps a zoo? There were plenty of leather goods, souvenirs, accessories and knitted clothes on sale. There are even clothes and bag stalls fitted with a changing room. I tried to bargain with them but to no avail. I guess not every handicraft/flea market resembles Petaling Street or maybe they just pretended to not understand me since there were other more enthusiastic, hassle free buyers around.
So, all in all, I had a fabulous time in BA. I was reading thru the guidebook and I realized that I have so much more to explore in this city. Although the first impression was not too good, but as I spent more days there, the city started growing on to me. I started appreciating the stench of the city, the goodwill of the people and the late night activities. On one of the pages of the guidebook, it explains the reason why Buenos Aires is called the Europe of South America. One of the former presidents of BA, President Domingo F. Sarmiento, in the late 1800s, was visiting Paris and London and he saw how beautiful the gardens were in these two cities. He wanted to create a similar space to London’s Hyde Park and Paris’ Bois de Boulogne. A few years later, Tres de Febrero Park was born in the area of Bosques de Palermo. It is a romantic garden, complimented with a landscape of bridges, pergolas, benches and piers surrounded by beautiful foliage.
It sounds very fascinating and it almost hurts me to leave the place. I guess I would have to return to BA to finally experience the European South America.
Verona Disco Rating:
Ambience ****
Music ****
Girls ****
Service ****
Price ****
