Azulet's Musings

Tech Review – Update on Ipad Reading Apps

2012-01-07T12:52:00.001-05:00

Back in 2010 and 2011 I’ve written some initial reviews for ebooks (blog entry link) and Ipad first gen (blog entry link). Since many of the apps and devices have changed, thought it would be a good idea to provide an update.

This list of apps are reviewed based on my own experience with them on my ipad2 (Wifi with 3G capability on AT&T plan, version 5.0.1, with red leather smart cover). Whether or not you’re new to the Ipad/Ipad2 experience, hope you were able to find something interesting on this list.

Reading/Books (ordered by most used and most recommended)
1. Overdrive:
Probably the most used reading related app on my ipad2. Basically it hooks up to libraries’ digital book/audio book collection and works the same way as checking out books. No late fees because the ebooks automatically “return” to the library. The selection is not as large as the physical library but still pretty impressive. You would need your library card # and pin (visit your local library!) to login and you may have to do a one-time setup of the adobe ebook permission thing. Once you figure it out though, it’s a handy app to have for travelling. Just load up your Ipad with a bunch of books when you have WIFI, and then read everything offline.

2. Zite:
I’m kind of obsessed with this aggregator of news. You can subscribe to different categories “world news, business, art, etc” and also by keyword. The easy share function basically means I send a ton of articles to my friends almost daily. Here’s a screenshot of today’s front page and you can see my categories:

3. Various Magazine Ipad versions:
Until I figure out the News Stand/other Magazine services, I’m continuing to use the individual magazine apps. BusinessWeek is the only one that automatically jumped to Ipad2’s News Stand and it reads just fine. Economist app and Time app have different setup/layout but I would say are quite comparable to their print editions. Time use somewhat more interactive functions for certain sections, i.e. pop culture or quotes and charts. Economist keeps pretty true to the stories and the section breakouts (region, business, indices, etc). I don’t think I would need all the interactive stuff there.

Just so you know, I didn’t order the electronic versions of the magazines on Itunes. I already have the three magazines in print subscription, and you can use the barcode/etc to set up digital subscriptions/Ipad editions for free. Each week I can download the old issues and read them on the ipad. Pretty useful, and you won’t miss an issue if you’re out of town when they deliver the print edition. For now, this is still cheaper than getting rid of print all together.

4. GoodReads: Not an ebook reader but rather an app to keep track of all your books. You may already know the website http://www.goodreads.com/. This is an extension and makes it more mobile. Next time you go to the bookstore and gets inspired, add the books. Unfortunately not a lot of my friends use this, so I’m keeping track of books myself. If all of them read and used this service, you can get ideas by browsing their bookshelves, too. I am happy to report that since I’ve signed up for this website, I’ve read quite a number of books (also helpful to have the library Overdrive app mentioned above.) I would recommend revising the “to-read” list though, otherwise it becomes impossible to decide what book is next.

5. Kindle/Nook: Both Kindle and Nook lost their storefront connection so I have to do an extra step of finding the books on Safari to download them. This is an inconvenience created by Apple (and I suppose that’s only fair, as they’re allowing you to even use Nook/Kindle on the device). As far as display functions, Kindle continues to have quite minimal settings for font/background etc. If you like your kindle, you should just continue using it, as the ipad version is quite different. Nook still has the wide range of font/margin/spacing customization and ability to have many colors as background (even if I don’t see myself wanting hot pink, it’s cool to have it as an option?). Since they’re making the Hunger Games series into movies, I’m going to re-read the series on my Nook app (that’s where I first bought them). I’ve actually never used a Nook device so not sure how the Ipad version compares.

6. iBooks: I’ve only used this for browsing and to download Beatles Yellow Submarine. A cool feature I did find was sheetmusic with enhanced media. Instead of a book with just Star Wars sheet music, the ebook comes with its own audio track (with full orchestra). pretty cool. The downside you can’t make your notations (add these pesky flats/sharps, modifications to a melody, etc).

Other Apps
Fruit Ninja:
I know everyone probably has this game already (even people who don’t like to buy apps has decided this game is worth buying the full version for). I love this game. Beautiful graphics, simple play, fun unlockable items (blades, backgrounds, etc), and replay value. I also like the little things they add in the updates (new fruit and more blades/backgrounds). I wish they had better integrated the Puss in Boots version, though. Both have unique modes and it’s just strange to have complete stand-alones instead of one as an add-on or something. The challenge mode in Puss in Boots would be good for the main game. Maybe for the next update?

Shutterfly:
I love how I can just share my shutterfly photo albums on the Ipad now. Also do uploading/downloading from the Ipad itself.

Forgotten Colours:
I’m not sure why this book/app doesn’t get more press attention. So well made, a series of stories with gorgeous illustrations and interactive part. They call it children’s book but I think everyone can appreciate good art.

New Year Eve Fun

2012-01-01T21:34:00.001-05:00

Act One - Lego Holidays:
A. always brought over lego sets for the holidays. We use it as an opportunity to build something together. Over the years the sets have gotten much more elaborate. This year we dabbled in architecture (see Guggenheim picture) and even a functional lighthouse (with light and strobe action). This is not the lego that only included rectangular blocks. As seen in the museum, lego came up with round discs and round corners. Most of the texture details were created from stacking individual lego blocks. If you are used to colorful lego blocks, you'd be surprised to find that this sculpture only used three colors, black, white, and tan. Who knew Lego minimalist works so well? Wright would have approved. As an aside, other Wright creations have also been interpreted by Lego artists.

For the lighthouse tower, we had used many quarter circle pieces and 'elbows', or curved pieces that reminded me of mac n cheese. The lighthouse also had two highly stylized seagulls, one of which had a fish in its beak. The other fish was on top of the grill. They designed the lighthouse with a mobile wall so that the final product also gets to be on display, with the inside and all.

Intermission - Guess Who digital edition
If you haven't played this game before, basically it is a game of being observant, descriptive, and using process of elimination. Each side picks a character and the other side has to guess based on a series of 'yes' or 'no' questions. The old edition had only one set of characters. The new one included various expansion packs, such as 'monsters', 'household appliances', and 'animals'. I thought some of the expansions were quite funny with their designs. This game gets you thinking about what common items are shared by the characters, sometimes hats, glasses, clothes are obvious choices. Other times it is about big eyebrows, inside or outside the house, or showing toothy smiles.

Act Two - Holiday concert:
Last year, after much fuss was made over instruments, we decided to coordinate a small concert this year with all the family members. Unfortunately due to some miscommunication about different arrangements of Wizard of Oz, we ended up pulling together a program featuring different combinations of players. Who knew all my all state competitions would come so handy. Good thing I was always an excellent sight-reader! This exercise made me realize how difficult it must have been for composers before the digital age to transcribe things and write different parts for different instruments. Also made me wish I had more scales memorized so I can transcribe on the fly upon hearing the tune. There is always room for improvement. One thing stood out to me, it was fun to play pop hits with other people, even if we had varying degree of music knowledge. Parents should note, it is good to encourage kids to participate in group play instead of trying to make them play some impossibly difficult classical piece. Group play encouraged me to listen and try to go along with my partner. It also inspired me to practice more.

Program (in no particular order)
Memories featuring M. on piano, L. on trumpet and me on flute. Broadway classics are awesome.
Various solos including Beatles featuring J. on Alto sax
Moon River featuring me and L. The same book also had classics such as My Favorite Things and Fly Me to the Moon.
Fur Elise featuring A. on piano and me on flute. I've never played it on flute or piano but it worked out quite well.

Blogger App Test

2011-12-23T19:33:00.001-05:00

Until Blogger gets an ipad app, I wanted to try out the iphone one. Seems easy enough but we all know typing with the iphone keyboard is not optimal. A work around I can think of is writing in the notebook app and then copy/pasting into the blogger app.

In any case, since I use the ipad a lot more than my computer and laptop these days, the more I figure out how to make this app work, the more likely I will use it to blog more frequently.

In the spirit of full testing, I wanted to report the pic functionality too. I can take a photo with the ipad camera, attach a photo from the ipad gallery.
The photo in this entry is a hat I gifted to a friend. I really liked it and researched into the character Pucca.
http://www.puccaclub.com/

For some reason the url doesn't work, I suppose this is a feedback for the app dev.

Sarasota Eats Round Up

2011-12-10T13:24:00.001-05:00

When J. and I stayed in Sarasota [blog entry link], we had our share of good eats. I’m not going to document every meal but figured this would be a good reference for future visits. The best food I’ve had were recommendations from friends who lived in the area. So drop your Yelp reviews and ask the locals!

Three Favorites

//Columbia in St. Armand's circle
http://www.columbiarestaurant.com/sarasota.asp
beautiful restaurant and fantastic food. my friend S. brought her baby daughter G. along and we had a great time catching up during lunch. the restaurant offers outdoor and indoor seating. since it’s right on the circle, be sure to check out the cool shops/galleries and a million home made ice cream places. oh, and Lido beach is just a short walk away.

1905 salad is a must.
appetizers: we tried black bean cakes and croquets de pollo.
entree: i got the mahi mahi cubano. S. ordered chicken with yellow rice which was excellent. definitely have to come back to try more dishes.

//Joto on Siesta Key
http://www.jotosteakhouse.com/siesta_key.html
dinner to catch up with my friends A. and C. who I haven’t seen in ages. We opted for the dining section instead of hibachi grill section (nice call, since the sound/smell from the grill was quite overwhelming). I was surprised by the Japanese pickles that C. ordered. Surprisingly good! Otherwise I didn’t order anything too wild, just some yellow tail and salmon sashimi which were tasty. When I read the menu online I was more interested in trying their sukiyaki but ended up not getting it. I suppose it’s more appropriate for the winter and Sarasota just doesn’t get cold enough, even in Dec. A.’s chicken tempura plate was nice too. I tried some of the other rolls C. and J. ordered, including Philly roll (I still don’t get the cream cheese) and Eel roll (sweet!).

//Broken Egg on Siesta Key
http://www.thebrokenegg.com/
J. and I came here after biking up the beach. I like the idea of restaurant/gallery setup. we took a table outside and ordered brunch food (on a week day, but we’re on vacation, so it’s fine).
my plate: don’s fiesta skillet with eggs sunny side up. the mix of potato and onion and peppers was done so well I wish I had been closer to this brunch place. usually I eat my toast with the runny egg but this time also put some potatoes on the toast to make it even more awesome. definitely a much needed food break after biking in the sun.

The Rest
//firehouse subs in Sarasota (with coke freestyle)
http://www.firehousesubs.com/
I had a hook and ladder and shared an orange coke with J. Coca Cola, if you’re reading this, make canned orange coke available in the U.S. please? How come the U.K. gets coca cola orange earlier?

//orange octopus
http://mustseesarasota.com/listing/orange-octopus/
ice cream, breakfast, coffees, and more. the logo design is so cute i thought the t-shirt would be a great souvenir for kids.

//Turtle bay pub
i had the craving for pub food and we came to this pub which was a quick drive from where we were staying. tried the shock top beer which was summery and liked the hot wings. was a bit sad they ran out of gators. i think i should have ordered chips with the chili.

//Javier’s
http://javiersrestaurant.com/
I liked the duck but J. didn’t find the food to agree with him. We tried the Lockdown which was a light brew.

Beach in December

2011-12-10T13:23:00.001-05:00

Beaches
//Siesta Key (Dr Beach’s 2011 America’s Best Beach #1)
//Crescent Beach (in our resort’s backyard)

//Lido Beach (by St Armand’s Circle)
//Venice Beach (south of Sarasota). Sand is not as white but this beach wins for the beautiful seashells and quiet surroundings. Also check out the local shops in Venice.
//Note: for those of you used to paying for parking and beach admission, all Sarasota beaches are free. if you go during weekend summer you may have to fight for parking but otherwise it was very easy to find a spot and then walk to the beach. I suggest checking out more than one beach to see if you have a favorite. I really loved Crescent Beach, especially sunset and the early morning hours.

Fun
//beach biking
http://siestasportsrentals.com/
We rented some beach cruisers (bikes that have tires fit for beach riding) and road all the way north to Siesta Village and back. I would recommend biking in the morning. Prices were quite reasonable, if I stayed longer and didn’t have a car I probably would just rent a bike and go around town on bike.

//mote marine
http://www.mote.org/
The main event is obviously manatee but be sure to check out their new penguin exhibit as well as sharks and stingrays!

//Tampa Lowry Park Zoo
http://www.lowryparkzoo.com/
more animals here. I enjoyed the pathways and the attention to detail they put into every part of the zoo. it seems they also have a few Christmas lights events at night in Dec which would be cool to check out. don’t forget to say hello to Flamingos!

Food
//separate blog entry link

Ref
siesta key chamber of commerce
http://www.siestakeychamber.com
where to stay on siesta key (by duration of stay)
http://www.siestakeychamber.com/wheretostay.php?id_cat=3

Sarasota
http://www.sarasotafl.org/
http://www.sarasotafl.org/article/a---z-of-sarasota/
http://www.sarasotafl.org/article/free-and-cheap-sarasota-vacations-and-stay-cations/
http://www.escape-to-sarasota.com/index.html
http://www.bestbeaches.org/

tropical beach resorts
http://tropicalbeachresorts.com/

Thanksgiving Magic

2011-11-27T19:36:00.000-05:00

I've gone over to J's for thanksgiving for a few years but always managed to miss the prep stage of the big feast. This year I finally found an opportunity to participate in this ritual and wanted to write down a few key notes. Maybe next year I will remember to take photos.
Corn Bread
Since the entire family liked this year's corn bread better, I'm going to give J credit for mixing the ingredients. The wet ingredients went first (sour cream, canned corn, whisked eggs, etc), then the cornmeal were stirred in. Lastly was the melted butter (all two sticks of it, but at least the sour cream was non-fact...). We waited for the butter because we didn't want the hot butter to cook the raw eggs.

Potato/Sweet Potato
Boil them in giant pots of water until soft/done. Let cool and soak in cold water after discarding the hot water. This process will help the skin come off easier. I used a knife to make a few cuts on the surface then just use my fingers to kind of peel off. For mashing, J's family has a few tools to help which turns them into small strings. It reminds me of a pasta machine or something, I'm not sure what the real name is. To season mashed potatoes, add salt/pepper/garlic. For the sweet potatoes, mix well with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and some tbsp of orange juice concentrate. We put them into two separate baking dishes, one with candied pecans on top and another with marshmallows. Cover them for baking right before the dinner.

Zucchini Quiche
Peel the zucchini first, but don't worry about not being perfect since a little green actually makes the resulting quiche more colorful. Tip for grating zucchini is to keep the end for easy handling instead of chopping it off. L liked the hot version of this and I agree with her. At dinner the cold and warm versions were served.

TurkeyThe main event. R always gets a fresh turkey and therefore it doesn't take as long to cook. I didn't get involved in this as much since it follows a recipe and cooking time. I just have to add that cranberry sauce (homemade) goes so well with turkey that I don't understand people who go without it.

Dessert
Two hours after dinner, assorted teas are served with piles of dessert. J actually managed to survive the lines at Mr. Todd's [link] and got the apple pie and blueberry pie.

Tips for the cooking experience:
Sit down, relax, and put on some music. Make it a group activity. Since we had a can of orange concentrate left over, I made orange coke. You can also make orange mix drinks and get creative.
Thanksgiving Wisdom:
1) Q - Why do we make these dishes only during thanksgiving? The recipes are easy enough for everyday dishes.
A - It's more special if we only make them on thanksgiving.
2) Order pizza the night you're prepping all the dishes. You don't want to think too much about food while you have to peel potatoes and other stuff. Since J's household always start the prep/cooking process on Wed (except the turkey and the last bit of marshmallow sweet potatoes), Thurs is relatively stress free with only the turkey to mind. We had time to play board games (Carcassonne, blokus, etc) and watch TV.

Museum Hopping

2011-11-15T22:17:00.001-05:00

Back when I went to school in DC I always hopped around museums on the Mall. This usually occurred on a nice weekend afternoon or perhaps a break between intense library sessions during my reading days before exams. If the exhibit at the National Gallery didn’t last all day, I’d skip over the Freer/Sackler or Sculpture Garden or Natural Science Museum. After DC, I was a grad student in NY, also free admission with my ID which was a luxury. If you ever look at suggested prices for museums in NY, you know they’re not cheap. I suppose becoming a member would make sense if you love one museum enough to go more than a handful of times.

Then I started working for a place that sponsors museums, which meant my badge always came with free admission (plus guest admissions) to various cultural institutions. In short, I’ve been a privileged and spoiled person indeed. Just to show you that tax dollars and corporate donations are not wasted, I do frequent museums very often and contribute to the museum cafes, gift shops, and nearby restaurants. My trips serve to enrich my limited art history knowledge which really came out of a combination of one art class in high school and random artwork in history books. The best way to learn is if there’s an exhibit featuring one artist and his/her different styles spanning a lifetime. Or perhaps an exhibit featuring various artists during a specific era.

V. and I decided to take a day off from work last week to catch up on our museum exhibits. It ended up being quite an adventure. Note for readers, don’t even think about taking the bus (no synchronized lights uptown) or subway (walking from MoMa to Lex just to go from Lex to Met again, ave walks, really?). You might as just walk and window shop! The two museums we had in mind were MoMa and Guggenheim but we ended up swinging by the Met too. Of course, as N. said later, we probably didn’t spend enough time at each location. Truth is, nobody can spend enough time at the Met. Guggenheim is focused on one special exhibit at a time so it is made for a cohesive trip. MoMa’s special exhibit on de Kooning is good but we also took time to walk by the room of Monets and Van Gaughs and Picassos. The most surprising exhibit was probably the Guggenheim Cattelan one. My favorite new artist John Marin was found and admired while visiting the Met exhibit featuring Stieglitz’s various artists.

Sound Bites
Sum of Days (white fabric tent/maze, microphone, and ambient sounds):
me- at least the fabric is nice and you can touch it, unlike other museum exhibits.
V-it reminds me of a sanitary napkin.
other museum goers: *glare

de Kooning:
me-I’m a bit scared of the teeth (on the women in some of the more abstract paintings)

Kandinsky Painting with White Border:
me-I don’t get it (and I love Kandinsky)
V-(reading the commentary next to the painting) “and it tortured me for five months!” and I just added the border because it looked nice. no social commentary!

Cattelan:
there’s way too much going on in this exhibit. I think our favs are between the Pope and the Musicians (stack of animals). or maybe Pinocchio? read the catalogue book on the various descriptions too! pigeons…enough said. and the giant foosball table. everything really!

John Marin:
me-(after seeing his earlier and later works)I like his earlier works better. although as an artist, he should be able to do different things and styles and evolve.

Rothko: (not really featured in an exhibit but came up as we were debating what kind of art to hang in our dream mansions)
me- the floating squares are quite peaceful, especially if you have nice walls
V-I’m going to get Rothko for my apt!
N-you should get the black/white one

Random fun:
Rothkomatic
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rothkomatic-for-ipad/id474351284?mt=8
If you like Rothko, check out the free ipad app that allows you to create your own Rothko. so brilliant and soothing too!

Art History Online
http://www.khanacademy.org/#smarthistory
I know everyone loves Khan Academy for math, but how about art! the Guggenheim museum video was quite informative.

The Northwest Pt 1

2011-10-23T16:16:00.000-04:00

My friend E. recently moved out to Seattle and put up wonderful photos of the city to encourage visitors. I had been looking for a destination for my Oct vacation so took up the offer.
While I took a week to write my first entry, I wanted to capture some highlights and make a list of "everything else" so I can come back and write part two.

Seattle Space Needle

Seattle, Washington
Pike Place Market:
You'll find fresh seafood here, $5 bouquests of flowers, fresh produce, a few eateries, and a ton of neat gift/specialty shops (paper, posters, jewelry, etc etc). We actually made dinner out of fresh king salmon and swordfish steak from here. Delicious.

If you dislike the smell at other seafood markets, I invite you visit here because I don't think I've been a cleaner market. No fishy smell at all. You'll also find the original Starbucks with lively musicians out front and a ton of fans looking at specialty coffee and merchandise inside. I was tempted to buy a mug but after thinking about the fragil transport I decided to pass on it. If you like City mugs from Starbucks, I have to say the Seattle one is the best (and I thought the NYC one was impressive).
http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/

Laser Dome:
Just next to the famous Space Needle (vintage world fair 1961), you'll find the Pacific Science Center which hosts a variety of science related exhibits and the very unique laser shows. If you go, check out the crowd's advice from Yelp (especially regarding what to bring, pillows and blankets!). Walking through downtown Seattle like we're going to a slumber party was quite a scene. Daft Punk's music is perfect for laser shows, as is Lady Gaga and Pink Floyd. Makes me wonder about other cities and whether they have laser shows too. As an aside, the EMP not too far away also has great music exhibits and shows.
http://www.pacificsciencecenter.org/Laser-Dome/laserdome
http://www.empmuseum.org/index.asp

Blokus:
Since I was in Seattle for more than a couple of days, I was lucky enough to attend a house party (board games!) and met some wonderful people there. The one new game that I loved was blokus and I'm in the process of ordering a set myself for familiy and friends here. It's also on ipad so I may get that before I get the physical game. Another game I learned to play was Fluxx but I'm not sure if I ever got the hang of it...
http://blokus.com/
http://www.looneylabs.com/games/fluxx

Vancouver, Canada
MARKET by Jean Georges:
This was my vacation splurge. Beautiful space, attentive service, and amazing food. I ordered the lunch prix fixe which included a really cool rice cracker crusted tuna and snapper with nut and seed crust.
http://www.marketbyjgvancouver.com/

Trolley Tour:
Funny enough, I've never done a hop-on, hop-off tour anywhere and the first time I decided to try it is in Vancouver. Due to the wait time at each stop (45 min), I actually ended up not hopping off at all.

Canada Place

The route started at Canada Place, which was a block or two from my hotel, went through Stanley Park, Granville Island, and rest of downtown/Chinatown/Gastown. If I go next time, I'll have to plan enough time in Stanley Park's Lookout Place. http://www.vancouvertrolley.com/

Sun Yat-sen Garden:

Garden

This was my first stop in Vancouver after a quick lunch of shrimp wonton noodle soup in Chinatown. I also caught the tour guide's daily tour and learned some interesting things about the garden design and Chinese culture. If you go, you should take your time walking around.
http://www.vancouverchinesegarden.com/

Transportation logistics worked out well. I went to Vancouver via Amtrak train from Seattle and returned via bus (dependent on schedule, you can take train or bus both ways). I barely used Canadian dollars in Vancouver even though I did exchange a small amount. Mastercard, even with foreign fees and exchange rate, came out a better deal for me.

Other topics for Pt 2
Reading, Pandora, and Entertainment Setup
Argosy Cruise and Port Knowledge
Seattle Underground Tour
Boeing Tour
Din Tai Fung Dumpling House
Various Coffee Shops (Caffe Vita, Roy Street Coffee and Teas, Waves Coffee House)
Iver's Fish and Chips
Hiking (Twin falls)
Vancouver Waterfront and Canada Place
Gastown and Water Street Cafe
Seattle Pagliacci Pizza Verde Primo

All over NYC

2011-08-21T21:37:00.000-04:00

Midtown
Kati Roll Company
http://www.thekatirollcompany.com/
//unda beef, shami kabab. if you haven’t tried Kati rolls yet, next time you find yourself in the Bryant Park area, trek a couple of streets down to 39th and check it out. I like how spicy and flavorful everything is. definitely take them up on the 2 roll deal and split with a friend so you can try more than one flavor!

Uptown
The Met
http://www.metmuseum.org/
//Egypt (they’ve figured out fashionable beads, sandals, and eyeliners while you’re trying to figure out hieroglyphics), Chinese Garden (relaxing), and Goddess in Indian painting, Summer/Spring in Japan. they introduced a touchscreen system for many of the period rooms so you could browse the various objects inside the room. most impressive one was the hot water urn (kept warm by a piece of hot iron). that’s how they do tea service…

Downtown
MacBar
http://www.macbar.net/
If you want seating, you should go next door to the restaurant. but if you just want a quick bite, order at the counter here.
//I ordered the primavera which was good but I think the artichoke hearts were somewhat overwhelming. J. had the chicken diablo (mayan chipotle) which was just as good as they advertised. may try the duck one or the cheeseburger one next time.

Brooklyn Shuffle

2011-08-20T20:32:00.001-04:00

A week or two ago, S. and W. and I went to Brooklyn together on our group outing. There was some kind of event going on that opened up free admission for all museums/parks/gardens/zoos etc in Brooklyn. We ended up only going to two places: Brooklyn Museum and Botanical Garden but I definitely got my weekend’s worth of walking.

For lunch we were going to check out this cute bistro but after what seems to be ten blocks + of beautiful brownstones, we pass by a nice Cuban restaurant which was not our destination. I mentioned that if we don’t like the menu/place for our first choice, we can always come back. (foreshadowing here?)

The bistro we wanted to visit was closed for lunch! We double back and had one of the best lunches ever. I think all summer days and weekends should start with a leisure lunch at a café followed by museums and parks/gardens. Enough food to sustain all the walking. and don’t forget sunscreen and sunglasses.

W. is heading to Chicago for the next few years so this get together was sort of a last hurrah. I’m sure we’ll keep in touch and schedule other outings in NY and Chicago.

Cubana Café (Smith St. Brooklyn)
http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/cubana-cafe/
//décor: feels like outdoor patio/resort. I recently saw a Anthony Bourdain special on Cuba. This restaurant's vibe (colors, music, and brochures) replicates the place perfectly.
//drinks: nobody was drinking alcohol for lunch so I decided to go for a shockingly lime green soda (made in Mexico with real sugar!)
//food: S. got Ropa Vieja, best beef ever. I ordered the pulled pork with whipped plains (can you really go wrong with any pork at a Cuban restaurant)? W. had a chicken quesadilla which was actually quite different from quesadillas I’ve had in the past (at mostly mex or tex-mex places). filling food, delicious, and would definitely recommend and return.

Brooklyn Museum
//exhibit: Vishnu. http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/vishnu/
I have to profess I know near 0 stories in Hinduism. I was surprised to find some of the names/avatars of Vishnu from a Persona game I played. I suppose Japanese game creators at least knew enough about the stories to use the names. The exhibit was well put together (paintings, statues, and stories) and inspired me to look up more stories about Vishnu.
//reorder: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/reorder/
I didn’t know what to make these mushroom structures but the room was quite cool and relaxing. Just to provide some context, it was an extremely hot and humid day to be out walking when we were in Brooklyn. Luckily no rain as forecasted.

Botanical Garden
//highlights: herb garden, giant sunflowers, and Japanese garden. I still have to make an effort to go to the cherry blossom in the spring.

Beach, Boardwalk, and Dogfish

2011-08-16T21:36:00.000-04:00

Recently went on a beach house vacation in Dewey Beach, DE for a couple of days. A lot of “firsts” on this trip. Amazing hosts and an amazing time.

1) First beach house vacation
5 feet from the door is the sandy path to the beach. Quiet and beautiful, with enough seashells for collectors and enough sand for castle builders. Weather was a bit too windy for frisbee. Tether ball was more entertaining to watch than play. Besides the prime location of the beach house, I also enjoyed the guest book that provided us with constant laughter (and some haikus to frame our weekend’s adventures). Try describing your vacation using no verbs (many of the entries followed that pattern, I wish I could have quoted some here)!

2) First car ferry (or at least through the Cape May one)
http://www.capemaylewesferry.com/
The terminals were recently renovated so everything is in top shape. I liked the bar/restaurant on the Delaware side. J. was keen on meeting Lighthouse Pete the Pirate (the ferry mascot) but there wasn’t enough time. Delaware side also has a grand pirate ship with cool sails. I suppose any ship with sails is impressive enough for photos. On Cape May side we stopped by the farmers market for peaches.

3) First boardwalk in the downpour
Upside is we all bought colorful ponchos and ran around the place like M and M’s. yellow, orange, and blue! there was no red or green though. Just to clarify, Dewey Beach didn’t have a boardwalk, we went to the more happening Rehoboth Beach (they had nice shops to walk around too). First peach ice cream since FL days. It was wonderful.

4) First time visiting Dogfish Head Brewery
I can’t remember where I’ve heard of this brewery or its beers, but likely some NY bar or foodie event featuring a beer garden. Anyhow, we walked through the rain to this place and ended up going upstairs in a corner (ended up getting food faster though). Worth the walk/wait and will definitely come back and/or be on the look out for their beers in NYC bars and Whole Foods. More in food roundup later in this entry.

5) First time playing Bananagrams and Skippo
A. taught us two games and inspired me to bring back board game night (well it hasn’t happened yet, but I’ll have to figure it out). If you don’t know what they are, take a look in the game section of your nearest bookstore/toy store. I’ve definitely seen Bananagrams at the B&N and Strand in NY. It’s kind of like Scrabble but the words/letters don’t have values attached to them. and the game play is much more fluid. Skippo kind of reminds me of a version of card game I played in camp where the objective is to either go up or go down the numbers (i.e. if card facing up is 3, you can put down a 2 or a 4.)

Food Roundup Dewey
Rustry Rudder
http://www.deweybeachlife.com/dning_rr.html
Featuring an impressive seafood buffet but we all didn’t feel we could finish the offerings. So instead, we ordered various entrees. The mahi mahi with mango pineapple salsa was great. also liked the molten chocolate cake. Also check out the outdoor area and the walk on the pier/bay.

Starboard
http://thestarboard.com/
We didn’t go here but I’m adding this to the list for next time. On the drive down, I spotted the shark in the logo and looked up the place (bar food mostly but quite happening place). When we were walking around the next morning the place was hosting a 5k or some event. Clearly this was the place to be.

Food Roundup Rehoboth
Coffee Mill
http://www.coffeemillrehoboth.com/
We ran into this store almost by accident. Didn’t have a coffee since I’ve already had my morning brew but tried one of their chocolate smores cookies. Delicious! Would definitely come back here for a coffee/snacks session. Also a nice selection of goodies for coffee and tea lovers alike!

Dogfish Head Brewery and Restaurant
http://www.dogfish.com/
//drinks: My Antonia (light pilsner great for summer and fish taco), Burton Baton (really really dark ipa. this was a recommendation by an overly enthusiastic beer drinker at a nearby table), Chateau Jiahu (J’s gone halfway around the world for this beer, jk. I’m just glad it was available. verdict: thumbs up.)
//food: fish tacos. J.’s aunt recommended this and I’m glad I tried it. For some reason I’ve never tried fish tacos until now, how tasty! any good fish tacos in NY?

Kilwin’s Ice Cream
right near the boardwalk, there are at least 3 ice cream places (cold stone, baskin robbins, rita’s etc). this one looked the most interesting and glad we checked out its flavors. their cappuccino/coffee one got compliments and I liked the peach one.

Bookstore Tour of New York (project in progress)

2011-08-01T22:26:00.000-04:00

This entry is dedicated to TM, who made me fall in love with books and bookstores, despite how convenient it is to buy and read ebooks in a time when every book store seems to be closing down.

I originally wanted to make a list so I can do bookstore tours for my friends who love books. It’s also easier to fit bookstores with your regular tourist route since they’re every where and usually have better souvenirs. I like to set bookstores as meeting places when I get together with friends in NY. When you have to deal with subway/train schedules, nobody can get to a place on time. What better way to spend some free time browsing books and educating yourself?

I started out with just real bookstores but ended up including some museum stores and libraries since some of them have unique book sections that I don’t find elsewhere. Organized by location (from downtown to uptown, although it’s clearly difficult when talking about chains like B&N). Probably makes sense to do a website with more detailed descriptions and maps and so forth. Let’s start by doing the list though.

my list of bookstores (updated 7/2011)

Borders (Wall St, Penn, Columbus Circle) – when I started making this list back in 2010, Borders was close to shutting down. As I write today, all borders in the locations have closed down or very near it. Not sure what stores and companies will set up in those locations. Since they’re quite nice buildings (bookstore or not), I’m leaving them here for reference.
http://www.borders.com/online/store/LocatorView

New museum bookstore (les): if you like art books and unique gifts, you should check out this book store and city bakery café in the New Museum. Last time I was here, I took one hour on the museum exhibit and 2 hours between the coffee/pastries and bookstore (small but pack full of goodies).
http://www.newmuseumstore.org/

McNally Jackson (soho): awesome décor and a fantastic section dedicated to NY, and even a section called 'ideas'. If you want, you can also print your book and other out of print books.
http://mcnallyjackson.com/

Muji (soho, and various other locations): Not a bookstore but has enough stationery to make you want to throw away your smartphone/blackberry and write! some nice nyc themes items too.
http://www.muji.us/store-info/

St. Marks Bookstore (St. Marks): I’m here way too often since I meet my friends here prior to getting yakitori or some other eats around the area. good source of independent journals/books.
http://www.stmarksbookshop.com/

Forbidden Planet (union sq): one of the best places for comic fans although they’ve included some anime stuff too. action figures, comic books, and other fun stuff galore.
http://www.fpnyc.com/

Strand (union sq): possibly my favorite book store in NY, well out of the ones I’ve visited anyway. Look for incredible amount of NY books/cards on the ground floor, art books on the top floor, and science/math/philosophy books on the lower floor. Whenever I need ideas for non-fiction, I browse the bestseller lists for topics that are unfamiliar to me. You can literately spend hours here. their lectures are also more intimate than the B&N ones.
http://www.strandbooks.com/

Barnes and Noble or B&N (union sq, and various): there are still a good number of B&N in the city but this one is my favorite. tons of author events, I’ve actually seen many famous people here through the book events. gorgeous building, awesome book selection, right next to union square, what else can you ask for?
http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/storelocator/stores.aspx?x=y&

Revolution bookstore (flatiron): I walk by this place when I go to some of the restaurants on this street. haven’t been inside but kept this as ref.
http://revolutionbooksnyc.org/

NY Public Library – Science/Industry/Business (midtown): good workshops for small businesses and finance topics. I didn’t use this for research but I imagine if you’re looking for science/industry/business, this is the place to check out.

NY Public Library – Humanities (bryant park): officially the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. it’s the library with the famous lions. it took me years to finally visit this library. rotating exhibits, beautiful reading rooms, and fun to walk around. my favorite room is the map room.

Kinokuniya (bryant park): large selection of Japanese language books/magazines. If you don’t read Japanese, they have plenty of English materials and fun stationery. they’ve expanded their anime/manga section too.
http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/ohb/02/contents/storeinfo.html

Book off (midtown): used books. mix of japanese and english.
http://www.bookoff.co.jp/en/info/kaigai02.html

Posman Books (grand central): grand central has a lot of cool stores, this one has a fun collection of memo/postitnotes and NY themed everything.
http://www.posmanbooks.com/

Rizzoli (midtown): French, Spanish, Italian language books. Art books. New Yorker cards!
http://www.rizzoliusa.com/

Grolier club.(midtown) Gallery and book related exhibits
http://www.grolierclub.org/

Neue galerie book store. (upper east side) German books on art, philosophy, literature. attached to neue galerie which features German artwork.
http://www.neuegalerie.org/

Labyrinth (upper west side) CLOSED....sad.

Columbia university east Asian library, music library, art library, etc. check out the libraries in Columbia University. some of them require sign-in and others are just general admission.
http://library.columbia.edu/indiv/libraries.html

other organizational matters/todos for the project

map of locations/route

nearby food/drinks/attractions

cool fact about each store. my favorite book/card/souvenirs/atmosphere/wifi/etc?

stores to check out:

Three Lives http://www.threelives.com/where.html

Rare travel books http://www.ctrarebooks.com/

Argosy http://www.argosybooks.com/shop/argosy/index.html

other book/ tour reference links:

http://www.citidex.com/1404.htm (lists bookstores)

http://www.eurocheapo.com/blog/new-york-tip-free-bookstore-walking-tours.html

http://www.examiner.com/bargain-entertainment-in-new-york/a-book-lover-s-brooklyn-walking-tour

http://www.ny.com/shopping/bookstores/midtown.html

http://www.bookslut.com/features/2008_11_013688.php

http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/67391/

http://www.littleviews.com/home/books/bookstores.cfm

http://www.themillions.com/about-the-millions

Just Can’t Get Enough

2011-07-31T19:40:00.001-04:00

Boy I think about it every night and day
I'm addicted wanna jump inside your love
I wouldn't wanna have it any other way
I'm addicted and I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough

Honey got a sexy all steamin
She givin hotness a new meanin
Perfection mama you gleamin
Inception you got a brother dreamin dreamin

Damn baby I'm feignin
I'm trynna holler at you, I'm screamin
Let me love you down this evenin
Love you love you ya you know you are my demon

Girl we could form a team and
I could be the king you could be the queen and
My mind's dirty and it don't need cleanin
I love you long time so you know the meanin

Oh baby I can't come down so please come help me out
You got me feelin high and I can't step off the cloud
And I just can't get enough

Boy I think about it every night and day
I'm addicted wanna jump inside your love
I wouldn't wanna have it any other way
I'm addicted and I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough

Honey got me runnin' like I'm Flo Jo [1]
Signs her name on my heart with an X-O
Love's so sweet got me vexed oh
I wanna wish it right back like presto, yes

Meantime I wait for the next time
She come around 'fore I toast to the best time
We all the while back and forth on the text line
She got me fishin for her love I confess I'm

Somethin bout her smile and that combo
Got me high and I ain't comin down yo
My heart's pumpin out louder than electro
She got me feelin like Mr. Roboto

Oh baby I can't come down so please come help me out
You got me feelin high and I can't step off the cloud
And I just can't get enough

Boy I think about it every night and day
I'm addicted wanna jump inside your love
I wouldn't wanna have it any other way
I'm addicted and I just can't get enough

*This is mega switch up*

I just can't

Not
Sunk in your bed rock
Caught
Up in your love shock
Knocked
Out by your cold shot
I'm stuck in your head li-

Can't get out won't when
Makin me feign, give it to me
I want it all, know what I mean
Your love is a dose of ecstasy

Addicted
I can't get
Away from
You
Afflicted
I need it
I'm missin
I want your lovin right next to me
And I can't
Erase ya out of my memory

song info
by Black Eyed Peas
video (vevo)

comment
this seriously has been in my head for the past few months and I love the entire album

Williamsburg–A Summer Night in Brooklyn

2011-07-31T17:09:00.001-04:00

If you’ve followed my blog in the past few months you’d have noticed that I keep finding myself rained out on my visits to Brooklyn. Last night was my third trip this year, and as luck would have it, I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful night to celebrate V. and C.’s bday.

Started out the night in a lounge with couches and tons of snack foods and drinks. The range of options was incredible: pizza, pretzels, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, candies, and other party favorites filled an entire coffee table. Healthy options were also available: edamame, watermelon slices, baby carrots, nuts, and clementines. Drinks included everything from beer (light, dark, and awesome) to wine (red, white, bottled, boxed, etc) to spiritis (vodka, scotch, rum, and more). Overwhelming!

After a few hours of mingling, we moved the party to the roof top. It was a clear and cool summer night. The Empire State Building was on its regular white light schedule, meaning nothing too colorful. It was quite relaxing to sit and chat with the background of the NY skyline ESB, Chrysler Building, and some bridges that I don’t know the names of. I enjoyed how quiet the night was, one of the pluses of being in Brooklyn and not Manhattan.

One advantage of having house parties is the ability to get more people together. There were maybe 30+ of us? While I can’t say I’ve met everyone, I did strike up good conversations with new people that I would not have been able to do if we only met at a bar/restaurant. It’s interesting to see how everyone knows the host and where they’re from and what they do (actually many of them didn’t know the host directly but were invited by a friend or associate).

N. noted that it’s interesting to see V. through his friends’ lenses. I admit I also learned more about V. through this party experience. You can only learn so much about a person from one-on-one interactions. With more people and friends and family, you get a better context of who they are and how other people view them. I’m sure I’m also different when alone or with different groups of people (family, college friends, grad school friends, bf and his friends, coworkers etc). When you mix the groups, it’s always a more interesting experience. Later in the night after we left the roof top, around 7 of us went dancing at a nearby bar/club. When you go through the night like that (8pm-4am+?), you come away with a bit more understanding of how people are and what makes them tick.

Through a leadership training program at work, I learned some ways people are categorized for their personality traits/inclinations. I recall for the first category was the difference between extroverted and introverted. It was just about how “outgoing” or “shy” you are, but about what kind of activities invigorates or drains your energy. Through a series of exercises and reflections, I’ve realized that I definitely have my ups and downs throughout a night like this (even though I’m almost 90% extroverted). When I was meeting and speaking to people, I did feel more energized, but did hit a part of the night where I just shut down and wanted to listen/observe. Dancing/music made me alive again but eventually led to sheer exhaustion when I came home.

Recovering from the party and hoping to catch up on more blogging before the start of another work week.

C. and T. Travel List

2011-07-30T22:00:00.000-04:00

intro:
My friend T. is probably one of the two people in the world that I would pick for an Amazing Race team. Between her Japanese, French, and my Chinese, Spanish, and enough street smarts and toughness and travel happy New Yorker spirit in us, I’m pretty sure we will wow the television viewers and find our way around obscure streets and airports and even cuisine. But since we’re not planning to sign up for the race show any time soon, we have discussed ways to fill up our passports in other ways. We added some domestic places just for kicks. Some of these places will be repeats, but the point is we have to travel together before crossing it off.
motivation:
Basically, through working too much and not having employment and being students, T. and I barely travelled together! Besides the occasional anime convention and outing in NYC, we always talk about the time when we will have enough time, money, and energy to travel. Well, maybe that time is now, where we don’t have “enough” anything but try our best anyway!. It’s time to put our talks to action.
mission:
We’ve put our foot down and compiled a draft list (to be revised and crossed off as we complete them) of places to visit together before we each get married to some lucky soul. Why such a strange condition? As cynical as it sounds, free time and energy truly belongs to the young and unattached citizens of the world. We will likely start a tumblr or separate blog for photos or something when we make our first trip. Just making it up as we go along!

Updated July 30, 2011
Progress: I went to SF finally, but was unable to set up any travel plans with T. in the meantime.

Europe
Czech: Prague
England: London
France: Paris
Germany: Berlin
Greece: Mykonos
Italy: Venice, Florence, Milan, Rome
Spain: Barcelona, Madrid
Turkey: Istanbul

Asia
China: Shanghai
Japan: Kyoto

Americas
Canada: Quebec
USA: San Francisco, Chicago
Peru: Machu Picchu
Brazil: Sao Paulo, Rio

San Francisco Recap

2011-07-29T22:03:00.000-04:00

I visited San Francisco for the first time in April/May and had been lucky enough to be received by E., who is an amazing host. Some highlights and photos from the trip:

Castro District and cable cars
E. and I bought some chic sunglasses in a shop there. Instead of mirrors, the walls of the store had monitors showing you what’s captured on video camera. Crazy… We stopped by the Castro Theatre and I recommended Blues Brothers which was scheduled to play later in the year. Next time I want to grab drinks/food in the neighborhood since I saw a lot of bars and restaurants. We road one of the many cable cars (famous in SF) to downtown and capitol area.
Giants Stadium Tour (AT&T Park)
After a good experience with the baseball stadium in Boston (blog entry), I decided to look into the SF Giants baseball stadium tour (link). E. and I loved our tour guide, who was an operations manager for the team. We got to walk inside the locker rooms as well as a press box and many luxury boxes with great views of the field and the bay. They couldn’t have picked a more beautiful location for this stadium. Next time I go to SF, I would like to watch a game (funny enough, a couple of days after I came back to NY, I actually saw the Giants play in Citifield…and they managed to beat my team, the Mets). Next up…other baseball stadiums (probably NY, Chicago, and Philly since they’re potentially upcoming travelling destinations)

Mission Food and Art
When asking around people for recommendations for food in SF, many former SF people who have since moved to NY all told me I needed to have Mexican food in SF because NY doesn’t quite do it right. E. wasn’t as familiar with Mexican food in the area so she enlisted the help of her friends and Yelp. We ended up going to Taqueria Cancun (Yelp reviews) which had a very festive décor and the food was quite yummy. Since I didn’t write down what I had, I can only guess from the menu that I had beef or pork.
After dinner we walked around the neighborhood on Valencia and found a number of cafes, bookstores, and art galleries that featured SF themed art. I got a postcard for SFHQ.net which reminds me to look into those prints of SF (http://www.sfhq.net/sfusion.html) to buy…
Golden Gate Bridge
E. and I biked across the bridge, stopping at various places for photos and sightseeing. It was as breathtaking as they advertised. When we got to the other side, we found good ice cream and cute shops. Then we took a ferry back and took the subway to Berkeley.

Berkeley
Since it was evening when we got here, we didn’t do too much sightseeing. E. took me to Chez Panisse Café (link) for dinner. I took a copy of the menu with me but of course had forgotten what we had (I think fennel salad and duck).
Ghirardelli Square
Not only did the Ghirardelli store have tons of chocolates and gifts, the square itself (link) had many cute stores. I’d like to mention one that I particularly liked which was Lola of North Beach (link). Their SF souvenirs were probably the best I’ve seen all around.

Williamsburg Rainy Day Adventures Part 2

2011-04-24T10:21:00.001-04:00

You may recall from a previous entry, I visited V. in Brooklyn during a downpour in March and I had wanted to plan for another trip when it’s warmer and sunnier out. Well, the weather was not cooperative when I made my second trip last weekend, but at least we had a good time nonetheless.

Soundtrack
this entry was written with Beirut playing in the background. feel free to check him out! Go Brooklyn.
http://www.myspace.com/beruit

Park
With recent spring weather I thought it would be nice to volunteer with my company to beautify local parks. The weather turned out to be freezing and rather windy but luckily I had good company. I found out that I really enjoy using rollers for painting (I really should take advantage of this and paint my walls or something).

Coffee
My park event was supposed to end in the afternoon but due to weather and our efficient use of time, the leader dismissed us early. Instead of waiting in the cold for lunch, I opted to head out and meet up with V. earlier. A cup of whole foods breakfast blend coffee with soy later, I finally recovered from hanging out in the cold all morning. Reading up on colorful CB2 catalogues made me wish I had an empty apt to decorate. Sigh.

Brunch
Creative food place with fantastic decor, a very Brooklyn soundtrack and ridiculously well-dressed and fine-looking crowd. Another reason to come back to Williamsburg even if it’s pouring.
http://www.traifny.com/

This place had good coffee in cute cup/saucer sets and we ended up drinking way too many cups (my entire week’s quota was filled up).

course 1: Starting off, V. had a greens dish with figs and I got a pineapple section with pomegranate molasses and grated lime (superb, and we were literately licking the plates for the last drop of pomegranate molasses). Just looked up a recipe, it actually doesn’t look that difficult. Since I already make pomegranate juice from scratch, this is nothing. alternatively we should just get a bottle from Trader Joes or Whole Foods.

course 2: Egg-in-a-nest with portabella and truffle cream. If you order this, take a whiff and prepare to die from happiness. Mushroom lovers, this is a must! Egg-in-a-nest means they cut a round hole in your toast and put in a fried egg. It looks much prettier than it sounds.

course 3: bacon donuts with coffee ice cream. I think Williamsburg must love donuts because last time we had some nice cinnamon sugar donuts at the other brunch place. Anyway, bacon bits on donuts was interesting but I loved the combo of bacon and coffee ice cream. does anyone really get anything done after a 3 course brunch?

Chill out
The weather turned out even worse after brunch, and while we walked through the rain on my last visit, we weren’t as motivated to check out anything this time. Super Mario for the Wii actually looked quite difficult. I’m glad I don’t have time to play games anymore (except for the occasional phone games). I ended up finishing my latest book on my phone (yea nook mobile app) while waiting for the rain to die down. This made me realize just how important a comfortable couch with good natural lighting is. I never seem to have both at my disposal. Something to consider when I look at available housing in the future.

Next time
-waterfront (even if it rains, this is getting ridiculous, truly)
-concert! (already on the calendar for June)
-dinner (instead of brunch, although I expect huge crowds)

MSG Times Three

2011-04-10T13:15:00.001-04:00

My friends constantly get concert emails from me, whether or not they know or like the band. The truth is, I love concerts (more than broadway, more than cocktails, and more than soup dumplings) and NYC is the best place for it.

I may have gone a little overboard this year (likely due to lack of concerts for the past two years). It’s only April and I’ve already gone to Madison Square Garden (MSG) three times and one jazz concert. The summer is also going to bring a bunch of outdoor concerts with new acts. Can’t wait!

Prince: When he’s on stage (the stage is shaped like the symbol), you just know the man is a legend. The crowd knew every single song and never stopped dancing. I even got J. to loosen up a little bit near the end. Purple Rain was beautiful and moving. His free flowing guitar jams are something that you need to experience in person because they don’t tend to put those in the albums. I really don’t expect anyone to top this, ever.
Strokes: If I had to pick a soundtrack for NYC, I would put Strokes albums on random and repeat all. I actually bought the ticket for this concert 2 or 3 hours on stubhub before the event. I didn’t want to miss them for the world. For a band that comes from NYC and haven’t had a group album in a while, the anticipation was extremely high. I met quite a number of nice fans in my section as well as waiting in the beer line. I thought they did a great job with the large screens (all black and white, focused on the band/singer/instruments). The lead singer dived off the stage a few times and the fans loved every bit of him. The album sound really can’t compare with the live sound. You just hear the guitars/bass/drums a lot more.
Juanes: I managed to drag V. to this concert. I’m sure he’s the only person who actually knows this amazing artist from Columbia. I first found out about Juanes back in Spanish class in college. Our professor played a couple of his songs to teach us a specific grammar concept. Anyways, I saw him on a ticket alert email and decided to try out the concert. He has an incredibly voice in concert, which wasn’t as obvious on the albums. Not sure if he planned those really colorful backgrounds on the big screens in MSG or they were trying to make up for the small posse. This crowd was energetic and the dancing didn’t stop from the first song to the last encore. Glad I got to check him out and happy to note that my Spanish skills has improved greatly in the past few weeks as I listened to his songs and Spanish radio.

Matzo Ball Soup

2011-03-20T22:15:00.001-04:00

I was craving matzo ball soup and J. didn’t want to go to the local deli. As an alternative, I suggested that we make our own. Having known many people who consume matzo ball soups on a regular basis, J. claims that nobody makes them from scratch and that we may end up with a mess. Since I am always up for a challenge, I conducted some google searches on potential recipes. As I suspected, it really is not rocket science and we have most of the ingredients anyway.

Ingredients

matzo (3 pieces, we happened to have the Manischewitz brand)
2 tbsp chicken broth
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 eggs
optional, to taste (Italian seasoning, dry parsley flakes, garlic powder, black pepper, whatever you like from the spice rack)
more broth to cook the matzo balls in
other soup ingredients like protein or vegetables (we used chicken sausages in this case)

Directions

ground up matzo into crumbles. we broke up the matzo sheets and put them inside a plastic freezer bag. then used the bottom of a pan to mash it up.
in a mixing bowl, mix eggs with broth and oil.
add dry matzo meal bit by bit into the egg mixture
add optional spices and ingredients (I would add some fresh scallion or parsley if I had them). mix well with a fork
boil broth/soup base in a soup pot
once soup boils, wet hands a bit, scoop out some matzo mixture with spoon, shape into a round ball in hands, and then drop in boiling soup. repeat for more matzo balls. I made around 7 or 8 but they weren’t all evenly shaped. (and that’s what you call home-made)
add other soup ingredients
lower temperature so the soup is not boiling too much, but simmering. the matzo balls should float when they’re done. leave simmering for 15-20 min so they soak up the soup
place a couple of matzo balls and soup in a soup bowl and serve

Taste Note
Delicious! Glad I didn’t add extra salt because between the broth and sausages and salted matzo, the matzo balls were quite flavorful. Totally impressed by my resourcefulness but always offering helpful advice, J. says next time we can leave them cooking for 5 minutes more because the center is not 100% soaked through. I really think it’s a matter of preference. Besides, I won the challenge with flying colors, so am quite happy about it. On a side note, I may have caused the local deli to lose our business (at least the matzo ball soup, I doubt I’ll ever take them out of business since they have awesome pastrami sandwiches). Next time, I want to try more vegetables in the soup and fresh herbs in the matzo balls.

Reference:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/177/Matzo-Matzah-Ball-Soup

Art for a Saturday

2011-03-20T21:31:00.001-04:00

Being in NYC is a privilege that I often forget. Recently I volunteered at a corporate sponsored arts mentoring event that made appreciate just how lucky we all are.

My work place has corporate membership for various arts institutions in NYC, the Met, Guggenheim, Whitney, Natural History, you name it. Yet how does one single employee really contribute to arts by simply walking around the exhibits? Sure, I’ve enriched my knowledge of different styles/eras/history, but I haven’t quite impacted the world too much with my knowledge. Through the volunteer/mentoring event, I was able to see the impact of my contributions.

The organization that put together the event is Free Arts NYC (http://www.freeartsnyc.org/). Our particular event was one day only, where the volunteers get paired with a child (1:1) and guide them through arts and crafts projects. At the end of the day, the child will bring home his/her creations. No cell phones, no negativity, just encouragement, art, and a lot of fun. The event was extremely rewarding.

10 Memories:

picking colors and materials for all the projects. the number of items was overwhelming
my buddy named one of her creations after me (a pink stuffed octopus…)
a kid asked me if he could bring back an extra box of raisins for his baby sister back home. he is 3, she is 2.
my buddy showing the fun photo to all her friends (separate from the arts/crafts projects, they’ve set up a photo area where volunteer and kid can play dress up with hats and props. then the photo is printed and given to the kid as a souvenir)
creating purple out of red and blue clay. beautiful color magic.
sitting on glitter by mistake and flipping out…
marching arm in arm to find my buddy’s group leader at the end of the day (hard to say good bye)
helping clean up after projects are completed. (I was never this helpful when I was younger…clearly I was spoiled rotten)
realizing that I was better at speaking/hanging out with kids than I had expected.
apple juice, the kids’ drink of choice. who said I couldn’t survive without coffee?

Rain, Cat, and Brooklyn

2011-03-06T21:32:00.001-05:00

My friend V. had moved out to Williamsburg last summer and somehow or another, I’ve managed to delay my visit until today. What better day than a rainy day in early spring to venture into the unknown?

Awful commute aside (made worse by rain and the fact that I was going to a new and strange neighborhood), I had a great time. V. is the best host ever, this was apparent even when we were students, living in cramped dormitories. I still need to get him inspired by Mad Men to throw a theme party or something.

Coffee
First time I had soy with coffee (I’m still skeptical about the lattes people rave about, but maybe I’ll try it next time). It was quite good and helped me recover from the rain. V always had quite an influence on my drink habits. First it was adding milk to Lipton (which I never do, until I met the guy), now soy to coffee? Maybe the see-through mugs helped. Any beverage is made infinitely better by see-through containers. Quick apt tour later, I realized that V’s paint job and décor skills puts the rest of us to shame. I never thought too much about interior décor but now I’m itching to get my own place and do it up with tasteful color schemes and containers. The rooftop was impressive too, with a view of the bridge, empire state building, and more!

Brunch
http://www.jimmysdinerhome.com/Jimmys/Breakfast.html
having had amazing corn bread in DC and Chicago, I was not ready to believe there’s good stuff to be had in Brooklyn. Glad I was wrong. Jimmy’s corn bread is amazing!

They started us out with some cinnamon sugar covered donut holes on the house. Sweet deliciousness. Then I had to order their fried okra because I haven’t had that since my DC days (and that restaurant had gotten rid of that item on the menu, sad but true). Crispy on the outside, slimy on the inside. Also came with chipotle mayo, which was a nice touch. To tell you the truth though, mayo was not even necessary. I think I polished off 70% of the okras. For the main event, V had the Big Boy (with fluffy pancakes!) and I tried the Cornbread Bowl.

Cat
While we were walking back from brunch, V. pointed out a pretty orange cat near the window on the second floor. Being a cat lover, I naturally asked to be introduced to the cat (and its owner, who is a friend of V’s). We met D. and his cat Conan shortly after we stepped inside the building. D. is also in the middle of working on painting his apt. The orange boxes he started were lovely. I hope to see how it turns out next time I visit (maybe tiered like staircase? maybe regularly spaced? maybe some kind of gradual orange to yellow to another color, who knows?) You know how lions and other big cats like to strut their stuff, especially with those muscular shoulders? well, Conan was exactly the same. Inside that orange cat is a fierce and proud lion (and his majesty doesn’t drink out of a bowl, but out of a glass cup just like the rest of us). In short, after I got to know him, I was in love. Both D. and V. showed me how to entertain the cat. Besides a little feather attached to the end of a string and stick, Conan’s favorite toy is a paper covered straw (but not just the straw sitting still, you have to poke it out of doors, boxes, and other devices). In short, you have to work it to get him interested. If you can imagine us three adults in that apt, entertaining a cat, it’ll probably make you howl with laughter. I should have tried to take a video of us chasing and teasing Conan. Totally hilarious. I can just see the ironic title/caption now. “Just another typical Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn”.

Tea
V. brewed some Roobois Cream Caramel Tea after we returned from D’s apt. It went well with the vanilla sweets I bought from an Asian bakery (kind of like macaron, but not as sweet or creamy). Perfect for a rainy day.

Walk
It started to pour outside, but I didn’t come all the way to Brooklyn to stay inside. We stepped out and walked around the neighborhood with our umbrellas to find a number of cute shops (orange décor! fun posters! arts&crafts llamas!). I was told the “BEST” bagels were found just around the corner (gives me an excuse to drag J. out to Williamsburg next time). I was also introduced to a new breed of Duane Reade with a full super market section and beer on tap. You can buy a growler and fill up on brews such as Brooklyn Lager and Six Point and Kelso. For those of you unfamiliar with Duane Reade, it’s a chain of pharmacies in New York (I’m pretty sure the other branches don’t have growlers). V also lives within walking distance from Brooklyn Brewery (somehow I was never told this, and now I really have no excuse for delaying my Brewery tour). Some of the buildings and architecture on the walk were quite nice. Will have to take some photos next time I visit.

Stuff for next time
Scrabble game
Korean tacos (?)
Bagels
Brewery Tour / Duane Reade Growler
Concert in McCarren (summer?)
Photography

A Coney Island Winter

2011-02-19T14:29:00.001-05:00

This winter has been unbearable in NYC. While I’m happy to be able to work from home on blizzard days, cabin fever has never been more severe. Whenever work gets too stressful and the winter blues get just a bit too much, it’s time to take a trip to the beach. While I love Jones Beach and the Jersey Shore as much as the next person, I’ve always been curious about Coney Island. True, the “real” Coney Island before all the things got torn down to make room for condos will never be the same. Today’s Coney Island is rather worn down, which is probably why the Jersey Shore TV show takes place in Seaside Heights, NJ.

Many people who have been to Coney Island during the summer told me that it was a long trip with not much to see besides crazy crowds. I finally figured out it was futile to drag people with me (I’ve been trying since 2007 without any real results), so might as well just suck it up and go myself…in the middle of winter, after snow can melt away.

For my Coney Island trip, I decided to take the morning commute rush trains on a Friday since I didn’t want to deal with subway services changes. If you go, I suggest taking the D, it zips through Manhattan very quickly. Also grab a cup of coffee before getting on the train because the ride through Brooklyn part takes quite a while (I stopped counting after ten stops).

If you have no sense of direction, don’t worry, Coney Island beach and fair grounds are easily spotted from the subway station. I literately just followed the nearest road to Wonder Wheel and figured out my way to the boardwalk and beach. While the carnival is clearly closed during the winter and the town is quiet, I really enjoyed the contrast between the snow, boardwalk, and beach. There is also a pier going into the ocean that offers scenic views.

The NY Aquarium is an indoor attraction good for a break from the cold winds. Just walk northeast on the boardwalk and you’ll find a nice mural depicting marine life. Follow a small entrance with the aquarium sign and check out the exhibits! Usually aquariums and zoos are crowded out by school trips and strollers, but on the day I went, I was lucky enough to have most of the exhibits to myself. It’s rather relaxing watching sharks and stingrays and seals swim through the water.

Before my readers lose interest in this entry, yes, Nathan’s is open during the winter and of course I had to pay a visit. The store is hard to miss with its giant billboards and elaborate décor. Inside the store is nothing fancy though. You get a few tables and chairs. I think the summer menu has more extensive seafood options whereas the winter menu is more standard hotdog and fries fare. I decided to stick with the original hotdog and an order of chili-cheese fries. I could have ordered some beer too but in the middle of winter, beer just didn’t seem to fit right. I know most of you from the tri-state area have already had Nathan’s hotdog from one of their many chain stores. The original one still has the best hotdog, hands down.

Tech Review–eBook Apps and Readers

2011-01-26T00:12:00.001-05:00

Half a year ago I wrote about the various new gadgets I’ve added to my life: kindle, ipad, and htc incredible smartphone [relevant entries near end]. A lot has happened since then, in technology and in my personal/work life. For one, I have my regular commute back, and it involves a lot of reading, sometimes paper, sometimes electronic.

This past Christmas I was also surprised to find out that many of my friends had gotten into the ebook trend. I knew it was going to be more accepted but didn’t realize just how quickly everything moves! I’ve reviewed a bunch of the more common ebook applications below, mostly focusing on the user experience.

eBook Apps on HTC Incredible (all from google android market):

nook [best display and web friendly]:

display: 5 font sizes, 4 colors for background (gotta love the one named “butter”), half a dozen or more fonts to pick from, brightness setting, margin settings, line spacing etc.
app home page: I really like the “reading now” button, which takes you straight to wherever you left off. “All Settings” button has most of the display related stuff.
in-book menu: very cluttered. kindle has all display related settings in one button. nook has 3 (font, brightness, all settings which has more). lookup works fine, includes search in dictionary/google/wiki.
shop/store: store front not quite as good as amazon but does its job. after you download sample you have to manually return to your library section to read it. amazon has one button from the store that takes you straight to the book you just bought.
web ebooks: project Gutenberg worked the best with nook on my phone. I’m talking about going to the site with my phone’s browser, then downloading the specific ebook file into my nook drive. Then I open up my nook app and there is it! it was more difficult with kindle and google books.

kindle [best store]:

display: 5 font sizes, 3 colors for background, and brightness settings. no option for different fonts
app home page: just shows a list of books, no menus unless you press menu button on phone.
in-book menu: relatively simple. you can look up words in dictionary and wiki.
shop/store: one click from menu takes you to kindle store and one click to buy/read. has a section for free classics.
web ebooks: project Gutenberg works with kindle but for some reason from the phone, it was a more tedious effort.

google books [app can use more tweaks]:

display: 3 font sizes, a few font choices, line spacing, only black and white color background options (what? no sepia? what a crime!), brightness.
app home page: similar to kindle, just a list of books
in-book menu: no lookup, highlights, or notes. I don’t personally used those functions that much, but nook and kindle both have them, so it seems strange that google doesn’t.
shop/store: simple to use.
web ebooks: I’ve tried but it’s not as smooth process.

eBook Apps on Ipad [need to update once I get the ipad in front of me, may even separate out the entries]:

iBook: best on ipad. beautiful page scrolls, display, and web integration with project Gutenberg. i.e. you literately click on a book’s link on there, and it gives you the option to open up with iBook. too bad you can’t seem to do that with the other readers. and since I can’t look into folder drives on Ipad, I can’t use the save in drive approach either that I’ve done with my phone. Not sure if iBook will have apps on multiple devices. While the iPad app is great, if you can’t transfer it to your phone to finish reading your novel, what’s the point? Clearly I just need to get an iphone...
nook: close second. display is fantastic and I find it dazzling the amount of display customization/settings built in. a lot more than just sepia and butter. I love earl grey setting (gray). you can really pick any color of the rainbow though, but why would you want lime green as a background color?
kindle: sleek enough to compete with iBook, especially since you can use it to sync to your kindle on phone and your kindle reader. When I first played with the Ipad I thought it was clever for Amazon to make this app. At the end of the day, books are usually cheaper on kindle, and the storefront is much better than iBook’s.
google books: I honestly can’t remember this one. Need to get in front of an ipad…

Kindle Reader:
As far as I’m concerned, I don’t see too much kindle use in my future. NYTimes app on both the ipad and incredible are amazing. I can read and get most books on the kindle app on phone or ipad. Now I’m starting to see why people all got the Nook this past Christmas. When the price for a book is the same on both, and Nook has some “share” '[lend me link] capabilities for selected books, of course people want the more colorful and more sharing friendly reader! update: of course, as I’m looking up more info on nook to include in this entry, I find out they’ve started to allow "lending” on kindle as well. [amazon lending link] Well, the nook already has an advantage of being colorful though, although I’ve never actually used one, just the various nook apps.

Further Comments:
You may be wondering if I’ve actually managed to finish any books in the eBook format, and that is actually a “yes”. I’ve finished books on the ipad, the kindle, and even on my phone (not 1000+ paged book, but still, 300 is substantial). Maybe that’s why I pay so much attention to display settings on all of the applications. If the reader can’t customize the reading environment (font, margins, line spacing, colors), it will make the experience just more difficult. I also think syncing is a must, especially in New York. As much as I love the iPad, I don’t feel safe with it on the trains/subways. And as light as the kindle is, it’s still one extra thing to carry with me. I can just as easily read on my phone. No bookmarks required!

So put on some music, and enjoy reading some eBooks!

kindle: http://azuleteats.blogspot.com/2010/05/tech-review-kindle.html
ipad: http://azuleteats.blogspot.com/2010/05/tech-review-ipad.html
htc incredible: http://azuleteats.blogspot.com/2010/05/tech-review-htc-incredible.html

Enrique Iglesias– Nunca Te Olvidaré

2011-01-19T21:43:00.001-05:00

Pueden pasar tres mil años
Puedes besar otros labios
Pero nunca te olvidaré
Pero nunca te olvidaré

Puedo morirme mañana
Puede secarse mi alma
Pero nunca te olvidaré
Pero nunca te olvidaré

Pueden borrar mi memoria
Pueden robarme tu historia
Pero nunca te olvidaré
Pero nunca te olvidaré

Cómo olvidar tu sonrisa
Cómo olvidar tus miradas
Cómo olvidar que rezaba
Para que no te marcharas

Cómo olvidar tus locuras
Cómo olvidar que volabas
Cómo olvidar que aún te quiero
Más que a vivir, más que a nada

Pueden pasar tres mil años
Puedes besar otros labios
Pero nunca te olvidaré
Pero nunca te olvidaré

Puedo morirme mañana
Puede secarse mi alma
Pero nunca te olvidaré
Pero nunca te olvidaré

Puedes echarme de tu vida
Puedes negar que me querías
Pero nunca te olvidaré
Sabes que nunca te olvidaré

Cómo olvidar tu sonrisa
Cómo olvidar tus miradas
Cómo olvidar que rezaba
Para que no te marcharas

Cómo olvidar tus locuras
Cómo olvidar que volabas
Cómo olvidar que aún te quiero
Más que a vivir, más que a nada

Pueden pasar tres mil años
Puedes besar otros labios
Pero nunca te olvidaré
Pero nunca te olvidaré
Pero nunca te olvidaré
Pero nunca te olvidaré

music video here

Steamed Tofu

2011-01-17T16:26:00.001-05:00

Ever had chilled tofu at a Japanese restaurant for appetizer? Well, after I found this recipe, I swear I refuse to buy that dish again. Simple and affordable to make at home.

http://crystalbyblog.blogspot.com/2007/01/steam-tofu.html

Ingredient

1 box of silken tofu (I use the 山水 kind from supermarket)
scallion (1 or 2 stalks)
ginger (1 small slice, shredded)
cilantro (optional, chopped)
seaweed (1 small section, shredded)
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce

Directions

take silken tofu out of the container, cut into quarters (or fewer depending on size of the party) and place in plate.
chop white part of scallion, leave the green part for later
place chopped white part of scallion and ginger onto tofu, add seaweed if you’re using it
boil water in steamer. steam tofu for ten minutes
take out tofu, let cool, drain excess liquid from plate
sprinkle sesame oil and soy sauce on top of tofu
sprinkle chopped green part of scallion on top, add chopped cilantro if you are using it
chill and serve (or serve as is)

Morning Routine and Highlights

2011-01-12T23:36:00.001-05:00

Instead of dealing with sidewalks buried in snow and train delays today, I chose to be a productive worker-bee in the comfort of my own home.

I figured I’d keep my morning routine (maybe with a 15 or 30 min delay since I didn’t have the commute today) so that I can bring on the same focus and work mindset I usually have on a week day. It worked out rather well. This fact left me wondering whether I got sick recently because I had not kept up my routine over the holidays/vacation and was weakened against colds/viruses. Anyway, here’s a list of highlights from a normal day in my work week for your amusement. I didn’t list work stuff because it varies from day to day. Different projects/meetings/water cooler conversations that cannot be scheduled. I don’t keep everything on the clock, but it’s fairly close to the times listed below.

0630 – alarm rings (not a particularly annoying one, but not too melodious either). I open the blinds and turn on my lamp. The combination of natural light and artificial light is powerful.

0700 – the sun is usually up around this time. If I’m conscious I’ll read the weather and news headlines on my phone. Maybe check trains/subways if the weather is bad.

0720 – breakfast. I’ve been in a groove with cheerios with milk and banana slices lately. But I ran out of bananas today, fruit tomorrow will likely be half a grapefruit. on the side, not inside the cereal.

0730 – get dressed for work. sometimes I’m organized enough to lay out my outfit the night before. most times I’m fighting the closet in the morning. and yes, I got dressed for work today, even though I’m home. I just get more stuff done in a suit, what can I say.

0740 – finish putting on make up, a smile, and out the door to catch the train. or in today’s case, get ready for work by making a nice space for materials. laptop, notebook, some print-outs, etc.

0800 – on the train, either reading the free papers (AMNY is my favorite, but it’s not always available near the station entrance, others include the Chinese paper to keep up my Chinese and Metro which is not as good as AM but still decent) or reading on my phone (news, gossip, ebooks and the like). Sometimes I listen to music, most times I enjoy the quiet. After I get off the subway, I enjoy my nice scenic walk to work. (some days this scenic walk doesn’t exist depending on which train I take)

0900 – sipping a small cup of coffee from outdoors street vendor or indoors café. Both delicious but it all depends on how long the line is and how much I want to spend. The difference won’t break the bank but I try to vary it from day to day just to balance it out. Today I had to make do with instant coffee. Not great, but better than not having coffee.

1200 – lunch/small break from office. I like our cafeteria which is in the lower level but at times it’s nice to get out of the building.

1500 – coffee/tea/apple/sanity break. sometimes this just involves getting outside and taking a walk around the neighborhood. Other times with bad weather and other factors, this becomes the time when the cubicles become abuzz with activity. Take a break and talk about something fun with coworkers!

2000 – dinner (I actually made a nice meal today but of course wasn’t hungry enough to enjoy all of it. oh well, always good for tomorrow when I have to commute and will likely not be in the mood to cook). If I meet up with friends after work dinner will probably be much sooner.

2200 – catch up with J. on today’s happenings. obviously we talk before this time, but lately it seems like this is a good time for both of us. maybe it’s related to his tv/study habits and my reading/web surfing habits.

2330 – sleep or at least getting close to wrap up. my parents think this is a ridiculously late time. I think it’s ridiculously early compared to most of my peers. but whatever, it works. When I keep this for the weekend, I’m a lot more productive on Saturday and Sunday mornings, which are quiet around the apt/city. Lovely for visits, walks, and doing contemplative things.

Tips for a successful work from home day:
1. coffee is a must. next time if I can walk to a vendor, I will!
2. dress for work and it’ll be easy to focus. setting up a comfortable place is great too. Try to get away from bed and tv if possible.
3. take breaks, being productive at home can make me lose sense of time.
4. be available online and be responsive. since people can’t tap me on the shoulder, let them know when they can reach out to me to talk about a project or assignment.
5. plan for it. I talked it over with my boss the day before and was able to get some directions in person about a recent task. I also took home some printouts and my notebook. Being able to access everything online is great, but don’t forget other tools!

After completing my first full work-from-home day, I realized that I actually really do look forward to work every day. The tasks and projects can be challenging and rewarding, but it is really the people that make it worthwhile. Despite the drama that has been going on in my organization, I do enjoy working with the people that are around me and truly appreciate their humor, their wisdom, and their eccentricities. While I was busy being productive today, I realized that the human interaction is what makes me happy about going to work and I really missed that. Getting a little distraction is healthy! If everybody stayed and worked from home, maybe some things will get done faster, but the quality of life will definitely suffer after many days. I look forward to seeing and interacting with my coworkers tomorrow, and catching up on all the inside jokes that I may have missed today.

NY Autumn/Winter Guide 2010

2011-01-08T21:42:00.001-05:00

Updated Jan 2011.

Winter Events
Bryant Park Pond [link]
Free ice skating rink (If you bring your skates and a lock). Otherwise you can rent their skates and purchase locks. I love outdoor ice skating rinks, and this one is in the middle of the city so you get nice city lights and swinging music. Also a bunch of holiday shops featuring interesting items.

Radio City Christmas Show

Nutcracker at Lincoln Center

Various Trees and Lightings 2010
//Rockefeller Center: Nov 30. The biggest tree in NYC. More lights than tree. Check out the new Lego store nearby too and all the XMas window decors on Fifth Ave!
//Bryant Park: Dec 2. Nice ornaments and usually a photo op by the sponsor.
//Lincoln Square: Nov 29.
//Metropolitan Museum of Art: If you like medieval stuff, this tree is filled with classy medieval ornaments and angels.
//Natural History Museum: Famous origami tree

All Year Indoor Happenings
B&N Readings (NY Store Listings)
Great authors. I saw Anthony Bourdain, Alton Brown, and David Sedaris this year.

Strand Books Readings (Calendar)
I love the Strand, more neighborhood friendly and awesome recommendations for all types of books, including philosophy, science, sociology, etc. I happened to catch a few events here which resulted in heated crowd discussion, much more in line with NYC than the family friendly B&N right?

Jazzy events at Lincoln Center http://www.jalc.org/jazzED/g_listening09.html
Space is beautiful and I attended a listening party that was particularly fun.

Autumn Events

Oyster Festival [link] EVENT PASSED
After trying more stuff at the festival, I have come to the conclusion that the only ones worth the trouble are raw oysters and soft shell crab. Two rounds of oysters and one round of soft shell is plenty. Lobster bisque was ok but still not that amazing.

Free Concerts in Bryant Park EVENT PASSED

NY Marathon [link] EVENT PASSED
I actually went to watch the marathon this year (2010) from several locations (viewing map pdf)! The Queens viewing area was neat because you can watch the runners go up the Queensboro bridge and as you take the subway into Manhattan, you can watch them run in the lane next to you. I also watched from Central Park near the end and thought it was very inspiring to see the runners still looking great at the end of the 26 mile. Amazing…I applaud all the athletes.

Farmers Market
Pick up apples, pumpkins, cider, and other yummies. Union Square Green Market is year round M/W/Sat. Madison Square Park also had a small market setup this year for a few months. I learned what "urban pumpkin picking" entails: picking a pumpkin out of the pumpkin house (shelves make up the walls and pumpkins of all sizes line the shelves)

Pickle Day [link] EVENT PASSED
Small event in the parking lot area LES (hard to find...). I like pickles but I didn't realize how ridiculous it is to eat so many pickles in one day. I picked up a jar of horseradish pickles from Horman's. Excellent with roast beef and other sandwiches! Tried the smoked okras from Rick's but wasn't too impressed. I think it's better as an ingredient in salad or sandwich as opposed to eaten by itself. Their other pickles are much better. If you like pickles and don't have to venture too far to LES, definitely check it out next year.

Chocolate Show [link] EVENT PASSED
I went to it once and thought it was fabulous (blog entry). Besides different venders selling chocolate and offering free samples, you will see chocolate art, sculptures, fashion, and cooking demonstrations. May not be feasible to go every year but if you haven't gone at least once, grab a friend and check it out next year!

Halloween Parade [link] EVENT PASSED
My favorite this year was the Walk/NO Walk sign by a couple and all the funny Chilean miner ones with signs. Too many Lady Gaga costumes that I just didn’t find them interesting anymore

Other Links

101 Fall Things by Time Out NY
http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/own-this-city/79341/101-things-to-do-in-new-york-city-in-the-fall

101 Winter Things by Time Out NY
http://newyork.timeout.com/things-to-do/57411/101-things-to-do-in-new-york-city-in-the-winter

Ice Skating in NYC
http://gonyc.about.com/od/iceskatinginnyc/Ice_Skating_in_New_York_City.htm

Rainy Day Ideas
http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/own-this-city/75734/40-things-to-do-when-its-raining

My 2009 entry
http://azuleteats.blogspot.com/2009/11/ny-autumnwinter-guide-2009.html

$1 Daydream (on the $168 Million Jackpot)

2010-12-24T20:04:00.001-05:00

These days everyone is dreaming of winning the Mega Million Jackpot. Tough economy, loans, mortgages, increasing cost of living, healthcare and tuition, and many other factors explain the long lines outside the stores that sell lottery tickets, especially on Tuesday and Friday afternoons. We all know the odds are extremely low (damn those statisticians for ruining all our fun). So why do we do it? Recently my wise uncle said to us that the utility of the lottery ticket is not in the prize winnings alone. The real fun is that for as little as $1, you can fantasize about all the things you can do when you win. Think about it, can anything else worth $1 or less buy you an fantastic opportunity to dream? A small coffee? A small pack of gum? A toy ring out of a vending machine? It apparently only takes $1 to motivate me to write a new blog entry, and I’m feeling quite inspired. What a great investment! I have only until drawing time tonight, so here I go. In a way, this daydream and writing exercise near the end of the year can be a good tool for setting my goals for the new year. As it happens, we all know what we want when we have a lot of money. We just don’t realize that we can already accomplish many of those things without winning the $164million jackpot. It’s all about figuring out how we can put our time and energies into these hopes and dreams.

What is my method for picking lottery numbers? I used to write in numbers on those sheets (mostly using birthdays, days of significance, fortune cookie slip, etc). Recently though, I only do random numbers (picked by the all mighty computer) and only put a dollar on a ticket if the jackpot is over $100m (but not every time the jackpot is over $100m). I figure, random is just as good as any of my guess and the process is so much easier. It’s hard coming up with numbers all by yourself! I can’t stand using the same numbers either. And hey, all it takes is one dollar to win, I’m not putting more money down on the line. As an economist, I know that utility value is different for everyone. In my case, $1 is enough to satisfy my lottery dreams. If I had put on $5, I might as well use that $5 for a tasty beef soup noodle for dinner. and yes, before you ask, I do sometimes measure money in food form. and $168 million is a lot of beef soup noodles. haha.

Since my team at work specializes in contingency planning, I try to apply a little bit of work into this lottery dream plan. In discussion of the lottery with my coworkers, I noted that by dreaming out loud and talking about what we will do, and maybe even writing down a basic plan, we are planning for ourselves. Who knows what factors will sway us once we have those winnings? Crazy stories (and some quite tragic) had come to many previous jackpot winners. We may be calm and smart now (yes, first finish payment on house, then loans, then…), but if we win, that hot car, boat, mansion, and gadgets we don’t need and cannot afford will also seem much more tempting and distracting.

This is in no way a legal document, but for entertainment purposes only. I suppose I may put a little bit more thought into the real numbers and breakdowns if I win.

Jackpot on Dec 24, 2010 – Total $168 million. Distribution breakdown:

Taxes – $84m. I know it’s less than half of the total but I’m just making my math simple here. And hey, taxes fund scholarships and stuff so it’s a good thing.
My parents – $10m. This will help finish payment for the house. I also hope this will be repayment for my expensive but prestigious tuitions. My parents seriously deserve a vacation, if not world tour, then definitely a spa or resort hotel with amazing food.
My close relatives (uncles, aunts, cousins) – $10m. They’ve been supportive throughout my upbringing. My uncles and aunts treated me like a daughter and my cousins are the siblings I never had. They are all very successful to begin with but I’m sure they can put the money to good use, especially the young ones starting their career and possibly starting families in the near future.
Charities – $10m. At a recent book event I went to, the panelists discussed alternative ways to celebrate the holidays without excessive gifts. After all, what do we really lack? We have food, clothes, shelter, jobs, education, and good health. Do we really need another gadget or designer handbag or toy? There are many people out there who do not have the basics like food and water. Isn’t it much better to help them out and donate to charities and organizations that are doing good in the world? This holiday season I’ve looked up a few of those organizations. Amnesty International is a huge one for human rights activists. I’m also interested in various health/research orgs. I have started donating and will likely continue in small amounts even without winning the lottery, but I think if I had more money I would definitely do more to help. Human rights, education, health, arts, and wild life are some types of organizations that come to mind.
Schools – $5m. This includes my high school, college, and graduate school. I think mostly my high school and college because they did more to shape who I am. My graduate school has a decent endowment and I had only spent a year there, so the bond is not quite that strong. I would probably just start scholarships, unless there are green campus initiatives. I’m not sure how much a building name costs, I’d rather buy a brick or dedicate a tree or something on the side for the future generations.
Remainder – $49m…Wow, didn’t realize I still had so much left over after all that stuff above! Not going to itemize the rest but will provide a wish list in no particular order.

Travelling: A Europe trip with T. A Europe trip with TB. A China reunion trip with S. and W., A Brazil and Japan trip with J. Maybe throw in a cross-USA trip (via car or train) in there with a bunch of friends.
Personal: I actually don’t know what I really need. Basic necessities are taken care of, and I’m not particularly obsessed with hot cars (except for the Porsche Boxster Spyder, which has an awesome catalogue for ipad, go check it…). I wouldn’t mind a boat but really…how long can a person stay on a boat? I’ve done a short cruise and that was already too much.
Housing: I suppose an apartment in NYC and an apartment in Shanghai would be nice. Best of both worlds. The only problem is lack of storage space, which would be a hamper to my lofty goal of starting a personal library. I’m going to start a NYC book collection and do one room of that theme (black, white and gray only). New Yorker Posters. Minimalist furniture. Beautiful photo coffee books. Various NY themed decorative items, snow globes, statues, legos, building miniatures, museum postcards. In fact, I already have one snow globe and one NY book (500 buildings) to start my collection.
Education/Self-Improvement: I would actually go back to school as weird as that may sound. While I enjoyed my undergraduate studies as well as more in depth training in my masters program, I am always learning and reading more outside of work. I would like to get back to the investigative/intellectually challenging environment again. Maybe more science and languages this time around, since I have had plenty of English/history/political science etc in my past. Granted, even without a ton of money, I plan to read up on subjects that I’m interested in, so that I may gain an understanding into them. I just think reading alone may not be enough though. I need more discussions and writing and thinking. I need to find more people with common interests and time!

Well, I come away from this entry with some better goals and long term plans. Hopefully I’ll share the good news soon, if not a jackpot winner, I will write about how I’ve worked towards my dreams and goals. What are your plans and goals and lottery dreams? Leave it in the comments and check back next year!

Three bars and a karaoke

2010-11-28T17:06:00.001-05:00

Rye House
http://ryehousenyc.com/
11 W. 17th Street, NY, NY
(btw 5th and 6th ave)
Props to W. for recommending this place. Near Union Sq. Quiet space on a week night and friendly service.
beer: milk stout. excellent, would order again.
bourbon: Elijah Craig. learned to put water by the tiny spoonful in my bourbon to open it up. very nice.

Village Pour House http://www.villagepourhouse.com/
64th 3rd Ave, NY, NY
(at 11th st)
Near St. Marks. Amazing beer selection and giant screens for sports. I went with K. and C. for a Yankees vs. Rangers game (disclaimer, I’m not a fan of either team). I remember Beck’s Octoberfest was a new find that I enjoyed.

Jimmy’s Corner
http://nymag.com/listings/bar/jimmys_corner/
140 W. 44th St, NY, NY
(near Broadway times square)
G. and her husband J. were coming down from CT to visit NYC and recommended this place after we had dinner at Hurley’s. I could not believe the amazing music selection, boxing photos, and reasonable drink prices (especially in Times Square!). Everyone should go here with friends and visitors. Just watch your liver (since your wallet is saved)!

U2 Karaoke
http://www.wewantu2sing.com/
6 St. Marks Place, NY, NY
(btw 2nd and 3rd Ave)
I love St. Marks so this new place makes it much easier to plan for food/karaoke nights. I usually go to Karaoke Duet [link] but I’m very impressed with U2’s music selection, especially new pop songs. Better system than Duet but the Chinese songs are different to navigate. Not sure how they sorted it. I’m sure we’ll be back often!

America’s Beloved Capital: Day 2

2010-11-28T16:43:00.001-05:00

A continuation of my Oct post [link to day 1].

Stamps and letters
Next to Union Station, there is a Post Museum [link] that I managed to miss during my four years of living in DC. Beautiful space with plenty of educational and fun exhibits for kids and adults alike.
My family has always enjoyed collecting stamps so I grew up saving and looking at different stamps. I suppose this museum will be equally fascinating and mysterious for kids growing up today without knowing anything about snail mail or stamps.

Some exhibits that I enjoyed:
-Victory mail: You’ve probably heard about war time letters between soldiers and their family/sweethearts, but did you know they had developed vmail in order to reduce the amount of cargo weight? Reading their letters made me nostalgic for the days when people captured their feelings through handwritten letters, and waited quite a while for a response. Receiving a letter then must have been an exciting event and a relief. With technology today it is possible to text/call/tweet/IM/Skype but people find it harder to express their feeling in coherent ways.

-International stamp gallery [link]: Ever wondered what kind of stamps other countries used? This small room with pull-out plates holds a vast amount of stamps. If you want to see everything you may need a day. I recommend Italy, France, Japan, and Spain. They had really unique and artistic stamps.

-Stamps A-Z: Educational but such a short-lived exhibit! I wish they had made a book or a pamphlet of the alphabet.

The souvenir store also has many goodies for stamp lovers. I bought a series of travel related stamps for my parents: trains, ships/boats, planes, and overall transportation (including hot air balloons!)

A little bit of art
I dragged T. to the National Gallery of Art [link], mostly for the Edvard Munch exhibit [link]. Besides his famous Scream painting, he’s done plenty of other works that deserve attention. I liked all of the prints where he depicted people and their interactions in a fluid manner. The way people curved and surrounded each other was interesting. He also captured red flowing hair of the female subjects that is both dreamlike and dynamic.

T. recommended that we check out the Arcimboldo exhibit [link]. How do you merge people and fruit/vegetables? He’s found a way, even as early as the 16th century. My favorite series was the 4 seasonal one. Four different portraits with seasonal produce! Below is a statue someone built in his style.

I tried to introduce Rothko to T. without too much success. I don’t even remember when I started to appreciate Rothko’s works. Most likely after seeing enough exhibits in MoMa and Whitney and realizing that although abstract, those paintings had a certain mood and texture that was not found in other works.

New find
Every time I find a new space somewhere in DC and NYC I’m always wondering why it took me so long to discover it. T. and I both enjoyed photo ops in front of the Capitol Building (my favorite in DC), Library of Congress, Archives Building, and more. In any case, the Navy Memorial Plaza [link] gave us a chance to rest our feet and enjoy the autumn weather. Note to self, check out the heritage center next time. One of the buildings also had intricate and navy themed stained glass window art.

Tapas and sherry to end the day
After much walking and adventuring, T. took me to Tasca [link], a tapas restaurant. I would do a full review but of course I’ve since forgotten what we’ve ordered. I do remember Serrano ham, fig and cheese, tomato garlic toast and grilled octopus…along with some others. They had a wine special that night and sherry was included. We had a bottle that we couldn’t finish…I hope T. found a way to use it in her cooking or entertaining. I’m pretty sure we got the sponge cake for dessert which was just perfect. How can you go wrong with condensed milk and evaporated milk? The place also gets bonus points for great decor and ambience. I loved the framed mirror and lighting.

Awesome weekend spent in DC. Looking forward to (re)discovering more places next time I visit.

America’s Beloved Capital: Day 1

2010-10-14T23:16:00.001-04:00

For Columbus Day weekend, I dragged J. to DC with me. I haven’t been back to that city in two years. A much needed return and change of scene from New York City, which is getting colder and more crowded by day.

Train
We started out at Union Station, the only way for visitors to enter DC, in my opinion. How grand is Union Station? and I thought Grand Central Terminal was gorgeous. Now if only the new Penn Station can be like the old Penn Station.

Bakery Blend rocks
After looking around for my coffee shop on the lower level food court and failing, we stopped by the Corner Bakery (did they used to be on the lower level?) for coffee. In fact, it was such a good idea that I ate there for breakfast for the next two days too. After walking around DC and trying Wifi and being disappointed, I’m happy to report that the cafe has good Wifi. On the third day I was by myself and I was blissfully reading the NY Times (on my phone) and sipping my coffee. Good times.

Underground Fun
After much lazying around and buying crumb cake, we took the Metro (ahem, DC’s fancy subway, with colorful lines/cell phone signal/internet but no food or drinks! I was surprised I didn’t get stopped when I forgot about that rule and took my coffee along for the ride. oh the damn ignorant New Yorker that I am.) to meet our host T. who welcomed us warmly. By the way, if you’re lazy like me, do make use of the escalators and don’t walk up them. Relax, you’re on vacation, not trying to catch the connecting train like those crazy commuters in NYC. T. lives near a mall and a metro stop, and her place has huge windows. Why she doesn’t have a few house plants is beyond me. I suppose there are enough trees outside though. I’m envious. I get a view of Citifield and U.S. Open, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Sigh. but definitely no trees.
Tip for droid users: Get the DC Metro Transit Info app for your station map and next train notices.

a hop to Virginia
J. had his heart set on the Patent Office and I was curious about their food exhibit so we all headed out for Alexandria. Before finding the museum, we randomly went into a restaurant called Hard Times for lunch. It ended up being quite tasty burgers! I didn’t personally like their chili but then again, I’m quite picky when it comes to that stuff. I got the Whiskey River BBQ Chicken which was in an nice smoky sauce with bacon! Win!
Fun food innovations (almost always accidental!).

hoyas forever

entering on front gates at 37th and O is the proper introduction to Georgetown University campus and of course Healy Tower. We managed to cover all the basics: front lawn, red square, darnall cafeteria (oh wait it’s a real restaurant with booze now! shock!), leavey center, uncommon grounds (why did the decor change? they got rid of drapery and old overstuffed couches i think…blah. almost bought a new mug but my old one was so much better), vittles (and obligatory purchase…yea Corp keeping up the good work), bookstore (I miss my old Bleed Hoya Blue shirts), esplanade, koi pond, new MSB building (ridiculously shiny), Dahlgren courtyard, fountain, seal (yes!), and even the visit to our favorite library (yea right). T. and J. were ready to shoot me after all the walking uphill (come on, our campus is tiny!)

a Georgetown tradition
B. joined us at front gates to walk over for dinner. I have a soft spot for Tombs ale and crab n’ artichoke dip. I got both which made me a happy camper. Our waiter forgot the marinara sauce with our calamari at first, which created massive confusion. Thankfully that was fixed.

Friendly competition
I miss college where people all crowded around a small tv in a dorm and played video games or shared youtube videos. We took it easy by heading back to T’s place and playing rounds of fighting games (I’m no expert so I mostly observed). B. and B. were hilarious. I think most people in NYC live far from each other and the concept of taking it easy and hanging out just doesn’t happen very often. We’re always spending time eating dinner at restaurants or finding the best sushi and happy hour. Anyway it was nice to relax and laugh over games and a movie.

Day 2 to follow: where I actually go around DC with T.!

Letter about New York

2010-09-28T22:59:00.000-04:00

You asked me why I love New York above all other cities and I told you I couldn't explain it, I just do. After I came back, I thought about this question for a bit more and thought I'd share some of my thoughts here.

New York is special for me because it has both the familiar and the foreign. I've come here often as a kid to visit museums (natural history was my favorite) and the annual rockefeller christmas tree ( often very crowded and very cold but it's an annual family tradition and I actually miss this event now that everyone is on their own). I actually did get accepted to a college here but opted to go to D.C. because I knew I would be back someday. I got to explore many new places during my one year in graduate school and eventually whem I started work, and continue to do so everyday that I'm here.

Don't get me wrong, I loved DC, almost so much that I missed going abroad for my junior year. (ok, there were personal reasons too, but that's a story for another time). Our campus and the surrounding area will always hold a special place in my heart. And my spirits soar when I see Healey tower, every fucking time. However, I just had enough by the time I graduated and jumped on the chance to get away as far as possible, to Shanghai.

Shanghai was an unreal experience. Eventhough I had been thoroughly Americanized after ten years of living in the US (6 years in Florida no less, which isn't known for diversity), I felt incredibly conflicted when I stayed in Shanghai. All my other visits to China had involved sightseeing and visiting relatives, I wasn't living and studying and working in any type of community socializing with Chinese people. In Shanghai, I got to do all of the above, and more. For the first time, I appreciated Shanghainese food with its sweet pork, seafood, and juicy xiaolongbao. I loved the experience and felt so lost and conflicted about whether I wanted to move back to China after getting my Masters. I found a side of me that had been hidden for a while. I really wasn't sure if I'm more Chinese or American. About halfway through the summer I was even afraid of the prospect of becoming a US citizen. Once I gave up my Chinese citizenship, I can never get it back. I would always be a foreigner in my birth country. and I would be trading my Chinese name for an English one, my official Chinese name in its character form would disappear from all my official documents, replaced by its ugly pinyin equivalent, which loses all of its meaning and beauty. ( p.s. I eventually got over this and got my US passport when I was eligible to apply. And now have to pay through the roof for visas for visiting China. Oh well)

New York life wasn't difficult at all after Shanghai. Both are chaotic and ugly and beautiful and full of life. But New York was a fresh page, without all the memories of my previous homes. Here, I spent most of my free time wandering and exploring. In my previous residences, I've always had associations of friends, relatives, school, work, etc for all the restaurants, venues, and streets. In New York, I didn't always associate locations with people. For every place I take friends, I have another two that I like to keep to myself. The city is large enough that I can choose to go to my own little world. Some of my best memories from New York are the random walks and adventures around town on a weekend or summer evening. No planning, just pick a direction and walk with no particular destination in mind. The best part is there are many ways to go from point A to point B, and every time it's a completely different experience. One day I may be admiring some fresh flowers blooming out the sidewalk, another day I may notice the gorgeously old building that I missed on my daily commute route. When the streets close, I take another street and discover a new favorite park. During the day, evening, summer, winter, every street is different. And if you havent seen sunrise or sunrise, I suggest you try to do so. Manhanttanhenge is a must!

And whenever I eat something simple yet delicious, like that fresh tomato basil mozzarellla sandwich, thin crust pizza, salty deli pickled tomatoes, street lamb over rice, microbrew beer, Shake Shack custard and burger, home style Japanese food, pastrami, vermouth saffron mussels, black and white cookie, olive bread, or some other thing that people outside New York just don't have or don't do well, I am reminded again why I wouldn't want to go anywhere else. Can I really have the best of everything in one convenient place?

New York is also full of possibilities and choices and decisions, which would seem downright impossible for someone who is as indecisive as I am. But for whatever reason, it is also extremely attractive, because one wrong decision or memory can't ruin the entire city for me. When things go wrong, I can always find a new place or retreat to my favorite quiet spot.

I think many New Yorkers seem unfriendly because they love the city too much. They feel that only they, the true natives (whatever that means), get to walk the city streets and enjoy all of its benefits (arts, culture, food, entertainment, etc). I have to admit I get irritated once in a while too. I know it's crazy to own something so big and call it my own, but at times when you love something, you want it all to yourself. I'm sure everyone has a secret restaurant or park or bar or bakery that they don't share with too many friends, afriad the place will be crowded out with too many familiar faces.

Whenever I feel sad or when life is not going particularly well, I search for the keyword 'new york' in tumblr. There I will find millions of posts from people all over the world, who would give up all of their savings and borrow money just to be here. For many across the world, it is simply a dream. For me, it is a reality, so my problems and sadness usually evaporate as I try to find solace and comfort again, in the city that can at times feel so cold and cruel.

Of course there are also a ton of reasons why a sane person wouldn't want to live here. The rent is expensive, the nightlife is expensive, the environment is tough for a family with kids, etc etc. The lifestyle and atmosphere also crush people who can't toughen up and deal with the harsh realities of life. And that's why getting away once in a while is a healthy thing. I remember when I visited Chicago, I was the only person rushing up the escalators at the subway station, it was pretty ridiculous. In DC, I'm always the first person to take the initiave to hunt down a waitress for a table, before people in front of me even got to speak. I realize these survival skills in the city are downright insane to someone from the outside, and so I try to be more patient, friendly, and chill out more when I can. Coming from a city that has a fast pace also makes me very judgemental and critical of places that don't measure up. Sometimes I know I just can't use New York as a model for everything.

Some times people ask me whether New York is indeed like Sex and the City or some other show or movie, I tell them they need to visit and see it for themselves. I actually really like Woody Allen movies about New York best: 'Annie Hall' and 'Manhattan'. One recent movie I really liked which takes place in NYC is 'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist'. Awesome soundtrack too. The kids movie Madgascar is also appropriate, and includes many inside jokes about city life. And there's also Seinfeld which takes so many New York moments, which are all the more real now that I've experienced it.

The city is both vast and intimate, old and new, dangerous and safe, predicable and mysterious, fun and boring, loud and quiet, expensive and affortable, heaven and hell. It's not 'you can make it here, you can make it anywhere', but more 'you can make it here, why go anywhere else?' If you ever meet someone who's been here all their life, they can tell you where they lived, what delis they still go to, and at what bar they met their husband of 40 or so years. This place never ceases to amaze, surprise, love everyone who walks the streets.

And that's why it is so complicated to explain my love for New York. How do you explain your love for something so complicated yet so simple? I can't explain it, I just do.

Hoboken Day Trip

2010-09-13T22:20:00.001-04:00

I’ve been to Hoboken before but only in the evening. Since the popularity of Cake Boss on TLC, J. and I decided to check out the city on one of the sunnier days.

Carlos Bakery [website] - Long line aside (I was told once school starts again, the lines get shorter), the desserts are tasty. I was lucky to find the Rita’s so I could have something to cool us off during a hot afternoon of standing in line.

Pier A Park [wiki] – full of active people on a Sunday morning. Take a stroll by the river and enjoy the lush green lawn and NYC skyline. Perfect for photos! Also beautiful at night if I remember correctly from previous visits.

Stevens Institute of Technology [website] – Short walk from the PATH station, you can find this small yet beautiful campus overlooking the downtown NYC skyline.

Oddfellows [website] – Across from the street from PATH station, next to Texas Arizona. Cajun themed food. I had a chicken and sausage jambalaya that was so packed full of flavor I had to down a cup of water or two. The portion was definitely enough to feed a family of four or something. Will come back here when it’s evening since lunch was empty. Then again, it was Sunday…

Resources:

Visit Hoboken http://www.hobokennj.org/visit/
Parking Garage Information (*important esp if you don’t want to deal with street parking) website
Some food ideas website

Annapolis, Maryland Guide

2010-09-13T21:51:00.001-04:00

Over the Labor Day weekend I had a chance to visit the beautiful capital of Maryland with my family.

Some notable places and reviews below:

U.S. Naval Academy [website]: There’s a guest entrance area where they will check your ID prior to entering the grounds. If you go, be sure to check out two of my favorite landmarks there, the Chapel (green top, you can’t miss it, it’s grand) and Memorial Hall (gorgeous room with beautiful chandeliers). The grounds are also good for checking out.

Maryland State House [website]: This is the very building that is featured on the Maryland state quarter. The inside is lovely and you can read about some of the earlier days of the country here. Walking distance to naval academy and downtown circle.

Watermarks Boat Narrated Tour [website]: If you walk to the end of the dock from downtown circle, you can join a boat tour. We took the 40 min. one which talked about Naval Academy history as well as the Chesapeake Bay. I learned from this tour that oysters are also famous in Maryland, along with their crabs.

Buddy’s Crab and Ribs [website]: They have a very well priced brunch. Not only do they have regular brunch such as scrambled eggs and bacon, they also have yummy roast beef off the carving table and assorted seafood. If you like desserts, you can have your pick of the cakes, fruit, sweets, and more. We also came back for dinner because the group wanted whole crabs whereas some of the other downtown restaurants had more crab products (dip, cake, salad, etc). Their fries are seasoned with old bay, which is addictive once you have it.

A list of other downtown finds for future visits since we didn’t get to try them:

Middleton Tavern [website] – This place was hopping all day. Nice location and beautiful storefront. The menu was promising too. I’m sure they have good nightly entertainment. A lot of oysters on the menu.
Federal House Restaurant [website] – Another restaurant in the downtown circle area. I swear all of these places look amazing and you really can’t go wrong in any of them. Their surf n turf features crab cake and steak, definitely for next time to try on an empty stomach.
McGarvey’s Bar [website] – For happy hour and the best bar food?
Chick and Ruth’s Deli [website] – Our friendly cabdriver recommended this spot for lunch. He also told us it was made famous by Man Vs. Food tv show. Unfortunately I’m not a huge fan of that show and the 20 minute wait made us walk around for another location. Next time I will try it when it’s not too crowded.

!Advise regarding Taxicabs!: If you drive down to Annapolis and stay in the outskirts, don’t take your car into town. They don’t seem to have many traffic lights downtown, basically cars have to yield to pedestrians at all intersections (and there are quite a number of intersections). Ask your hotel reception/concierge to call a cab for you if they don’t offer a downtown shuttle. Then remember to get the cab company’s number so you can have a ride back to the hotel in the evening. There is a taxi stand across the street from Buddy’s but when we got there, we didn’t see a taxi for more than 10 minutes or so! Ms. Julie was nice enough to give us a cab company’s number to call. The cab came rather quickly, and by the time it came, other cabs have gotten to the spot too. I’ll just include the company here for reference. Academy Cabs 410-969-2666. You can probably find others online.

Day two we went to visit St. Michaels and Eastern shore (about an hour away from Annapolis). It’s surprisingly how well the roads are built and how cozy the town was. The relaxing atmosphere reminded me of the virgin islands. I thought the crabs here were better.

St. Michaels Crab and Steak [website]: Amazing crabs, in my opinion. Also the best broiled crab cakes I’ve had (I think it’s in the secret spices or something). After all was said and done, I tried a slice of the key lime pie. Very good quality. I still miss a good key lime pie! Definitely worth the hour drive through rather small roads. After lunch you can take a look at the maritime museum nearby and the harbor. There are also some nice shops too in the area.

Boston City Guide

2010-07-20T11:12:00.001-04:00

While I have been using Tumblr more often, I find its pace a bit too hectic for non-picture entries. I went to Boston for a few days and wanted to jot down some ideas for future visits and reference.

Sorted by area near subway stations for easy trip planning.

North Station Area:
Bulfinch Hotel: We stayed here, very convenient location since it’s close to several subway stations and walking distance to Boston Commons. Ethernet cable available in the room. Across the street from TD Garden for games and concerts. Close to Rite Aid/CVS/Whole Foods/Quiznos/Dunkin Donuts if you need to grab supplies/snacks/fruit/drinks.
Beer Works: Several locations around town. We went to the Canal St location. Great selection beer and big screens for sports fans. I had the Amber Hefeweizen and the 9 Alarm wings (tasty, not too spicy though). The jalapeno poppers weren’t too spicy but they were decent.

Park Street Area:
Cheers: Made popular by the show. Also a nice spot for a drink and a burger near the park. If you go, take a look at their souvenir shop which has many good items. I got a classy postcard there.
Public garden: Small but pretty garden near the park. When I went I saw a lot of roses blooming.
Esplanade: After dinner at Cheers, you can take a leisure stroll along the esplanade. During the summer they also have outdoor concerts.
Freedom Trail: It starts at Boston Commons, just follow the red line on the sidewalk to visit the different sites. I didn’t complete it but saw most of the sites near the beginning. If you don’t want to walk there are other tours in the area via trolley or duck tour etc.
Finangle a Bagel: Yes, I know I’m crazy. I tried a bagel outside the NYC area. I didn’t want burger king and the pubs were not open until noon on Sunday so I just grabbed a breakfast egg on bagel from here. Around town you will find many Dunkin Donuts (literately two on each street corner or more), Au Bon Pain (yay for soups?), and this bagel place (more than just bagels). I would recommend it for breakfast or lunch.

Aquarium Area:
Quincy market/Faneuil Hall: A lot of food choices. I had a lobster roll/chowder combo from Walrus the Carpenter Oyster Bar (booth). Pretty tasty. Apparently there are many famous seafood booths there. Next time when I have more time I will do some more investigation. J. tried some Mac and Cheese from a booth and thought it was decent. Comfort food, I guess.
Emack & Bolio’s Ice Cream: There are tons of ice cream places near the harbor but this one caught my attention. I liked their “Deep Purple Cow” (raspberry with white chocolate and dark chocolate chips and blueberries) and “Heaven” (vanilla with marshmallows and white chocolate chips)
Aquarium: If you take the subway you’ll notice a lot of ads for the aquarium. Check out the penguins and jellyfish and giant fish tank in the middle. I listened to one of the aquarium talks near the tank which was really good. They spoke about the different fish in the tank and how they rescue various sea turtles in the area.
Harbor boat tour: Order your tickets by phone (no surcharge) if you plan to go. The first day we tried to get tickets they were sold out. We took the sunset tour which started at 7pm. Natural lighting near the harbor is great for photos. You get to see the islands, a little bit of Boston skyline, and the U.S.S. Constitution fire a cannon. Boston doesn’t have too many tall buildings though (unlike NYC or Chicago boat tour) but it’s good to enjoy the view and some wind after a hot day running around town.

Copley Area:
Public library: Gorgeous building, open air courtyard, and fun exhibits. I caught an exhibit on vintage travelling posters. Great stuff.
Copley Shops: If you like to browse a mall and cool off, this is a good one before taking the train back home.
Duck tours: Your car turns into a boat for the water portion of the tour! I took this tour last year when I was in Boston. Definitely touristy but fun for at least one time. The water portion was somewhat disappointing (not much to see around the river) but the land portion gives you a sense of the town architecture and history. You can also take the tour at several locations.

Outside downtown:
Revere beach (Revere Beach Stop): Around 15-20 min by subway from downtown. I caught a sand castle/sculpture contest which was tons of fun. They have many pavilions with benches set up around the beach so you can enjoy some shade and sea breeze.
Fenway Park (Kenmore Stop): Take the stadium tour since Red Sox tickets are hard to get! Smaller stadium means sold out shows all the time! Alternatively, you can probably just visit a bar near there on game day and soak up the baseball air.
Hahvahd Tour (Harvard Stop): I found them on a brochure in the hotel lobby. Pretty funny tour with energetic student guides. Not for high school students looking at colleges but more for travelers looking for a fun way to get around Harvard campus and soak up some history and anecdotes.
Harvard Coop Bookstore: Beautiful bookstore with spiral staircase and gorgeous lobby, just outside the subway stop. Rest of Harvard Square is great for walking around, too. Lots of shops, food, and fun.

Travel Reference
Acela Express is actually affordable (not too much more than regular train, you can use AAA discount on weekend trains) and has Wi-Fi. If you take the Acela from New York, you can get off at Back Bay Station (near Copley and Back Bay subway stations) or South Station (closer to downtown). Sometimes trying different combinations (Newark/NY Penn and Back Bay/South Station) will give you different schedules and fare prices.
MTBA for all your local travel needs. The subway (or T) is easy to navigate around and most trips don’t take very long. Watch out for weekend station closures and you should be fine.
If you fly, Logan Airport is close to downtown as well, via subway.
There are also several buses but since I haven’t taken them I don’t have any recommendations.

News
Boston Globe: Local news. You can also follow their twitter to receive news while you’re visiting.
Calendar of Events: Check out fun ideas.
Also check out various magazines/brochures/maps in the hotel area or tourism offices. You never know what you’ll find! That’s how I heard about the Harbor tour, the Hahvahd tour, and the Sand Castle Contest at Revere Beach. My hotel room had a copy of the Where magazine for Boston. Nice listings.

Misc
If you have a smartphone or Ipad look for many free Wi-Fi hotspots around the city. On top of my head, some locations include Copley Mall area, Harvard Square, Public Library, Faneuil. This was my first trip using a smartphone so I found it incredibly useful. Google maps overlay with transit lines was a lifesaver. After you get around town for a few hours, you’ll notice that many downtown stations are actually very close together. That doesn’t mean getting the subway card is a bad deal though. I got the weekly unlimited card for $15, definitely worth it since I used many trips during my stay there ($2 if you pay per ride, one day unlimited is $9).

Previous Blog entries on Boston here.

Hanging out in Brooklyn

2010-06-04T23:37:00.001-04:00

J. and I spent a day running around Brooklyn before the long weekend. Ever since I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge a couple of years ago, I had wanted to go across it again and figure out what’s on the other side. I did no research last time and ended up in Brooklyn without a plan or a map. Needless to say, I soon grew tired of looking for food and took a subway back to Manhattan. This time, I came armed with a plan and a smart phone [my review for the htc incredible].

First Stop – Prospect Park Zoo [link]

I knew this zoo had a red panda because the zoo uses its image everywhere! I was walking through Prospect Park once and saw the banner for the zoo. I kind of like Central Park Zoo and Prospect Park Zoo because they are small and contained. If you really want a souvenir you may be disappointed since this store is very small (barely a room). The central park zoo park is better than most souvenir stores, possibly because more people visit it. Another interesting note is that the eating area has very advanced vending machines. J was adventurous and tried the knish (heated). I decided to grab a Gatorade blue and save room for lunch.

Second Stop – Grand Army Plaza

After a short walk through the park, we reached Grand Army Plaza. If you like Washington Square park and Columbus Circle, you will like this place with its arch, statues and beautiful fountain. We actually saw a couple taking wedding photos. What a great idea!

Third Stop – Pizza by the Bridge Ignazio’s [link]

The original plan was to grab Grimaldi’s since I’ve heard so much about it. The place wasn’t easy to find and had a huge line down the block when we got there. Not patient enough to wait in line, J and I walked around the block and passed by a few restaurants. At the foot of the bridge we actually spotted another pizza place with no wait! We got a medium pizza and it looked pretty enough, with yummy tomato sauce and cheese and basil leaves. I wasn’t crazy about the crust but I’m usually not a crust fan anyway. Their homemade lemonade is excellent and J ordered a GUS ginger ale which I loved and will look for at whole foods next time.

Fourth Stop – Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory [link]

We got 2 scoops to share: one chocolate and one coffee. Both delicious and not too sweet. The best part was the view of the bridge. Great photo opportunity here. All the yummy food is great prep for the walk across the bridge.

Fifth and Final Stop – Brooklyn Bridge

Last time I walked from Manhattan to Brooklyn. This time I figured we’ll start in Brooklyn since it’s more scenic for photos. I never noticed that the bridge shakes a little from all the car traffic but J. pointed that out. I guess if you’ve never been on it, you’ve now been warned. The trip across the bridge took around 20 minutes, that’s with us stopping for photos. I don’t care if people think it’s touristy, I love walking across the bridge and taking in the view.

I’m sure many of you have already done this route many times, but for those of you who haven’t tried it, grab a friend and go for it!

Flushing Hotpot

2010-05-23T16:36:00.001-04:00

Mapo Szechuan 陈麻婆
37-04 Prince Street, Flushing, NY

I’ve been to many hoptpot places in Flushing and found this “newish” place to be the best. Although they have other food, we always go here for hotpot so my review is all hotpot related.

Drinks
If you go, you should get a pitcher of draft to start with. They carry Sam Adams regular and seasonal, and some others on tap. Decent selection of bottled beers, too. Finally, you don’t have to settle for Tsingtao and/or Coors Light!

Soup base
I like both the chicken herbal soup base and the spicy soup base. Recently also tried a kelp based soup which was much lighter (for those of you not crazy about herbal soups and can’t take the spicy one)

Sauce/dip
Since the soup base is quite good to begin with, you don’t necessarily need to dip your food in the sauce. However, they do have a sauce/dip station in case you want it. I always end up getting the same:
sesame paste, chive paste, ginger, chilies, scallion, and a ton of cilantro.

Meats
Since I can’t seem to find the menu, I’ll just say that this place has a good variety of beef (more so than most hotpot places). Tripe is also delicious but easy to lose in the mix. Their lamb is great. I don’t usually get pork but someone actually ordered pork belly once and I found it rather yummy. Must be all the fat surrounding it…Not sure about chicken, but I don’t like chicken much anyway. We’ve also gotten the seafood platter which is ok but too much work to shell the shrimp. I rather get seafood elsewhere in a good seafood restaurant.

Veggies
They have a veggie platter that comes with pieces of Chinese cabbage, regular cabbage, and rice noodles. Tofu is decent too. There’s this fried breadstick thing that goes well in the spicy soup.

Amazing Italian Sandwich

2010-05-23T16:02:00.001-04:00

Torrisi Italian Specialties
250 Mulberry St, NY, NY
http://piginahat.com/

I met a bunch of S.’s friends from college for a reunion and this was the lunch spot where we got together. Unfortunately we didn’t realize the seating capacity is minimal and had to take our food to the park nearby. Granted, we ended up eating in a garden and surrounded by roses and greens. Not too shabby.

The line wasn’t too long but we had to wait outside due to space limitations and the fact that we were party of 8. A friendly patron recommended the chicken parm sandwich and told us it’s definitely worth the wait. 4 or 5 of us ended up getting it. I was scanning the menu and couldn’t decide whether I wanted an Italian combo or just make my own hero. In the end I was too hungry to figure it out so I just went for the Italian combo.

Italian combo $9
Ham, Genoa salami, sopressata, pepperoni, provolone, lettuce, tomato, seeded Italian bread, spicy optional (50 cents more).
I ended up getting the spicy option which wasn’t that spicy but did add some extra flavor to the sandwich. If you think you can’t finish this sandwich, you're out of luck because this option doesn’t come on a roll (smaller option).

Next time I go to SOHO and crave food I’ll probably hit this place. Next time I crave good Italian cold cuts, I’ll probably go here as well. Their eggplant side dish and the eggplant parm both looked amazing (if you like eggplant, which I love). Apparently they have coke in a classy glass bottle too, for those who are interested.

From the website and reviews it looks like they also serve dinner but I’m not sure how the small space can accommodate people. Get there early or go elsewhere, I guess.

Copper Chimney

2010-05-23T15:47:00.001-04:00

126 East 28th Street, NY, NY
Menu Pages: http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/copper-chimney/menu

Appetizer
//Dahi Aloo Puri: crispy mini poori's filled with potatoes, and chickpeas in yogurt, tamarind sauce, and sprinkled with chat masala. This was very sweet (from the tamarind sauce) and I was surprised it came out cold. probably won’t get it again.

Dishes
//lamb vindaloo: not too spicy as some other curry places I’ve tried, but very flavorful, be sure to get enough rice/naan to enjoy the sauce! will definitely get it again.
//Nilgiri Korma: lamb cooked with fresh mint, coriander and coconut milk. I liked this one. relatively mild to start but eventually got more spicy, maybe because I was also eating some vindaloo too.
//rice and naan. Since the dishes don’t come with anything, we ordered one portion of rice and one portion of naan. Apparently they were still not enough because we ended up with left-over curry and not enough rice/naan to eat it with. Sigh.

Notes
On a weekday early evening this place was quiet. Walking distance to Shake Shack if you want dessert afterwards. I still miss combo Indian dishes because I can get a meat and then vegetable sides and rice/naan. Oh well, I guess not everybody wants everything at once.

Tofu House

2010-05-23T15:36:00.001-04:00

17 W 32nd St, New York, NY
menu pages: http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/bcd-tofu-house/menu

Recommended by a coworker on a rainy day. Pretty good tofu. We got the seafood & beef tofu dinner (comes with rice) and the thin korean pizza for appetizer (pancake with seafood and veggies). I liked all the side dishes, especially kimchi obviously. It was a nice setting and not too crowded. Good for a rainy day since it really warms you up and gets you out of the rain.

Satellite by Dave Matthews Band

2010-05-13T23:18:00.001-04:00

Satellite in my eyes
Like a diamond in the sky
How I wonder.
Satellite strung from the moon
And the world your balloon
Peeping tom for the mother station.
Winter's cold, spring races
And the calm away by the storm is chasing
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down all around, hey satellite

Satellite, headlines read
Someone's secrets you've seen
Eyes and ears have been
Satellite dish in my yard
Tell me more, tell me more
Who's the king of your satellite castle?

Winter's cold spring erases
And the calm away by the storm is chasing
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down all around, hey satellite
Rest high above the clouds no restrictions
Television we bounce 'round the world
And while I spend these hours
Five senses reeling,
I laugh about this weatherman's satellite eyes.

Satellite in my eyes
Like a diamond in the sky
How i wonder.
Satellite strung from the moon
And the world your balloon
Peeping tom for the mother station

Winter's cold spring erases
And the calm away by the storm is chasing
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down all around, hey satellite

Rest high above the clouds no restrictions
Television you bounce from the world
And while I spend these hours
Five senses reeling
I laugh about this weatherman's satellite eyes.

I always know Dave Matthews band from their song Crash Into Me. So I was surprised to hear this song on the radio today and really enjoy it. Apparently from the first album.

Tech Review – HTC Incredible

2010-05-09T20:13:00.004-04:00

J has been trying to convince me to get a smart phone for the past two years. I didn’t take the bait because his “smartphones” really weren’t that great (looking at you, palm, blackberry) and I didn’t want to pay extra just to twitter and email. For the record I had a LG chocolate before I got the Incredible. The Chocolate phone didn’t have a qwerty keyboard or anything fancy. I was mad fast with text messaging anyway though. and my camera (although smaller res) took better photos than the storm2. Why did I finally do the switch? Well, my contract is up and I actually found a legitimate reason for being connected 24/7.

HTC Incredible
bottom line:
sleek multi-task unit that has great phone (talk) abilities

pros:
interface, touch screen, keyboard (horizontal mode only), apps, speed, camera, wi-fi, works well with most websites (supports flash, yea). Sharing website/photo/file is a breeze. calling people while surfing the net/gchat/twitter is pretty fun too.

cons:
the phone calling app is really messy, causing me to accidentally dial people. thankfully I set up my speed-dial right away. The built-in apps are not always the best and having both the HTC and Android versions of the same app, you get really confused. and if you use all of the phone’s functions (well, that’s why you got the phone right?) it’ll kill your batteries. Don’t forget your charger, ever! And it really bothers me that the calendar app doesn’t have horizontal orientation. The vertical keyboard is nearly impossible for typing. horizontal wallpaper setting makes it hard to use regular pics as your background.

notes:
ok, so it’s not the most intuitive phone but better than all the smart phones J tried to push on me (pretty sure he’s making the switch soon, since he’s always had a better phone than I had, haha). Will I make the jump to iphone when it comes to Verizon? who knows. Right now I’m very satisfied with my phone. I’m not a gamer so I haven’t tried too many games. I use it primarily for surfing, social media, text messaging, talking, photos, etc.

unexpected effect:
I managed to forget about my kindle and laptop for days…It’s only when I wanted to blog that I thought I really needed to go back to a real keyboard again. There are a lot of nice apps for the phone so it gets quite addictive.

apps/widgets:
some are fun and some are quite useful. I wish the market had a better sort (most downloaded, best rated, etc). I’ve put the ones I have and a brief description. If you love widgets you won’t find too many there. I just find them annoying and takes up space. I think I have two widgets and a dozen or so shortcuts on my screens.

Updated June 3, 2010. Come back for more updates or recommend an app here!
Productivity

Note Everything: Add a note in text or paint form. Pretty useful for reminders etc. Fun for doodling!
Smooth Calendar [quarter screen, horizontal]: better widget than the built in calendars. it shows today’s date and a compact list of upcoming events.
iStockManager: for TD Ameritrade account owners. they did a great job for this. You get balance info, buy/sell, and news. what else do you really need?
NYC Bus & Subway: I’m sure there are better ones out there, I just found this one useful for when I’m trying to look for the map in a subway. And it works without any of the fancy GPS stuff.
Hanping Chinese English dictionary: Well, this is always useful.

Photo

FxCamera: features cool filters for your photos like Warhol effect, Polaroid, fish eye, colors, etc.
Comeks Fun Photo Blogger Free: Add stickers and speech balloons to your photos. Hilarious and adorable!
Vignette (demo version): This one has so many options for frames and colors that you’ll just love exploring it! The paid version allows for higher resolution but I just have the demo for now.
PhotoFunia: Allows you to put a photo in a fun setting (billboard, book cover, etc). More of a photo editing than camera app. A bit slow but fun nonetheless.

Music

Tone Picker: allows you to set your own music as ringtones. I didn’t get the ringtone editing app in the market because I already had my ringtones on sd card.
Pandora: if you have an account you know the deal. If not, create an account and you can create radios based on your favorite band/song and the system will figure out what you like and play it.
Shazam: Don't know that song on the radio? Just use this to tag it and figure it out.

News

SportsTap: best sports app ever. great layout design and gives you score updates etc. The ipad app for this is nice too and has a bit more customization (you can pick sport).
Mobee [in Chinese and some English]: RSS feeds selected by author. You can pick from a list of different categories such as news, cars, culture, fashion, etc. I love the jokes and news feeds. Only thing is it doesn’t share as easily. You end up having to go to original source and then sending it that way.
Congress: Get to know your congressman/woman and learn about new bills

Phone Tweeks

Power Control [quarter screen, horizontal]: Default built-in widget, probably one of the most useful. Lets you toggle wi-fi, bluetooth, location, sync, and screen brightness. I think they ran out of space when they designed it because it would have been nice to include airplane mode and mobile internet mode. (I have those two widgets separately on the same screen as the power control widget.
Power Monitor Battery Widget: let’s see your % battery remaining. I’m not sure why this was missing from the default…
Task Manager (Apollo software): Kill apps easily. You can also add some apps to a list to prevent it from being closed.

Tech Review - Ipad

2010-05-09T18:26:00.001-04:00

Ok so I probably use this more than my mom who technically is the owner of the Ipad…but I’ve used it enough to get a good feel for it.

Ipad

bottom line: beautiful and entertainment gadget that will replace your coffee-table book and digital photo frame.

pros:

Insanely easy to use. My grandmother who doesn’t speak English or know how to use a computer was able to navigate photos on the ipad. Everything about the Ipad experience is pristine. If you want to look up a new car or a product and show it to someone else, instead of using the laptop or phone, use the ipad! Fun apps also attract dozens to the Apple Store to play. The Chinese handwriting input keyboard won my parents over. (Apparently Google pinyin is not fast enough for them? which is weird…)

cons:

The Ipad does so much that it’s very hard to focus on just one thing. I know I can read the NY Times on there too (and it looks really pretty with colorful photos) but I always get distracted and move to something else (yay games and new apps!) Although the Ipad is lightweight compared to most laptops, I still wouldn’t bring it with me on the train (unlike the kindle). We haven’t taken it out of the living room yet. The keyboard (horizontal mode) is big enough for fat fingers but still not possible to type like a regular keyboard.

notes:

For the record, I didn’t buy it. It was a gift from a relative to my mom. Email/photo/youtube and all the pre-set apps work very well. Some apps are awful (early stage) while others are truly amazing.

unexpected effect:

I actually really wanted an iphone after I played with the ipad since the interface would be similar. Everything is so simple and smooth!

tip:

Use the photo function to show off your vacation photos for grandma!

Tech Review - Kindle

2010-05-09T18:11:00.001-04:00

In the past few months I’ve had some experience with rather leading technology and tools. I wanted to share some of my thoughts.

Kindle

bottom line: e-book reader that is easy on the eyes

pros:

Easy to use. Good battery life. Buying a book takes 1 click and a few seconds to download. (no more trips to the bookstore or shipping&handling charges!) Prices very reasonable. Mimics the book experience since it looks like printed word on paper. Font size is easy to adjust. No need to setup wi-fi or internet connection or anything. Awesome function to look up unfamiliar word in dictionary. Light weight.

cons:

No frills besides e-book function. In today’s market, everyone wants multi-tasking tools. Although Kindle has beta music and internet capability, they are very limited. i.e. music doesn’t do playlist and internet doesn’t work with every website, etc.

notes:

I subscribed to the New York Times and bought a few books (free and regular priced). Since the newspaper is organized nicely (by category, headline, etc), I actually read through all of the Sunday Times from front to back successfully. No ads either! can I go back to not having a kindle? I actually use the local library a lot for many newer books, so I was hesitant to use the kindle at first. I think it’s the best way to read the NY Times and longer (heavier) books though. I also like browsing a physical bookstore. I can see how a kindle can be useful for out-of-print books and new books (that are flying off the shelves).

unexpected effect:

Well, for one, I actually read much faster now (even on regular paper) because it’s really fast to skim on the kindle. Maybe people should train their kids to speed-read by getting some kids books on the kindle.

tip:

Download samples of books if you’re trying it out! Also there are many free books through Amazon and other websites to get you started.

Starlight by Muse

2010-04-29T19:43:00.001-04:00

Starlight

Far away
This ship has taken me far away
Far away from the memories
Of the people who care if I live or die

Starlight
I will be chasing a starlight
Until the end of my life
I don't know if it's worth it anymore

Hold you in my arms
I just wanted to hold
You in my arms

My life
You electrify my life
Let's conspire to ignite
All the souls that would die just to feel alive

I'll never let you go
If you promise not to fade away
Never fade away

Our hopes and expectations
Black holes and revelations
Our hopes and expectations
Black holes and revelations

Hold you in my arms
I just wanted to hold
You in my arms

Far away
This ship has taken me far away
Far away from the memories
Of the people who care if I live or die

I'll never let you go
If you promise not to fade away
Never fade away

Our hopes and expectations
Black holes and revelations, yeah!
Our hopes and expectations
Black holes and revelations

Hold you in my arms
I just wanted to hold
You in my arms
I just wanted to hold

Note
I didn’t learn about them from Twilight (although I did like a few songs from the Twilight soundtrack, and the Muse song Supermassive Black Hold during the baseball game was awesome)! 101.9 RXP just happens to play them a lot. I finally looked them up since I heard they are coming to the area in Oct for part of their tour. This song Starlight particularly struck me as lovely. I wonder if they liked the Stardust book/movie? It would be a great song for that.

Resources
Starlight video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgum6OT_VH8
Official page http://muse.mu/
Myspace http://www.myspace.com/muse
Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_(band)

New Stadium New Season

2010-04-23T22:16:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I visited the new Mets Stadium with Fyrna. The NY Mets were playing against the Chicago Cubs. Yes, so this is the second season for the stadium but I didn’t make it to a game last year.

I liked the rotunda and the championship trophies inside the museum. My favorite spots have to be the two bridges (Shea bridge and another one that I forgot). If you visit the stadium be sure to walk around and explore! We got seats in the 504 section which is near the first base/right field area. A nice view actually. We actually saw the beautiful sunset.

Everyone’s been telling me about the amazing food selection and they do not disappoint. I thought I got to the stadium early enough for ShakeShack but the line was huge. Right next to it is Blue Smoke which had no lines! I decided to try the pulled-pork sandwich. It came on a nice bun with some thin slices of pickles. Delicious! Next time I may try some seafood at Catch of the Day though. A tip for foodies, if you want a place to eat, you may have to walk a bit. The small tables near ShakeShack and Blue Smoke are very popular. After eating our dinner we found a market where you can buy fresh fruit (crazy huh?)

We walk to seats and start to watch the game. After an inning or so I noticed something was missing: baseball commentators! If you watch the game on tv or listen to it on the radio, you know what I’m talking about! Instead I had to check the board to see what the call was for the pitch, as well as pitch counts. Funny enough, in the bathrooms they do have WFAN 660AM which obviously has the running game commentary. Some fans were smart and brought their little radios. I may consider it next time.

Another note to self: Don’t underestimate the cold evenings in April! Last time I went to an April game I had to buy a hoodie because I was freezing. This time the hoodie and jacket still weren’t enough. I may need to wear a winter coat and carry a blanket next time. I blame it on the wind chill.

Just in case you thought I didn’t watch the game, I’ll do a bit of summary here. Both starting pitchers (Santana vs. Gorzelanny) did really well so the game was scoreless for the first 5 or so innings. Luckily for us, the game started to pick up soon, and it was the kind of scoring I enjoy watching (the kind where people bat, run, and drive in runs as opposed to just solo homeruns). I almost wanted to leave after 6th inning but then the Cubs started catching up so we stayed for a bit longer (Mets went through 3 pitchers from the bullpen in one inning I think?) Anyway, K-Rod was amazing so I’m glad we stayed a little bit longer. In order to catch the train and avoid the crowd we ended up going home after top of the 8th inning (4-2). The final score was 5-2.

More Stadium Food related links
Serious Eats http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2009/03/first-look-at-citi-field-food-concession-stands-baseball-mets-shakeshack-danny-meyer.html

Feisty Foodie http://feistyfoodie.com/2009/05/05/citi-field-catch-of-the-day-toscarinos-burgers-fries-mamas-of-corona/

NY Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/dining/03food.html

Citifield Guide
http://www.alldowntheline.com/nl/the-citi-field-insiders-guide/

Loreley Restaurant

2010-04-14T19:00:00.000-04:00

7 Rivington Street
(between Bowery & Chrystie)
New York, NY 10002
Lower East Side
(212)253-7077
http://www.loreleynyc.com/

Will introduced me to this place that has a beer garden although the cold weather prevented me from checking it out. The inside seating is a bit tight but not unbearable. Not a busy night but our location clearly was difficult for the waitress to attend to.

Beer
Radeberger Pilsner. fresh and light. perfect summer drink to go with your dinner. would have been even better if we sat in the beer garden I bet. For those of you who don’t do metric and don’t have a smart phone, 1 liter is approx 2 pints. So if you usually get pints at a bar, just go ahead and get 0.5 L of your favorite beer.

Food
Since it’s impossible to decide on a dish, we just got a platter of the three sausages to try. The side of mashed potatoes and sauerkraut were tasty too. My favorite out of the three sausages was the smoked sausage.

Dessert (?)
While I usually order potato pancakes for brunch, I really wanted to try it here because they had lingonberry in addition to the applesauce. We had to ask for more applesauce though since the small serving they gave us was probably enough for 1 pancake. We had a total of three pancakes. I think it was sweet and tasty enough to be dessert.

Branch Brook Park Cherry Blossoms

2010-04-04T17:26:00.000-04:00

Every spring DC gets droves of tourists hoping to catch pink or white cherry blossoms. When I went to school there I was lucky enough to catch it without too much chaos. Having graduated a few years back, I haven’t gone back since the crowd factor always holds me back. My relatives in NJ offered a local alternative: Branch Brook Park. The park boasts 4100 cherry trees. More than even DC! If you go, maybe you should consider public transportation. Bring a picnic and enjoy the weather!

Park site: http://www.branchbrookpark.org/

Map of cherry tree locations: http://www.essex-countynj.org/branchmap.pdf

My dad and I drove around the park for a while and found that the northern part (in Belleville) had more trees but was difficult to park. The southern part (in Newark) had a better backdrop with the gorgeous cathedral, lake, and bridge but not as many flowering cherry trees. We were about to park on the street like everyone else but then saw a police car writing up tickets… In the end we parked near the Prudential Lions and took a bunch of photos before jetting off.

Some photos (wallpaper too) from my trip:

Baby - Justin Bieber

2010-03-31T18:56:00.000-04:00

You know you love me
I know you care
Just shout whenever, and I'll be there
You want my love
You want my heart
And we would never, ever, ever be apart

Are we an item?
Girl, quit playin'!
We're just friends,
What are you sayin'?
Said there's another and look right in my eyes
My first love, broke my heart for the first time

And I was like
Baby, baby, baby, oh
Like
Baby, baby, baby, no-o
Like
Baby, baby, baby, oh
I thought you'd always be mine (mine)
Baby, baby, baby, oh
Like
Baby, baby, baby, no-o
Like
Baby, baby, baby, oh
I thought you'd always be mine (mine)

I know many people are wondering why Justin Bieber is so popular. After listening to some of his songs (very popular on the radio) and watching the video for Baby, my conclusion is that his stuff is fun and upbeat. Actually kind of reminds me of old school Usher (My Way video) where it’s a bit of dancing and a bit of romancing and mostly catchy goodness. I have to say I’m a bit biased since I’ve always loved R&B. When people were listening to B.I.G. in middle school I was catching up on R&B stuff (Honey era Mariah Carey). I know that there was also a period in time where boy bands took over (yea Backstreet Boys) and even emo (don’t ask). I’m kind of happy to catch Justin Bieber on the radio for a change. I miss that kind of happy catchy feel good tune still has a little bit cheesy feeling to it. It’s edgier than wholesome pop but not quite as explicit as some R&B out there.

Another song that I like is “One Love”. I used to like “One Less Only Girl” but didn’t think the lyrics were as good.

One Love (video)
And girl you're my one love
My one heart, My one life for sure
Let me tell you one time (girl I love, girl I love you)
Im'a tell you one time (girl I love, girl I love you)
And Im'a be your one guy
You'll be my number one girl
Always making time for you
Im'a tell you one time (one time)
Im'a tell you one time (one time)

Avocado Shake

2010-03-19T16:48:00.001-04:00

When I have a lot of fruit left over, I try to come up with new ways to eat them. Last time, I had to many mangos, and came up with mango crepes. This time I’m dealing with avocados. Besides making them into guacamole, I like to have avocado in my egg sandwiches or egg salads. Sometimes I also eat them raw with a bit of black pepper. I searched in my past entries and found a good salad I made as well. [avocado salad]

Just as I was wondering what to do with the bag of soft avocados, I remembered that I had sampled an avocado shake back in Chicago’s Chinatown. [see menu] While it was delicious, it was a bit too rich and I recall that the servicing size was very generous. Anyways, I looked up avocado shake recipes online and found a few here and here. Since I was making this test batch for my grandma and she’s diabetic, I decided to substitute half a banana instead of adding sugar. My modified recipe below:

Ingredients (serves 2)
-half of a ripe avocado
-half a ripe banana
-1 and a half cup low-fat milk (skim is probably better but I just took whatever was in the fridge)

Directions
1. Cut avocado in half, scoop out half and place in blender
2. Put the half banana in the blender (I sliced it but I’m sure it’s unnecessary)
3. Use the blender to Chop, Blend, and Stir until smooth
4. Pour shake in two glasses and serve!

Notes
The banana was actually enough to make the shake a little bit sweet without going overboard. I think a bit of honey on top could have been nice too. The color of the shake is light green, perfect for a sunny spring day. It provides just enough energy for me after a long walk.

I also looked up some Chinese recipes (example here). They all recommended an apple to go with the recipe. The site also claims that drinking avocado shakes regularly will naturally enhance a woman’s breasts…

Spring in NY

2010-03-19T13:03:00.003-04:00

After so much snow this season, it seemed like the dreary winter would never end. After I got a few good weekends of skiing and finally started to enjoy the winter snow, temperatures skyrocketed in NY and we’re in spring! Vernal Equinox is tomorrow Mar 20 2010 at 1:32 PM EDT
Sometimes I forget spring existed because it never takes long for street wear to turn from winter puffers and boots to short shorts and flip flops.
I will attempt to remember some of the events below in spring, although I get the feeling I will probably be writing the summer guide (outdoor concerts!) in a few weeks.

Assorted Spring Events:
//Flowers
Cherry Blossoms in Brooklyn Botanical Garden (April/May)
http://www.bbg.org/exp/cherries/
Cherry Blossom Update at the garden: http://www.bbg.org/exp/cherries/map.html

DC Cherry Blooms (early April. yes, DC is not that far, people!)
http://www.nps.gov/cherry/cherry-blossom-bloom.htm
Old Westbury Gardens, Long Island (Opens April 10 for season)
http://www.oldwestburygardens.org/general_information.htm

Tulips at Hofstra University, Long Island (May)
http://www.hofstra.edu/Community/Fest/Fest_dutch.html
//Outdoor Activities
Coney Island (some rides open late March/April)
http://www.coneyisland.com/

Opening Day for Baseball! (April 4-5th)
http://mlb.mlb.com/index.jsp

Street Fairs (Spring/Summer)
http://www.nycstreetfairs.com/sched.html

Manhattan Henge (May 28)
http://www.manhattansunset.com/

Big Apple BBQ at Madison Square Park (June 12-13)
http://www.bigapplebbq.org/

Jersey Shore (come live it before the summer crowds!)
http://www.seasideheightstourism.com

//Indoor Activities
Tribeca Film Festival (late April)
http://www.tribecafilm.com/festival/

Museum Mile Festival (June 8)

//Other Links
My Free NYC Guide entry. Hit up free museums and gardens on select days.
Time Out NY Going Out Guide.
Time Out NY Spring 101 Things To Do

Vegetable Tales

2010-03-18T17:52:00.001-04:00

No, this is not an entry about the movie Veggie Tales. I was surfing twitter and came upon @summertomato which then led me to her blog and an article about how our parents’ generation cooked vegetables. According to the article, many of our parents favored convenience in forms of canned/frozen/prepared vegetables, so it’s no wonder many of us grow up really hating it. That is, until we venture into our own kitchens making amazing dishes using organic farm market vegetables.

I was lucky enough to be exposed to a wide variety of fresh vegetables thanks to my family who didn’t believe in canned/frozen/prepared vegetables. Ever since I was little, I had to help my parents clean and pick vegetables. (Not everything came in crispy clean and free of dirt in shiny plastic bags!) And I was always taught to get used to some vegetables/herbs that had strong flavors that kids didn’t typically enjoy: spinach, cilantro, chive. My parents always salted vegetables when they cooked.

The article made me understand why some of my friends are so turned off by all sorts of vegetables. Maybe they haven’t grown up eating the food I’ve had. If you’re still a non-believer though, I suggest going to the best Chinese/Korean restaurants you know and try out their vegetable dishes. Once I overheard someone on the train raving about Chinese food. She said the celery/pork stir-fry made her see celery in a totally different light. What used to be crunchy and bland celery absorbed some of the meat flavors and turned out delicious. Be creative and you’ll find use for those awesome vegetables!

Lake Placid Dining Review

2010-03-14T14:16:00.001-04:00

Fireside Steakhouse
229 Main Street
Lake Placid, NY‎
(518) 523-2682‎
This place is a short walk from our lodge and on the recommended list by our host at the lodge. My group ordered prime-rib there, excellent and hardy. I got the chicken/shrimp/sausage pasta which came in a huge plate. I barely finished 3/4 of it with the help of my companions. The decor in this place is fabulous, with a real fireplace that burns logs. I think most of the places in Lake Placid keep their Christmas lights and some decor throughout the ski season so it’s very festive. I had some nice warm apple cider which had a healthy dose of cinnamon. I can imagine the holidays must be really nice here. Beer selection was ok but I didn’t get one.

Lake Placid Pub and Brewery
813 Mirror Lake Drive
Lake Placid, NY‎
(518) 523-3813‎
http://www.ubuale.com/
Probably the bitterest IPA (Lake Placid IPA) I’ve tasted in my life. K. was adventurous and ordered a Fresh Powder Milk Stout. C and I got the 46er which was still quite heavy but at least not as bitter. Our friendly bartender poured us sample size shots of all the beers on tap and told us that the town has a pretty vibrant bar life that closes around 2 or 3am. Coming from NYC, we were all relieved after hearing that. Since the slopes close early (4:30pm, they don’t have night ski like most slopes in PA) we were worried that bars closed early too. Since we had dinner early, we didn’t catch too many people at the bar. We played a game of pool and some darts and headed out.

Great Adirondack Steak and Seafood
34 Main Street
Lake Placid, NY
(518) 523-1629‎
http://www.greatadirondacksteakandseafood.com/index.html
CL ordered a pasta dish. C. got a porterhouse (pretty good). K. got the rib eye (I wasn’t crazy about it). I got the surf n turf which included half a lobster and 14 oz prime rib (amazing!). Minor issue is the density of the mashed potatoes. I was expecting something more fluffy. For drinks I ordered a Ausable Wulff Red Ale and then did a bunch of refills of root beer made by the local brewery. K. got some coffee flavored beer which was rather unique. In the end everyone who’s ordered drinks can take home a souvenir glass (with various logos, such as ski, hockey, snowboard, snowshoeing). For dessert I tasted the port ice cream which is always a win. Overall probably the best meal I’ve had in Lake Placid. Will definitely come back next time I’m in Lake Placid.

Dining Resource
http://www.adirondackguide.com/ncdining/ncdining.html

Lake Placid, NY

2010-03-14T14:14:00.001-04:00

Lodging
Art Devlin’s Olympic Motor Inn
http://www.artdevlins.com/index.htm
We got a great view out of our balcony. The place is walking distance to quite a few restaurants and also has a free shuttle bus to Whiteface Ski Area. Lobby provides coffee and muffins in the morning for a quick breakfast.

Skiing
http://www.whiteface.com/
I was warned in advance that Whiteface is more geared toward intermediate (blue trails) and experts (black trails). Most of the trails on the top half of the mountain are blue or black. If you want to do a scenic ride, take the cloudsplitter gondola and then ride it back down. Since gondolas are enclosed and your ski equipment go outside of it, you don’t have to worry about getting on and jumping off with your skis. While you are up on the lookout point, be sure to watch out for strong winds and take your photos quickly! If you want to ski down, you have your choice of blue and black trails. I skied down the blue trail once, but found it pretty difficult. The second time I went up the gondola I just rode it back down.

The lodge has a nice outdoor picnic area for warmer days (day 1 of our trip) and indoor fireplaces with comfy chairs (for day 2 when it was cold).
First day we just brought Subway Foot Long sandwiches for lunch. Second day I bought chicken fingers and fries from the food court and thought they were pretty tasty.

Back to more skiing. I took a 2-hour lesson the day 1 which was helpful. Finally figured out how to ski parallel as opposed to wedge (pizza stance) all the way down. At first it proved difficult but the zigzag S way was much better for steeper hills. It was only after falling down the blue trail on day 2 when I realized maybe I needed more work on skiing and controlling my turns/stops. Day 2 afternoon I most did drills on the bunny slope and a beginning hill. Some slope reviews:
-Mixing Bowl: bunny hill near base lodge. Wide and very little slope. Mostly you’ll see people taking lessons. Day 2 was a bit icy but mostly a very good place to warm up and do your skiing drills.
-Round-a-bout: Not really a trail, it’s just a flat path that leads to the Bear Lift.
-Bear: My most comfortable green trail. I did my lessons on this one so I got the slopes all figured out.
-Fox: I keep falling toward the end of this probably due to lack of speed control. I think it’s a bit steeper than the Bear.
-Gold/Silver: Near the kids lodge. When I went to that side I didn’t see many people on the slopes. Basically bunny hills for that lodge. When you take the lift, you can ski down a path that will lead you back to base lodge. You can also take a bus back to base lodge.
-Excelsior: the blue that leads from the gondola downhill. I fell so many times it’s not even funny…
-Easy way: it’s a green from mid-mountain but still proved to be difficult and long for me. All of these long trails are a few times longer than the Blue Mountain green trails, even the Paradise.

Dining Review (next entry)

Other Assorted Photos (shutterfly album)

Blue Mountain Ski Area, PA

2010-03-08T15:09:00.001-05:00

I had gone skiing once or twice back in middle school/high school, mostly sticking with the beginner slope, or the “bunny hill”. All I remember was the whole-body aches days after the experience. It’s no wonder that I have not volunteered to go skiing in the past few years.

Fortunately, I was able to start refresh yesterday at Blue Mountain Ski Area (website directions) K. and C. are planning to go to Lake Placid for a few days next weekend so this is just a warm up run for C. who has never gone skiing or snowboarding before.

Arrival
We pulled into the Valley Lodge parking lot around 8:30 AM, half an hour after the place opened. The weather was warm sunny (in the 40-50s) and the sky pretty clear. After figuring out equipment rental, lessons, and lockers, C. and I went ahead to our perspective lessons that started at 10AM. C. was snowboarding for the first time. I wasn’t skiing for the first time but it’s been a long time and I figured I can use the lessons again. K. went ahead and warmed up on some more difficult trails before meeting up with K.

Lessons

I will refer to the trail map above for the different locations in this blog entry. You can follow along if you’re curious. Our lessons took place at the lower part of the Valley school hills. I had a great instructor for the group lesson (7 people, 3 of which haven’t skied in years). Besides teaching us to ski, stop, and do basic turns, he also led us down the valley school hills twice, with individual attention. Apparently my problem all along was I couldn’t focus on my foot movement when I had two ski poles. After the instructor took my poles away, I was skiing just fine. The lesson took around 1.5 hours. I went down the two valley slopes a few more times since the lift had no lines. Smooth course, not too many people, such wonderful conditions! I was also happy to be free of crashes and falls. Photo below was taken on top of the valley school slope.

Lunch Break
K. is much more experienced with ski lounges’s food offerings so packed our lunch in advance. He bought and brought a loaf of sliced white bread, 1 pack of Canadian bacon (ready to eat kind), 1 pack of deli ham, and 1 pack of sliced white American cheese. He then made us double layered sandwiches. Since I was pretty hungry after a light breakfast, I managed to eat the entire sandwich (3 slices of bread, a ton of cheese, ham, and bacon). We also had a bottle of orange gatorade each. An tip that K. gave us was to carry one bottle of gatorade with us while skiing (to be placed inside the jacket where there’s a little pocket for goggles). At first I thought it was bulky but after a few times down the slopes, the gatorade idea proved to be ingenious.

Paradise
After lunch and some rest, C. and I felt pretty good about our progress and wanted to try some other beginner (green) slopes. I’m not sure how K. convinced us to brave the Paradise, which is the longest and most difficult beginner slope. We took the long challenge express lift, which wasn’t very long at all, to the top of the mountain. Overall I thought Blue Mountain’s ski lifts were quite fast and incredibly scenic. Here’s a photo from the top before the descent.

Although Paradise had amazing views, the first two or three hills were incredibly steep compared to the valley school hills that we started on. In fact, C. and I were a bit frightened by the fact we couldn’t see all the way down, just a little in front of us. K. carefully led us down, making sure we stayed alive in the process. Maybe 1/3 of the way down, I started regretting tackling such a long trail without perfecting my skills. If it had been a shorter trail I could have taken a few tumbles and came down already. But since this is a long one, I couldn’t walk back up or anything…I had to finish! At least it was a lesson on falling and getting back up (apparently harder than I remembered, how come they don’t teach this in the class?). When I finally got down Paradise, I looked up at it and was wondering how K. convinced us to go up that steep thing. If you look at the photo below (taken at the bottom of the hill), Paradise is the left-most slope.

First Blue
Paradise proved too much for all of us. C. and I rested for quite a while and waited for K. to go down a black trail. After he came back, C. announced that she was done for the day. K. and I decided to go to a few other trails before heading home. I figured if Paradise was the hardest beginner trailer, surely I can do the other beginner trailers with ease? We took the challenge express lift to the top of the mountain and went on Tut’s Lane. It was my first blue (intermediate level) trail! Tut’s Lane was actually not quite a blue difficulty because it’s relatively flat). This whole trail was great for sight-seeing. and since I wasn’t going down a steep hill, I stopped and enjoyed the view without skiing down too fast. We quickly came to the end and got on the Connector, a small green trail that cuts through a bunch of other trails. We spotted the Summit Lodge but didn’t stop there. After the Connector, we started down a winding trail (Vista and Burma). Since a lot of people go down the beginning trails, by the afternoon the slopes are no longer smooth but has a bunch of snow forming uneven surfaces. I did ok but had trouble with some of the turns because huge groups of people always gather at those turns, making it nearly impossible to turn. I tried my best to avoid people but still crashed into an unlucky skier.

The Home Stretch
Going from end of Burma to the other beginner trail Terrain Run Park was difficult because most of the way was flat and slightly uphill. I spent a lot of energy trying to move forward with the help of ski poles. When I got on top of Terrain Run I nearly fainted—There were tons of sloped hills for jumps!? Well, there was no going back. K. advised me to stick to the left side, since the middle had the hills for jumps. I sarcastically replied that if I had the skills to stick to the left side without crashing into trees or fences, I wouldn’t be afraid of those jumps. So I went down Terrain Run, carefully going down the left side, avoiding the big hills in the middle. At times I probably was lifted above the ground for quite a few seconds, but the feeling of flying was much much better than the fear of falling. I was getting close to the bottom of the mountain! I survived! It was such a great feeling of accomplishment and I regained the confidence that I had lost after Paradise.

K. and I regrouped with C. and headed home. I said I’d take up on their offer to go to Lake Placid if I can still feel my muscles after a few days. While I’m waiting for the muscles to recover, I started looking into Lake Placid. I have to say that it looks amazing! If I go I will definitely write down my experience.

Jones Beach Winter View

2010-02-24T23:37:00.001-05:00

If you haven’t visited the beach during the winter, you may be wondering what kind of people go during these months (surely not the Jersey Shore cast!?)

Luckily Jones Beach has a boardwalk and at least one food pavilion open during their off-peak months. We even walked on a sand for a bit just to admire the water and kites. The strong wind caused hair, scarf, hat, and flags to fly about madly.

As it happened, when J’s family and I approached the parking lot, the place was pretty populated. No, it wasn’t a long weekend either, just a sunny and windy Sunday morning. They were doing some kind of construction on the iconic tower which made us all very distressed. Where did the top of the tower go?

Due to some recent rain and warmer temperatures, all the snow around the beach/boardwalk had already melted. If you look closer, you may be able to spot a pile or two of snow in the shady areas closer to the parking lot. The sky is impossibly clear (almost like autumn) and any trace of clouds must have been chased away by the wind blasts. The ocean was not too wild when we approached the sand. I heard the water is quite cold (I can’t imagine why?). Since I forgot my camera for the millionth time, I had to do with my camera phone. For a 1.3 MB pixel thing, it takes decent photos. Most people stayed on the boardwalk, so the beach was nice and quiet. I included a shot to the right side and left side of where I was standing on the beach. No Photoshop required when you have natural scenery like this.

Testing Windows Live Writer

2010-02-15T13:43:00.000-05:00

I often read LifeHacker and one of the recent entries talked about Top 5 free Microsoft Products. While I didn’t find all of them useful for me, as a blogger, I figured I should check out the blogging tool.

Right off the bat, the picture function is much better. I can add photo effects (like the new MS Office). I know this will come handy for my recipes.

The above picture came from Central Park (most likely the lake). Using the map tool I can add it below.

NYC in Winter

2010-02-15T13:28:00.001-05:00

How do you enjoy NYC in the winter? It's too cold to walk up and down long avenues. It's too cold to shop outdoors. It's too cold to even wait for the subway underground. After staying out of the city for most of the holiday season, J. and I finally got a chance to venture outside.

We started out with a trip to the Natural History Museum which is always packed but fun. I'm not sure when they put up the space center because I don't remember it at all. It's the first section we stumbled upon after entering the museum from the subway. One of the fun features that we got a kick out of was the "weight yourself on __". Apparently we're incredibly heavy on Jupiter but super light on the Halley Comet! J. says he doesn't remember the whale room. I've always liked that ocean room so he clearly missed that section when he was younger. The museum is incredibly big and most kids probably only remember the dinosaur room (my favorite!).

Some of my favorites at the museum are:
gem and minerals hall - dazzling rocks and gemstones. I've always loved the star sapphire there.
meteorites - one of the few museums that lets people get a hands-on experience on meteorites
north american forests - look for the giant tree trunk cross section.
ocean hall (whale room) - almost as good as an aquarium. impressive displays.
fossils (top floor, dinos) - stegosaurus (see pic)

Not sure where everyone else goes for food after the museum, we decided not to go for dino-nuggets (even though we were both very fond of them when we were younger) at the museum food court (do they still have them?) If you walk west you can find the Upper West Side Shake Shack (all indoors). If you walk west and north you can find plenty of diners (very crowded for weekend brunch as expected) and other eats. Note to self, there is a Hale & Hearty's nearby if I crave soup one of these days. J. and I went to Arties and ordered a pastrami and corn beef sandwich each. Also enjoyed the potato pancakes with apple sauce immensely. Their pickles were as good as I remembered but the pickled tomato wasn't as impressive. We really wanted to split a huge poppy hamentashen for dessert but they only had prune flavor that day. Have to wait for Purim...

After the last snow storm that came through midweek, most of NYC already melted and cleared up. Luckily Central Park still stayed cold enough to keep its beautiful winter scene. We walked along a path on the west side and saw a bunch of kids with sleds. Apparently the park offers some nice slops. If the path got icy, I would go on the main road (along with runners/bikers etc) which had been cleared much better. Most people probably visit the park during summer (great concerts) and autumn (famous orange leaves), we actually have seen the park in winter for the past two years. When there's snow on the branches and ice over the lakes, it's very easy to forget that we're in the middle of the city.

When we reached Columbus Circle to catch a subway downtown, I found the best booth in the park: Ferrara! Who knew they had a outpost in the park? A chocolate cover cannoli was a real treat after walking in the cold. If I wasn't freezing my fingers off eating the cannoli, I would have gotten a latte or something warm too.

Go out and enjoy the sunny and icy winter!

Superbowl Food Roundup

2010-02-08T23:16:00.000-05:00

I may not be the biggest NFL fan but I still watch the superbowl every year. Before you get into a heated debate over the teams, the winner and even the commercials, let me just warn you that this entry is entirely about the food.

When you talk about the football, some food naturally come to mind: hot wings, chips, chili, ribs, more chicken, snacks, finger foods. You want to bring the platter around in front of the tv so you could best enjoy the game. I got my chicken recipe from beefolks which has an awesome selection of honey products and honey recipes.

Honey Mustard Chicken Nuggets (original recipe here)
sauce
-1/4 cup mustard (J and I used mostly brown mustard, with a bit of dijon)
-2 tbsp blueberry honey (we only had this on hand). You can probably use whatever you have in the house, I think a darker honey may work too (I personally think Killer Bee would be nice)
-2 tbsp apple juice (I had Mott on hand)
//combine above and mix well. divide in two dishes, one for dipping and one for coating raw chicken.
nuggets
-around 1 lb of chicken, cut into 1 inch cubes
-1/2 cup of crushed pretzels (or more...this is pretty time-consuming actually, although entertaining for the neighbors I'm sure)
directions
1. roll chicken cubes in the bowl containing sauce
2. coat sauced chicken cubes with crushed pretzels
3. bake at 375 F until middle is no longer pink. for 10-12 minutes
4. dip cooked chicken nuggets and eat!

prep station...or "assembly line" as J called it. you see there's the plate full of chicken, a bowl of the sauce, and some (not so) crushed pretzels.

Warning: the dipping sauce is insanely addictive. Once you have this you don't want to go back to the bottled honey-mustard sauce. Trust me, we tried it as a comparison. The recipe has a better version! J. says we can probably crush the pretzels more but we lacked tools! You can see from the photo that we still had pretzels sticks that are recognizable.

Finished product to the right. Sometimes I wish I had better food photography skills...oh well. Now you see why I rarely put up photos! (ok, most times I'm too hungry and the plate is empty when I remembered to take a photo.)

Snap Peas
Instead of the regular celery and carrot sticks, I made a veggie platter with red pepper and snap peas. You can probably just wash snow pea and eat it raw, but I like to just cook it a bit. Very simple instructions: boil water, dump in a bunch of snap peas (you can snap off the tips if you want), boil for a few minutes until it reaches the right texture (try it yourself! I like it crunchy) and brilliant green, run under cool water and drain. I have instructed J to make a mayo dipping sauce which came out better than mine. Basically, you mix mayo with a generous sprinkling of paprika and pepper (crushed peppercorn or powdered). You can dip almost about anything in this and love it. Try it out!

In the end, while we missed the National Anthem part and the entire second half, I have to say making the super bowl dinner was a fun experience. Cheers for having great food, even for non-NFL fans!

Peppercorn Chicken with Lemon Spinach

2010-01-24T12:27:00.002-05:00

recipe from foodnetwork:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/peppercorn-chicken-with-lemon-spinach-recipe/index.html

Ingredients (dinner for two)
main dish:
boneless chicken breast (about 1 pound)
1 tablespoons dijon mustard (or eyeball it)

spice mix:
2 to 3 teaspoons coarsely ground mixed peppercorns
3/4 teaspoon dry rosemary
salt

sauce:
1 shallot, chopped or sliced
1/3 cup brandy or red wine
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon or more dry parsley
2 tbsp of mustard (to taste and to thicken the sauce)

directions:
1. preheat oven to 350 F
2. clean chicken breast, spread on mustard
3. sprinkle on spice mix, rub and pat gently to make sure seasoning sticks on
4. heat oil in pan, put in chicken breast, cook until golden brown on medium high heat, about 3 min on each side
5. take chicken from pan and put into oven safe container and bake for 10 minutes until done. save pan and remaining oil for sauce later.
6. Add chopped shallots to pan from earlier step. Pan on medium high heat. Stir once a while and cook shallot until soft
7. Remove pan from heat, add red wine and chicken broth. Boil for about 2 min
8. Stir in mustard and parsley to the sauce
9. When chicken is done, put in a big plate. pour shallot sauce over it.

spinach:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound spinach
pinch salt
1 thin slice of lemon

//1 tablespoon oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic; cook about 30 seconds. Add the spinach, season with salt and cook until wilted; add the lemon. Serve with chicken dish above or whatever main entree you're cooking

Notes:
We made a bit more sauce than we needed but it can be poured over other side dishes you may have. I really liked the taste of the shallot red wine sauce and the chicken by itself is already very savory. How can you go wrong with mustard, rosemary, and peppercorn? Upon reviewing the measurements I noticed that we may have put too much spice mix for the halved portion that we were making. Oh well. The spinach is green, tasty, and goes perfect with chicken. J. also made some tricolor tortellini with vodka sauce.

Since J. and I only cooked for the two of us, I didn't get batches of fresh herbs. In the recipe it asks for fresh rosemary and parsley. I didn't think we'd use up the fresh herbs before they went bad. If you use dry herb, just add a bit more than the recipe. If you don't have mixed peppercorn you can probably use black pepper, it just may not have as much flavor as the mixed one. We got a small grinder bottle of four seasons mixed peppercorn (green pepper, black pepper, white pepper, and red berries) which I thought was fantastic.

On the recipe page you will see people's reviews. I noticed that many people added sliced mushroom to the sauce which makes sense. A lot of people also made mashed potatoes or some potato side dish. Get creative and try a slight variation of the recipe!

Relator

2010-01-19T21:17:00.000-05:00

-Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson-

[Girl] When I met you,

I didn't know what to do.

I was tired, I was hungry, I fight.

Now I'm away,

I write home everyday

and I see you on the TV at night.

[Both](Chorus)

You can see that life's for us to talk about.

You can leave whenever you want out.

Whoa. You don't relate to me,

no girl,

you don't respect me,

no girl,

no girl. Oh yeah.

[Girl] When I met you,

I didn't know what to do,

but I noticed that I didn't really feel.

Now you're away,

you write home everyday. I don't beg,

I don't borrow,

I steal.

(Chorus)

You don't think that life's for us to talk about.

You can leave whenever you want out,

you want out. Well,

you don't relate to me,

no girl. You don't respect me,

no girl. (you can leave when ever you want out)

And you don't relate to me,

no girl. And you don't respect me,

no girl. (You can leave whenever you want out)

No you don't relate to me,

no girl. And you don't respect me,

no girl. No girl. Yeah.

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/scarlettalbum

Official Page: http://thebreakupalbum.com/

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break_Up_(Scarlett_Johansson_and_Pete_Yorn_album)

101.9 RXP is playing this song to death now. Funny I don't even remember how I first heard of this song, maybe just itunes or amazon music surfing. I thought the music was catchy and Scarlett Jo's voice was quite lovely and breathy. I found the lyrics on some youtube video so it may or may not be correct. I always thought the line was "you can't leave whenever you want out" because the guy was trying to persuade the girl to give the relationship another chance. Who knows. Simple tune but it works. Funny how the album is about break up yet the songs are so lovely!

I also want to go on a tangent and lament the lack of duets in mainstream today. Remember Grease summer loving song where the girls and the boys have different part and it was great fun? Chinese karaoke places also loves duets because couples enjoy singing sappy love songs together. Here in the U.S. we just don't have much of that (maybe Moulin Rouge?). When you do get a collaboration between a male artist and a female artist, you just get some chorus and a solo with different people. I guess happy couples don't buy albums here? Anyone else in a stable relationship and still enjoy awesome music (including emo, dark, moody stuff?)

Travel Links

2010-01-18T21:01:00.003-05:00

NYT Travel Tips
http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/travel/10pracsave.html

Bidding Tips
http://www.betterbidding.com/
What the other bidders have paid for their priceline/hotwire rooms.

Amtrak
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/HomePage
Take trains to a nearby city, without all the hassles of airport security. Check specials. If you have AAA membership you can save on fare too.
Amtrak deals: http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer/Page/1237412457649/1237405732514

Bolt Bus
https://www.boltbus.com/
I heard good reviews from some friends.

Travelzoo
http://www.travelzoo.com/
Good website to browse for deals and ideas

Around the Metro Area:
NYC Go Offers http://www.nycgo.com/offers/ref=nav
MTA (NYC) http://mta.info/metrocard/tourism/mc_promotions.htm
LIRR (NYC, Long Island) http://www.mta.info/lirr/getaways/
MetroNorth (NYC, CT, Upstate) http://www.mta.info/mnr/html/getaways.htm
NJ Transit (NJ, look for summer beach passes too) http://www.njtransit.com/tm/tm_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=SpTo

Like travelling to large cities? Wiki has a list of 50 populated cities and photos here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population

Tours
http://www.unclesamsnewyork.com/
http://bigonion.com/schedule/

Hale&Hearty

2009-12-14T22:53:00.001-05:00

Various locations throughout Manhattan.
http://www.haleandhearty.com/

If you work in Manhattan you probably have tried Hale&Hearty at some point for lunch. Their soups and sandwiches are tasty and the variety keeps things interesting.

Some of my favorite soups:
-7 Herb Bistro Chicken Soup
-Potato Italian Sausage
-Curry Chicken
-Eggplant Tomato
-Ten Vegetable
-Gazpacho (summer)

Some favorite sandwiches:
-Chicken with Sundried Tomato
-Roast Beef

Cat Empire

2009-12-08T22:35:00.000-05:00

Last time I saw Cat Empire was in Central Park for a summer outdoor concert. Their Jazz/Latin/Instrumental pieces are perfect for outdoor venues on a sunny day. This past Saturday I saw them at Nokia Theater with Wendy and Steph. It was a great concert and I hope they come back to NY again for the summer for their new album next year. My favorite part of the concert is when they all play solos on brass or drum or keyboard. The trumpet player/vocalist also has an amazing voice.

Some resources for the curious:
Official Page http://www.thecatempire.com/
Myspace http://www.myspace.com/thecatempire
Wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cat_Empire

Their live album Live on Earth is on itunes for $9.99 which is a great deal considering it has most of the hits. I bought and downloaded it after the concert and really enjoy it.

The Stand by the Strand

2009-11-21T20:50:00.002-05:00

The Stand (Food/drinks)24 East 12th Street (Between 5th Ave and University Place)
212.488.5900
website

//Beer: Sixpoint Bengali Tiger IPA ($12 pitcher during happy hour). Great IPA. We wanted to try the Blue Point Lager but they ran out. Maybe next time they will have it. Update: Blue Point Lager is way underwhelming. I'm just going to list other beers below.
--Hit me again: Smuttynose Winter Ale. It's complex. but it's seasonal so it may not be available next time...
--No thanks: Weyerbacher Hops Infusion. It smells great, but a bit on the light side for me.
//Burger: the Stand Burger. While tasty, I thought it was a bit salty for me.
//Sides: Sweet Potato Fries are as tasty as always. Tempura pickles combines perfectly sweet and salty flavors.
//Shake: Honey lavender. Fragrant and delightful. Next time I will try the Toasted Marshmallow which was highly recommended and featured on Food Network. Update: The Toasted marshmallow is also underwhelming, people shouldn't build up so much hype. I mean it's great but not like extremely unique or crazy or out of the world or something.
//Decor: Reminds me of a deli/diner with the counter and simple tables. Rather well lit and the music isn't too loud, good for meeting friends after work. Attentive bartender the time I sat at the bar for happy hour with V.

The Strand (Books)
12th St and Broadway
website | events calendar

//Notes: Props to Will for recommending the Stand. If you are taking a friend there, the Strand bookstore is a great place to meet up. They have an awesome section featuring New York books (both for tourists and NYCers alike). I went in before the holidays so they had nice holiday cards and calendars, too.

Pound & Pence Pub

2009-11-06T20:52:00.000-05:00

So I went to this pub with coworkers to celebrate someone's birthday. When the waitress came around to take drink orders, I asked her about the draft list and ordered a draft London Pride (excellent by the way). Next thing I know, people are asking me why I'm drinking dark beer. Maybe I haven't been paying attention, but apparently girls don't drink beers (even at a pub?), let alone dark beers. I look around and take in other women's orders: red wine (classy, especially with a smart dress), tea (they serve it in a small teapot, wow), and some other cocktails that I don't know the names of, and probably has some kind of fruity taste. I finally explained that I'm just more used to beers and that I don't know much about wine outside of merlot. Light beer is too light for me and Guinness is too foamy for me. and I haven't developed a taste for anything sweet (although my cousin did buy a case of Mike's Lemonade once...and after we went through it in a month I'd sworn off it forever).

Pound & Pence

55 Liberty St.

Between Nassau & Broadway

New York, NY 10005

website | drinks menu

My drink preference:
Yay List
any IPA, Brooklyn Lager, Brooklyn Oktoberfest, gin straight, gin&tonic, Bass, Smithwicks, Becks, high grade tequila, Sam Adams Regular, sherry (extra dry), port, cognac

Nay List
Bud, Corona, TsingTao (this is almost unavoidable at a Chinese restaurant but oh well), vodka (unavoidable at most parties and in most cocktails...argh), margaritas (I don't know why I never cared for them, esp salt rim and umbrella), rum and most rum cocktails. there's probably a huge list of sweet drinks here...most flavored vodkas and rums.

Fav Non-alcoholic
cranberry juice (it looks pretty! Hot Fuzz reference, anyone?), fruit juice with seltzer, coke (yup, I don't care what people say, it's good), coffee and baileys (o wait...it's a bit alcoholic).

The above list may make me out to be an alcoholic but the reality of the matter is, I was just lucky to try a variety of drinks out of curiosity on different occasions. I'm still looking for that perfect, safe drink to get when I go to a bar and can't decide what I want. Until then, more experimentation!

NY Autumn/Winter Guide 2009

2009-11-06T20:09:00.002-05:00

While I always try to update my summer fun guide, I want to stay motivated with my autumn/winter guide. The reason I combined them is that I always seem to miss Autumn in Central Park every year. The weather gets cold fast and the holidays are always so crowded. Once DST ends, you get 5pm sunsets if not earlier. So what is there to do? Some of these events already passed, but hopefully putting them here will make me remember them next year. Most events are annual.

Winter Events
Bryant Park Pond [link]
Free ice skating rink (If you bring your skates and a lock). Otherwise you can rent their skates and purchase locks. Try to catch it early because it gets really crowded around the holidays. I love outdoor ice skating rinks, and this one is in the middle of the city so you get nice city lights and swinging music. Also a bunch of holiday shops featuring interesting items.

Various Trees and Lightings
Rockefeller Center: The biggest. More lights than tree. Dec 2
Bryant Park: TBD. Nice ornaments and usually a photo op by the sponsor.
Lincoln Center: Nov 30. I only saw this tree once. It was blue that year.
Metropolitan Museum of Art: If you like medieval stuff, this tree is filled with classy medieval ornaments and angels.

New Find
Oyster Festival [link] EVENT PASSED
My cousin and I love oysters, especially ones from Tracks and Oyster Bar. I was browsing the LIRR trip deals when I found out about the Oyster Festival in Oyster Bay. While the festival is not what I imagined...I somehow imagined it to be a crazy showcase of million kind of oysters (kind of the chocolate show?). But it's more like a county fair (carnival type) with awesome seafood (and of course oysters). Some run-down of the seafood: Raw oysters from Oyster Bay (don't be scared of the line, so worth it!), soft shell crab sandwich (they take one whole crab, deep fry it, and put it between a bun, smells and tastes amazing), whole lobster dinners, chowder, gumbo, etc etc. Usually I don't expect fair food to include seafood, but these are amazing. If you take the LIRR and buy the LIRR Oyster Fair package, you get 3 oysters with your ticket. Sweet!

Free Concerts in Bryant Park EVENT PASSED
Two weeks in October Bryant Park set up a stage featuring performances and concerts. I happened to catch the Bargemusic one during a Wed and was surprised by all the

B&N Readings (NY Store Listings)
They are held indoors and you get pretty famous people in NYC. I saw Tracy Morgan and John Hodgman at the Union Square location. If you want to gift an autographed book to a friend or relative, this is a great place to check out. Otherwise the reading/discussion portion is free. I would advise you to go early and try for a front seat if you want to get your book signed earlier. The B&N near Lincoln Center has many performers passing through, probably right before a show in town.

Strand Books Readings (Calendar)
I haven't gone to any readings here but they have a lot of guests too!

Fall Favorites
Farmers Market
Pick up apples, pumpkins, cider, and other yummies. Union Square Green Market is year round M/W/Sat. Madison Square Park also had a small market setup this year for a few months. I learned what "urban pumpkin picking" entails: picking a pumpkin out of the pumpkin house (shelves make up the walls and pumpkins of all sizes line the shelves)

Pickle Day [link] EVENT PASSED
Small event in the parking lot area LES (hard to find...). I like pickles but I didn't realize how ridiculous it is to eat so many pickles in one day. I picked up a jar of horseradish pickles from Horman's. Excellent with roast beef and other sandwiches! Tried the smoked okras from Rick's but wasn't too impressed. I think it's better as an ingredient in salad or sandwich as opposed to eaten by itself. Their other pickles are much better. If you like pickles and don't have to venture too far to LES, definitely check it out next year.

Chocolate Show [link] EVENT PASSED
I went to it once and thought it was fabulous (blog entry). Besides different venders selling chocolate and offering free samples, you will see chocolate art, sculptures, fashion, and cooking demonstrations. May not be feasible to go every year but if you haven't gone at least once, grab a friend and check it out next year!

Halloween Parade [link] EVENT PASSED
Well, we all love the Village Parade. Not only do you see fantastic costumes, you see some creative ones too. I missed it this year but saw it online live stream [ny1]. Favorites include swine flu, vaccine, walk/no walk sign (by a couple), and Super Subway (like superman but cape and outfit made from subway cards).

Other Links
101 Fall Things by Time Out NY
http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/own-this-city/79341/101-things-to-do-in-new-york-city-in-the-fall
Ice Skating in NYC
http://gonyc.about.com/od/iceskatinginnyc/Ice_Skating_in_New_York_City.htm
Rainy Day Ideas
http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/own-this-city/75734/40-things-to-do-when-its-raining

Couple Costume Ideas

2009-10-15T23:33:00.000-04:00

Song (mp3) and Ipod
LP Cover and LP disc
Fail Whale and Tweet Bird
Coffee and Milk
Kanye West and Taylor Swift
Book and Kindle
MASH dude Hawkeye and nurse
Blue+Yellow=Green
Weezer albums
Photo and Ken Burns with Pan/zoom action

More TBA...just some ideas

Glee Songs

2009-10-11T21:53:00.002-04:00

Finally caught up with all the Glee episodes. Don't you hate watching the newest episode (after skipping two eps) and then finally watching the ones you missed? Luckily there hasn't been too many eps.

My comments/observations:
//Fav Female lead - either Sue (yea, weird right? she's just hilarious) or Rachel (when she's not going all puppy eyed for Finn)
//Least Fav Female lead - Quinn (she needs more story. right now she's just...ugh). and maybe Will's wife.
//Fav Male character - Kurt, Will (when he's not being manipulated by the wife) or Finn (when he's not all horndog and can't figure if he wants Rachel or Quinn or all the girls on the cheer squad)
//Least Fav Male lead - the crazy musical director...can't remember his name.
//Fav Song - Rehab, Gold Digger, Mercy, god there are so many good ones. Listen to them in the song list link below.

Some good links:
Wiki list of episodes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Glee_episodes
Song List (includes previews): http://www.gleesongs.com/
Glee on Hulu (catch up on the episodes you missed!) http://www.hulu.com/glee

I just need to find a good blog for the show now....Let me know if you know any good ones!

Beer and Love Drunk

2009-10-07T23:28:00.001-04:00

Spitzer's

101 Rivington St
New York, NY 10002
212.228.0027
website | beer menu
I probably need to keep a beer list somewhere so I will know what I've tried and liked...

Liked:
//Sword Swallower

Didn't like:
//Delirium Tremens: You may be seeing pink elephants but sure wasn't that great tasting.

No opinion:
//Watermelon Wheat: very strong watermelon aftertaste. otherwise not really notable.

"Love drunk" by Boys Like Girls

I used to be love drunk

Now I'm hungover

I love you forever

Forever is over

We used to kiss all night

Now it's just a barfight

So don't all me crying

Say hello to goodbye

Last.fm track

Lyrics

I thought this song was catchy and happy, then I looked up the lyrics and found out it's an angry breakup song! Still catchy though.

"Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga

I'm your biggest fan

I'll follow you until you love me

Papa-paparazzi

Baby there's no other superstar

You know that I'll be your

Papa-paparazzi

Last.fm track

I've liked this for a long time but probably didn't jot down the lyrics.

"Obsessed" by Mariah Carey

You're delusional, you're delusional

Boy you're losing your mind

It's confusin yo, you're confused, you know

Why you wasting your time?

Got you all fired up with your Napoleon complex

See right through you like you're bathin' in Windex

Last.fm track

Finally I'd like to say that Mariah managed to make the biggest diss song a top hit. and it's catchy too.

Statue of Liberty

2009-09-27T17:51:00.000-04:00

I finally made it to Statue of Liberty despite living and working rather close to it. Most locals have taken visiting friends and relatives to the famous Liberty Island, but apparently I haven't hosted enough tourists.

I can't even remember how I found out about the special night event. Probably from a newspaper. Basically, the Statue Cruises company had two special nights in September where they had boats going to Liberty Island for special night tours. I was surprised the tickets were not sold out when I looked on the website a week prior. I bought a pair tickets for J. and me.

The directions said we needed to go through airport security level of checks before boarding the boat, so we arrived at the entrance in Battery Park quite early. The sun was about to set and without sunglasses I was practically blinded by the light. Our tickets got marked off and we were directed to place our belongings in plastic containers that went through the x-ray machines. Luckily, we didn't have to take our shoes off. The whole process took a few minutes and we boarded the boat smoothly.

Once we got on the boat we climbed to the top level, which is the best place to grab photos and to take in the scenary. We got comfortable on the benches and were soon surrounded by people taking photos. I had some trouble getting a clear shot of the skyscrapers behind us. Once we got near the statue (face-on), everyone went crazy for photos. The sun was setting so the photos came out quite well with those pretty clouds.

Upon arrival, we headed straight to the cafe. The meal options were quite good compared to many tourist spots I've visited. Our tickets came with a meal voucher so we could have one entree and one drink. Passing the sodas, I saw a row of specially marked Statue of Liberty bottles. On the inside of the bottle there is a colored print of the statue which is magnified by the water. I decided to get it for drinking and as a souvenior.

I don't know about the capacity of the cafe seating during the day when the crowd is larger. For the evening, we were able to grab a nice table near a tree outside, with a view of the sunset and the Verrazano Bridge. The most romantic spot to eat a bacon cheeseburger and fries, ever!

After food, we walked around the island to the Statue of Liberty. I always thought it'd be bigger than it actually is. Maybe because I always see it from airplanes and tall buildings and afar. The torch and crown are the most impressive parts because they are so bright up close. The hand holding the book looks bigger than it should be. Granted, I guess the woman who was modeling it must have been really buff. You have to look closely at the arm holding the torch next time you're there. With so many floodlights, it's no surprise that the statue is visible from miles away. To get a night photo is difficult, I basically had to stand near the floorlights and get my photo taken.

Lights of midtown, the Empire State Building, and the long Verrazano Bridge are all visible from Liberty Island. If you toss a couple of quarters in the binoculars machine you can take a closer look at them. The wind blasting across the island made it pretty chilly to walk around. I can only imagine how cold people are during the winter when they visit the statue.

In the clearing, NPS had set up a screen where they were showing excerpts from Ken Burns's National Parks documentary. If you have ridden the subways, you have probably seen huge ads for this program. J. and I are both fans of his, although I didn't know Ken Burns until he spoke at my graduation and J. had known Ken Burns through PBS documentaries a long time ago. We both love to watch his stuff and point out the spots where he pans and zooms in on a still-photo. On the particularly night where we went to Statue of Liberty, we braved the wind and watched clips of the national park and interviews with park rangers. I bought two cups of hot cocoa when it got too chilly. They worked well as hand warmers too! I hope I get to go visit more national parks in the future.

On a sidenote, my birthday cake this year was one of the best ever, even though I ate it a day later after having dinner out with family. The cake was a custom order from Gabriel's Fountain, a restaurant that also made home-made ice cream. It was a two layer ice cream cake with fudge in between. Top layer was vanilla oreo and bottom was chocolate peanut butter swirl. They topped the cake with oreo bits and wrote the birthday message in light blue. I wish I had ordered a bigger cake because it was so delicious! If you're a fan of ice cream cake, you should call your local ice cream place and customize your next cake with your favorite flavors. It may be a bit more expensive than the regular ready-made ones you can pick up, but it's totally worth it.

Maple Fig Chicken

2009-09-20T22:55:00.001-04:00

Ingredients
-chicken breast (I bought a pack that had each breast separated into several pieces)
-Maple Grove Farm's Maple Fig dressing
-a squeeze of lemon juice
-bread crumb (the kind I used had a garlic/herb mix)

Directions
1. Place chicken breast, a few tablespoon of dressing and a squeeze of lemon juice in a ziploc bag, shake it up and marinade for one hour or more in the fridge.
2. Take out chicken, dip each piece in bread crumb and place on baking sheet
3. Broil for 12 minutes on 400F (I used a toaster oven, so I had to leave the door open a crack to let out steam), flip chicken over halfway through cooking process.
4. Cut up a piece of chicken to see if it's done.
5. Serve by itself or with pasta!

Notes
So I didn't realize you can use dressing as marinade...well, a first time for everything right?! I looked at a chicken fingers recipe for inspiration. The chicken was sweet and fragrant, with a bit of savory from the bread crumbs. J. and I ate chicken with some tri color corkscrew pasta, which was very pretty. Then we had some St. Peter's Organic English Ale. [info here] I'm not sure how English Ale is supposed to taste but it was light. The bottle is quite a collector's item. If you're good you can find ways to use this work of art.

Beer & Cheese

2009-09-20T22:30:00.000-04:00

J. moved to a new apt earlier this summer (see move in entry) and finally got a chance to throw an apt-warming party. It was also an official party to celebrate Beatles Rock Band.

The game was awesome, but I'm not here to give a lengthy review. Before we got to the main celebration, J. and I created a little platter to get started:
-Garlic Hummus (with a generous shake of the paprika bottle)
-Tam Tams [see company entry] (they are crackers, of course you need crackers with cheese!)
-Fuji, Gala, and Roma apple slices (I happened to have 3 different apples, yay)
-Brie cheese (the runny kind)
-Drink of choice was Brooklyn Brewery's Oktoberfest

After watching Ratatouille (the animated movie about a gourmet rat), I've been very keen to try different food combinations. When J. suggested that we do a beer&cheese, I figured apples would go well with the beer and cheese. Since it is currently autumn, the prime season for apples, and also the season for oktoberfest beer, the combination idea came quite naturally. When I tried it, I put a bit of brie on the cracker, and then a slice of apple. Take the whole thing and eat. Then sip a bit of beer, and wait for the magic to happen. Our guest recommended apples with hummus. The salty garlic paprika hummus actually goes quite well with the crisp sweet apples.

According to the Brooklyn Brewery webpage, the original Brooklyn Lager can be paired with Aged Cheddar. IPA with Asian food. and Oktoberfest with roasted food. I guess everyone can get creative when it comes to pairing beer with food.

On Technology

2009-09-15T21:54:00.000-04:00

So the strangest thing happens today when I signed on to tokbox (app that combines gchat, msn, aim, etc). I get an IM from a friend that I haven't spoken to in ages. Now I find out we're living in the same town.

Although many people swear by facebook and AIM, I got on the facebook wagon way late. I spent way too much time on AIM in high school so I vowed to skip AIM all together in college. It may sound weird but on my college campus in DC, most of us lived rather close to each other and frequently had campus events to go to. I didn't start using AIM again until I was working on my thesis. O if only I saved those late night IM sessions where I was complaining about life. Good old days.

Then once I started working, I noticed that many of my friends have gotten too busy to write/IM/etc. In turn I also checked facebook and AIM less. Granted, most people now have smartphones and are "always online". But it's disappointing when I message them: they never respond.

The one thing that connected my friends and I after graduation is actually meeting in person. We would grab food or drinks, or go to events around NYC together. As for my friends in DC, if I visited DC or they visited me, we would always arrange outings to catch up.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, even with all the social networking sites such as facebook, linkedin, and apps like AIM and gchat, sometimes it really takes a few meetings in person to really catch up with friends. I can passively read blogs or browse photos on facebook, but they can't replace talking to a real person.

Radio Stations

2009-08-28T21:26:00.006-04:00

With ipod, itunes and xm radio, sometimes we forget there's real radio out there. I find that especially in metro areas like NY and DC, where people tend to take public transit without radio signal, people do not get to listen to the radio as much.

The good thing is, most of the regular radio stations today have an online radio program too. I want to share some of my favorites in the NY/NJ metro area. You can listen to them by turning to the dial or online:

//101.9 RXP. Rock/Alternative (web) Probably my favorite station. You can also call in for requests. Depending on the hour, you will hear great rock classics or new hits. I found out about many new rock acts through this station (Kings of Leon, Silversun Pickups, etc). Also one of the only channels that will reliably play Smashing Pumpkins. Go Pumpkins!

//93.9 WNYC. NPR/News/Classical Music (web) I almost wish I drive a car to work so I can listen to the morning news on this channel.
//105.9 WQXR. Classical Music (web)

//Alternate Side. Indie/Alternative/Local (online only) I found out about this channel through WFUV 90.3. Amazing music and features local bands too. More on the indie/college radio side. If you're not in touch with the local scene you'll probably feel lost listening to this channel. But it's also a good place to pick up new and music you won't hear anywhere else.

//100.3 Z100. Hits/Top 40. (web) Although people complain that Z100 is too repetitive, it's actually my first exposure to "pop". For that reason, it'll always be special. If you ever feel out of loop, tune to Z100 for a few hours, you'll be singing the Top40 in no time.
//103.5 KTU. More Upbeat/Dance Top40. (web) If you don't hear Britney and Lady Gaga within an hour, you should probably check your dial.
//92.3 NOW. More HipHop/R&B/Top 40. (web)

Nowadays radio is getting too complicated. I actually use an oldschool radio where you have to turn a dial to scan the different channels. It's much more efficient. and trust me, I have the dials memorized by location (without digital displays). I also recommend a portable radio (maybe part of an old alarmclock that nobody uses) that you can move to various rooms with ease. You can listen at the dining table or while you cook. You can listen while you fold laundry. You can also listen while you're surfing the internet and blogging. (I'm listening to 101.9 rxp on my alarm radio as I write this. they played the new Weezer single so I'm happy).

Flushing Mall Sizzling Plates

2009-08-02T23:47:00.003-04:00

Flushing Mall Food Court Area: Ay Chung

Dishes: Pork Chop, Sizzling Beef (pic)

The best pork chop places I have had in a while. the beef is quite good too, and not overdone (wow). Short walk from the subway station on Main St.

The way lines work is this:

1. pay cashier (separate person than food court person)

2. wait for your order

3. if you want a drink, also pay cashier and show receipt to the drinks station (different stall)

4. wait some more (yes, it's worth it)

5. your number is called, and you are presented with a wooden plate with a sizzling plate.

6. Eat the egg before it cooks too much!

7. Dig in to the meat

8. The soups and noodle side dishes are ok, but meat is the main attraction!

9. I still don't get the potato salad thing...it's just too mashed. and weird.

Note: It's definitely better to eat above dishes for dinner. Unless you're really hungry during lunch and want to deal with the mad crowd.

Tuna Pasta with Green Beans

2009-08-02T20:58:00.000-04:00

I've always liked Rachel Ray's recipes and her show on Food Network. The other day I saw her talk show where she made this recipe. Watching a cooking show always inspires me to cook. She made it look so easy!

Website:

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/tuna-nicoise-casserole/

I made some modification to the recipe, namely, no anchovies and no "golden" brown casserole top in the oven (for presentation mostly anyway). Skipping the step makes the recipe so much quicker to prepare and eat!.

Ingredients (serves 2)

Salt

1/2 pound medium shell pasta (we used pipette)

1/6 pound skinny French green beans ("haricots verts"), cut in half (you can add more green beans if you want, I used about half a pound actually)

1/8 cup EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil (enough to coat bottom of pan generously)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped or grated

3/2 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup dry white wine (i used white cooking wine)

1/2 cup heavy cream (i used whole milk)

3/4 cups chicken stock

Ground black pepper

1 can of 5-6oz of tuna fish packed in oil, flaked (i used packed in water kind)

1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

a handful of pitted Niçoise olives, chopped (this is optional depending on what kind of olives you like and how much you can handle, etc. I used about 10....too many!)

Directions

[A. green beans]

1. boil water, drop beans in pot

2. cook for 3 min. drain and leave aside.

[B. pasta]

1. boil water, add salt, cook according to package directions (my box said 8 min)

2. drain pasta, leave it in pot

[C. sauce]

1. heat pan, add oil

2. add garlic, cook for a few mins.

3. add flour, cook for a minute.

4. add wine, reduce in half

5. stir in milk and stock, season with salt and pepper

6. bring liquid to bubble, and cook until thickened. about 5 min

[all together!]

1. stir in tuna (flaked) and green beans to the sauce, cook for a min.

2. add sauce to pot with pasta

3. add cheese and olives, stir, toss to combine

Note:

This is a great way to get your fish, dairy, grains, and veggie all in one go! I like how the crunchy green beans really soak up the creamy sauce and tuna flavors. I found that black olives did not work as well with the dish, so I'd recommend the green kind (we got assorted olives, some stuffed with cheese).

Banana Muffins

2009-07-23T21:13:00.003-04:00

I've always liked banana nut bread. This recipe comes pretty close to that. I first saw the recipe on Food Network and thought it looked simple enough.

Ingredients (original recipe was for 18 muffins, I adjusted for 6)

-2 ripe bananas, peeled and coarsely mashed

[below in one bowl]

-1 cup flour

-1/3 tsp baking soda

-1/6 tsp baking powder

-1/3 tsp salt

-1/6 tsp cinnamon (or just eye it and pour)

-1/6 tsp nutmeg (basically a pinch or so)

[below in separate bowl]

-1/3 cup oil

-1 egg

-1/3 tsp vanilla extract

-2/3 cups sugar (I used about 1/2 cup actually, or at most 3/4, it's plenty sweet)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.

2. Combine the first bowl of dry ingredients

3. Combine the wet ingredients (oil, egg, vanilla) with sugar, beat well.

4. Add bananas in batches to wet ingredient bowl while you stir.

5. Add dry ingredients slowly to wet bowl, a batch at a time while you stir.

6. Mix well, but don't overmix.

7. Divide batter into 6 muffin cups.

8. Bake for around 25 min.

9. Cool muffins on rack before eating. You can frost them according to original recipe or just eat them as they are.

Notes:

The moist banana bits inside the muffin taste wonderful. I think this would make a yummy breakfast treat. Next time I may add some crushed walnuts and chocolate chips just for fun. I've never baked with oil before so the result surprised me. It was actually quite good! My previous blueberry muffin recipe used butter and milk.

Sweet and Sour Daikon Pickle

2009-07-23T21:01:00.003-04:00

In the summer sometimes I need a cold and refreshing appetizer to go with my meal. Daikon pickle should be familiar to those who have visited Bon Chon (Korean Fried Chicken) before. They usually give a side dish of those pickles.

The recipe below is from NY Times. Feel free to adjust the vinegar and sugar as needed.

Ingredients

-daikon (one medium size, peeled and cut into whatever shape you like, I did rectangular strips)

-1 tsp salt

-2 tsp sugar + 1/2 cup sugar (in separate measuring devices)

-1+1/4 cup of white rice vinegar (or regular white vinegar)

Directions

1. Rub daikon strips with 1 tsp salt and 2 tsp sugar. Knead vigorously until you get some water out of them. I recomend a plastic sandwich bag to cover your hand so you don't get too much salt/sugar on you.

2. Wash daikon gently to get rid of salt/sugar. drain well. Place them in a big bowl/dish.

3. Combine 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 1/4 cup of vinegar, and 1 cup of lukewarm water. Stir well to dissolve sugar.

4. Pour mix over daikon. Cover dish and let sit for at least 1 hour before refridgerating.

5. Drain liquid before eating. Serve cold.

Notes: I didn't use carrots as directed by the recipe. You can obviously try it out with carrot and other pickel friendly recipe. This isn't a salty pickle, more of a sweet and sour pickle.

Pasta in a Can

2009-07-19T16:52:00.002-04:00

Looking for a change from your normal tomato based pasta sauce? Have too many cans of soup sitting at home? Try this recipe! Inspired by my cousin K. I like using beef soup because the soup by itself tends to be salty, but with pasta it's just right.

Ingredients

-dry pasta (I used the Barilla thin spaghetti)

-salt

-can of soup (I used Progresso beef roast with vegetables), skim off the fat on top with a spoon

-mushrooms and/or other fresh veggies (optional) cut into chunks

-Italian seasoning

-pepper

-cheese topping (optional)

Directions

1. Boil water in pot, add some salt.

2. Cook pasta according to package direction, minus a few minutes. i.e. my pack says 6-7 min, I took them out to drain after 5 minutes.

3. In another pot (or same one after you take out pasta), heat up the can of soup.

4. Place pasta inside soup and cook for a few minutes. Add mushrooms and vegetables and Italian seasoning.

5. Try the pasta to make sure it's the right consistency for you. Cook soup until most of the water evaporates, leaving a nice sauce at the bottom.

6. Serve with pepper and cheese!

Notes:

I guess if you're not worried about overstarching your soup, you can cook dry pasta right in it for 6-7 minutes. When I was looking up the brand of pasta and soup that I used, I found a bunch of recipes! Check them out below.

Other resources:

Progresso Recipes http://www.progressofoods.com/?View=RecipeIdeas/SignatureRecipes

Barilla Sauce Pairing http://www.barillaus.com/home/Pages/Perfect_Pairing.aspx

Barilla Videos http://www.barillaus.com/home/Pages/Video_Cooking_Tips.aspx

Barilla Recipes http://www.barillaus.com/home/Pages/recipes__cooking.aspx

Steamed Whole Fish

2009-07-15T20:03:00.004-04:00

Cooking fish is always a big deal in my family when it comes to special occasions. There was no special occasion today. I just wanted some fresh fish. Luckily, I live close to a few markets with fresh fish. Now, this is kind of embarrassing, but I didn't know what kind of fish I bought until later. My fish vocabulary is very limited in both Chinese and English. After I cooked it, ate it, and decided to blog, I looked up the fish.

According to this site, I believe I had a trout. Update: apparently it was a sea bass. Anyhow, the method is mostly Chinese (video from this site), with one twist. One day I was in the cookbook aisle of the library and I just happened to find a book on cooking fish. In the book was a recipe that was either baking or steaming a whole fish. Anyway, they used lemon slices and various herbs. So today I wanted to use a bit of lemon too just to see what the result is.

Ingredients

-one fresh whole fish, around a pound, scaled and gutted (thankfully the fish cleaner does this for me). Always use fresh fish for steaming. If your fish isn't fresh try a different fish recipe (frying works on everything usually).

-salt

-pepper

-rice wine, or some other cooking wine

-scallion (one or two whole scallion and a bunch shredded)

-2 or 3 lemon (my own twist!, this is optional)

- ginger, some slices, some julienned

[below for oil topping]

-oil (optional, I skipped this step)

[below for sauce]

-soy sauce

-1/2 tbsp sugar (to taste)

-salt

-pepper

-a few tbsp water

Directions

1. Clean fish when you get home, scrape off any scales that the store person may have missed.

2. Cut 2 or 3 slits into both side of the fish, this helps flavor and steam process

3. Rub salt on both side of the fish, as well as inside. Repeat with pepper. Then repeat with a bit of rice wine. Let sit for a while.

4. Fill inside of fish with ginger slices, scallion pieces, and lemon slice halves.

5. Cut whole scallion in two, put a few of these halves on a large plate/dish (big enough for whole fish), then put the fish on top. The scallions will help fish steam since it gives a bit of space under the fish.

6. Get your steamer ready. I use a regular pan with a steamer layer. Fill bottom with water and turn on the heat. Put plate with fish inside steamer. Cover.

7. When water boils, turn heat to medium, steam around 6-7 minutes or more depending on thickness of fish.

- - -

Finishing and Presentation!

1. While the fish is steaming, mix ingredients for sauce.

2. After fish finishes steaming, take it out of the steamer. Top with shredded scallion and ginger.

3. (optional) Heat oil in a pan, pour on top of fish

4. Heat sauce in a pan, pour sauce all over fish

Note: So I discovered that while lemon slices didn't do too much for fish (except maybe neutralize odors for kitchen?), when it combined with the sauce later, the sauce took on a citrus flavor. Take it as a kind of hot and sour fish soup as you will. Delicious! The bottom side of fish got a bit of lemon on it, which is pretty cool.

Resources:

Guide to cooking live fish http://tipnut.com/cooking-fish/

ID edible fish http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Fish/Types%20of%20Fish.htm

Steam fish recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ming-tsai/whole-steamed-fish-recipe/index.html

Cola Ribs

2009-07-13T18:01:00.003-04:00

Craving something sweet and meaty? Have some cola sitting around the house? Try this recipe.

Watch the instructional video here (note, it's in Chinese, but you can take a look to see what the different steps should look like)

Ingredients

-short ribs (I used about a pound, which was about 5-6 ribs)

-1~1.5 cups of cola (enough to cover the ribs when you cook them)

-cooking oil (about half inch deep)

-sliced ginger

-pinch of salt

-1 tbsp sugar (optional)

-1 tbsp rice wine vinegar, or other cooking wine (I used Chinese vinegar, you can probably use a bit of whatever is in the house)

-2 tbsp cooking wine

-scallion (optional)

-minced or sliced garlic

-chicken stock/flavoring (optional)

Directions

1. First cut the ribs into halves, if this is difficult you can skip the step.

2. Wash ribs and then put them in a pot of water on high heat.

3. When water boils, take pot off of the stove, wash ribs clean in another bowl of cold water.

4. Heat oil in pan/wok, put one star anise (if you have it) in the oil. I didn't have star anise so I just put some Chinese spice mix (5 spice, I think star anise is included). Also add ginger slices.

5. Once you get the spices and oil going, add the ribs (drain them carefully and dab with paper towel before you add them to hot oil!). Add rice wine and some salt. Stir often, for around 5 minutes, until ribs start to brown. Be careful and don't burn them.

6. After ribs start to brown, pour out excess oil from pan, leaving just a bit to keep the pan oiled.

7. Add cola to pan, sugar (if you have a sweet tooth), vinegar, and a bit of chicken stock/flavoring

8. After cola stock boils, cover the pan for another 5 minutes (or longer if you want thicker sauce).

9. Add scallion and garlic, stir around a bit more, and turn off the heat.

Notes:

I have seen many cola rib recipes that take too long (baking, grilling, etc) but this one seems to do the trick nicely. I love how sweet and juicy the meat is. Fairly simple to do too.

Here are the other reipes if you're curious.

Baking: http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Cook-Short-Ribs-in-Cola-126604602

Grilling: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bbq-with-bobby-flay/cola-ribs-recipe/index.html

One Night Only

2009-07-10T04:10:00.003-04:00

You & Me

People say I only hear what I want to
That much is true
People say I only see what I want to
So why do I see you

You and me equality
That’s how it should be you and me

People say I creep you out
No understanding no cash in hand
But all I see is apparently
What do they know about you and me

Lover just maybe come over jack it up

The lyrics may not strike you at first but the music is great. Go check it out on their myspace site. I found this band called One Night Only after humming the song from the Ashton Kutcher movie trailer (Spread, I think?) At first, I thought they sounded like the Kooks (must be the British accent?). Obviously after listening to more of their songs, I noticed the two bands are totally differnet. Anyway, since they're indie, I can't even find their music anywhere. They're listed in the UK Itunes, does that mean I can buy the mp3s if I'm willing to shell out pounds?

There was a youtube video on their myspace where they performed for Burberry in NYC and toured the city. Isn't it interesting to see NYC through the eyes of young people from outside the U.S.? I'm sure they are not being stopped in the streets by crazy mobs yet. I hope they do decide to cross the pond at some point though. Would love to see them live!

Other resources:

Official Site http://www.onenightonlyonline.com/

Last.fm http://www.last.fm/music/One+Night+Only

Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/onenightonlyonline

BBQ and Fireworks

2009-07-06T21:04:00.004-04:00

Independence Day weekend came and went. Luckily we had beautiful weather in Long Island. J. and I visited Jones Beach and ate out a few times, including a memorable a BBQ place which is reviewed below. There was a county wide carnival where I managed to get my hands on some fresh cotton candy, combination of blue and pink. This was a big deal because I used to wait in line for hours for free cotton candy at various school events. I was not as adventurous with the rides. When I was younger I always bought the wristbands for unlimited rides. Now I'm not as interested in them. We checked out the beautiful Ferris wheel (overlooking green treetops and small buildings) and a small dragon roller coaster (complete with Chinese palace facade). The last few tickets were spent on my ride on the carousel. Food and rides aside, the carnival also had a petting zoo with giraffes, zebras and llamas. I think the carnival is best viewed at night, when all the rides light up and spin to the music.

Famous Dave's

Find the nearest location

The one we went to had a week long lunch special (website's lunch special is only for M-F). There was also a brunch buffet that looked decent since it was a Sunday. I ordered the lunch special two meats combo with green beans. The two meats I picked were spareribs and beef brisket. Next time I'm definitely ordering more ribs and maybe trying chicken or pulled pork. I thought the beef brisket was okay but not impressive. If you get the fries, do try them with the different BBQ sauces!

update (8/2009): got the feast for two platter with ribs and pulled pork, definitely great for 3 people to share. and I liked the pulled pork more than their beef brisket. the chicken was amazing and everyone agreed.

I've summarized the different BBQ sauces below.

1. Rich and Sassy: Tomato based with plenty of molasses. My favorite one. Goes perfectly with ribs and beef and fries and everything else on your plate.

2. Texas Pit: Smokey and good. Black Pepper gives it a kick.

3. Devil's Spit: Supposed to the spiciest one. J. and I both agreed it wasn't that spicy. But tastes pretty good.

4. Sweet and Zesty: Self-explanatory

5. Georgia Mustard: the only vinegar based sauce. Tangy and lighter than the tomato based sauces.