Halloween!

After the Boy's family left Manhattan for Connecticut, we had about an hour and a half to get ready for a the Boy's friend's Halloween party in White Plains. Since I was used to sleeping in on the weekends, I needed a nap. About 5 minutes after getting back into the apt, the Boy and I just crashed. This was supposed to be a half hour nap since we needed to change into our costumes and catch a train at a very specific time to make it into White Plains on time.

Of course, we overslept by about 30 minutes and decided to catch a cab to the Metro North train station instead of the subway. It was probably because it was near Halloween on a Saturday night, but we couldn't catch a cab at all. They were all either off duty or already carrying people. Ten cabs must have passed us by before we gave up and took a bus to Harlem to catch the Metro North train.

The bus was painfully slow in getting us to the station. We pretty much arrived at the stop near the station right around the time that the train was scheduled to leave. In a last ditch effort to try to catch the train, the Boy and I ran full force, but just missed the train. It must have been an interesting sight. We were the only two Asian people in the area, half dressed in costume, and running like there was no tomorrow down the street.

We waited for about 20 minutes and caught another train which dropped us off in White Plains so that we were an hour late for the party. Everyone was dressed up in a variety of costumes. The host was dressed as an Hesitic (?) Jew and the hostess as a sexy army girl. One couple was Popeye and Olive Oil, and a couple of guys had colorful Afro wigs and were wearing very little clothes otherwise. The Boy dressed up as a mutual friend whose clothes they usually made fun of (he dresses very trendy) and put on vampire fangs. I was an Asian blonde.

As a side note, Asians were born with dark hair for a reason - I looked horrible as a blonde. The combination of dark eyes and brows with Asian features looked terrible with my blonde bob. But at least I had an excuse whenever I said anything dumb. My old roommate and good friend used to always say that if I were born white, I'd be blonde.

But it was a pretty fun night. The Boy's friends did a pretty good job decorating their apartment for Halloween. They had a fog machine that made it really smoky, too. Later in the night when everyone was drunk enough we played Taboo for about an hour.

At midnight, the Boy and I morphed into pumpkins and left. We had to be up at a reasonable hour to meet the Boy's relatives for day 2 of our Manhattan tour.

Tour Guide For a Weekend

The Boy and I played tour guide for a day on Saturday, as the Boy's aunt, uncle, cousins and their babies dropped by for a visit. The weather was cold and windy, but at least it wasn't raining. We hit up all of the touristy sites: Times Square, Fifth Avenue, Saint Patrick's Cathedral, The Rockefeller Center, Trump Towers, and The Empire State Building. This was my third time going up to the top of the Empire State Building. I'm embarrassed to say that I never get sick of the touristy stuff. It was pretty fun showing everyone around. Along the way somewhere along Fifth Avenue in Midtown, we ran across a street fair and checked it out for a while. I ended up buying another colorful scarf.

By the end of the day, the Boy and I were beat. It's not easy going around the city with both a 1 and 3 year old. They're cute, but tiring. When the 1 year old isn't in the stroller (which is a pain to lug up and down subway stairs and just as much of a pain trying to get through crowds), you're carrying her. One-year olds don't really cling to you, so your arms have to support all of the weight. I carried the one-year old for about 15 minutes and had to hand her back. Meanwhile, you have to keep an eye on the 3 year old. Her hands were all over the place. She was touching the poles on the subways, dusting off the railings in Times Square with her fingers, crawling on floor at the Baby Gap, etc. At one point, we were in a souvenir shop in the Trump Towers. The 1 year old came up to me and handed me a magnet. How sweet! The 1 year old was trying to interact with me. As I went to the magnet stand to put it back, I noticed a pile of magnets on the floor right under the stand. So, as I tried to put the magnets back on one by one, the 1 year old continued to rip them off the stand and drop them on the floor. Meanwhile, the 3 year old had her eye on a packet of Twizzler tidbits hidden in the back row of an assorted snack rack. To get to Twizzler candy, you have to remove all of the snacks hanging in front of it. The 3 year old handed me snack after snack until she got to the Twizzler bites, only to find out that her mom didn't approve. She got gummy bears instead, and I put all of the snacks back onto the rack.

Although the kids were a handful, the Boy and I had a pretty good time with them. Their parents were exhausted. Conversation with the 3 Year old on the subway ride back:

3 Year Old (taking hands off the subway pole): LANYtransplant, do you want a gummy bear?

Me: No thanks, sweetie.

3 Year Old: Oh, come on! Just try it!

Me: That's O---

(3 Year old shoves a gummy bear along with all of Manhattan's germs into my mouth).

Me: Mmmm! Thank you.

End of tour for today.

Hip Hop Chow

Two of my friends' birthdays are a few days apart this month. One of them lives on the West Coast, so I mailed a birthday card and gift certificate out. Hopefully it will get to her on time. I'm fine with remembering birthdays, but a total last minute shopper so when factoring in the amount of time it takes to reach the other coast, it's inevitable that I'll be late.

The other friend and crew went out to dinner at a Chinese Soul Food restaurant called Hip Hop Chow in the Lower East Side to celebrate. It's a strange concept - Southern soul food with a Chinese twist. I ordered an orange glazed duck with bok choy and jasmine rice. Most of the guests ordered the fried chicken with mac n cheese. The Boy ordered cornmeal crusted catfish and swapped half of his dish with another friend who ordered the black bean catfish with Chinese long beans. So, I guess the dishes don't really mix Chinese and Soul food. It's more of either you get a fusion tasting dish or just plain soul food.

Dessert - lychee ice cream with cookies- was the best part as always!

Changing Plans

This weekend, the Boy's relatives were supposed to visit. We'd planned to take them around to a bunch of touristy sites since it was their first time in the city (Fifth Avenue, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building, Central Park, Chinatown, Little Italy, etc...). But at the last minute, their baby got a bad ear infection and couldn't be on a plane, so the Boy came up with a new sightseeing itinerary for me. Aww, how sweet! Either that, or a response to my incessant talk about a foliage trip. This year's foliage supposedly isn't too good because of how long summer lasted. So, we decided to stay close by in Connecticut instead of being disappointed with a long drive and so-so scenery.

Saturday morning came, and it was pouring. Since Sunday was supposed to be clear, we pushed our drive to the next day. We ran errands on Saturday instead (going to the grocery and drug stores, browsing Pier One and other Home stores for new curtains, etc.). The highlight of my day was getting a cute jacket at the GAP. It wasn't the white wool coat that I was looking for, but it was a good, warm casual jacket. Not much else going on other than watching Memento from Netflix.

Sunday was a much nicer day, but cold. We took a train to Stamford, Connecticut and then a taxi to the Boy's work to pick up his car. I saw his office for the first time - quite plush and cushy. His workplace is a dieter's nightmare. There were snacks just falling out of the kitchen cabinets. I couldn't keep my hands out of the almond jar or off of the other goodies lying around. There were nuts, mini chocolates, cookies, japanese cracker mixes, dried fruits, granola bars, cereal bars, and much more. All of these snacks were just peripheral to the real food. Lunch was ordered out individually for everyone daily along with fresh fruit platters, and DQ runs happened several times a week. No wonder the Boy never had much of an appetite for dinner.

We got the car and hit the local mall to find the white wool coat that I had been looking everywhere for. As usual, the sizes were off. I was so fixated on getting a coat that I wasn't really in the mood to buy anything else, but we browsed other stores anyway. Later, we took a stroll around Stamford and picked up some things at Trader Joe's since there isn't one in the city. It's so funny what a novelty hanging around suburbia becomes once you've lived in the city even for a short time.

The leaves were changing color in Stamford, and all along the drive to Hartford, I looked out the window to admire the crimson red, fiery orange and bold yellow colors hanging off the trees. It was definitely a gorgeous sight to see.

It was roughly 3:30PM by the time we got to Hartford. We were hoping that there would be some nice foliage at Yale, but the leaves were completely green. No colors here at all. The Boy's friend recommended Frank Pepe's pizza since it has a reputation of making the best pizza ever. I sort of rolled my eyes at this because every pizza joint makes "the best pizza ever." It was 3:30PM on a Sunday and chilly outside. When we pulled up to the parking lot, there was a huge line outside. Frank Pepe's is an actual sit-down restaurant where families order full size pizzas for dinner. I don't think they sell slices. This place was so popular that their waiting area couldn't accomodate all of their waiting customers. A line formed along the block and into the parking lot. Right next door was their sister shop, The Spot, which they opened to accomodate more people, and there was a wait there, too.

The Boy and I each waited in a different pizzeria with our cell phones ready to call the other over depending on who got a seat first. A table at The Spot opened up faster, so that's where we ended up. The pizza was the best I had eaten! The Boy was a bit disappointed that they were out of clams. He really wanted me to try the clam pizza which is what he had during a previous visit with a friend. We'll definitely have to go back for that!

After driving around the Yale campus a bit (it was too cold to comfortably walk around), we headed off to IKEA to look for some decorative curtains (which we didn't find) before heading back to the city.

Twilight Harbor Cruise

On Sunday evening, the Boy and I did a touristy thing. We went on the Circle Line's twilight harbor cruise around the lower half of Manhattan. We had gone on the Circle Line's daytime cruise two summers ago when we were both tourists. The description on the twilight cruise was a bit different from the one we had gone on before because the boat would sail along the Hudson river, turn the tip of the island and sail along the East river, passing under the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges. You'd see the city lit up at night under the stars...a very romantic description. The day cruise supposedly would just pass by downtown to see the skyline, Statue of Liberty and Staten Island.

It was a really windy night. Everyone was bundled up with hair blowing all over the place. The night sky was really clear, and the city looked beautiful lit up at night. But sights-wise, we could hardly tell the difference between this cruise and the last one we took. The commentator paid so much attention to the various skyline buildings, Statue of Liberty and Jersey sights that the Boy and I had no idea we were on the Hudson. But, the bridges and city lights did look very nice at night.

Sunny Saturday

The weatherman said that it would pour today. It poured yesterday and all week long. Before all of the rain, the Boy and I were planning on driving to Massachusetts somewhere to see the foliage. But because it poured on Friday and was supposed to pour again today, the Boy left his car in Connecticut to avoid mad traffic since we decided to cancel our foliage drive.

Saturday morning came, and it was bright and sunny - not a drop of rain all day! I was slightly peeved. But, we weren't going to waste a nice, sunny day by staying inside. So, off we went to check out 'Alphabet City' on the Lower East Side.

They call it 'Alphabet City' because the streets are named by letters of the alphabet. It's an artsy area with a bunch of boutique shops. We spent most of the day ducking in and out of shops and browsing through the merchandise before having an early dinner at a local Indian restaurant.

Then we went home and watched our next Netflix movie, "Kung Foo Hustle." The Boy slipped it into the queque. It's a stupid movie. Don't ever rent it.

New York Vintage Wine Bar

It's a little past 6:30PM on a rainy Thursday night at the New York Vintage Wine Bar in Soho, and in walk two girlfriends for their weekly bonding outing.

Girl #1 (to the guy behind the counter): This is our first time at a wine bar, so you'll have to let us know how this works.

Wine sales guy tells us that it's $5 for 5 tastes and hands us a menu.

Girl #1 (to wine sales guy): Can you help me decide what to get? What's good? I like red wines in general.

Wine Sales Guy: Which red would you like to start out with?

Girl #2's thought bubble: Guess you decided to ignore the last question...

Girl #1: Um... this red looks interesting. Is it good?

Wine Sales Guy: No. It's crap.

Girl #1: Ok. Well, how about your "Dead Red" wine ?

Wine Sales Guy: Please! It's horrible. The wine came straight from the press and was never aged. "Dead Red?" - Halloween marketing gimmick!

Girl #2's thought bubble (laughing): Way to sell your wines!

Girl #1 (slightly annoyed): Alright, do you have anything in here that is good?

Wine Sales Guy: Don't get me wrong here. There's plenty of good stuff. I'll come up with a flight of 5 reds that you'll like. Girl #2, would you like the same?

Girl #2: No, sir. Gimme the sweet stuff!

So, we tried five different wines while chatting at the wine bar. While my friend tried some pinot noirs and cabs, I tried a white port, blueberry fruit wine, honey mead and a couple of less memorable sugary concoctions. I liked the blueberry wine so much that I bought a bottle.

Next, we were off to the restaurant-like part of the bar to chat over a snack and flight of wines. I ordered a flight of reislings with a bowl of toasted herb almonds to share, and my friend ordered a flight of reds. We both had dinner plans afterwards, so we were trying to save our appetites for later. After tasting 5 wines in the tasting room followed by three more half glasses of reisling, the almonds didn't do much to ward off a buzz. I was totally giddy!

I disappeared for a second to use the restroom, and when I came back, a chocolate soufflee magically appeared on our table. A figment of my drunken state of delirium? Nope! It was a gift on the house from our waiter and one of the perks of hanging out with my beautiful friend on a girl's night out.

So much for saving my appetite.

The Real Fall Changeover

Saturday:

It rained all day - poured actually. The weather was still a little humid. A little over a week ago we had one or two cold days, and I prematurely packed away my summer clothes and brought out my fall gear. I ended up taking my summer clothes right back out a couple of days later when it was so humid that my hair wouldn't dry at night even with a blowdryer. Gross! Anyway, this was the real last hot day. I stayed in, cleaned, napped and watched Kill Bill Vol.2 and SNL.

Sunday:

The rain went away and left behind chilly weather. The Boy and I went to a coffee shop to hang out. There's a couple of cool coffee houses in our area. DT/UT, which stands for Downtown Uptown was supposed to have a "Central Perk" on Friends feel. It's definitely a cozy place to hang out with a friend or two to chat and have a cup of coffee or tea. Mr. Rohr's coffee house, which is just down the street from it, is a better place to read or people watch. The Boy and I ended up staying there for a couple of hours. I finished Bringing Down the House, a true story about a bunch of MIT whiz kids who come up with a card counting scheme and make millions off of casinos all over the country.
Afterwards, the Boy and I headed downtown to the Century 21 department store to shop for coats. There were a lot of really nice, relatively inexpensive designer coats, but the sizes were huge and the place was a madhouse. So, we left and decided to walk towards Tribeca to find a place for dinner. We knew the general direction of where we should be going, but we didn't really know where we were going (at least I didn't, but what else is new?).
The walk was nice, and along the way, we stumbled across an architect's loft and workspace that was having an open house. It wasn't an open house because she was putting her place on the market - it was part of an annual program called Open House New York where various architectural design spots are open for the public to see. We hopped into the back of the line just in time, because we were the last ones allowed in. The place was really cool! I'd never been inside of a loft before. The lady designed the place, using whatever odds and ends she could find. She sawed off part of the second floor along with the beams that held it up and used the wood to make stairs and other things. The stairs had no railings - they were built along bookcases filled with books (her place was like a mini civic library) and attached to the bookcases at various places for support. This was definitely not a child friendly place. The bedroom on the second floor had a metal balcony with mesh floors and nothing but a couple of bars to "prevent" you from falling. The balcony overlooked a very aesthetically pleasing garden that used mirrors to bring light in. The bathroom was cool, although I'm not sure I'd like the lack of privacy too much. There was a glass wall that anyone could see through, and a cool sliding mirror that you could slide around to be in front of whichever sink you were using.
We ended up eating dinner in Chinatown and grocery shopping before heading home.

TGIF!

12:30PM: Lunch with a friend at the Aquagrill, known for really good seafood. I ordered the shucker's special which consisted of a bowl of manhattan clam chowder, half a dozen oysters and a mesculun salad. Mmm! The oysters were really fresh. My friend ordered a salmon sandwich which was also really delicious. I definitely recommend the Aquagrill to anyone who loves seafood.
9:00PM: The Boy and his friend finally stop by the apartment to pick me up for dinner. They told me they'd be over at 7:45PM. I was rushing to get home after work and clean myself up before they got here since I knew his friend wouldn't be able to find parking. I was starving.
9:30PM: Dinner at Cho Dang Gol in K-town. The lights were slightly dimmed and rock music was playing in the background. I thought sitting on the floor in front of a low table was a Japanese thing, but I guess not. We were the only people in the restaurant sitting at this type of table. The Boy and I thought it would be fun. His 6 foot (plus ?) friend went along with it and was constantly shifting positions. His legs would barely fit under the table, and he joked that Russians weren't known for flexibility. What about all of the gymnasts, ballet dancers and synchronized swimmers? It was pretty funny. We ordered bulgogi, a rice dish (sort of like bimbimbap), and a really spicy tofu soup thing. Their tofu was home made and very smooth. We washed this all down with beer and soju. We thought the staff was really funny (or maybe we were just drunk). Our waiter seemed to be in a bad mood and was hard to understand. He didn't really talk to us when he needed something, but would point and gesture instead. At one point, he noticed that the Boy's friend's beer glass was empty. Instead of going to the other side of the table to refill it, he started pointing furiously at the half full beer bottle. We thought he wanted it for some reason. The Boy's friend picked up the beer bottle to give it to him, and then the waiter, annoyed, started pointing at his glass. The Boy's friend poured the beer into his glass, and then the waiter walked away. We were eating slowly, talking and having a good time, when, all of a sudden at around 10:30PM, the lights came on full blast and the music shut off abruptly. Closing time. They weren't subtle about this. We finished up quickly and left. It started to drizzle as we took a little walking tour around Manhattan's tiny K-town area.
11:30PM: Off to the PussyCat lounge to see another of the Boy's friends perform with his band, GlassHouse. I was impressed. They were pretty good, much better than some of the start-up bands that I had seen in LA. The next performer, Marco Argiro, was also quite impressive. The Boy and I weren't planning to stay for him, but his friend couldn't find his instrument bag. So, as his friend searched all over for the bag, we got hooked listening to Marco sing. We stayed until he was done, and he actually noticed us and introduced himself to us! What a friendly, unpretentious performer!

Fall Weather

The weather's cooling down a lot. It happened suddenly. One day it was miserably hot and humid and a couple of days later it was chilly. Last Saturday, I took my warm clothes out of storage (the apt's so small and has such little closet space that I had to box it up and stick it in whatever corner/shelf was available) and put all of my summer clothes away. Then I went shopping in Union Square and around 59th Street for a fall/winter coat. I ended up buying shoes instead. It's really not that cold yet.