Tuesday, April 25

jet-lag hell

Insanely jet-lagged right now. I've technically been back from vacation for 2 days. I've had the sleep equivalent of 6 hours. Ridonkulous.

Arrived at JFK on Sunday night at 9:00 pm. A full hour before we were supposed to. I didn't get home until 1:30 am because of fucking Super Shuttle. Word to the wise: never take Super Shuttle back from the airport. We took Super Shuttle to the airport and that was great. The ride back was a nightmare because they picked us up and then kept circling all the terminals trying to pick up more passengers to fill the van. I finally gave up trying to get a ride to the PATH station and instead got off on Ahjima's stop on 86th and 2nd. I got a cab back to Hoboken from there which cost me $50 but was so worth it when I got home in only 20 minutes.

Due to jet-lag I wasn't able to sleep at all. Even though I called out to work they still asked me to come in at noon to work a short day. I was a complete zombie by 4:45 pm and had to go home. At that point I'd had no sleep in the past 21 hours. I got home around 6 pm and slept until 11 pm when my mom called and woke me. I didn't get back to sleep until around 3 or 4 am. Ahjima's been having about the same experience as me sans having to go in to work yesterday (lucky biatch).

Have so much amazing stuff to share about the trip but am too exhausted to do so right now but had to vent about the nightmare known as jet-lag.

Thursday, April 13

Hangover City, Population: Me

I wish I could take credit for the title of this post, but it's been a running joke that Douglife started a while ago after a night of binge drinking. I still find it hilarious...

Saw Debs yesterday which was fun. We went to Hale & Hearty for lunch, my favorite soup and sandwich spot. Had an amazing Sweet Corn Chowder (which burned my tongue. It's actually still a bit numb right now) and Turkey and Brie sandwich. She just started a new job in the city working for MediaCom. The job sounds fun and glamorous and very much like The Devil Wears Prada sans crazy bitch boss. MediaCom's even located right next to Smith & Wollensky which is where Miranda orders her bloody steak lunches in the book. We talked about her new job and discussed possibly moving in together in Brooklyn. It'd definitely be nice to live with someone I knew before I lived w/them.

Went to Oddfellows last night w/Pal and Douglife to celebrate my pre-birthday/vacation/new-found health. Oddfellows has great New Orleans food and do a good happy hour from 6-8 pm and on Wednesdays they do $4 Hurricanes all night long and karoake starting at 9 pm. Pal and Douglife live for the karaoke. We showed up around 9 or 10 pm after meeting up at Pal's apartment. I hate it when people take karaoke so seriously!! You know, with the eyes-closed-singing-Celine-Dion crap. Gimme a break... Of course Pal, Douglife and I all suck so we completely ruined the atmosphere (meaning we made it more fun). I was itching to play pool (although I am notoriously bad) and got Pal to play doubles w/me w/some guys we met. I was surprisingly good which just goes to prove that alcohol always improves your skill in any game.

Woke up this morning extremely hungover. Still have an insane day ahead of me since I've got to get to the airport w/Ahjima for the start of our vacation. I better hydrate myself quick or else that 17+ hour flight is gonna be a nightmare.

Tuesday, April 11

What a doggy birthday party looks like...

When I told people what I did for the weekend, everyone's question was: "what's a doggy party look like?" so to answer your questions, here are some picks I got from Auntie V.



















Auntie V and Uncle T always make the best food. There was chips w/ spinach dip, bread w/ a beer cheese dip, brie and parmesan w/crackers, Peeps and Fruit Loop marshmallow treats, pasta w/pesto and mushrooms, smoked salmon on toast and Beard Papas which were amazing. And of course, cake.
Nobu had a great time (as you can tell from the picture) as did we.

Sunday, April 9

now MY wallet is missing?

Went for my first big night out since contracting bronchitis about a month ago. Pal and I headed to happy hour in Hoboken. You always know it's gonna be a big night when you're taking shots at 6 pm. We started at the Shannon Lounge where there's happy hour from 4-7 pm (although the deal's pretty stingy if you ask me). The place has definitely shaped up a lot since the renovation. It used to be a real hole-in-the-wall but now it looks like a decent local and there seems to be a nice pool table in the rear. I met a guy (whose name I can't remember) who was introduced to me w/the tag line "he's got major yellow fever" (and he was a very white guy). Yea, great buddy. We talked about my upcoming trip to Taipei and Hong Kong and I received a huge shocker. The guy mentioned the Taiwan series Meteor Garden!! He said he really liked it and was currently watching part 2. I have to admit I was pretty excited about that.

Pal and her co-worker decided to head to Rothko for a monthly hip hop karaoke event her work attends. I stayed behind w/Pal's roommate, Mini and we continued the night. Eventually we left Shannon Lounge and headed towards Nine, which seems to be Mini's favorite place. I def don't mind Nine and I enjoy it but I always feel like it's for the Hobokenites who were too lazy to be bothered w/taking the PATH into the city to go to an NYC lounge. I remember having a really nice convo w/the bouncer on the 2nd floor, but after that the night comes to me in gaps.

I don't remember exactly how, but we arrived at 3Forty Grill next, another of Mini's faves. I don't recollect arriving or checking my coat or anything. What I do remember is talking to 3 random girls who looked like they were having a boring girls night out and falling on my ass. I was talking to Derek, glanced behind me and, I swear I saw a seat behind me, sat down. ON NOTHING. So yea, I fell flat on my ass. After that Mini wanted to go home w/the guy she'd been talking to all night so we headed back, although Westchester and I stopped for Blimpie's before going home.

I woke up this morning w/a gigantic hangover and putted around until 2 pm upon which I prepared to go to a doggy birthday party and realized my wallet was missing. Now I'm a pretty big slob in my room and I tend to throw things around so while I searched my room I called Ahjima to laugh at the irony of it, never thinking it was really lost. After about 45 minutes I really became panicked. Ultimately I called Bank of America and cancelled my ATM card and then called Mini to find out the last place we went to (that's how I found out we had actually been in 3forty Grill because I hadn't been sure if we'd gone there or Trinity. Both places have very similar interior designs). Luckily for me, it turns out that during my wrestle w/gravity last night it had fallen out of my purse. So I trudged over in the rain and ecstatically picked it up. Phew, crisis averted.

So I debated about taking a cab over to Jersey City for the doggy birthday party. Nobu i s officialy 1 year old in human years (7 in doggy years). He's Uncle T & Auntie V's psuedo-child, or practice until they feel like having the real thing. I bought him this amazing dog toy called Kong. Such an ingenious invention. Uncle T & Auntie V prepared some amazing food, which was great cause I was starving. Nobu was adorable and really excited about all the attention and people to play with. He's such a cute dog and really sociable.

Ok, so off to dim sum tomorrow w/Kiks and Bubby at Jing Fong in Chinatown tomorrow. I'm gonna be such a heffer by the time I get to Taipei....

Thursday, April 6

Passport hysteria


I just had a major crisis moment with Ahjima.

So I was casually strolling along 43rd Street on my way back to the office. I decided to call Ahjima back because I'd missed her call while going to the doctor's. Turns out she got her purse stolen at the Knicks game last night at
Madison Square Garden. The purse had her entire identity in it, which included her passport and social security card (let's ignore the resounding "d'oh").

Usually this would be an "aww that sucks" situation except for the fact that Ahjima and I are leaving to travel Taipei and Hong Kong in exactly one week. So that passport's pretty important. So after freaking out I told her I would look into the situation once I was back in the office. I immediately stopped at Wendy's for a #6 (that's how stressed I was about this) then researched the situation.

Turns out there are various sites and options for those who need to get their passport in an emergency. Most states have an emergency passport agency specifically for those travelling within 2 weeks time. There are also more expensive sites that could do it for (maybe) a little less hassle like Passports and Visas.com and American Passport Express. Either way, crisis averted and I've just learned something new.

Oh and if you see anyone impersonating a petite Korean girl who works at Lehman Brothers please notify me ASAP.