Friday, June 30

Consumption

this week has been about a lot of consumption. whether it be food or alcohol i've definitely overindulged this week.

aside from the wine overload on monday night, i went to Dave & Buster's on Wednesday. hadn't ever been before but had heard many things, after all, it's pretty rare to have an arcade hall in New York. had to fight through the crowd at Times Square which is never fun but eventually got there and made a direct bee-line for drinks. it was at that point that i introduced Gohm to my liquid dinner diet.

for some reason, whenever i meet up for afer-work activities, i'm rarely ever hungry. instead i fill my stomach w/booze & more booze and then go home, never having eaten. the next day, to counteract the uncomfortableness i have i consume a large lunch meal and lots of water and then the cycle starts again. so when Gohm asked if i was hungry i honestly wasn't. even so, he ordered Fondue Fries which is a totally ingenius way of eating cheese fries b/c they put the cheese over a little candle so it is always hot and melted. so smart.

actually had a lot of fun at the arcade. haven't been to one in years mainly b/c most of my friends hate looking foolish. at one point i made Gohm do the dance machine w/me and we got completely schooled by an 8yr old girl. so embarassing.

by thursday my body was basically hating me. i spent all day at work wishing i was at home sleeping. had already made plans for dinner though so i toughed it out and went to Bar Americain. place is very nice and since we went to early dinner, not packed at all. the service is impeccable, and even though it took forever for us to decide what to eat, the waiter never rushed us. we got crabcake and tuna tartar as apps. the tartar was real yummy and it was served w/crostini. since i wasn't that hungry i ordered mussels in green chile broth. when it came out it was a GINORMOUS pot of just mussels. what was really interesting was the wild salmon entree. the flavor was unbelievable. it's hard to describe but it was wild (salmon, haha). as Gohm said, "it's a party in my mouth". the next time we go, i want to order from their raw bar. holy bejesus, the tables that ordered it had 3 tiers of giant plates of just shellfish galore. even though i wasn't that hungry i still couldn't help staring at their food.

afterwards we headed out for more drinks but by that time my body just gave up so i got home early and went straight to sleep. when i woke up this morning i was so happy and relieved that i'd finally gotten some rest.

Tuesday, June 27

2 bottles deep

ugh i feel exhausted today.

had a very melodramatic day yesterday that i would sooner like to forget so i'm not going to discuss it. however i will say that i had dinner at Village appropriately named such b/c it's located there. when i walked into the restaurant (late) i saw Gohm hunched over the bar, very dejected looking, drinking a bottle of white wine and i knew the night was going to be intense.

and so it was.

b/c i'd like to keep this blog drama-free i'm not going to rehash any details. all i'll say is that we were 2 bottles deep before we'd even ordered dinner. so that's a lot of talking. and a lot of drinking. i woke up this morning for work & instantly wished i'd died.

Thursday, June 22

i heart Restaurant Week

heehee. i got the title for this post from Bubby and it perfectly expresses how i feel about Restaurant Week. July 10-14th & July 17th-21st is Restaurant Week in Manhattan. Participating restaurants will host prix-fixed menus for lunch & dinner. lunch will cost $24.07 (respresenting the 24-7ness of NY) and dinner will cost $35.00. i love these things b/c it's probably the only time i'll get to eat at Nobu or Tribeca Grill while not having to mortgage my house (if i had one).

speaking of eating deliciously, i got the chance to go to Morimoto's recently. yum yum yum.

This place is very trendy but definitely not not personable (hmm double negative but it's true). i'd heard things about the service and it's all true! they are literally at your beck & call. the person i was there w/dropped his napkin on the way to the bathroom & the waitstaff had a new one pressed & folded for him on the table before his return. i watched w/giddy awe.

we def ordered a lot of food but i didn't feel gross afterwards which is a good thing. we had yummy toro sashimi (mmm fatty tuna. they're so much yummier than the other tuna b/c they just lay around getting fat while the other tuna is all healthy w/exercise & muscle.blech.), lamb carpaccio w/basil sauce & spicy king crab (sauce was a little salty but the crab was delish). we also got rock shrimp tempura which is what everyone gets there.

for entrees he got the duck, duck, duck (that's the real name of the dish! i felt like saying "goose" right after he'd ordered but i restrained myself) and i got the blackened cod. his was much better than mine. o & we tried the honey-infused sake which was yum. we had 2 bottles of those.

i have no idea what the cost was but i'm pretty sure it was insanity. would i ever pay that much for food of any kind? probably not. would i let someone else pay for me to eat food of that kind? absolutely.

Monday, June 19

NYC blackout

friday was Ahjima's bday party. i was exhausted all day as well as very very broke but i was a trooper! i went home & took a giant nap after work & then headed over to Ahjima's before we all went to 230 Fifth together. of course, having gone home & napped instead of eating dinner made for a very interesting night out.

the best thing about 230 Fifth is its rooftop. honestly it's amazing to see the view surrounding you on all sides of the building. luckily friday night was beautiful weather, not too muggy but still very warm and nice. Debs got there before us and it was hilarity to try and find each other on that crowded rooftop. our text messages and phone calls kept saying "i'm by the bar.where are you?"; "I'M by the bar.WHERE are you?" etc.

after locating most of our party, Ahjima's oppa Gohm began to try and locate a table for all of us which was no easy task. he finally managed to secure one but had to purchase 2 bottles in order to get it. i heard later that the total bill for him came to about $800. i've gotta pitch in but $60 for a single vodka & cranberry? me & Gohm will have to negotiate.

i remember sitting w/Debs at the table & talking then sitting & talking w/Gohm for a bit. Debs got ready to leave & i walked w/her where she subsequently ran into some guys she had met prior to our arrival. she walked away w/him & i got left w/his awkward friend so i departed too. there was a whole bathroom debacle where i was messy enough that a very nice bodyguard was my private escort to the bathroom & then the rest of the night is a blank.

all i know is i woke up the next morning in my own apartment in my own pajamas w/no visible scars/trauma marks. interesting... i called Ahjima to see if she could fill in the blanks but she had no idea what happened to me & Debs had already left by then. it's a complete mystery. however, Ahjima did comment that she was very impressed that i made it all the way back to Hoboken in the state i was in. i think i'm impressed too.

Friday, June 16

i'm not gonna cry, i'm not gonna cry

omg my right foot is killing me right now. it was just trampled on by a giant Amazonian bitch. i was just on the 4 train from Union Square heading to GCT. the Amazon & i just barely made it onto the train before the doors closed. as soon as they did i (like most people who take the subway) leaned back against the door. this is a very practical way of steadying yourself while the train rocks to and fro. obviously Amazon did not know this. she proceeded to look around for a bar to secure herself on. the train jerked forward & she flew backwards. to steady herself she stuck her foot back. her spike-heeled foot. full force. onto my canvas Converse sneakered foot. yelp. she turned & shrugged & laughed & i had to fight everything in me to not start tearing from the pain. even now, 30 mins later my foot is still throbbing. i checked it out for serious damage but only see the start of a very ugly bruise exactly where the heel stabbed me.

yesterday was Ahjima's birthday so we went to Kitchen 22 for dinner. The place is small but nice. warning: this is the first place i've gone to that did not have Jack Daniels. i was so shocked. so instead the bartender recommended a Canadian Club w/coke instead. he did not lie. the drink was smoother than the usual Jack & coke. the thing about Kitchen 22 is that it's a restaurant that serves a prix-fixe 3 course meal w/a choice of 5 appetizers, 5 entrees & 1 dessert. you don't have to get the prix-fixe meal and can get the items individually but it's much more economical if you do plus the food is pretty good. we had 7 people in our party so everyone got a little something. i heard the tomato gazpacho appetizer was amazing & Stacey ate 2 desserts.

afterwards we went to Third Floor Cafe in k-town for drinks. the place was packed playing lots of old-school r&b & hip-hop. Third Floor Cafe is definitely a korean bar & everyone who works there is korean. the uniform for employees is a white top (of any kind) & jeans so beware when you go. the female staff is gorgeous (all about 5'5 and skinny) while the male staff doesn't live up to the standards set by the girls. however, the manager that night was pretty cute. he brought Stacey an apple martini in sheer appreciation of the fro she was sporting.

this is what i learned about korean bars/clubbing. inevitably there will be a bunch of korean guys who will fight. this happened at the end of the night when i went korean clubbing in cali & once again last night. it was awesome. Gohm (Ahjima's nicknamed him "Carebear" & he really is!) & i stepped out for a stoge & were heading towards the elevator when Gohm suddenly pulled me back, just in time to avoid being trampled by the bouncer ejecting some guy through the stairs. Gohm & i headed into the elevator & some more guys came in. right as the doors were closing the bouncer suddenly appeared and started yelling at the other guys. turns out they were being ejected too! i love being this close to the action.

so while Gohm & i were outside we heard little tidbits about the incident. this is all i managed to learn. someone's shirt got ripped, someone had a knife, it was "that guy's" fault, "wtf i didn't do anything" and "i'm gonna kill that guy". korean guys are such thugs. we stayed for about another hour where Gohm & Stacey kept threatening to bust out their one dance move (i'm still waiting) and then left. when we got outside those guys were still there! and they'd started another fight! i told Gohm that next time we go out to a korean bar i'm bringing a tub of popcorn & a 40 & just camping out on the sidewalk in front of the bar so i can catch all the action.

Monday, June 12

Tokyo Juliet

ai-ya i am so tired today. why? b/c i was up until 5:00 am watching this stupid taiwan drama series. ok, i take it back, it's not stupid. i'm just stupid for being so addicted that i couldn't stop watching it until i'd watched both episodes on youtube. the series is so cute tho. i love it when asian drama series don't drag out everything and just jump right into the "i-like-you-you-like-me" thing. so much better that way. and now that i'm addicted, i will evilly try to addict anyone who reads this. so here's the first 10 mins of episode 1:


Thursday, June 8

My First Singles Mixer

so last night i hosted my first singles mixer. FDR & i concocted this idea when we met in Vegas. i was going to introduce him to my single girlfriends and in turn he would introduce me to some of his single guy friends (which according to ASW he doesn't have much of anyways-but i only learned this in the aftermath). anyways, i got home and started calling the few girl friends i have who are single and things started to get big. Pal was going to invite a bunch of her girlfriends, Nells, Ahjima, Spoon, Debs, Bubs & Kiks were all coming. things were slowly ballooning out. however, FDR wasn't really coming through w/the guy connection and things started to look a little girl heavy so Pal & i called in for reinforcements. Debs asked Ben to come & bring friends, Pal asked a bunch of work guys & i invited O & he would bring some of his work buddies.

things never turn out as planned.

yesterday ended up being a drizzly & yucky day which in turn made many of the girls i knew back out. this is one of my personal pet peeves. if you make commitment to something, stick w/ it. is it that hard people? unless a dire emergency comes up there's no reason to bail. so what ended up happening? the mixer became very guy heavy instead which is never a good thing. we all met up at Beer Bar on 45th & Vanderbilt and sat in the outdoor patio (luckily it has an awning). it was an interesting mix of ppl & i can't say for everyone else but i had a hilarious time.

First shocker of the night came when O showed up w/his cousin Joy who i haven't seen in about a decade+. the last time i saw this girl she was probably just turning 10/11. so of course the first thing i blurt out to her is "are you old enough to be here?" god i'm such an old dork. turns out she's 22 now so yes, she is old enough to be there. she's definitely grown up but she is still a very pretty girl (she was so even when she was young) so O better watch out for her. even Rich said he wanted O to hook him up w/her & that just grossed me out (i understood it but it still grossed me out).

the night was hilarious. ppl kept straggling along and finally Ahjima got there @ 9 pm and we headed over to Still on 17th & 3rd. it was a mad dash for taxis and we were all trying to strategically get into the right ones. i wanted to be in O's cab; Ahjima & Nells wanted to be in mine; Mike & Johnny wanted to be in Nells and i don't think Pal & her Lehman buddies cared. of course since i am a master strategist i got the cab i wanted.

Still was good if only to eat mad amounts of apps (Debs, Nells & Judy were starving at that point). Ahjima & i got to try 2 new vodkas: Zygo & 44 North. i highly recommend both of these vodkas b/c they are delicious. now, i haven't been too kind on vodka & tequila shots these days since i had a horrific experience w/both of them so that whenever i do these shots i throw up w/o fail. however, Ahjima & i did the Zygo shot & it was heavenly and i had no regurgitation pyrotechnics accompanying it.

afterwards we went to Rich's place (which ironically i'd already been to w/Cha last summer. everyone found this highly amusing. it turns out the week that Cha stayed there he trashed Rich's place & ripped his sheets. everyone assumed Cha & i did this once they found out i'd stayed there but let me set the record straight by saying NOTHING happened w/Cha & i did NOT rip those sheets). we just hung out & watched some tv (Supercoasters anyone?) & finally Ahjima & i headed to her place on 86th & 2nd.

one more hilarious tidbit. i was getting ready to crash out on Ahjima's couch when i smelled something funky. i turned to her and said "Ahjima, something smells funny". she turned, looked me dead in the face and said "maybe it's you". i just about died. turns out it was the kimchee smell coming from her fridge b/c she'd just opened it to get some water. but still, the audacity.

Monday, June 5

the flood of 2006

insanity ensued on friday. the great flood of 2006 was in full effect by the time i left work. luckily i had purposely worn a dress & flip flops to work so i had no problems w/getting wet. and of course i had my trusty Totes umbrella (see previous post).

Ahjima was having a "goodie" party (wink wink) that night so i went home and took a nap in preparation. unfortunately, due to the weather, the girl coming w/the goodies was flooded out of new york (she was coming in from jersey). never one to let anything stop her from a party Ahjima still had us over. it took me an hour and a half to get from 33rd street & herald square to Ahjima's on 86th and 2nd.

i got to Ahjima's and was greeted w/a glass of wine and...Full House! haha once again it is confirmed how Oppa obsessed i am. i walked into her apartment and, w/o even looking at the tv, knew she was watching Full House b/c of the theme music. Ahjima was watching it w/her Chinese roommate Alice who needed Ahjima to translate. here's where it gets even funnier. i translated for Alice even though there were no subtitles & the series was in korean. how you ask? o i just remembered the lines from most of the scenes. ok, i wasn't so good that i could do it all verbatim, but i was close.

Alice & Winter both speak mandarin and Winter kept playing Jay Chou & Wang Leehom MVs for us off of youtube. i get so giddy when i meet people who share my love of the Asian music & the entertainment scene. anyways, eventually SJ showed up w/some other guys and we started to play drinking games.

somewhere in the mix everyone managed to finish off a bottle of tequila, SJ's friend Dan threw up in the bathroom and then climbed into Alice's bed to go to sleep (which really pissed her off), it came out that Winter's dating someone who already has a girlfriend and SJ tried to hook me up w/his friend George who's already seeing someone. finally got home around 4 am thanks to SJ who drove me home although he & George kept trying to get me to go to Pal Park instead to get some Sul Rung Tang (which i wish i had now, but not then. i was tired at the time).

i woke up the next day slightly hung over & didn't leave my apartment until about 4:30 pm. i went to Astoria to hang w/Bubs & Kiks but honestly the only reason i got up and showered at all was to go get Beard Papas at Cafe Zaiya.

Friday, June 2

can this really be happening?

So Darling and i went on a pseudo-date last night. i call it a pseudo-date b/c we met for drinks around 10 pm. there was no dinner and it's not like he shelled out a lot of cash so it doesn't count as an actual date. not that monetary wealth is a necessary identifying marker of a real date. however, if he had gotten access into the apartment that night he wuold've gotten all the benefit w/very little effort. hence, he did not.

originally Pal & i were supposed to go to see a preview screening of The Breakup. unfortunately that fell through so Pal decided to go to the Pearl Jam concert at Meadowlands Arena instead (she'd already had the tickets but was going to blow it off for the movie). Douglife had bought the tickets and had harassed me to buy the remaining extra ticket from him yesterday at a significantly reduced price but i just wasn't that interested. i listened to Pearl Jam in high school and still like them today but just don't love them. plus i'm still broke so i couldn't really afford it.

so none of my friends were in hoboken and it looked like it was going to be a quiet thursday when Darling called and offered to meet up. he picked me up and we went to Green Rock where we ran into Doogie (one of Pal's ex-fling things, given the name b/c he occassionally looks like Doogie Howser, M.D.) and then moved on to Mile Square (my favorite quiet local). overall the pseudo-date was fun.

the thing is, whenever Pal asks me to go somewhere w/her & i decline, i almost always regret it the next day. this time was no different. i called Pal this morning and i knew i (sort of) regretted not going to Pearl Jam. first off, Mang had met 2 guys the night before the concert who were also going that day. so Mang, being the ballsy girl that she is, emailed them the next day and asked if she & Pal could hitch a ride in their car so they wouldn't have to take the bus. and wouldn't you know it? they had just enough room in their car for 2 cute girls! of all the luck...

i guess i should've known then that this concert would be off the hook for Pal & Mang. turns out they showed up @ the concert and never even made it to their seats to meet Douglife & Jew. they got approached by some guys who had gotten their own private box and was asked to join them b/c they had too many "dudes" in their box. so Mang & Pal got to hang out in a private box and drink & eat for free. of course, Douglife & Jew ditched them at the concert so Pal & Mang had to take the bus back to the city but they had no cash to pay for the bus so they kept bugging guys to lend them money for the bus.

that's the story so far. Pal had to leave for a meeting @ 10 am so i haven't gotten the whole story yet but i'm sure i'll hear it later.

Thursday, June 1

the "Itis"

i've got major "itis" from lunch today. it's not uncommon for me to get "itis" after eating, regardless of the food or the quantity i ingest. anyways, b/c i have "itis" right now, i'm extra cranky. as such, here's the things i've seen today so far that annoy me:

1. people wearing clothes that are WAY too tight for them. the stomach hangs over the pants, the arms look like sausages coming out of tank tops and they usually have at least 3 donuts circling their upper body.

2. people who have to be touching you on the subway (any type of contact) even though there's plenty of room in the rest of the subway car. why?! why?!

3. getting stuck behind someone who is walking so slowly on the stairs or sidewalk and you can't pass them. occassionally this happens to me when the person in front can't help themselves (like an old person or a little kid). that doesn't mean i still don't get annoyed-hey i'm being honest here, not politically correct. however, when it's an able-bodied individual (particularly when it happens on the stairs and the person started fast and then just slowed down cause they got tired from walking the 15 steps-those out of shape bastards) i get very irate.

4. people who take picture of the WTC 9/11 site.

now i'm sure that some of this is just the "itis" but i'm pretty sure there are some valid points in here.