Thursday, July 27

perpetual +1

i mean to write this the day after but i've been extremely tired since.

so on tuesday i got to be Debs' +1 for the first time. it was to a Wall Street Journal weekend edition event that she usually goes to for work. the weather was nice so they had it on the rooftop of Thompson Hotel at A60. it was pretty fun b/c Debs didn't have to actually socialize or mingle for work so she and I just chatted and caught up on all the stuff we've missed since her bday party at Prey. plus, while small, A60 is pretty nice and considering its a members only rooftop lounge, that makes it even better. i got to go somewhere no one else gets to go (unless they stay at the hotel). we spent the time drinking peach mojitos (very yummy) and eating the thai food they had catered. the veggie pad thai and beef salad were "eh" but the tuna tartar and grilled sea bass were delish. and all in a convenient "pop-it-in-your-mouth" size.

afterwards i rushed to the upper east side to meet Erma for dinner at Cafe Mingala. it's a burmese restaurant which i'd never been to. i admit i'm not a foodie of any kind, and if this offends, my bad, but it seemed to me that burmese bascially meant "mix of thai and chinese". either way, it's not like i minded. since i'd eaten so much at the party i didn't really order much except for the Mango Chicken but that was very yummy. Erma's Man ordered Mango Beef and she got some Phet-Hotke (they look like dumplings and come in a ceramic pot/bowl). overall a good choice and very affordable ($10 average per entree) and the ppl were nice.

Monday, July 24

massacre

i think that Gohm & i have made the relative rounds for each other's friends at this point.

on friday Nells & i met for dinner at Tropica in the lobby of the Metlife building. we ate from the Restaurant Week menu and overall i've got to say the food was pretty good. my shrimp ravioli was better than her lobster spring roll but her skirt steak entree was more memorable than mine (b/c i can't even remember it now but it's different from what they have posted on their website). the desserts were "eh" but their mango mojito was yummy.

afterwards we went to Proof w/Gohm & Chow for one of their friend's parties. i can't say much for the place since the party we went to was located downstairs, which is kind of narrow and dingy. they also charge cover which always annoys the shit out of me, particularly when the place isn't a club. friday night is ladies night before 12 am and it's $5 cover for 5 free drinks of white wine, hypnotiq or champagne and the bartenders are very liberal w/whether they punch your drink card or not. i couldn't really drink too much b/c of the giant dinner Nells & i had so it wasn't a particularly crazy night. however Nells did get into an altercation w/ a completely obnoxious guy. he spilled a girl's drink on Nells (and not just a little, but her whole drink). he didn't say anything until Nells approached the girl who then promptly blamed it on the guy. he (barely) apologized and tried to laugh it off. any classy guy who does that will offer to buy the girl a drink. when Nells implied this, he became more of an asshole. he claimed he would buy her a new shirt, but not a drink (which is such an empty offer considering when was she ever gonna see him again?). then he had the nerve to ask where she was from (implying she's a B&T girl and thus is only after getting free drinks from guys). i swear, at the end of this conversation i was ready to kick him in the nuts.

we spend saturday playing Scene-It (in which i massacred Chow) and that night i went out w/Gohm & his boys for drinking at Players followed by more drinking & food at Gahm Mi Oak. Chow & Gohm get housed by the 2 bottles of Johnnie Walker they and their boys get followed by lots of Baek Saeju and Soju mixed together.

sunday is basically spent w/Gohm and Chow dying.

Tuesday, July 18

Tribeca Grill

my mom's been complaining about how fat i'm getting again.

and fair dues b/c i've definitely been eating a lot more lately. went home to west caldwell on friday to take the grandparents to JFK airport for their flight back to taipei, as every filial granddaughter should do in an Asian family. was once again dutiful on Saturday by going to the driving range w/the dads in the morning and then taking moms to the her first mani & pedi in the afternoon. my mom getting a pedi was hilarious. she was so squirmish at having someone else touch her feet.

Saturday night was Debs' bday party at Prey. the place is as i remember it. nothing special but a fun place to hang out w/friends which Debs had in abundance. Spoon & i got there first, even before Debs. we huddled up in the corner and watched the guests stream in. i ended up seeing a lot of ppl that i hadn't seen in a long time. all of Debs' cousins showed up, which was great b/c i hadn't seen them all together in a while, prob not since i was pre-pubescent. Bear showed up and we got to catch up (briefly), along w/his best friend Aaron who i haven't seen since sophomore year of college. Then there was the Boston contingent which consisted of Debs' roommates and friends from Tufts. overall it was a good time and i had fun chatting w/all the old friends.

Sunday went to dinner w/Gohm at this really good Mexican place called Cilantro. neither of us had been there before and had actually intended on going to Saigon Grill, but it was closed. i had a really good grilled swordfish w/cilantro (of course) rice. Gohm got a glass of sangria which they serve in 16 oz. glasses. at the end of the meal Gohm claimed he was pretty buzzed from the one glass.

last night i went to Tribeca Grill for Restaurant Week (see previous entry) w/Bubs & Kiks. so so so good. they have a really good menu for Restaurant Week and b/c Aaron is a waiter there (which was a coincidence i found out on Saturday night) he gave us a little hook-up. we all ordered different apps and they were all really good. however, if given another chance i would probably order Kiks' heirloom tomato salad (it's so much yummier than it sounds) or Bubs' duck leg confit (it was a ginormous piece of leg. so much yummy fatty dark meat!). we all ordered the same entree of wild sea bass which was ok. both Kiks & i got this chocolate hazelnut peanut butter cake dessert thing. so damn good. Bubs decided to be adventurous w/coconut flan but it tasted a little weird. not bad, but not like flan either.

it's been a little bit of a food fest lately and it won't be stopping either. supposed to be going to EN Japanese Brasserie tonight w/Pal (although she potentially has mono & considering that EN is a family-style type of restaurant this could pose a problem).

Thursday, July 13

Symbiosis

i thought i would have something exciting to write about since yesterday was Debs' Wall Street party, but due to the crazy torrential downpour that occured yesterday around 5 pm, both Debs and i decided to bail on going. instead i went back to Gohm's and we had dinner at KO Sushi w/Chow & Tina.

i learned that Gohm is no-holds-barred when it comes to sushi. he and i each ordered an appetizer (he liked my Usuzukuri better and who can blame him?) and then he ordered the Sushi & Sashimi for two. that entree was ginormous. i never knew it but it turns out you can hit a sushi wall, which he and i promptly hit. we'd even passed a few pieces off to Tina and were still struggling. my stomach's never ached from eating Japanese but i was definitely hurting by the end of this meal. of course it looked much worse when Chow & Tina ordered the Spicy Maki Combo (3 maki rolls) and a Beef Negimaki bento box to share. it was even more worse when, after eating their Spicy Maki Combo they claimed they were full.

to make it up to me for not going to the party, Debs & i had lunch to New York Luncheonette in midtown today. she has drama going on w/her long-term boy (space) friend. we had a good dish about what's been going on and discussed her bday party this Saturday. my favorite part tho, was when we started to pick the fries off each other's plates. i like that this has never changed. ever since we were little we've had the exact opposite tastes in fries. she likes the mushy ones whereas i like the crunchy ones. we make the perfect team for finishing off a plate of fries. Mutual symbiosis.

Tuesday, July 11

sick as a dog

Starting Sunday i've been sick as a dog. My throat's been all swollen and i had a serious on-going fever for 2 days. totally sucked and it was all Gohm's fault.

i should've known i was getting sick. i kept waking up in the mornings w/a really sore neck and shoulders. i kept attributing it to sleeping at Gohm's place all the time w/his new bed and all. my throat was a little sore but i figured it was b/c i was smoking more b/c of Gohm & his friends (who are like chimneys. must make a concerted effort to refrain when w/them).

friday night i went to Divine Bar East w/Kiks (one of my favorite wine bars). We ordered a bottle of white and some mussels and artichoke & parmesan dip to munch on. the food was really good and the portions were huge considering they were supposed to be tapas. i should've known i wasn't feeling up to par though b/c i barely drank the wine. and when we met up w/Gohm afterwards at Maz Mezcal i opted for a beer as opposed to the sangria (which i heard is very yummy). when Gohm & i went home i promptly passed out although it was only about 11:30 or 12 at the time.

on sunday was when the illness really struck. i got ready to watch the World Cup championship game at Gohm's and felt myself get all flush w/fever. after that it was all downhill. tried desperately to stay awake through the entire game but missed the best part when Zidane got red carded and then Italy won through penalty kicks. still excited though cause i knew they were gonna win.

called into work on Monday cause i was still fevering it but got better in time to go eat Smith & Wollensky w/Bubs & Kiks at 8 pm. there's always something about steak and rich desserts that can make me feel better. while the service was a little "eh" and the steak was good but not great, the dessert was definitely the best part.

Wednesday, July 5

Abandoned for a Boy

Isn't that always the case? It's been a bumpy ride since the last time i wrote, and i'll freely admit, most of the neglect is b/c i've been spending my time w/Gohm (and it's been a long wkd so i haven't been sitting at work procrastinating, as i am now).

it's pretty much been a whirlwind since friday. i met up w/Gohm at Cabana and met 2 of his friends from his BU days. i've decided to adopt V as my girl b/c she completely cracks me up. Cabana was actually really nice although we didn't spend much time there. we chilled out on the rooftop and enjoyed the amazing weather that we've been having in NYC (until today of course). afterwards we headed over to Hiro which is right next door to Cabana (both of which are part of the Maritime Hotel). Hiro's VERY cool w/a Kill Bill-esque vibe. At one point during the night 2 women climbed up on these ribbons hanging from the ceiling and began a very Cirque du Soilel performance. while i thought it was very impressive, this one woman had really long legs and i kept imagining getting kicked in the head.

Saturday was Em's bday and V threw her a party at Ava which is a lounge located in the penthouse level of Dream Hotel. the place is really chill, and i found out from V that if you reserve the terrace for a party they automatically give you a table and table service although it's not required to order a bottle. nice change from all the other places that require bottle service in order to get a table. i met a lot of Gohm's BU friends that night along w/Chow, his hilarious roommate.

otherwise spent a pretty relaxed long wkd. went home to west caldwell and caught up w/Nells and Henry. ironically went to breakfast w/Nells at Montville Diner (which is usually where Henry and i would go back when he lived on the east coast). couldn't be bothered w/sitting in the mugginess to watch the fireworks so instead met up w/Gohm and his friends at Banc Cafe, and while i didn't order any food, i have to admit theirs looked pretty good. at the end i did order a double chocolate irish whiskey cake. yea, it was as yummy and chocolatey as it sounds.