Chain Eating

as an example of my innate New Jersey-ness, for my cousin's bday dinner, we went to Bahama Breeze. it is a fact that if you live in NJ, you spend most of your time dining out at chain restaurants e.g. Chili's, Olive Garden, TGIF's, Applebee's, etc.

i've been to Bahama Breeze only 1 other time, and i only heard about this restaurant over the summer. the 1 near me has a nice outdoor seating area, which is usually packed, but we went there on Labor Day so there wasn't a wait. we were a total of 8 ppl so they seated us at a large round table. and when i say large, i mean LARGE. i practically had to shout to say anything to Woof.

kudos to our waitress because we were that annoying party, where 5 ppl sit down first and then don't order anything for 30 mins because they're waiting for the rest of their party. i felt so bad that i broke down and ordered 2 apps before the other 3 ppl arrived. BirthdayCousin picked the Island Onion Rings and Woof chose the Coconut Shrimp. the menu clearly tells you the apps are big enough to share, but that claim is always put to the test when it comes to my fam (the party ranges from 7-13 depending on which cousins are present). however, the Island Onion Rings lived up to its claim as they were a ginormous tower of rings! and delicious at that. they arrived piping hot and crispy, with a hint of coconut in the breading. and i'm a big fan of the chili-horseradish dipping sauce. the Coconut Shrimp weren't as "share-sized" (more appropriate for a party of 4) but they were equally delish.

Hippo was torn between ordering the Wood-Grilled Top Sirloin Steak and the Jerk Chicken Pasta, so i did her a solid and ordered the pasta for my entree. despite the actual size of the menu, the options aren't very extensive and, since i hate ordering the same thing as someone else at the table, once everyone else was done choosing, there weren't many choices left.

Hippo's about to tear into that steak

the menu's bigger than Woof's face!

but it's all drinks on 1 side, food on the other.

the pasta was ok, nothing spectacular. there was definitely a spicy jerk flavor which is presented in a creamy sauce, but the pasta and chicken itself was slightly overcooked/mushy. the same goes for the Pan-Seared Salmon Pasta. you don't often find seafood and cream sauce pairings but Bahama Breeze clearly believes in it. the steak was good, although i've never been a fan of yuca fries (i find them too dry). i've had the fish specials before and they all tend to be pretty good, so that's what i'd recommend getting, aside from the apps.

perhaps a dinner of just appetizers? if only Felicity was real and Sean had opened his concept restaurant Before and After as he'd originally planned...

The things I need to do...

...to join things.

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an explanation will be forthcoming, pending that this works.

안녕

to the New Yorker that is diligently checking this blog, i say "hello", although who it could be i have no idea.

btw, just to clarify, i am so not korean. i just happened to date one/two (eons ago) and thoroughly enjoy listening to k-pop and watching dramas (currently enjoying My Girlfriend is a Gumiho and Playful Kiss).

i guess i really should be more careful. because more and more, ppl are starting to get confused.

i recently had relatives visiting, which means a lot of going out to eat (i am back to blueberry form due to all the dining out). amongst the myriad of dining choices was Keo Ku, which was the 1st korean restaurant that i remember opening up around my town (it's technically not in my town but 2 towns over). i remember going there 1-3 times before my family and our friends decided it was too expensive, and i haven't been there since although i've wanted to, since there really are no other korean options around my house unless i trek to 32nd St. or Fort Lee.

so i was pretty psyched when someone suggested we give Keo Ku another try. and i was pleasantly surprised when i saw they had signficantly extended their menu options, and to include a multitude of specials affixed to the walls. i got extra excited when i saw the specials included samgyetang and budejigae. anyone who's been with me to Kunjip knows army stew's my jam. it was a tough decision but i ended up ordering the budejigae.

and they have makgeolli? what?

the food was just "eh" and not at all comparable to others that i've had, but props to them for trying to offer the full array of korean cuisine, even if it perhaps does spread them too thin. however, that wasn't the highlight of the evening.

i always get a little dorky excited when i can practice any of the linguistic vocab i've picked up from friends/television/books/music. this comes out full force when i'm in japanese, korean, and chinese restaurants run by native speakers. i just can't help myself. and this was no exception.

although, i didn't really say anything. i just ordered food. 2 orders of samgyupsal, budaejigae, soondubu, and haemul pajeon. maybe it was the choice of food, or my spot-on pronunciation (insert sarcasm here), but, seeing as i'd only ordered 1 portion of haemul pajeon for our table of 8, the waitress proceeded to explain to me how 1 portion wouldn't be enough for all of us. completely in korean. and when i gave her my "huh?" look, she proceeded to explain again. in korean, but a little slower. and with hand guestures.

so i guess i should stop posing.

Stolen Thoughts

i stumbled upon an interesting article for female attorneys while perusing my blogroll today, see to your right. and then i stumbled upon Legal Tease at Sweet Hot Justice. and i just had to re-post these 2 articles.

1. Does this Law Degree Make My Ass Look Fat? discusses what men think about female attorneys. hmm, not very promising.

2. Working Girls discusses how to get ahead/succeed in your firm. it also uses a hooker-stripper-porn star analogy.

now i remember why i entered this profession.

surprise!

i'm gonna take the time to appreciate the little things.

for instance, my breakfast this morning was a nice little surprise. i've been eating Pop-Tarts for breakfast recently since they're so easy, not extremely fattening, and qualify as a "hot" meal (vs. the ease but coldness of cereal/granola bars and the difficulty and time-consumption of eggs). there also happened to be a "buy 1 get 2 free" deal at ShopRite a few weeks ago which also helped my decision. i purchased a box of vanilla, strawberry, and grape.

as we (meaning me) made our way through the boxes, someone decided to consolidate the remaining Pop-Tarts into 1 box. great idea to save space, but now you never know which flavor of Pop-Tart you're picking up (in case you haven't had a Pop-Tart in ages, they come in these spacey-silver-neoprene looking wrappers. you can't see anything inside). i've been receiving a run of strawberry, so, this morning, when i put my Pop-Tart in the toaster, i assumed it was strawberry.

this could be strawberry or vanilla flavored, right?

operating under my assumption, i was genuinely surpised when i opened the toaster oven door and vanilla wafted out towards me.

a genuine, and pleasant, surprise.

hi, nice to meet you...awkward...

dates are so nervewracking.

AMW and HFM were visiting the City this weekend, which couldn't have worked out more perfectly, because i had a date on Saturday afternoon in the City so i could essentially kill 2 birds with 1 stone. yay!

it was a good omen when, on Friday night, there was absolutely no traffic on my way into the City via the Holland Tunnel. recently, my drives to Jersey City or towards the Holland Tunnel have been plagued with reedonkulously long traffic jams and stand-still traffic. but this time, it was smooth sailing the entire way and i arrived in Brooklyn within 45 minutes from when i started.

Friday night was a throwback to the days of yore aka the Golden Age in Brooklyn because we went to the local, Brazen Head, which was where we spent a lot of our BLS years. it was also a big wake-up call as we realized the Brazen was no longer "our" bar/local anymore. we didn't know any of the bartenders and barely knew any of the ppl in the bar. this of course excludes Kiddo and Coleslaw, who still knew about half the ppl there and 1 of the bartenders. particularly impressive for Coleslaw, considering she hasn't resided in Brooklyn since we graduated.

the next day was D-Day aka Date Day. i'm not sure the day started off on the right foot: immediately upon waking up, i was Ice-d. i did relish receiving my first Ice-ing ever, and from Coleslaw which makes it even better, but first thing in the morning? touche Coleslaw. the battle is on. surprisingly, lime-flavored Smirnoff doesn't taste completely awful.
despite my morning alcoholic beverage, i was productive pre-date. i got my haircut in Chinatown, went shopping with AMW and NC, and we caught brunch at Broken English, a new restaurant on Smith and Bergen. the place is a beautiful space and the brunch menu, while short and simple, didn't disappoint. AMW ordered the French Toast served with bananas and strawberries ($7), NC ordered the Egg Pasta with Black Peppercorn and Parmesan ($12), and i ordered the Eggs Benedict served with Prosciutto ($10). The Eggs Benedict was good, although it's served on country bread which is really hard to neatly cut through. by the 2nd piece i'd abandoned trying to eat it and just ate the egg and prosciutto. the prosciutto was also much thicker and saltier than the type i usually encounter (perhaps because there was so much more of it, it tasted saltier). i substituted french fries for homefries and those were perfect: shoe string crispy fries. i ate all of that. AMW's French Toast was received favorably since she couldn't stop picking at it even when she got full. i tried a bite and it was a little too mushy on the inside for me, but it wasn't overly sweet and i could see the appeal. i couldn't get myself to try NC's pasta because i was too full by then but she ate most of it so i assume it was good. the service was nothing great, but it wasn't awful either. they don't offer a brunch drinks menu although they have a fully-stocked bar; they do show you a wine list if you ask. i ordered a Bloody Mary and it was totally worth the $7. ok, maybe not totally worth it, but pretty darn close. it's served in a pint glass with a giant celery stick and is very spicy. if you like your Bloody Mary spicy, which i do, then this is the perfect place.

so after having imbibed my 2nd alcoholic drink of the day, i headed out towards my date. it was essentially a blind date and this was our first time meeting in person. nerve-wracking. however, the dating gods were kind in that he was cuter than i was expecting (and taller: 5'11) and much, much funnier. i guess it was a good sign when he picked Housing Works Bookstore Cafe as our neutral date location. the location proved:

1. he reads

2. is socially conscious

3. liberal

4. intelligent (implied from the fact that he reads)

i should keep this place in mind the next time i go out on a date. i was curious how the date would go since he picked a very get-out-of-jail-free safety time of 4:00 pm and a very neutral/non-commital meeting activity (coffee). i'm not sure if i should've been offended or grateful for his foresight. i chose the latter.

Housing Works Bookstore Cafe closes at 5:00 p.m. on the weekends (it's workers are volunteers so i can accept that). i took it as a good sign that he wanted to extend the date and we spent some more time walking around the neighborhood and chatting some more before he walked me to my subway and we said goodbye. with a handshake.

um, what?!

so............. i guess that date didn't go well. darn, and i think i could've really liked him.

productivity

reading GMW's blog, i feel like the biggest slacker on earth. she updates every day. and creates a fun little comic with each post.

i'm lucky if i update every month. and if i'm feeling really ambitious, i post some ready-made pictures.

it's not because my brain is devoid of thoughts/rantings. they just completely fly out of my mind when the Blogger new post template opens up in front me. here's what happens:

"oooh, something interesting/funny happened. let me remember that for the blog."

3 hours pass.

"o yea, didn't i have something i wanted to blog about? let me open Blogger."

Sign into Blogger account. Open up NewPost tab.

"........................................................................."

Blink, blink, blink.

Tap fingers on keyboard randomly.

Sigh.

Close Blogger window.

and that's about it in a nutshell.

maybe i should invest in a dictaphone. then i can rant and discuss to my heart's content and then transcribe it later. then again, that seems like a lot of work. and kind of narcissistic.

and, worst of all, i'd have to listen to myself.

VETO.

JGL loooooooove

i am so in love with JGL. i mean, seriously.

it might be getting to the point where JGL might want to watch out for himself.

i would have to say it all started to manifest itself with (500) Days of Summer. he was just so endearing and adorable in that movie (which i subsequently purchased on DVD. it wasn't even a choice. it was a necessity). the way his character mooned over Zooey Deschanel/Summer and the subsequent downward spiral of the relationship was superbly realistic. his skinny boy look coupled with his deep deep voice started to make him very attractive to me. the 2 features seem somehow disjointed, as if they don't belong together, but JGL had a way of delivering his lines so that his baritone voice would occassionally break/crack at just-the-right-moment and would make me empathize with/sympathize for his character, as well as have an unsupressable desire to want to scoop him up and throw him on my bed-to comfort him, of course.

then Inception came out.

OMG. talk about using that sexy baritone and, sometimes, deadpan voice to full effect. oh, and those three-piece suits? ::melting:: good job wardrobe stylist on Inception!

the movie itself was already stellar. interesting idea coupled with great effectuation of said idea. i saw a making-of featurette on HBO and was also impressed that Christopher Nolan likes special effects to be as non-CGI as possible. so for instance, the scene between Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page in the streets of Paris with fruit stands blowing up all around them? real. they used pressurized cannons to have the fruit in the fruit stands blow up the way they did. similarly, the amazing fight scene with JGL fighting in room that's making 360 degree turns? wire work. mmm, how i do love that scene. JGL fighting in a three-piece suit looking all sexy. that and him kissing Ellen Page scene. that lucky biatch.

speaking of lucky biatches, it looks like Devon Aoki and JGL are currently an item. even if i wanted to hate on her, i really can't because she's pretty f-ing gorgeous. ::mumble, mumble, stupid Benihana heir, mumble, mumble:: on the bright side, at least this means i could possibly have a chance with the JGL because he might be fond of the asian persuasion...