Cousin in Manhattan

over christmas break Cousin came to visit from LA. altho i'd planned to stay home and just chill out until after NYE, that plan flew out the door once Cousin got here b/c there were just too many things to be done in NYC and Cousin needed a place to stay. her usual abodes had all been occupied/taken/were too inconvenient (1 was in Queens, the other was already hosting somebody and the last had recently gotten a girlfriend which meant Cousin could only stay over on a rotating schedule. phew that's complicated).

it was all fine and dandy tho b/c Stinky was visiting NYC w/her new Aussie boyfriend so i was required to be back in the city regardless. came into the city w/the family and all the kids got haircuts (including me. it's a little high maintenance but the cut was very necessary considering how long it's been since my last 1) before the fam and i had dim sum at Jing Fong. now how ironic is this? Stinky and the girls were also gonna be getting dim sum and since i've only taken them to Jing Fong i knew they would be going there. Cousin also had friends going out to dim sum and i knew, in my heart of hearts, that Jing Fong would be where they would be going too. and we all sort of converged there all around the same time. i just missed Stinky and the girls (they were leaving when we were sitting) and Cousin's friends were waiting at the same time we were and sat only a little before us. when it comes to dim sum Chinatown is just as a small as ktown at 3 am.

after brunch i went to South Street Seaport to meet up w/Stinky and Bubby and Cousin's crew all came along in tow since they didn't really have any plans either. we went to Jeremy's Ale House for quiet drinks. honestly, not really a fan of this place. such a local dive. bras flung everywhere, not much in terms of ambience, and when we went to go order beers, they were pretty much out of everything but would wait to let us know until after we'd ordered. and to top it all off, Bubby and i got Yuengling and it was flat. how whack is that? regardless it was good to sit down and catch up w/Stinky who hasn't been to town since she moved back from Australia.

Cousin got tipsy from 1 cup of cider and considering she hadn't really slept the night before, she wanted to lay down for a nap but i still had loads to chat w/the girls so she went over to Snoopy's (conveniently located in Chinatown) while i went over to Heartland Brewery for more beers. a little disappointed that the Heartland at South Street Seaport doesn't have pumpkin ale (my favorite) but we totally snacked out on nachos and deep fried dill pickle spears. sounds weird right? it's hard to explain but i thoroughly enjoyed them altho they definitely must be eaten hot. the batter's sort of like boardwalk onion ring batter which is what makes it yummy. and they do taste exactly like they sound but somehow it's still good.

went to Snoopy's afterwards to pick up Cousin but she was totally passed out. instead i got introduced to playing Wario Ware on Wii. so much fun. Snoopy advised me it's even more fun to play when drinking. i'm sure it is just based on how fun it was when we were sober. can't wait...

once Cousin woke up we went for dinner before heading over to 40/40 Club to watch the Celtics vs. Lakers game. aish. i know it's technically a sports lounge but only ballers would go there to watch the game. we had a decent number of ppl so we got a private room to watch the game which was real comfy but once again, it was to watch sports, not club. it was kind of surreal.