covert moves

this morning i found myself on a packed 5 train on my way into work. never a fun experience, especially in all this heat, but thank god the 4/5 trains tend to have very good A/C (better than my current apartment, where i haven't installed my window unit yet. and am melting because of my laziness/ineptitude).

the only spot available was the standing bar directly in front of the doors, which works fine for me since work's only 2 stops away. and today, i had the pleasure of having eye candy in the form of a good-looking man standing across from. hooray!

i'd also see this guy before on at least 1 occasion on the same train, and must've thought he was attractive then as well, since i clearly remembered him. as i surreptitiously stole glances at him, i realized how inopportune my position was in relation to him.  if i wasn't standing directly in front of him, at such a close distance, i could probably just stare away to my heart's content and enjoy his sharp, attractive features. but in my current location, it would be super creepy and awkward to just stare straight at him.

seeing this in front of you COULD make you uncomfortable. just a bit.

which was such a shame since he was very pleasant to look at.

second chance?

shortly after my final interview for my current job, i met up with Kiddo to celebrate finally transitioning back into the city after moving back home to NJ after law school. we had also made plans to meet up with JimmyDean and MrsButtersworth, although they had to work until later so Kiddo and grabbed drinks first.

this would be my first, but not last, appearance at Whiskey Tavern, Kiddo's favorite bar near his current job at NY County Supreme Court. i'd passed this place many times during my forays into Chinatown, but had never really been curious because honestly, who goes to Chinatown to drink? the answer: a lot of people, apparently. i don't really have an opinion about Whiskey Tavern aside from the fact the the drink prices are reasonable, the atmosphere is pretty good (it has the potential to be a local but usually tends to decently packed so you never feel like you've walked into a spaghetti western), and if you're an attorney often making appearances in NY County Supreme, you'll probably run into a lot of people you know at this bar. i did end up having an amazing honey-flavored Jack Daniels on the rocks, which was memorable.

i can't remember why, but we decided to migrate to another bar while waiting for JimmyDean and MrsButtersworth and ended up at B Flat. now this place, i love. a japanese jazz bar? get out! when we arrived, the place wasn't crowded at all and had a dimly lit, serene vibe; very "jazz-y" feeling. it was when we plopped down at the bar that i realized it was a japanese jazz bar. the cocktail menu offers various asian-influenced cocktails akin to Angel's Share but without the excessively long wait and white douchebags. the prices are on par as Angel's Share so i highly recommend coming here instead of AS. it's just so much better. 

after 1 drink, JimmyDean and MrsButtersworth met with us and suggested we go to Peels for dinner. i was pretty pumped since i'd never been, and Peels is on my "to-eat" list of NYC restaurants. however, the meal itself was sorely disappointing. and here's why:

1. the prices are outrageous. no, not Per Se outrageous, but are we really trying to claim Peels is akin to Per Se? i don't think so. the entrees are the only reasonably priced (and i mean NYC "reasonably priced") items on the menu and everything was upward of $20. that includes for fried chicken. so no surprise that Kiddo and i both opted for the $16.50 cheeseburger. which was good, but not $16.50 good. the fact that i can't even remember it says a lot.

2. drinks are just as expensive. $9+ for a beer and $12+ for a glass of wine. JimmyDean and i made the command decision to just order a moderately priced bottle of wine for the table. 

honestly, everything about Peels was just "so-so."  there was nothing particularly memorable about it except for the hefty price tag. and although i've all but written this place off as "over-hyped," the blogsphere keeps trying to entice me back. 

so i might make just 1 more trip. but only for brunch. in the hopes that it will be as good as this one was. even with it's redonkey kong prices.

What Should We Call Me

while i'm an avid internet trawler, as evidenced by my ever-growing blogroll, i don't usually push/advocate too many sites. 

but sometimes, there's that 1 that just always makes you laugh. and yes, Texts from Last Night, is one of them, but that site can get a little tiring after a while. plus, it has one fatal flaw: it's all words. no pictures or gifs to distract you.

and that where whatshouldwecallme comes in. i can't really remember how i stumbled upon it, i think from HungryHungryHippo, who posted one of their gifs on my FB wall. either way, it's pretty much a daily check for me now-a-days because it's so friggin' funny. 

and true.

the following are reproductions of some of my favorites to give you a little flavor.  if i could've directly embedded the originals in, i would have. stupid tumblr trying to break out on their own and keep shit proprietary.

1. FIGHTING WITH MY MOM

2. WHEN SOMEONE TELLS MY FRIENDS THEY ARE GOING TO GET FROZEN YOGURT

3. WHEN I IGNORE MY FRIEND'S CALL, AND THEN THEY TEXT ME SAYING THEY CAN SEE ME

4. FINDING A BUG IN MY ROOM

WHEN I'M TOO SCARED TO KILL IT: 

WHEN MY BOYFRIEND IS TOO SCARED TO KILL IT:

5. WHEN SOMEONE SAYS "WANNA KNOW A SECRET?"

6. TRYING TO DO WORK IN BED

so seriously, go check them out. i promise you'll laugh out loud. and if you're curious as to the creators behind the tumblr, read here.

15 mins of offensive television?

before you get up in arms at me for this post, just try to keep in mind that racism and cultural/ethnic stereotypes are interpreted in many ways by many people. and a person's level of sensitivity or perception of an image/conduct is subjective to each individual. 

ok, that being said, i watched 15 mins of hilarious television that covered a whole plethora of asian stereotypes.

Cousin arrived in town on friday night from a conference in Philadelphia and met me near my office for a happy hour dinner at Haru (which was so average and passable that it's not worth describing-except for the Happy Hour where everything offered on the HH menu is under $5). we finished relatively early, which meant we had time to head to K-town to meet up with BlackSesame, Kiddo, and Kiddo's new girlfriend for drinks, but first we had to make a stop at my apartment so Cousin could drop off her luggage.

once inside the apartment, Cousin needed a few mins to answer some work e-mails and use her laptop, so i turned on the tv while i waited for her and got to watch Supernatural for the first time in months. what can i say? i like spooky stories that resolve themselves within an hour, Jared Padelecki and Jensen Ackles are easy on the eyes, and the writing and dialogue's can be pretty witty at times. i don't have to justify my CW11 tv-watching to you.

however, this episode happened to center around a high school student who gets struck by lightning and becomes a prophet that can transcribe the word of God. but that's not the best part. the kid is a typical asian stereotype. he:

1.  plays the cello: he's introduced by a close-up of the cello and then the camera pans out to show him playing it. then to nerd it up even more, his computer chimes and a message alerts him that his cello practice is complete.
2. he dates a chubby asian girl who's dressed like a catholic school girl. 
3. he too is dressed in preppy school gear: button-down, tie, and slacks. 
4. he's stressed out about his SAT scores.
5. he wants to attend Princeton.
6. he has nothing to write about in his college admission essay: since you know, asians are robots when it comes to school and only spend their time practicing their cello/violin/piano and doing homework. no other extracurriculars allowed.
7. he's in Advanced Placement (AP): when he meets the main characters for the 1st time, that's actually how he identifies himself, "I'm Kevin Tran. I'm in AP."


as i watched this i thought, "come on, Supernatural. was this really necessary? i mean, fine, he's asian. but does he really have to be the stereotype? couldn't he just be a normal person who happens to be asian?" i'm not saying the stereotype doesn't exist because it clearly does. i myself fit most of the characteristics listed above when i was in high school. but i also did other non-stereotype activities like go out with my non-Asian friends (i did have them), went to the movies, and went to house parties (gasp!). just like every other normal teenager who's not asian.

then things got really weird.

the show ran to commercial, and the first commercial that played was the Intel Ultrabook commercial.

now i get it, this commercial is a parody of House of Flying Daggers. although i don't see why the actors have to be asian. it's about trying to find an outlet in a coffeehouse. i think that's pretty universal to all ethnicities and races. i don't think the use of coffeehouses are limited to asian people. i started to wonder whether CW11 was going to make the entire hour asian-related, but thought, "nah, that's impossible. this was just a coincidence."

except the commercial immediately following the above was this Starburst commercial:

wha?! this did not just happen. just because the Supernatural episode involves an asian doesn't mean the whole hour has to be asian does it? it just seemed really weird.


honestly, i wasn't particularly offended by the above series of events and i could find the humor in all these commercials (and the Starburst one doesn't involve any stereotyping and shouldn't be considered offensive at all). what sort of bugged me was that these were presented in a series, one right after the other. i can't believe it was intentional, because that would just be stupid. but then again, what are the chances of that happening? it's not like commercial featuring asians are so abundant that there's a 1 in 3 chance every commercial you'll see has them.


my brain can't really process what i saw. it was just weird.