Date Option: Union Square

dating in NY is a tricky activity. on-line and app dating even more so. if you make it over the initial hurdles of initiating conversations and maintaining a level of interest in someone that you have yet to meet (and i am a lazy texter and e-mailer. i text and e-mail the bare minimum to my friends, let alone a complete stranger), the next obstacle is the first in-person meeting.  you negotiate about activity (drinks, dinner, coffee, museum, park, movie), then the location (public of course, but where? east side, west side, uptown, downtown. we all inevitably want something convenient to us). 

more often than not, i tend to pick Union Square as a primary option, due to its key access to numerous subways and close train ride to my apartment. but there's only so many dates you can have at Coffeeshop or Lillie's or Rye House. so i'll throw a new option into the mix: Linen Hall.

to give you a little more background, my date was on a saturday night at 8 p.m. Linen Hall is on located on the stretch of 3rd Avenue that it littered with bar and restaurant options. but if you're looking for something in a more general, all-American theme, then look no further. 

the place has the old-fashioned wood bar with dark ambient lighting, so a great set-up for a date. not too crowded in the early stages of a saturday night. my date and i both got good seats at the bar, and comfortably enjoyed them for about 3 hours before the place started to get into full-swing saturday night in the east village. attentive bartenders and not too loud. just loud enough for you and your date to lean in and talk to each other, without having to shout.

and if it's food you're looking for, the menu has a nice variety to satisfy any food craving (assuming you're not looking for fancy crudos or upscale dining). my date and i only snacked, but the Disco Fries ($7) we ordered were the perfect bar fodder: crispy waffle fries topped with melted cheddar cheese with a hot side of gravy for dipping. i may not know what the future holds for me and my date, but i know he will always remember those fries. he actually told me so 2 days after our date.

La Boheme

w/o Debs in my life, i prob wouldn't have anything cultural/sophisticated to talk about, let alone anything truly exciting in the "real-world" sense of things. but luckily for you and i, she is in my life and so i have this entry.

Debs had bought tickets to La Boheme performed by the NYC Opera at Lincoln Center for her lil' sis who ironically wanted to see Rent instead of it (Rent is based on La Boheme, something i didn't know until Debs told me at the opera house) so Debs asked me to go instead. i was really psyched to go but worried too since i don't do too well at truly cultural events (i always fall asleep at ballets and orchestras/symphonies when they're held indoors). i didn't have to worry b/c La Boheme was performed beautifully and i really enjoyed it, at 1st straining to read the supertitles and then not caring about them near the end. gotta love that Puccini.


since it was Friday night, i'd already gotten a bunch of calls about events going on and was sort of relieved about attending the opera w/Debs since it took off some of the pressure of trying to figure out where to go and what to do. afterwards, we went to grab some dinner at Heartland Brewery in Union Square (pumpkin ale's now available. it tasted like a beer-y version of pumpkin pie so i was in heaven) before heading over to Slate for GJ's boyfriend's bday party where Prez was. i was excited for Prez and Debs to meet b/c i think they're both adorable ppl and they're both my pseudo-dates sometimes, plus they're amongst my friends w/the least drama which i love the most.


Debs only stayed for a little at Slate (she gets uncomfortable in super-Asian crowds having grown up all twinkie) and that's when random chaos started. Chipmunk, Snoopy and GMoon called (all separately) a bunch of times trying to get into Slate but the doorman was being a douche and wasn't letting anyone else in (it was only 1 am-ish at the time). turns out GMoon and Chipmunk were w/Institution and they'd tried to get in w/about 12 other dudes and no girls(way too much sausage to get in anywhere really). they all travelled over to meatpacking but Chipmunk came back around by himself and i got him in under the "he's-my-boyfriend-and-i-need-him-to-walk-me-back-home-so-pls-let-him-in" pretense. eventually the group went to ktown and Prez and i opted to get food at Kunjip where i ran into Snoopy (who seemed pretty pissed that i hadn't called him back). he went on to norebang while Prez and i and the rest of the group stayed.


turns out Institution and GMoon were eating at the Japanese place above Kunjip (i know ktown's small but sometimes it's a little too small) and we all finished around the same time and headed back to Feil (after a lot of loitering in ktown w/all the guys trying to figure out where to go next and where to meet girls-since i was the only girl at this pt). some of us ended up at Institution's apt drinking Modelos and talking about ridiculous stuff until 7 am. what a weird weird night. it started out so nice and classy w/Debs and ended so frat-ish w/Institution and the guys.

the Debs 411

i recently had dinner w/Debs for our monthly touching base. we went to Republic, which i haven't been to in a while but that Debs hasn't been to since O and Cha went to NYU. i think we were still in high school at the time.

it was raining pretty badly that night and i was pretty exhausted from an entire weekend of karaoking but i always have time for Debs. we've known each other since we were babies after all. in retrospect Republic may not have been the perfect place to go for someone w/a hoarse throat. it wasn't until we sat down that i realized how loud it is in that place.

i'd originally tried to get a hot toddy to calm the throat but they didn't have any, tho how that's possible is always beyond me (who doesn't have whisky, hot water, lemon and brown sugar?). so instead i got hot sake. we split calamari skewers to start (really good except that they don't slice up the squid before-hand so it's difficult to eat an entire skewer at once). i got grilled salmon as an entree and she had noodle-soup, something w/coconut in it. b/c Debs claimed this was going to be her last meal (she was going to start eating healthier) we even got dessert: black sesame ice cream and a chocolate cake.

during dinner Debs filled me in on all the stuff that's been going on w/her. it seems like she's really at a crossroads in her life trying to figure out what to do. after meeting the Twins, i realized what it feels like to be an older sister figure (yes, i have a younger sister so technically i do know what it's like-it's just i've never really felt that about anyone aside from family) and i'd never considered Debs as younger than me (not really anyways). i think w/Debs it comes and goes. sometimes we're peers and i think of her as close enough to be family then other times i feel like the older sister giving advice and listening to a younger sibling.

so hungover it hurts

so last Tuesday i randomly met up w/Pinky who i haven't seen for over a year for drinks at Forum. poor Pinky had texted me around 8 p.m. to see if i wanted to meet him since he was already there having drinks w/friends but they were taking off. i was a little indecisive but then said sure and got ready, which took a while and i got side-tracked. i finally made it to Forum around 10 p.m. poor poor Pinky.

since i wasn't sure if Pinky was going to stay b/c i'd taken so long, i called Pal since she lives in the Union Square area as well. luckily she was at Heartland Brewery so i told her where i was going and we'd keep in touch to see who finished up first. when i got to Forum Pinky was chatting up a cute lady sitting next to him at the bar. turns out she works for Saks and Pinky's always networking, not that he has any probs chatting and being social when he goes out. i ordered a drink and Pinky ordered another vodka and redbull. this is how i knew he'd been waiting and drinking for a while: the bartender comped him his drinks, and later, comped him 4 shots of Petron.

Pinky and i caught up, which was good b/c i don't know that much about him in the 1st place. did i mention that he's the owner of pinkyotto? when we'd met about a year ago, he was in such a party mood in his life. he travelled Asia and has been back for months and he seems to have mellowed out a lot. it was fun. later Pal and her friend came and met up w/us and that's when the Petron shots came flying out. afterwards we headed towards Pianos but for some reason we ended up not staying/going in and headed somewhere a block away instead. so the night gets a little hazy from there and i hadn't eaten dinner so....yea. i was smart enough to pour myself into a cab around 2 am but i suffered horribly for the next day+