Googa Mooga

Saturday, May 19

Diana and I had volunteered via CleanVibes for the Googa Mooga event. I didn't actually realize that not only had we signed ourselves up for CLEANING, but we also had to put down a $55 deposit to "hold our volunteer" spot. Stupid. Makes no sense in my opinion. Why do I have to pay to volunteer? Upon completion, our $50 of the $55 deposit is refunded and we get $50 worth of food vouchers for the event. For 4 hours of HARD labor, it is totally NOT worth it. Diana may feel otherwise...

In any case, I just kind of want to block the painful memory and jump right into what I did enjoy about the first time ever held Great Googa Mooga food festival. We started getting food around 6pm and we were both starving by that time. Diana had her eye on trying M. Wells' Bologna Foie Gras Grilled Cheese. It was DELICIOUS! Definitely one of my favorite, if not my favorite of everything we tried (total of 10 items). The foie gras was so rich and the bread was nice and toasty. YUM!

M. Wells // Bologna Foie Gras Grilled Cheese

We were not happy about the volunteer experience...

This was how we felt x 500000

Next up, we got on a pretty long ling for the Burger Joint. I've always wanted to go check this place out which is actually at the Le Parker Meridien Hotel, but never had the chance to trek all the way there. The burger was standard, nothing special about it. 

Burger Joint // The Works Burger with everything

Following the burger, we went to get some nachos at Calexico. They were supposedly serving Roasted Corn nachos but by the time we got them, they ran out of corn and was serving guacamole in lieu of the corn. I ain't complaining :) The Nachos were, well, nachos, no differentiation whatsoever.

Calexico // Guacamole nachos

Next, we had this bombass Phillipino "hotdog" at Maharlika. We actually had no intention and had never heard of this vendor but decided to give it a try because there was no lines/wait (that was a huge risk to take since every stand had long long lines). High risk, high reward - the hotdog was amazing. Diana loved it and said it was her favorite food at the festival. It had so much flavor: salty, spicy, sweet, you name it. I liked it a lot as well, definitely on the top of my list. I only wish that they did something with the bun, they could have easily toasted it to make it THAT much better as a whole. 

Maharlika // (nameless) Hotdog

Taking a break from all the food, this was a picture of what part of the event looked like, mainly the stage. It was so packed. People brought blankets and just chilled. Loved the concept, but I really hate (crowds of) people. Eeeek! 

Stage @ Googa Mooga

The Roots performing

We were thirsty after having a decent amount of food and I finally got to try kombucha! I'm so glad Diana spotted it and got us a cup. It was soooooo delicious; I didn't think I would like it so much. I first learned about the drink from Blogilates, and didn't really set my heart out to try it, but Diana ordered it for me to try and it was a total hit! Delicious and healthy - works for me! 

Macarons // Kombucha

We got some macarons: salted caramel, pistachio, and passion fruit. Our favorite was the passion fruit, but I've definitely had better (i.e., at Per Se - can't believe I didn't finish them there!! Should have brought them home in hindsight!).

Macarons

Diana ventured out to get a ginger milkshake from Momofuku while I waited in line for some smoked meat. She literally inhaled the milkshake. I'm not a big ginger fan so I took a sip and passed. I'm glad Diana really enjoyed it, we both got lucky on the drinks :). Diana said she had some really good smoked meat once and wanted us to try it. They ran out of bread for their sandwich (eeerf? Don't call it a sandwich then...and reduce the price! They did neither). We got about 6 slices of meat for what? was it $7? It was salty.....and salty. The bread would have really helped.

Mile End // Smoked Meat

A view of what the food stands looked like. They were scattered in groups all around the park.

Red Rooster was here! Holla!

Diana's obsessed with cheese so of course we had to get a second grilled cheese sandwich. This one looked promising but did not meet our expectations. The cheese was not melted enough. I guess that's what happens when you have a long time of hungry customers...

Little Muenster // Grilled Cheese

Last but not least, we finished off the night with 2 orders of some awesome wings from Blue Ribbon. I didn't even know they made wings; I always thought it was a sushi place. The skin/batter was super crunchy and it was seasoned with lots of paprika and drizzled with honey. The honey was definitely a really nice twist. The meat itself could have used more marinade/flavor but the super crunchy shell made up for it. Delicious!!  Since we got 2 orders, Diana and I could not finish it and after we left Prospect Park after nibbling on these wings, I delivered the leftovers to Andrew at his office as he happened to be working over the weekend.

Overall, I thought Googa Mooga was pretty successful. Many vendors ran out of food 3/4 of the way in, so that definitely was a let down; better planning would have helped. I wish we did not sign up for CleanVibes and wasted half the day "working". It was a hot sunny day and it would have been very enjoyable just laying on the grass.

After I met up with Andrew for a bit, I headed over to Josie's cousin-to-be, Jaz's, apartment over at NYU and got ready for Betty's promotion and Jaz's graduation celebration. We went to the Park in Chelsea and waited on line for a good hour. We took 2 shots of soco lime (pretty yum) and a cocktail. I stayed till about 2am and Andrew came to pick me up as he got out of work and we cabbed it back to his apartment.

Clambake Party!

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Josie, Jin, and I started off our day with a quick run at Prospect Park for about an hour. We went slow as it was hot, sunny, and humid outside. I think we ran a little under 2 miles. Anything is good when you know you have a long day of eating and drinking ahead! After our run, we went back to Jin's apartment to shower and hopped across the street to Giovanni's Brooklyn Eats for brunch. The restaurant was adorable and offered a great menu with 2 courses and unlimited mimosas/bloody marys for a whopping $17.

Unlimited mimosa's at Giovanni's Brooklyn Eats Brunch - deeelish. One of the better mimosa's I've had

Josie's choices left; Mine right (Top: Antipasti, Bottom: Secondi)

Going clockwise with top right: 

roasted beet, walnuts, and goat cheese salad

"Uovo al forno" - oven baked egg over polenta, tomato, & ricotta cheese

"Double eggplant - baked eggplantparmesan topped with a fried egg

prosciutto and melon

The food and atmosphere here was super. I would definietly come back. Per Jin, it's a relatively new establishment so it's still a "hidden gem". No waits and amazing home cooked style food. 

After brunch, we went to pick up groceries and Lena, Jeff, and Betty shortly arrived. Jeff was the executive chef for our party. He whipped up some AWESOME lobster rolls from scratch. Now, I'm not a lobster fan, but these were incredible.

 2 flavors: half garlic butter (served hot), other half mayo and celery (served chilled). Both were equally amazing!!! Great job Jeff - we are more than impressed :)

Betty made some bangin' guacamole

And the clambake begins....first a layer of chorizo...

then some potatoes...and clams and mussels

then some corn...

then some killing...i mean lobsters, fresh.

Jeff also made his special meatloaf

with some wicked good sauce

Lobsters are out!

and the corn!

clams, mussels, potatoes are out

the goodness...

I made a healthy salad that didn't get much attention due to Jeff's amazing main courses :P

de-shelling to get all the good stuff out. Jin, take it easy! lol

the juicy heads for Jeff and Lena

Clambake party = SUCCESS!!

Healthy and refreshing desserts :)

Food was amazing, some drinks, awesome company, and lots of laughs and fun! Congrats to Betty and Jeff for being board game champions - you guys are adorable. Also, a big big thank you to Jeff for doing majority of the preparation and cooking, and Jin for hosting it!

Hope you all had a great start to the Memorial weekend! Hellooooooo summer :)

The Apartment

I wanted to save and share some photos of the co-op apartment Andrew and I are purchasing around the Gramercy/Flatiron/Kips Bay area in Manhattan, New York. We started apartment hunting the beginning of this year. In the beginning, going to open houses was fun and interesting, but by the time we saw 40-50 places, the excitement dissipated. Everything started to look the same and only the ones we liked stuck with us. We (and by we I really mean, I) found this apartment on Streeteasy and saw it at an open house hosted by the seller's friends. We automatically fell in love. However, we still continued our search as the price was slightly out of our budget. We found that we kept comparing everything else to this one. And after a few weeks of continuous search, we realized this apartment was the one and we can totally see our lives in it. Below are some photos from marketing:

 Entering into the foyer and overlooking living room

 Living area

 Dining area to the right of the foyer

 Compact Kitchen with small breakfast bar

 Oversized bedroom

 Bedroom again

Walk in closet <3

Bathroom

And a terrace! Can you believe it? It's huge - about 100 sq ft

Obviously the place will look a lot different with our own furniture and decor but I love how we don't really have to update or fix anything. It's in mint condition and we pretty much just have to bring a pillow and toothbrush!

We signed contracts last Wednesday and sellers signed over the weekend. By Monday, we were officially in contract! On Tuesday, I got an email update from Streeteasy (I have an account and had saved our apartment in one of the folders) indicating that this apartment was "In Contract". I had the biggest smile and had to forward it to Andrew. It was really happening...

Streeteasy: In Contract! (Sorry, had to blur out the private info!)

Everything felt pretty surreal, but it's slowly starting to sink in. I can't believe we're actually buying an apartment. Together. In the city. I'm really excited, but also scared at the same time, as this all comes at a hefty price tag. But we believe it will be worth it - I can't wait!

Taiwan: TSMC & NYC (Day 10)

February 20, 2012

On our final day in Taiwan (Monday), we had most of the day there since our flight wasn't until the evening. We woke up and took a taxi to Andrew's dad's office, TSMC. He gave us a tour of the office building to show us where he spends most of his time in Taiwan (sadly, working too much!).

Andrew and dad in front of TSMC

TSMC Headquarters

After visiting the office, we had time for lunch before we had to go back and grab our luggage and head to the airport. We originally wanted to try a famous shop for beef noodle soup but unfortunately the shop was closed when we got there via shuttle bus. We ended up going with option #2, lunch buffet at Ambassador Hotel. The food was okay, pretty good for buffet but I think by now, I was pretty tired of the whole unlimited quantity concept.

Specially ordered ribs at buffet

Dessert

Lunch buffet

After lunch, we headed back to the apartment and picked up our luggage and headed for the airport. I was pretty ready to come back, as I definitely had intense food overload over the past 10 days - felt like I gained 4000 lbs. The plane ride back was miserable as this baby kept crying and its fob parents took and had no control over them - so inconsiderate.

Overall, it was an awesome trip - there sure is a lot to eat and everything was phenomenal. Super thankful for Andrew's family and Diana for taking us around. It was wonderful meeting Andrew's family!