San Francisco 2013

Fanny and I had such an amazing trip to visiting Linda and Peter in San Francisco earlier this month. It could not have been more perfect.

We flew out of NYC on Saturday, 9/14 and landed late morning/early afternoon in SF.  Peter and Linda picked us up from the airport and we headed straight to the Ferry building and the farmers' market right by the pier. SF farmers' market are sooo generous in samples - you can practically get full just from sampling something from each vendor. We were starving by now since Fanny and I only had a parfait at the airport before our 5+ hour flight.

The first thing we ate was this fruit galette - it was delicious

Then we got some fresh oysters

And Peter was nice enough to wait on the long line for these amazing porchetta sandwiches

Generous free samples for all

One of the best coffee's I've ever had - Blue Bottle's New Orleans style iced coffee

We then went into the Ferry Building market to explore the market and also to find Fanny's meat cones that she had been dreaming about since her last trip to SF. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as she remembered...

We then hopped into the car (thanks Peter for driving us EVERYWHERE!) and drove to Coit Tower to get a 360 view of SF from the highest point in the city. Admission was $7 per person which is quite pricey for a view that left something to be desired. The views at the top of the tower were sealed with windows all around. Some of my favorite views of SF were free, more to come on that later.

Next stop was Lombard Street - world's most crooked street. It's a popular street in SF due to the crazy zig zag road.

We headed to Fisherman's Wharf and Ghiradelli Square - it was amazing to see a park, a beach, and shops/city feel all in the same area.

We had to stop by Boudin for their famous sourdough bread - we shared 2 bowls of clam chowder in their sourdough bowls. So good! I think I really like sourdough!

   

Our next destination was Twin Peaks where we can see all of downtown SF. The famous SF fog started to roll in as we were driving up to the Twin Peaks and I started to get nervous that our view would be ruined by the fog but to our luck, it was perfectly clear! It was just really really cold up there and the wind was so strong, it was almost hard to stand. We stayed there for 10 mins or so to absorb in the views and then headed to dinner.

We drive to Mission to eat at El Farolito. This place was recommended to me by Diana - she said it was mind blowing. I was skeptical since I am a huge Chipotle fan but the food definitely was great and so cheap! One of my favorite item there was definitely to my own surprise, their cantaloupe agua fresca. I ordered it on a whim after seeing Linda order it and I still think about it. It tasted like the pure essence of a super ripe cantaloupe! The shrimp ceviche taco was also really good.

It was starting to get dark by the time we finished dinner and we headed to Alamo Square to see the house from Full House! It was so beautiful - with the view of downtown SF behind it and all. Full House was definitely my favorite show as a kid.

After that, Peter and Linda dropped Fanny and I off to get Thai massages, after they raved about it at Coit Tower. I suddenly felt all my muscle tense up and knew we should go get one. The massage was relaxing but definitely didn't think it was intense enough for my liking. I should have told them to go harder on me. Fanny on the other hand thought it was intense and felt even more pain after! LOL

After our massages, Linda and Peter came to pick us up and try Yogorino. They love it, but I personally still prefer Pinkberry :)

We were so productive! It felt like we did a million things and it was only our first day!

Sunday, 9/15: Day 2

We woke up and headed to the Marin Farmers' Market near Linda and Peter's apartment. It was so awesome - so much fresh produce and delicious food...and FREE SAMPLES!

We started off with a waffle - not gunna lie, I don't like waffles but this one was so good! The texture was chewy...I could have ate a whole thing by myself.

We also tried this really delicious fig and bacon pizza topped with arugula - the flavors were so complementary!

This smoked salmon was so good! Usually when I think smoked salmon, I think it looks more on the raw side (kinda like sushi), but this one was more "cooked" looking. It was so delish!

We bought from fruits to go and were on our way. I had to get another cup of the Blue Bottle coffee but it was just soooo good.

Before heading into the city, we went to Marin Headlands to see and take pictures of the Golden Gate bridge. This location was my favorite view of the bridge.

My favorite photo from the trip - pure joy!

We drove into the city to have lunch at Burmastar. I've never had Burmese food before and was so excited to try, especially given all the great reviews this place had on Yelp. Lunch was amazing and our waitress was the sweetest lady ever. We had such a great time.

Samusa soup - very interesting

Tea leaf salad

Rainbow salad - my fave from the meal

Lamb curry - sauce was amazing, meat was a bit dry

There were plenty of cute shops in the area and we stopped by Schubert's bakery to try their princess cake. We ended up taking it to go because we were so stuffed from lunch and ate it in front of the Palace of Fine Arts.

Next stop was some biking along Crissy fields - this area is so fun and beautiful. There's a path where people can bike and stroll with large areas of grass where you can sit and enjoy the amazing view of the water and bridge.

 

We biked along Crissy fields and stopped by a fort right under the Golden Gate. Then we rode in the other direction until we hit the Palace of Fine Arts, where we ate our goodies from the farmers' market, leftovers from lunch, and the princess cake.

We couldn't come to SF and not ride on of their iconic trolleys so we headed to Union Square. Roger was nice enough to come meet us for a bit while we checked things off our SF list. We met him by the Union Sq trolley stop and rode it all to Chinatown. SF is so hilly! Amazing. No wonder ppl are so skinny here. We walked through Chinatown and wanted to stop by the Golden Gate Bakery to try their famous egg tarts, but the line was so long that we didn't have enough time because we had dinner plans.

For dinner, I had plans to meet up with Esther, whom I haven't seen in YEARS. Literally since college, so probably 5+ years. It was so good to see her! I wish I had remembered to take a picture with her. Jaz and her husband, Andrew, were sweet enough to come meet us for dinner at PPQ Dungeness. We had so much fun chatting and laughing that some lady in the next table yelled at us to keep it down. She was jealous that we were having such a great time while her family stared boringly at each other. Chill lady - you must be from out of town - why so bitchy? Jaz was quite offended from her comment - love her boldness! LOL

Before heading home, we stopped by Creations Dessert for a bite of Asian delight.

Monday, 9/16: Day 3

We woke up early to beat the morning crowd to "hike" (more like stroll) John Muir Woods to see the famous redwood trees. They were so tall! So glad we came early because 1. we didn't have to pay admission since the park hadn't even opened yet, but most of all 2. to avoid the crazy crowds! By the end of our hike, the place was filled with people and it would have been hard taking pictures without people being in all of them. We took such great photo since we had the park to ourselves!

 LOL. Don't ask.

 Zen.....?

We had plans to go to Napa Valley after the hike. But we were pretty hungry after our adventure at Muir Woods. We stopped by a local Mexican joint near their apartment and picked up some bombass platain chips at Sol Food. We also purchased some of their cutely package hot sauce to take home as souvenirs.

We stopped by to have lunch before hitting the vineyards. We were all either lightweights or were "allergic" to alcohol so we had to cushion our tummies. We walked around Oxbox market but ended up eating at Gott's Roadside for burgers. Linda said this place was famous for their burgers but they were just average.

Next store was a bakery (Model Bakery) where Peter order this English muffin which was surprsingly so good - probably because it was perfectly toasted (better be, since we waited 10 mins?  for it). We also tried a whoopie pie at Sweetie Pie, not sure if I've ever had one before. Tasted like a hostess.

 

Our first vineyard stop in Napa was Robert Mondavi. I remember Jin had gifted me a bottle of their Moscato for my house warming party and was excited to see the source! We arrived at 2pm, just in time for one of their walking and tasting tours (so lucky!). We quickly signed up for the Discovery tour. Our first tasting was a dry white - think it was a Sauvignon Blanc - we didn't like it.

Our final tasting was their Moscato, which was apparently the original owner's favorite wine that they produced. It was delicious - I had to buy some!

Our next vineyard was V. Sattui. This was one was popular and commercial, if you will. The 4 of us shared one tasting since we knew that would be more than enough. We actually didn't love as many as I would have hoped. Fanny ended up taking home a bottle of red and I took home a bottle of sparkling Moscato which I thought was unique. Moscato all the way baby. Someone please educate me on wine. After our tasting, we sat outside with a loaf of french bread, cheese, and this amazing pate while we (or just me) cooled down the Asian glow.

 

We had reservations for dinner at Thomas Keller's casual dining scene in Napa called Ad Hoc. We had some time to spare before dinner, but not enough time to do another vineyard so we hit up the premium outlets in Napa. After 45 mins of speed shopping and finding nothing good, we decided to just keep eating.

We drove past Thomas Keller's French Laundry, just to see it. Definitely want to come here next time I'm in SF :). His original Bouchon bakery is actually in Napa so we had to stop by. We sampled a few of their pastries, but nothing was too memorable for me.

Ad Hoc is known for their fried chicken and boy, did it exceed expectations. We were so lucky to be able to have it since apparently, according to our waiter (who was so charming and sweet!), only offer it twice a month and only on Mondays! WHAT? It was pure luck!! That's why our trip was so amazing, we just had so much luck - with restaurants and especially the weather - it was sunny and beautiful every day we were there! Needless to say, our meal at Ad Hoc was nothing short of incredible. It was one set prix fixe menu of 4 courses and everything was just perfect.

Tomato salad to start - the tomatoes were actually from the French Laundry garden :)

The amazing fried chicken main course with broccoli rabe and potato wedges as sides. It was so crispy, tender and JUICY.

 

3rd course was unexpected since we all thought we were heading straight into dessert. It was a fantastic course to bridge the gap between a heavy main course and dessert. We all loved it - it was a dish of balanced flavors between a local DELICIOUS goat cheese (I love love goat cheese), fresh figs, honey, and pistachios. Peter and I had a great time "plating" our own dishes as all the courses are served family style.

 

Dessert was amazing - I think it was a strawberry shortcake.

To wrap up our evening, on our drive back home, we stopped by Treasure Island to capture amazing views of the Bay bridge as it lights up beautifully at night.

Last stop was the Ferry Building at night...so pretty and such a different sight night vs. day.

Tuesday, 9/17: Day 4 and last day :(

We were determined to do "everything we missed" today before heading home on our last day - which basically included a lot of eating. We stopped by Sausalito to get some great, dreamy views of SF before heading into the city. A bit of morning haze definitely made everything more special.

Japan town was on the itinerary so we could pick up some mochis as souvenirs but the store was unexpectedly closed for vacation. Disappointing but at least we got to check out Japan town!

Linda loves the focaccia bread at Liguria bakery - it was delish! I bought 4 huge loaves to take home and ended up eating it for a week! Andrew loves bread so I knew it would be a good souvenir. #totalcarboverload

So we didn't get to try the egg tarts at Golden Gate Bakery the other day and we knew today would be better since it was a Tuesday afternoon. The line was short and we immediately ate them fresh and hot! Seriously, the best egg tarts. The egg custard is thick while the shell is thin and flaky.

For our last meal in SF, we went to Tartine bakery. Everything is good here!

We had 2 croque monsieurs, one turkey and one ham (ham was better!). The side of pickled carrot was SO good. Definitely one of the most memorable things I ate in SF for some super weird reason, because I actually hate carrots! This one was perfectly pickled and had such a good kick of spice to it. It was so good, I am actually trying to pickle some myself! Let's see how it turns out :) *cross my fingers*

Mind blowing banana tart. How is it so rich and light at the same time?

Morning bun - a California thing because we've never heard or seen it anywhere else. So interesting - a sugary coat to a chewy cinnamon-bun-like texture with hints of orange zest.

 

BiRite ice cream was just around the corner from Tartine so we had to stop by! They had so many amazing and creative flavors. It was the perfect sweet bite to end our trip!

Thanks Linda and Peter SO much for hosting and showing us around. We had the time of our lives! <3

January 2013

One of my resolutions for 2013 was to document my life/experiences more because I have an awful memory. Also, thought it'd be fun to try and see how long I can keep it up for. I can't really think of a good format for it so bullets it is, with best effort to categorize some of them...

January:

Eating Out: something old, something new

• Surprisingly good Pad Thai discovery at a fusion Thai/Mexican place in Chelsea (I'd totally go back for the pad thai; I'm slightly obsessed)
• Pok Pok Wings. I'd only go back for the wings and only for first seating. Not worth the hour+ wait
• New Wonjo with Josie - love a girl date one on one. And she introduced me to these bombass Korean frozen ice coffee pouches. So good, but probably so bad for you ;(
• Shanghai Garden with Linda - some serious discussions going down. Oh, and the soup dumplings here are still my favorite in NYC.
• Chikalicious, the green tea yuzu lava cake was bomb, and their chocolate chip cookie.
• Restaurant Week
• L'ecole culinary school in heart of SOHO - that glass of Riesling really made my night
• Morimoto -  only thing memorable was the Toro Tartare

In the Kitchen:

• Cabbage soup. Super healthy and one large pot will last for days
• Making early bird granola like there's no tomorrow. Made the recipe 3x already in the past 2-3 weeks. Everyone loves it, including my family which is rare!

At Home:

• Burger party for Betty's birthday with Eunice, Erica, and Alex. It was cute.
• Finally feel like the apartment is coming together after we got some lamps for the bedroom and barstools. The only major items outstanding are desk, buffet, area rugs, and bookshelves.
• Andrew's getting me a credit card so I can use his money. Muahaha. Just kidding. I do need it for groceries and all the errands he makes me run for him though. Sigh. We need to work on this.

With the family:

• Palisades Mall and Mitsuwa. Dad was trying to be spontaneous. Mitsuwa was a disappointment.
• Lots of family dinners, especially because my sister was home for winter break.
• Grandma's birthday

 On Health/Self:

• Joined the gym at work and have been going relatively consistently, probably around 3-4 times a week. I also started working with a fitness consultant whose going to help design a workout program for me with the goal of running a half marathon and toning as the focus
• First threading experience. I know, whaaaaaaaaaaat? First time?! Total noob.
• Haircut. I needed it badly. I didn't realize my hair is so gross and dead looking when it got long. I need trims more often. I really should be getting them like every 5-6 months...
• Bought my first pair of running sneakers. God, they are so comfortable, but so fugly. Brooks Defyance 6. Size 7B.

At Work:

• Compensation Day. All I can say is, Uncle Sam, you are just killing me.
• Management and Group restructure. Not sure how I feel about this. Time to step up my soul discovery game.

Before I die, I want to...

...fall in love again (with the same person, don't get me wrong!)
...be myself completely
...know that I spent all my time doing the things I love
...be free -- from expectations, judgement, and society
...see the world on my own time with no itinerary, no schedules, and in no rush to "squeeze it all in"
...show my family and friends how much I love them
...live in Hawaii, where I can spend the day in the ocean and build a bonfire at night

Watch it! So inspirational, so true, and so well delivered.
http://www.ted.com/talks/candy_chang_before_i_die_i_want_to.html

My favorite part is "Two of the most valuable things we have are time and our relationships with other people. In our age of increasing distractions, it's more important than ever to find ways to maintain perspective and remember life is brief and tender. Death is something we're often discouraged to talk about or even think about. But I realized that preparing for death is one of the most empowering things you can do. Thinking about death clarifies your life."

2012 and 2013

2012 Review
-Visited Taiwan and met Andrew's family. They are just the sweetest people. We ate until we could take no more. Taiwan has so much to offer, especially for your taste buds!
-Eating Clean(er) and exercising more. It hasn't been consistent but it's a start. I am definitely more educated on it and am more conscious of it. This is something I will always be working on.
-Purchased our first home and living together. I absolutely adore our apartment and our neighborhood. I could not have asked for anything better. This truly is our dream home in NYC.
-Upgrade to iPhone5. Seriously, a good smartphone is a life changer. It has helped me manage my personal life better and I have been taking more pictures, which was one of my goals for 2012.
-Promotion at work. Well, this one was quite unexpected. Nevertheless, I am really happy to be able to celebrate this accomplishment.

2013 Resolutions
-Health
     -Run a half-marathon (target for May 2013 with 3 month training)
     -Tone: use weights/toning videos (i.e., blogilates)
     -Always eat breakfast
     -Take daily vitamins
     -Drink lots of water
     -Avoid fried foods and sugary beverages as much as possible
     -Do not eat 3 hours before bed
     -Eat clean
     -Vegetarian 1x/week
     -Meal plan
-Home
     -Cook more: try a new baking and new entree recipe every month
     -Enjoy our home
          -clean more
 -Relationships
     -Shop for the ring
     -Spend more time with good friends:
         -dinner parties, but keep them small (4 ppl max at once)
         -game nights
     -Adopt a dog (?)
-Travel
     -International trip 2x this year: South America and Hawaii on top of list
     -Weekend trips: 
          Winter: Skiing
          Spring: Delaware
          Summer: Lake George, Cape Cod
          Fall: Maine
-Finances
     -Create and manage a monthly budget
-Career
      -Continue to identify dream job

Mid July Update

First of all, where did summer go? I mean it's not over but it's definitely flying by. However, I can certainly use a break from this insane heat wave and move onto my favorite Fall season...

We've had 2 consecutive refreshing and productive weekends so far in July which is always a good thing worth blogging in my book!

Last Friday, Christine, Diana, and I went to a zumba class in Midtown prior to heading uptown to Harlem for some Dinosaur BBQ. We order green tomatoes, shrimp, and their famous wings to share as appetizers. For our main course, we order a family meal that consisted of ribs, lean brisket, a whole chicken, with sides of mac & cheese, fried rice, cornbread, and salt potatoes. We also order 2 pulled pork sliders for a party of 6 to share. My favorite were the fried green tomatoes, salt potatoes, and wings. I think the moist brisket over at Hill Country BBQ beats Dinosaur's lean brisket any day, but then again, that's not a fair comparison since Hill Country also has a lean brisket (called regular) that is comparable to that of Dinosaur's. On Saturday, I did some yoga with Diana to burn off that ginormous meal overnight. Dinner on Saturday was a brisk walk over to Jack's bistro and a movie from Blockbuster express: Sherlock Homes 2. We watch too much TV. Sunday, Andrew and I stopped by Sleepy's and got sold hard by the chatty salesman and later regretted making a deposit so soon, but they have a good refund/price match policy so we are not overly concerned. We later met with Josie, Jin, and Benny for some cookies that Josie has been raving about over at Levain Bakery in the UWS. The cookie was just how I usually like my cookies - thick and gooey. We watched Ted after which I completely loved - I can always appreciate some light humor. We did some more furniture shopping after and called it a nice long weekend. We find that weekends feel extended when you do something subtantial or go out on Friday night!

Andrew and I had our coop board interview on Thursday which we thought we went well. We should hear back on the final board approval early this coming week. Can't wait to schedule closing! Cross my fingers!

This weekend, I joined Diana for some intense yoga after work. I was sweating like it was hot yoga; to be fair, the room was definitely a lot more humid and warm than most other yoga vida classes. I went back to Andrew's and we went to grab some ramen at Ramen Takumi. I actually like this ramen spot, it's no Totto, but to me, ramen is ramen unless it's really bad. I can't really tell good ramen from great ramen. Maybe it's all the salt. After dinner, we grabbed some ice cream from the Van Leeuwen truck parked across the street and got the earl grey tea ice cream. Andrew fell in love with it and said it's one of the best ice creams he's ever had. And trust me when I say the guy has had a lot of ice cream in his lifetime lol. We passed by a movie theater at Union Square and decided we should finally see Avengers. He's been wanting to see it for a while and what better time now when no one's fighting us for seats! We saw it in 3D and I personally think these movies are the best for paying the extra $$$ for 3D. It was also BOGO for Visa Signature cardholders since it was Friday - score!

Saturday, Andrew missed his basketball routine and I missed my yoga routine. Oh well! We substituted some physical exercise with some kickass brunch at Maharlika for filipino food. Diana and I noticed this name at the Googa Mooga event and she had since came to the restaurant and loved it. The staff was attentive and super friendly. She took the time to explain the menu to us as well as introduce us to the condiments and how they're used with the food. We ordered the chicken and waffles to share and the pig ear, snout, cheek, belly sizzling platter with garlic rice to share. The waffle was simply out of this world, so moist and unique being that it was made with taro. Agree with Diana, chicken was well fried and tasty. The pig dish was also delish. Andrew actually preferred this one over the chicken and waffles. There was so much texture going on in this dish that it really was interesting to eat bite after bite. I loved pairing this with the vinegar they recommended as the acidity really cut through the pork nicely. The garlic rice was good too - I think I will attempt to make my own version some day by frying up some minced garlic and just mixing it in with white rice.

After brunch, we passed by abraco and remember we loved their olive oil cake and coffee last time and decided to pick some up since we were here anyway! I love walking around the city with an ice coffee equipped at hand :) We ran some errands and window shopped at a few furniture places along SOHO. We tried to price shop at 2 Sleepy's again but that didn't work out as nicely as we imagined. We are just the worst bargainers.

Andrew wanted to meet up with his friend, Mike for some kayaking so we went home quickly to change and took a cab over to W56th on the Hudson for some free kayaking. It was surprisingly no hassle and a lot of fun! The Hudson did gross me out a bit but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The day wasn't hot and since we went around 5pm, the sun was just cooling down. It really was a great recommendation by Mike. The staff was helpful and patient. I would definitely come back. We had plans to meet up again for dinner after going our separate ways to shower and change for the evening. Andrew and I took the subway down and did more window furniture shopping around 5th Ave before heading home to shower and change. We had dinner with Mike and Mayer at 5 Napkin in Union Square and I ordered a grilled shrimp salad. It was light and refreshing. Dave came to meet us and we headed over to Sing Sing at St. Marks for some karaoke.

Sunday, Andrew and I headed over to Carroll Gardens (painfully since it was hot and humid and the F train wasn't running so we walked over 40 mins to get there!) to have brunch with Josie and Jin at Buttermilk Channel. This place is simply awesome. Everything was delicious.

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 :)