Harrroooween!

2 sailors and a table = fun night of falsies, festivities and fotos! :D

Golden Shopping Mall, Flushing

Today, my girlfriend & I decided to venture Flushing, NY - famous for good Chinese food, cheap Chinese groceries and all around Chinese goodness. Our goal Anthony Bourdain's featured spot on the "Outer Boroughs" episode on No Reservations - Golden Shopping Mall.

Armed with an empty stomach we made the trek out of Manhattan into the burbs of what is a predominantly Asian/Chinese area. All the signs are in Mandarin, no one speaks English and not a single Caucasian soul in sight. Feels like Asia already! And of course being Sunday, its universal grocery shopping day so Main Street is bustling!

With our iPhones and Google Maps in hand, we find our destination and eventually find the entrance and walk downstairs to enter a bustling, cramped, dirty food court. Ah! At last! & it feels so authentic too. Brought me back to the days in Singapore where hawker stalls are cramped together, while patrons sit on make shift seating consisting of stools and foldable tables and orders are always yelled out. PERFECT!

We do a quick look around and settle with dumplings first. We place our orders and dug in. Note: they aren't any menus and if there are its all in Chinese so if you don't read or speak the language, be prepared to point and pay. I also think its cash only but that shouldn't be a problem, our dumpling feast was $5 with a side of fried chive pancake. Disgustingly cheap for NY's standards but also fresh, handmade and piping hot. Plenty of chilli paste and chinese black vinegar. Slurp and all 12 are gone. Next stop, Xi'an Famous Foods - another foodstall toured by Mr Bourdain. Famed for Liang Pi & their lamb burger. Seeing how I don't eat lamb we went for the pulled pork instead which was well-spiced and seasoned to perfection. Mmm..Mmm...The Liang Pi was a first for me and it was AMAZING! Apparently, the recipe from this stall is several generations old and very authentic. Chewy, tangy, spicy and peanuty all in one - its a flavour that's hard to define and must be tried.

Stuffed and sweaty, we decided to pop outside for a breather and some bubble tea and before venturing home. We swung by for cheap groceries and hopped back on the 7 to return to the city. What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday!

My Memorial-able Long Weekend

I'm tired from a bustling long weekend of running around the city, spending quality time with family. Much to my delight, this means the following:

Dining at restaurants I simply cannot afford

Seeing a fabulous Broadway show

Sightseeing in the city I've resided in for almost 2 years

More eating

Shopping at places I cannot afford

But the most important, spending quality time with the 2 men in my family

What could be better than that? :)

And then, there's this:

Arguably the best photo all weekend. Elmo & Cookie Monster lost in Times Square. LOL!!!

Consumed by Love

A dear friend of mine sent me this poem by Mary Frye to mourn a loss we both share:

Do not stand at my grave and weep;

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there. I did not die.

Thanks Jenn. I believe they're having tea & cupcakes up there, just like we do!

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2009. It's a New Year and I've been inspired by several blogs to recall the year that has past. Like all years that have gone by, there were highlights and lowlights.

Great times, good times & not-so-ok times.

It's been filled with lots of travel thanks to obliging family & a globetrotting significant other.

There have been hot, hot summers and very cold, snowy winters.

I've also had 3 glorious months of enjoying the company of my better half being in the same city.

There were sleepless nights, restless nights and long summer nights.

There was road trips, weekend getaways and spring breaks.

I've graduated from my post-graduate program with far better grades than I'd ever received in undergrad and understood that the power of passion makes doing what you love so much easier.

I've also learnt the importance of love, family and spending quality time.

That good friends are hard to find and I appreciate all the wonderful ones I've made in my new home of New York.

I've toasted the town, stumbled into bed and woken up next to the man who hasn't tired of me after 2 years and loves me for who I am.

I am grateful for 2008 and I look forward to a better, brighter 2009.

Happy New Year Everyone! I wish you all Love, Life & Laughter (as quoted by my dear cousin's tri-colored ring)

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

Here's wishing everyone a blessed Christmas and a wonderful time with family & friends. Lots of turkey, ham & pressies to one & all!

We're the luckiest girls ever!

Backstage at Fashion Week in the coveted Bryant Park tents!
Our professor arranged a trip to Fashion Week to get a tour of the tents, no promises were made about catching a show because admittance is invitation only. However, the IMG PR & Operations guy who was giving us our tour managed to get us in for the Chaiken show and we even got to fill the seats of the no-shows! I sat on the 3rd row and caught all the action! It was sooo exciting and I truly felt so previledged and blessed. Not to mention, the instant cool-factor when you step out of the tents into Bryant Park where hopefuls gather to see if they can catch a way in or a sneak peek at famous so-and-sos coming out along with the papparazzi tailing behind.

After the show, we hung around to snap our own photos to capture the moment and then managed to slip backstage with the help of a photographer who was trying to pick all 5 of us up at the same time. Nevertheless, we followed the models out of the tent into the park and parted ways. I went home to get on my hands & knees to clean up my apartment to make way for my boyfriend's arrival. How glamourous.