new york food!

after lewiston, debbie and i flew to jfk to hang out in new york city. we stayed in midtown close to hell's kitchen, i thought it would be a fun area for a first timer (my cousin's). we were there for a couple of days for shopping and eating. despite the sweltering heat (high 90's), we survived.

the first day, we came across some issues. baggage issues. apparently, our bags did not get transferred and were stuck in boston. they were not due to be delivered until the next morning. for dinner, we decided to go to becco for some italian which was conveniently located about two blocks away. they had this great prix fixe deal, all you can eat pasta, and $25 bottles of wine. we thought we were hungry enough but we were wrong. at least i was wrong. i could barely have a second helping. there were three different types, all but one was edible. the other two were bland and plain. honestly, we have much better italian food in north beach.

the next day, we ventured out for some shopping in the soho area. it was a lot of walking and a lot of sweating but hardly any buying. i was sorely disappointed. however, we coincidentally ran into debbie's friend, fred and his girlfriend kate, whom we were planning to meet up with anyway. after shopping, we met up with an old friend of mine, avi at barcelona bar in midtown. we had harry potter shots there. when avi asked what was in it, the bartender who was dressed as harry potter, answered 'magic.' for dinner, my cousin was in the mood for ramen. luckily, totto ramen was on the way back to our hotel. it was an hour wait but definitely worth it. as you can see below (in the center image), i had my ramen with avocado. it was mmm good.

clockwise from center: totto ramen in midtown; spring rolls, egg rolls, phở bánh mì and phở, all from nhà tôi in williamsburg.

on our last day, i thought it might be interesting to do something touristy, for debbie. we decided on going to the empire state building. i went to the empire state building previously in 2003 during my first trip to new york city. it was in february and freezing. i seem to only go during extreme weather. when i was there back in 2003, we went right before closing so there was really no line. this time, i was not so lucky. the wait was at least an hour and it was pretty packed. we managed to get some good pictures anyway. see my empire state building collage below. afterwards, we headed over to williamsburg in brooklyn to check fred's place, nhà tôi. as you can see in the food collage above, we had quite the feast. his specialty is the phở bánh mì. bascially, he puts the ingredients that you get in phở sans the noodles. it was quite delicious. so much so that i ate the entire thing plus some of the other dishes. the phở was quite hot to have in the heat we endured. his place is tiny and like an open stand, quite authentic feeling if you ask me. very good for people watching. we stayed for several hours hanging out with carl, the brooklyn artist and drinking margarita/mojito drinks. it was a tuesday during the summer and his shop was consistently busy. the next day, we left new york with a full stomach and money in my pocket from the lack of shopping!

new york... finally!

sorry for the delay... i've been quite busy.

this past summer (specifically at the end of july), i actually went on a summer vacation. it was the first real one since 2009. i went to new york for a wedding and a summer break. new york is not ideal for a summer vacation as it is excruciatingly hot. definitely not the weather for two spoiled, girly californians. i had a wedding to go to in lewiston, upstate new york. my dear dear muffin was getting hitched. and my lovely cousin came as my date.
lewiston is next to niagara falls. and we were very excited about seeing the falls. it was quite humid and cloudy at first, but the sun eventually came out and it was beautiful. we went on one of the tours and our bus broke down in the middle of the tour even though they promised we'd be through with the tour in time to get to the hotel and get ready for the rehearsal dinner. during the tour, we ran into ness and tahu who i haven't seen in ages! they too were coming for the wedding. if you look closely (or just click on the image with the terrapin point horseshoe falls sign) at the picture on the left, you'll see ness with her little ones and tahu walking along.
we eventually left the tour before it was over. at least we saw most of the sights.
the wedding was fabulous and conveniently located across the street from the hotel we were staying at. the after party was also a lot of fun. it was at a bar outside of the reception and next to the lake. the next day, debbie and i left for new york city. and the lovely bride and groom left for france very soon after.

the 4th date

it's been nearly two years since i last saw bernie. about one year since i last heard from him. he emailed me last year so this year, i decided it was my turn. turns out, he was going to be in town the following week. so we planned to have coffee and catch up.

"coffee" turned into "come up to the city and let's order take out." i went up to the city, he ordered take out and we caught up. well, we might have "caught up" more than expected, but it was fun. lots of fun. i discovered that we are both fans of the wedding present (one of his pandora stations). and i told him about the time i met their lead singer, david gedge, at a bimbo's show when he was in cinerama. speaking of which, the wedding present are playing at the independent next month.

bernie was cute, funny and clever. just how i remembered him.

3rd bernie date

bernie was in town this week from nyc. we made plans to hang out on saturday night. he drove down from sf to pick me up and drove us to mt. view for dinner at tsunami sushi. we had sushi for dinner on our first date as well. since my nyc trip, my feelings for bernie have somewhat started to dissipate. i think there was too much hype and build up for the nyc trip, that when it didn't go quite as expected (still not sure what i expected from that trip) that it turned out a little disappointing. maybe more than a weekend was too long for the 2nd date.

this time around, however, could have lasted a bit longer. not that i felt rushed but i think it would have been nice to hang out a bit more. i still don't know what i want from bernie, if anything at all. he's a really sweet and fun guy. and i wouldn't mind continuing to casually date him.

i am legend

last night, i watched i am legend starring will smith. the only thing i knew about it was that it was based in new york and there was some sort of zombie invasion. when i was in new york with bernie, we saw cloverfield also based in new york. after the movie, bernie's roommate pascal said he was sick of seeing movies where new york is the target of vast destruction. i guess they both had seen i am legend. and i remember thinking, everything bad happens here. or los angeles. what's interesting is that the movie is based on richard matheson's 1954 novel originally set in LA, not NY.

anyway, i'm probably the biggest chicken shit when it comes to horror films. and this movie was no different from the others. as a matter of fact, it was one of the scariest films i've seen in a while. needless to say, it scared me shitless. there were parts i couldn't bare to watch. i actually had to talk through the scary parts to keep myself distracted. and i stayed up reading to keep my mind off of the movie.

i know, that's why i call myself a chicken shit.

i'm baaack...

well, i got back sunday night but have been completely overwhelmed at work. and so, have yet to catch everyone up on my trip. i apologize dearly to all 5 (or less) of you out there. let's see... i'll start from recent to old as i'm sure you've all been waiting to hear about my...

weekend at bernie's (in brooklyn)

hahah. ro gave me the headline for a post ages ago. long before our fantastic first date. i flew from dulles to jfk last thursday. it was much anticipated. i don't know how long i've been looking forward to this trip. it's been a couple of months but feels like a lot longer. especially with all the flirtations on the different modes of communication (email, text and phone), it felt a little like we were dating but not. bernie met me at baggage claim. i saw him right away and headed towards him. he noticed me shortly after. and the chemistry was still there. very exciting.

we took a cab to brooklyn. i'd never taken a cab in new york before but everything i'd heard about new york cabbies were totally true. i couldn't see much but i could feel the constant swerving. not to mention the constant honking. a few times in the cab, bernie held my hand. i think he sensed my unnerving fear for my life.

about 45 minutes or so later, we got to his place. it seemed to take forever. it was frigid cold there. the snow was melting. the sun was out for a bit but not us. we stayed in my first night there. his roommate, pascal introduced quick silver screen to him which was nice for me as they didn't have a tv to entertain me with. lucky for me because i'd teased and flirted with him over the phone for the last few months, i was afraid that once i got there, i would just stand there and say, um... hey, what's up? hahah.

it all came together fine. it was a lot of fun actually. he was sweet and wonderful. he told me how much he loved it there and wouldn't trade it for anything. got it. he's not coming back. i'm glad he likes it out there. i'm also glad i have someone to visit the next time i want to go to new york. and finally, i'm happy to say that i'm not/won't be having a long distance relationship.

everytime i went outside, (and this happened in dc as well) my eyes would tear uncontrollably and my nose was like a waterfall. sorry, gross huh? but as soon as i got anywhere inside, i was fine. everything turned off like a faucet. hahah. he took me to this quaint french cafe called cafe luluc for brunch. apparently, he and his roommate go there a lot. the two of them usually split an omelette and pancakes. so i was up for that since that's what i do with my sister. except, we get an omelette and crepes to share (at los gatos cafe). but these pancakes... wow. delightfully delicious. they were probably the best pancakes i'd ever had. they were thick like a layer of cake with a nice crunchy crust, kinda. ugh, i'm craving them now... i never crave/order pancakes because i can just make them at home.

he and pascal wanted to see cloverfield. yuk. i remember watching the previews on tv and thinking, god, everything bad happens there. doesn't it? hahah. they knew nothing about it. unfortunately. it turned out to be like the blair witch project with a bigger budget. just thinking about it makes my head hurt. this is why i don't watch movies anymore! i'd much rather spend bernie's $11 seeing a lame band at popscene than watching lame movies like this one.

it was really a nice relaxing & chill weekend. i'd been busy every night that i was in dc so i didn't want to do much except hang out with him. we ate in most nights and watched a lot of ramsey's kitchen nightmares. i highly recommend the british version as opposed to the american. it's so much better when you get to hear gordon ramsey swear as much as he does and not have to deal with the bleeps.

on sunday, i packed up and got ready while he made me breakfast. i didn't think about his show until sunday. and well, missed out. bummer. :( he ordered a car to take me to jfk all paid for in advance. he took great care of me. i will definitely go back to visit him. that is, when it's warmer. a lot warmer.

leaving tomorrow

tomorrow is my big east coast trip! i leave for dc very early tomorrow morning from san jose. i have a wedding to go to on saturday (according to weather.com, it's supposed to snow that day. yuk.) for one of my former students from my first job at stanford. i've kept in touch with her since she graduated in 2002 (i think?). it's very exciting. i'm also planning to visit an former coworker from san diego. she lives in annapolis with her family now. i haven't seen her since 2005. it will be nice to meet her daughter and catch up. i'll be in dc through mlk jr. and i leave for new york next thursday (1/24) for a few days which is also quite thrilling because i'm finally visiting bernie in brooklyn. plus, he's got a show on his brazilian photographs. very very exciting...

see you on the 28th!

caroline's 23rd birthday & drunk dialing

my younger cousin turned 23 recently. it made me a little sad as i am ten years older than her. and i chose to be 23 for a good 8 or 9 years. now that i think about it more, i'm glad that i'm no longer in my 20s. i dare say i am even happy to be in my 30s. i choose the age 23 because it was one of the best years in my life. school was done, i travelled to europe, and thought i found the one i was going to marry and have babies with. it was truly the age of innocence for me. but now, who wants to be innocent at 33? pas moi!

last year at my cousin's party, i think i had 4 or 5 shots of vodka. i can't remember. then i had some plum wine or guinness. i mixed. and then it was all over for me. next thing i knew, i was waking up in my cousin's bedroom with her sleeping in the bed next to me. i suddenly saw flashes of yakking and what not. at first, i had no idea where i was. that's never good. this year, i told myself... i only want to get drunk enough to drunk dial bernie. so i stopped at 3 vodka shots. i planned on coming into work on sunday so i couldn't pass out anywhere but in my bed. i even texted him a warning message. possible drunk dialing tonight. he texted me back right away. he was going to bed soon so i had to call him soon. and i did. i can't remember a whole lot but it was nice hearing his voice and chatting with him. i'm a little smitten with him. clearly.

anyway, poor caroline got sick as did many others (including a 40 something y/o man who yakked everywhere). not me. i drove my mostly sober ass home. i even went to the office the next day. and hung out with a 4 y/o the entire day. having spent quality time with my dear cousins and their significant others (aka my cousin-in-laws & future cousins) is always such a joy despite how rare it is. it makes me really happy that i have such a lovely relationship with them. i'm also happy that bernie picked up when i drunk dialed him. heehee.

thoughts on bernie

thanks to my osoms, bernie is becoming less and less wonderful. it's not to say that he wasn't wonderful. the freshness of his wonderfulness is fading.

i've decided, while i prefer being chased by bernie (well, men in general), there's not much option for a relationship. for two reasons. one of them being we had one date. granted, it could have been 3 dates in one, it was still just one date. second, he's in new york and most likely will not move back. and there is no way i am moving out there. if you want to know why, ask my niece. keep in mind that she's a little scary sensitive with the subject of me leaving her. despite not having a romantic relationship with bernie, i'd still like to be friends with him. i still think he's pretty awesome. he's funny as hell and not bad to look at either.

this is really interesting to me because there are two categories i generally put men in. the "friends" category and the "dated" category. i no longer speak to men in the "dated" category. ex-boyfriends are in that lot. however, some "friends" have been able to move from the "dated" lot. considering all the boys i've "dated," the transition doesn't happen often but is still possible. once they are "friends," they can't move back to "dated." while bernie is moving from "dated" to "friends," i might consider the option of moving him back to the "dated" category. i don't know for sure but we'll see. being "friends" with him gives me the freedom of emailing him for no reason. and without any pressure.

maybe a "flirting" category would be best for me to put him in? nah, i flirt with my "friends" all of the time...

the start of something?

i was very excited about my date with bernie on saturday. he called in the afternoon to touch base on our plans (like he said he would). he suggested sushi, i said i love sushi! we were on for dinner at 7p. i would pick him up where he was staying. he texted me the address and i was ready.

but i got a call from my parents asking if i could pick up the kids from vietnamese school. the school is just down the street from us and i had car seats so i said i would. what they didn't bother to tell me, according to trang, was that they were supposed to babysit. i told trang, as long as she or my brother got home by 6p so i can leave, it would be fine.

6pm rolls around and nothing. i'm rushing around getting ready, throwing clothes here and there. the kids were hungry so i had to feed them. there was leftover food and dirty dishes everywhere. i thought, ok, i'm not going to worry about that stuff. but what do i do with the kids?? i had to leave, now! so i tell them to put their shoes on and i was going to drop them off at my parents. as soon as i was about to load them into the car, i saw the garage close with my brother's car inside. so i yelled his name and he opened the garage. saved! the kids ran inside and i was ready to go. except, i still needed gas for the car. i texted bernie, running late, had to babysit & need to fill up but on my way!

i got there around 7:30p and i was really nervous. we'd had this great phone conversation. he seemed really cool so far. he calls when he says he will or when i ask him to. so far, this guy was perfect. and as it turns out, cuter than i'd remembered. we have dinner at this cute sushi place in japantown. it's tiny. i have this funny wasabi story i tell. and it's also a good way to tell someone about my thyroid cancer. since i've lived with it for 4 years now, it's not so hard for me to talk about it.

the story goes... one time (at band camp, heehee), i lost my taste buds. i'd undergone radiation treatment and it was maybe a month or so later. all of a sudden, in the middle of the day, i couldn't taste anything. the duration of the lost of taste buds was about 2 weeks. during which, i'd gone out to eat sushi. and i thought, since i can't taste the wasabi, why not put the whole ball in with my soy sauce? afterwards, i still couldn't taste anything and for a second i was fine... until my eyes began to water and my nose started to run, profusely. while my mouth couldn't and didn't react to it, the rest of my body did! it was pretty funny.

bernie was really concerned for me. and shared his health issues with me. it's crazy and scary that your body starts to fall apart when you get older. but, that's the process of aging. we talked about everything and anything. until the restaurant closed. we weren't done hanging out so he took me to this wine bar. i have no clue where it was. it was in a really nice neighborhood where there was no parking. after we finally found decent parking, it was a nice walk to the wine bar. he offered his arm to me while walking down the hill. he said he always offers his arm to ladies walking downhill in heels. i just figured he was giving me a reason to hold on to him. but i could see that it was that he was a gentleman.

at the wine bar, we talked more openly. it's where it all came out. there, i told him that if he was as cool as he seemed, i was going to be upset that he was leaving. he told me how happy he was when i first texted him. even though he got it at 3 or 4 in the morning in hong kong. then he held my hands. and told me he really wanted to kiss me. i remember him saying this at popscene (yes, i know, i didn't mention it below). it was so cute. i couldn't say no to him at popscene and i couldn't say no to him this time. so i leaned in and kissed him. before we knew it, the wine bar was closing. and we were off again, but where?

he hadn't been in the country for a few months and didn't really know where to take me. he was staying with friends and i didn't really want to go back there to hang out. so despite having left my apartment like there was an explosion, lisa wasn't home and it was an option. i asked him, do you want to come back to san jose with me? he answered, as long as you don't mind dropping me off here tomorrow.

in the car, he held my hand for a bit. still making me laugh non-stop. i don't know what it was about him. something really special. at popscene, there was something then but i didn't know what. i still don't know if i know. my concept of time during this date was completely obsolete. i don't remember when we got back to san jose, at all. but he loved the view and the apartment despite the mess. he didn't seem to care. he just wanted to be with me. and i wanted to be with him.

we hung out until 2p on sunday afternoon. it was a lot of talking, kissing, holding and cuddling. something i've never done for so many hours. with anyone in one sitting. not even with the live-in bfs. and i think we would have stayed in bed much longer had it not been for hunger and thirst. damn those essential life necessities.

we had waffles and pancakes on the way back up to the city. i dropped him off and was already getting sad. he held my hand in the car. and kissed me when he left. said he would try to have dinner with me before he left if he could finish all his stuff.

i'd never had such an amazing time with someone i'd just met. it was so open and comfortable. i don't think we tried very hard to impress one another. at least, i couldn't tell. it was so genuine. i'm completely thrown off. it's bizarro. but now, i'm so very sad. :(

my renewed faith in men

first, there was the best date ever which was officially the first date after coming off my mancott (i think?) and now, there's bernie. yep, the guy i met at popscene when hot hot heat played, while not waiting for chris. despite being slightly drunk, there was something about him. enough of something that i let him give me his number. and since he is moving to new york in the very near future (next week), i figure, what have i got to lose? so i texted him. and he texted me right back. from hong kong. told me when he was coming back and when he moving. and then he asked me if i wanted to hang out. i texted back, yes! call me when you get back! that was mid-september. i hadn't heard anything from him after. honestly, i didn't expect to hear from him at all.

but on tuesday, the day he came back, i got a call. from him. this is second part of the renewed faith. i was so shocked that he called that i was too scared to pick it up. i let him go to voice mail. i called him back the next day. i think we were on the phone for over two hours. and i was laughing the entire time. lisa could hear me in the kitchen from my room with the tv on. ha. it makes me smile just thinking about our conversation. i was so impressed with him. i mean, the fact that he called when i asked him to. and the last part of the renewal was the phone call. i haven't been on the phone like that with a guy since the dreaded ex.

and so, i have a date with bernie to look forward to on saturday. yay!

hot hot heat with chris

venue: 330 ritch (popscene)
artist: hot hot heat
who: alex & nina
when: 13 september 2007 (thursday)
doors open at 10p

last thursday, i went to popscene with alex (who hadn't been there for over a year) and cousin nina. it was popscene's 11th anniversary party so they had a special guest band, hot hot heat. we'd seen hot hot heat there before and it was a great show. we were really excited about seeing them again. the only thing i wasn't excited about was the line that would probably reach to the end of the block. as these kinds of bands do at such small venues. luckily, nina offered to wait in line for us at 9p. alex and i got there shortly after 9:30p and as usual, i tried flirting my way in to avoid the line. fortunately, the boys know me and it worked. they also know that i sort of have a thing with chris (not exactly sure what it is yet), with whom they tease me about, incessantly. i suppose i can't blame them. that's what i get for making out with him in public.

after waiting at the front and saying how scary the line is, they tell me, you don't have to worry about the line. i call nina up to the front. i asked jorge to get chris so i can say hi to him. jorge returns sans chris and tells me that chris told him to take care of me. what a sweetie. *sigh* meaning, chris is allowed two guests, there are 3 of us so it's a 3 for 1 deal on top of hopping the line. it was $13 for the 3 of us. that's actually cheaper cover than a regular popscene night! score!

we also got in before 10p! i love popscene... we go over to say hello to jessica, have some drinks with josh and then more drinks with jason. chris walked by a few times before i finally i was able to say thanks to him. he's really busy working and still, he sits down to chat with us. he's seriously the sexiest thing ever. i hadn't seen him since our date on labor day. i'm really itching for another make out session with him. but he's too busy. :( at one point, i surprised him from behind when i went over to have a little chat with jason about chris. and i got a few kisses out of him but i wanted more.

finally, chris gets the ok and we head to the back. we're a little less conspicuous about our making out these days. especially since he was working and all. i'm not sure if this was before or after hot hot heat came on. but i didn't recognize any of their songs until the end when they started playing the old stuff. we snagged a table in the back so we couldn't see much but we could hear them fine. i couldn't pay much attention with chris walking back and forth in front of me. after the band, we hit the dance floor. we were dancing as usual and there were these guys dancing near us. i was a little drunk and found myself dancing with this one guy. his name was bernie. he's 35 y/o and moving to new york. he said he lived in san francisco for 10 years. he told me he thought i was 24 but noticed that i knew the words to all the songs he knew. when i told him how old i was, it made sense to him. he also told me he thought i was the cutest thing. very sweet. he also told me that i danced very well. i don't even know how long we danced. i didn't notice anything around me, like chris. both alex and nina saw chris walk by as i danced with bernie.

it was late and we had to get going. so, alex got our coat check stuff and i was saying goodbye to bernie. he asked to see me again. gave me his card and phone number. he was really very sweet. after seeing bernie off, i looked for chris to say goodbye to him. just as i turned around, there he was, walking towards me. he pulled me inside the bar, asked me if i was drunk and we made out for a bit. i'm not sure if it was because i was a little drunk but he seemed really into it. i mean, he's usually into it but more than usual. it was nice. :D maybe seeing me dance with bernie was a good thing? anyhow, i don't know how long i was there with him but i heard the djs announce closing time. oh shit, it's 3am?!? alex wanted to leave by 1! so off i went. and off the three of us went to go home. except, we had to drop nina off at her friend's place and we got lost getting back on 101. we ended up by the golden gate and was finally on our way home. i think it was close to 4a when we got back to mt. view.

i got up around 7:30a and caught the train in mt. view. the train that i've been missing all week because i can't get my ass up early enough to get it at 7:45a in san jose. yet, on 3 hours of sleep (a wee nap), i made it into work on time. and i'm there all day. that is pretty ridiculous, isn't it?

rating: ♥ ♥ (hot hot heat)
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (for chris)