La Superior

A new Mexican street food join opened up around the corner from my apartment. It's a very small, casually decorated spot. They don't deliver and BYOB for now, but the menu looked pretty interesting. I tried cactus salad. As I love seaweed, a bit slimy cactus was enjoyable. But maybe not for many people. It's simply seasoned with cheese and salt.
Enchilada is very unique here. Instead of red rich sauce, they use salsa verde with lots of cheese.

Tacos here are $3, which is a bit pricey for this single-tortilla tiny tacos. But they are good. I personally have no eye for Rajas...

This popular street food was my favorite. Tiny tortilla looking thing has cheese, chorizo, lettuce inside. Very good snack!

Bird Man

Once in a while, a school of pigeons fly in circle over the buildings in my neighborhood. A couple of the neighborhood buildings seem to have a bird man, who feed and fly the birds. Not sure exactly but he maybe the one.

Dim Sum GO GO

If you don't care so much about cart-style dim sum, Dim Sum Go Go on the lower Chinatown is a highly recommended spot. It's much cleaner than most Chinese restaurants, with two floors which serve even a long line to customers relatively quickly.

I personally don't eat the steamed rice thingy often, but this one with scallion and cilantro became one of my new favorites. As they steam most dishes on order, it's not too greasy and taste fresh out of the steamer.

They specialize in dumplings and other steamed dim sum dishes. Everything we picked was good and is not slimy as you sometimes get from a cart.

A side of steamed Chinese broccoli is always a good compliment to meat/sea food centric dim sum. Some places over steam but here they keep the crunch perfectly!

A sneak shot from the next table. These people now how to enjoy dim sum!

Dim Sum Go Go
5 E. Broadway, New York, NY 10038

Ippudo

Ippudo is a franchise ramen joint from Japan. They specialize in thick, rich tonkotsu (pork flavor) with smooth, straight noodle. I've already been twice and I do think it's as good as you get in Japan. However, the price is much higher and the ambience is totally different. It's more like a bar lounge and the menu has only a few ramen options but many appetizers. I guess western people don't buy the idea of slurping a bowl of noodle in a short time. To my fellow western friends, I sincerely ask that you set aside your appetizers and focus on the ramen when it's served.

You may have to wait a little but normally they seat you in less than 20 minutes. Weekends are really busy though.

Ippudo NY
http://www.ippudo.com/ny

Casa Mono

I've been to most of Mario Batali's restaurants and all have been a great dining experience. For my friend's birthday, I went to Casa Mono near Union Square, about which I have been hearing great reviews.

The restaurant is pretty small. You get locked into your seat. Service is fairly good. Not too uptight, not too casual. Their wine list is amazing in a way that they have nothing under $35 but lots of $xxx. We tried $40 red wine as per the server's recommendation. I liked it so much that we emptied 2 bottles.

I'd say the razor cram and fried sardine were the best pick of the night. Especially the sardine was fried light and crispy on the outside, moist and fluffy inside. They were quite big—three pieces served—but we quickly finish the plate.


The least two favorites were the quail with fig salad and pumpkin goat cheese croquette. While the fig salad was really tasty, they salted the quail too much. Pumpkin was too sweet to my taste (I am used to and fond of Japanese kabocha pumpkin which is less sweet and more fluffy).

Overall, I had a good time. And I might try again to see if they normally use less salt overall...

Casa Mono
www.casamononyc.com
reservation suggested

Biggest Puppy

This picture is from 2 years ago when I visited my friends in Pasadena. They have 3 German Shepherds. The biggest one is the baby. He sits on the lap every time people try to sit on the flower. They come wake me up in the morning. Oh, I miss them!

Fragrant Lilly

Some people can't take it. I love it. The lilly at the market caught me with its intense, elegant smell. After a week, the two bunches are still doing well, all flowers bloomed.

Jeff Koons

I just took a mini trip to Chicago. Stuck in the glamorous ballroom in Marriott hotel all day for this academic exhibition, I almost missed to experience Chicago. I sneaked out from the conference and gave myself one hour to do something touristy. The closest thing was the Museum of Contemporary Art, where Jeff Koons was featured.

There is a debate over him being called an artist since he creates his artwork without actually producing them but by having other people to make them into a form. Well, maybe a half artist. But I don’t think people are recognizing the excellence or beauty of the production process. How nicely Michael Jackson is molded or painted in gold has so little to do with the piece’s artistic value. I think.


Perhaps, Murakami, who recently captured attention from media and industries, also holds the fame as an artist and a pop culture visionary.

Keeping Cut Flower Fresh

Here's a tip to keep cut flower fresh from the flower vender at the Union Square farmer's market:

Start with a clean vase: Sterilize your vase prior to use. The build up of bacteria can cause your flowers to breakdown much faster than they may naturally.

Clean foliage from stems that will be submerged in water. Ethylene gas submitted from foliage, as it break down in water, can cause flower heads to wilt.

Rinse vase with cool to lukewarm water. Flowers, like people, tend to absorb water more effectively if it is not ice cold.

Cut stem ends at an angle, 1/4" to 1/2" from the bottom, and immediately submerge in water. An angled cut allows for more surface area from which flowers may drink. Repeat entire process every 2-3 days.

Along with the basics, adding a couple drops of bleach and some 7UP or Sprite can help to keep your field cut flowers brighter and longer. Keep in mind that your flowers can be adversely affected by heat, by cold, by wind and by smoke.

Summer Food

During the summer, I leave for work a bit early and walk through the farmers market in Union Square. My favorite in this market is one of the Korean farmers. They got Japanese vegetables, some of which are hard to find. For the summer, they have Japanese eggplant, seedless cucumber, okra, Japanese sweet pepper and mizuna leaf.

Using these summer vegetables:

Okra and Chicken
Cut chicken breast, onion and okra into about 1/2" cubes. If you have, fine chop some fresh ginger and garlic. Stir-fry chicken and ginger/garlic first and add the vegetables. Season with salt, pepper and some chili sauce or soy sauce if you like.

Fried Eggplant and Shishito Pepper in Bonito Broth
Cut Japanese eggplant into 2 inches. Deep-fry the veggies quickly in vegetable oil (salad oil, corn, canola oil)
Put them in bonito broth with a bit of mirin and soy sauce with grated ginger. (I personally love the ginger. Really good combination with eggplant.) Put a piece or flakes of dried hot chili if you like.
Leave it for a while and chill in the refrigerator till it cools down. (no need to make it super cold)

Beets Salad

One of our favorite salad by Girogio who owns an Italian restaurant in Minnesota.

GIORGIO RESTAURANT WARM BEET SALA (Servings: 4)

4 medium beets
1 small red onion
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup crimini mushrooms, halved
1/2 cup goat cheese (blue cheese works well too)
pinch of salt and pepper

Dressing:
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup whole grain mustard
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Roast beets with skin on for 45 minutes or until they are soft all the way through. Cut the onion in half, pour a small amount of olive oil over onion and roast 15 minutes. Toss the crimini mushrooms in a small amount of olive oil and roast 5-10 minutes.

When beets are done, peel and slice them 1/2" thick. Cut red onion into 1/2" dice. Combine beets, mushrooms, and onion on a cookie sheet. Add small pieces of goat cheese on top, salt & pepper to taste; bake 5 minutes or until cheese has browned.

To make dressing, combine the mustards and honey in a bowl of a food processor. On high setting, pulse the ingredients. adding olive oil slowly in a pencil-thin stream. The dressing is done when all ingredients are well emulsified together. Makes about 1 cup.

Coat the bottom of a plate with the dressing and slide the warm salad on top. Serve warm.

We normally roast when we find nice beets and make the salad later. This way, all you have to do is make dressing and serve cold. Some fresh basil is a good match for this salad. This sliced cucumbers add some crispy, refreshing flavor too.

Gutter

Some smart people came up with an idea to further invigorate the Brooklyn’s hipster neighborhood by opening up a bowling center. A cool bar and short lanes with old score monitor seem to get easily packed even during the weekday. I felt like doing something more than just a bike ride one night. Past 10 pm on Wednesday, the lanes are all taken and we had to wait a bit. I didn’t expect that. Come to think of it, this neighborhood is full of non-9-to-6 lifestyle people. $7 per game per person is expensive, but the fun is guaranteed.

The Gutter
http://www.thegutterbrooklyn.com/

July 4

In the past, we’d thrown a party on July 4. First year, we humbly grilled on the fire escape by the kitchen window—a semi barbecue party. Our building roof peeked through other buildings and surprisingly had a really good view of Macy’s firework. The next year, our super informed us that he wouldn’t be able to open the roof. Apparently, some idiots threw bottles from the roof previous year. It must have been at another building our landlord owned. We told our guests about the news and still ended up having over 30 people in our tiny apartment. Our signature chili-rubbed beef tenderloin was sold out in less than five minutes! There's no better feelings than cooking for people and seeing the dishes all empty at the end of the party.

To most NY residents, July 4 isn’t all about firework. It’s about gathering with friends. Plus, to me, firework in the states is nothing compared to what we have in Japan where it is a traditional craft. This year, we were invited to our friend’s high-rise mid-town apartment. Although the “Spider Man” building blocked the view, we enjoyed the food and friends—and that’s all you need.

New Italian in E W'burg

Il Passatore, a charming, small Italian restaurant on Bushwick Avenue is my new favorite. For a good pasta in the hood, I usually go to Aurora, Bacci and Abracci or PT. But at Il Passatore, the price is much more reasonable, nothing is over 20 dollars. Their lam ragu pasta was the best pick in my group. I had gnocchi in sage and butter sauce. It was not my favorite gnocchi but liked the flavor. My friend had a pasta with ham from special; the simple butter sauce has a hearty flavor with ham yet not greasy at all.

If you are in the area, I highly recommend this place. As expected, they took no credit card.

Il Passatore
http://ilpassatorebrooklyn.com/

Block Music Party

One of the things I love about Brooklyn is that you can find really talented people play for free. This was International Day of Music and there were couple block parties in my neighborhood. This one was right outside the live bar that always feature really good bands and DJ. All four groups features different types of musics from around the world.

In this hood, it's not just hipsters or young people who enjoy such an event. This Puerto Rican guy from around my apartment passed by on his signature bicycle with a big horn.

Grand Sichuan

Shabu-shabu is probably my favorite Nabe-ryori (hot pot dish). The only drawback is that you have to get really fresh ingredients, especially the meat and seafood, which makes this dish usually expensive. Although the ingredients may not be the freshest, Shabu-shabu in Sichuan style is very reasonable, and most importantly, comes in two broth.

The clear soup is simply flavored with scallion and ginger. On the other side of the pot is the spicy broth. Red chilies and the red chili oil cover the surface of the broth. We usually order 1 seafood (squid or scallop), 1 meat (pork or beef slice), 2 vegetables (mushroom, greens) and tofu. Each side is between 2- 7 dollars.

Since the pot comes with two broth, you can share it with non-heat enthusiasts.

Cold Noodle - Hiyashi Chuka

Hiyashi-chuka is one of the most popular noodle dishes for summer in Japan. I can get the noodle with sauce (usually in soy vinegar flavor or sesame sauce) is available at major Japanese grocery store. Typically, you serve the noodle with egg, cucumber (julienne), ham. My version is with grilled shrimp or chicken, with the sauce spiced up with hot sauce. Julienne cucumber is so refreshing.

Turkish BBQ

For me in my little 2nd floor apartment, the only option to BBQ is at the firescape by the kitchen window. I’m always scared of the flame outside of window, fanatically worried neighbors might call fire department.

We were invited to their biennial BBQ party. They have a beautiful, spacious terrace to accommodate group of guests. The host friend’s mother prepared super yummy side dishes – cabbage salad, ratatouille -ish roasted veggies, couscous-looking thing, and the host friend grilled 30lb lack of lamb. My favorite was the cabbage salad. I like his BBQ because there’ s always a good selection of side dishes—unlike typical American BBQ which involves little cooking... We brought bacon-wrapped asparagus (roll fresh asparagus and so easy, perfect to grill), which successfully sold out.

Utagawa: Japanese Woodblock Print

Not to miss, I went to see the exhibition of Japanese woodblock print at Brooklyn Museum. I always liked the Japanese print, specifically Ukiyo-e, for its subtle yet beautiful color scheme. I find resemblance in color pallet between kimono and west African and Indian textile, which I also adore. That makes me wonder where old Japanese people picked up such design taste? My guess is our fruitful four-season culture and the color indigenous nature of the island offers.

Each of Utagawa family has his own characteristic. A collaboration of two artists was also common where one artist did figures and another did the landscape. My favorite was the ones done by indigo. It's simply amazing how tiny details are clearly printed by one color, of course in different shades. Interesting, too, to see the difference in Japanese traditional indigo (Ai) and western indigo.

One of the work was created when the artist was over 70 years old; completion in details is almost the work of craftsman, rather than an artist.

Since I was there, I checked out MURAKAMI. I don't like it as 'art." What's interesting is (stealing my boyfriend's idea, which I agree) that he established the fact anything called art can be major influences in any other industry, including fashion and commercial. At the same time, its effective in many fields therefore makes me feel like denying its pure art. It's characters, anime, design, and phenomenon. Question of 'what's art' never gets answered, at least for me.

Russian & Turkish Bathhouse

After a week-long event at work, my body was feeling like 200lb... And I needed a serious massage, for which I would have needed to spend good $200. Plus, I don't like the idea of making an appointment to get a massage. I want to get is when I feel like it. So I tried something new: Turkish & Russian Bathhouse. It has been in business for over 100 years in now the Japanese mecca in Manhattan, East Village. Although the majority of clientele is male and I wouldn't go there alone, there are quite a few female guests and couples.

You walk in and put all your valuables in narrow tin can at the reception. The locker room is very small; obviously not a luxurious spa environment. They have shorts and robe for men; some girls were also wearing them. Towels are provided so are sandals. I changed in my bathing suit and now to the sauna. It's steamy and hot all over. You walk into sauna (different temperature), and when you can't take it, jump into the icy cold pool. This is PAINFULLY cold and cannot stay more than 1 second. When you get out the pool, the whole blood circulation starts to detox. Such a refreshing feeling.

In one of the rooms, Russian guys give Platza (Oak Leaf treatment). Basically, the guy hits your body with bunches of oak leaf. It's a bit rough and done among other guests. Some girls were making moaning noise when the guy lift their legs in like 90 degree, which kind of made me reluctant to try myself... They also have regular massage in a private room.

My body felt cleaner and lighter. It's only $30 and you can stay as long as you'd like.

Miko, the Wrestler

Another work event, but it's not a wrestling thing. It's an interactive award ceremony that my company hosts. The theme this year was somehow Mexican wrestling. We set up a real wrestling ring as a stage. After the event, I took some photos with the wrestler people. I was wearing boots, which fits perfectly! "Una Mas!" My poor Spanish somehow worked...

This Sumo wrestler appeared at the end of the ceremony. He was a real champion two years ago, but now seems too heavy and people thought he wouldn't make it to go on the ring.

See the wrestling with Sumo wrestler and Mexican wrestler.

Busy Work Week

Every time people ask me what I do for living, I find it difficult to explain. They give me 'what is that about...' when I tell them it's an non-profit organization for advertising and the conversation fades out. I an Education Director, working for student and teachers in advertising and graphic design programs, orchestrating events and programs for them.

Last week was my busiest week in a year. Event everyday. Portfolio review where students get feedback from industry creatives; students portfolio exhibition; speaker series; presentation competition; and award ceremony for students. Barely had time to eat lunch or hydrating myself and every night is a party. Standing all day and running around was not for me who's past 30 and hasn't been to a gym for.. ever.

Sweet White Day

In the hotel in Maui where I was staying for a business trip. When I walked into my room, I saw a beautiful white flower on a counter. I first thought it was a gift to our judges (my work was hosting a judging for advertising). Yet, it was a bit strange since we had been there for couple nights then. I took a better look at the card; it said "Westin Maui". First I thought it said "Welcome Maui" which made me think that was for judges. Think well... Oh it is White Day! White Day is probably a Japanese invention. Boys respond to the girls who confessed their love to the boys on St. Valentine's Day. My boyfriend found out where I was staying and arranged a flower delivery. He did the same before when I was staying at a hotel in NY, surprising me with white tulips. I wish I could have taken it with me from Hawaii.

Maui, Hawaii

A week after the trip to the D.R. Now I'm off to Maui. I've been to Maui, which is my favorite Hawaian island. The trip was frustrating already on the way out there; some technical troubles and delay. Already exhausted from the 13-hour trip. A baby was crying the whole time. It was already dark when I arrived.

Westin Hotel has an artificial lake in the lobby with swans, actually black swan. It's really strangely beautiful...

As usual, it was not until the last day that I got to enjoy the beach. Some young folks were jumping off the cliff. It's not allowed, but it's deep enough and safe, I guess. As long as someone jumps and kicks a snorkeler, it's ok. The snorkeling around this cliff is amazing. I was floating with a turtle for an hour.

And the sunset and rainbow was just so memorable.


On the last day morning, my boss treated us for a whale watching. It was already pass the high season and most whales were back on the journey to Alaska. We still saw quite a number of whales. One whale came really close to the boast. The staff told that they had a special censor that would let him avoid touching a boat even if it came an inch away. Smart. Clever. Nature is amazing... I was particularly impressed with the turquoise water that male whales make when they breath. I literary saw a spot of turquoise water in the ocean. Being mesmerized by the wonder of whale life, I was half sick from the boat ride.

Ugly Smell

Setting many other things I want to post on aside, one thing has been bothering me and I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed: Perfume.

This perfume smells like a yellow cab, car refresher swinging from the rear view mirror, bubble gum, floor cleaner from dollar stores. I detect the smell at least once a day; on the street, in the train, which makes me feel nauseous. Call me racist but a certain type (race) of men seem to like it.

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