Don't Dress for Dinner

I'm a sucker.

I'm not quite as bad as a friend who was convinced to give $20 to a lady on the street who was out of gas and needed to get somewhere.  (This is New York, people!  We have subways that can get you anywhere)!

I take that back.  I am that bad.  Even worse.  When I am feeling vulnerable, I get convinced to buy things that I don't necessarily need/want.  I had one of these horrible experiences a few months ago walking home on a Friday evening when I was approached by an attractive young woman who began complimenting me on my hair and coat.  I was flattered.

Was she sincere?  Of course not.  She began to tell me about a great deal that she was able to give to only 25 women and she had picked me.  I listened to her offer of a $60 package that included a hair cut, blow out, manicure, massage, facial, style consult, wax, and a pony.  It sounded like a great deal, what was the catch?  "None," she said.  "Great, thank you".  I said.

Oh.  I had to buy it then and there on the spot.  I had to buy a cardboard flyer for $60 that would supposedly get me all of these things at a 5-star salon.  I was disappointed but said no thank you.  As I turned to walk away, one of her associates approached me from my clear exit path.  "It's really a great deal," she said.  I was still holding onto the brochure, as no one was accepting it as I tried to hand it back.  I turned to go back the way I came, and a man with an iphone credit card machine closed off my last free exit.  "Don't worry," he said slowly, "we take credit cards."  At this moment I began to panic.  I was blocked off by three people who wouldn't let me leave, I was holding the pamphlet they wanted me to buy, and had no one to save me but American Express.  And they did.

So, when I was called on the phone with a "great deal" offer for discounted tickets to Broadway shows, why did I jump at the chance?  Why wasn't I more guarded?  More cynical?  More rude?  I'm not sure, but the short ending to a long story is that I purchased $400 worth of tickets to Brodway shows I had never heard of.

HOWEVER, in hindsight, was this a bad move?  Survey says no.  Last night, I saw the first of three plays called, "Don't Dress for Dinner."  Was it the best show I have ever seen?  No.  But, it had a cute story, good acting, and nice seats!  After our great time at Wicked, my office mate, Kim, decided to come with me!

The story is set in France and is about lovers, mistresses, and mix-ups.

When you live somewhere that has something great, you sometimes forget to take advantage of it.  (I know lots of you in Hawaii that haven't been to the beach in 6 months)!  Broadway is one of my favorite things about New York and I am on my way to taking advantage of the multiple plays all around me.  What will you take better advantage of?

Manhattan Memorial Day

There are some great things about New York.  Mostly that EVERYONE is willing to come visit!  This weekend, I had THREE of my very best friends in town to celebrate (along with the three that already live here).  Kesso came from DC, Lisa from Chicago, and Kelly all the way from Germany!!

It's quite cliche, but celebrating always includes uncomfortable amounts of food and drink.  Ms. Kelly Gold convinced me on Friday at 5pm that an unnatural amount of dumplings were necessary.  By calling it a "snack," somehow 12 dumplings and two bowls of peanut soup weren't supposed to affect anything but the amount of martinis we would be able to consume later.

I'm not really sure why rickshaw dumplings hasn't taken off yet http://rickshawdumplings.com/ because I get the urge to eat huge amounts of dumplings pretty much all the time.  Less than $5 for 6 substantial dumplings; it's worth the trip for a "snack."

Descending into the depths of Pravda (http://www.pravdany.com/), we were greeted by what were clearly European models who escaped the sex trade to be able to serve extra strength martinis to NYU students.  It's complicated, and so are the drinks.  For example, a horseradish house infused vodka with dill and a mini quail egg.  Or cucumber infused vodka with a giant scoop of caviar.  The place, drinks, and people are all intense and I had to stop myself from breaking into a Russian accent every time I took a sip of the spicy vodka.

Finally, we showed up for dinner at Zabb Elee, a Thai restaurant I have been dying to try ever since I read a review that said I wouldn't recognize anything on the menu.  It was really exciting, but the problem was that I didn't recognize anything on the menu.  http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/zabb-elee/

I slowly realized no one else recognized anything either so with the help of the waitress, I took charge and ordered a variety of foods I have never tasted.  Some dishes were difficult to taste anyway, despite being ordered as mild, after they numbed my tongue and triggered a variety of excretions from my face.  Spicy is an understatement, but so is delicious.

Our dishes included: duck larb, papaya salad, shrimp salad, crispy pork belly, whole fish, and morning glory (weird, right?).  I won't confuse you with the Thai names.  On the menu, "moo" means pork.  That just seems wrong.

I also went to restaurants where I took pictures!  Ootoya was a perfect Japanese restaurant with cold soba and salmon sets.  Their miso soup was the best I've had in New York.

Patricia's friend, Jason, also introduced me to two new Korean foods!  The drink is called Milsu (pronounced mizu) and is super yummy and supposedly what Korean kids get when they are sick.

Then we got Bingsu!!  I won't say I've been missing out on this my whole life, but it's shave ice, fruit salad, ice cream, azuki beans, and condensed milk all in one amazing dessert.  Why have I never put all those things together in one?  Yay Korea!

We walked all day long in the sticky weather!

Then had some sticky dessert after our next meal.  Indochine http://www.indochinenyc.com/menu.html is another New York establishment run exclusively by models.  Their food is thoughtful and delicious.  I had fish filet and cabbage curry steamed in a banana leaf.  The winning food was the fried banana wrapped in sticky rice, creme brulee'd served with coconut tapioca and crushed peanuts.

After all guests were gone, I spent the day in central park relaxing and "playing" frisbee with Adam.  Wanting a salad on such a hot day, I was reminded that you can run into trouble eating in New York.

While this "salad" was exactly what I wanted, I'll tell you that 10 asparagus spears, one egg, and 1/4 a tomato will run you $15 in this city.  Bon Appetit!