New York City part III - Oiishi! A chocolate factory and all that jazz!

I have been obsessed with ramen ever since I tasted my first bowl of this Japanese-nified cuisine in Japan. (And no, I am not referring to the instant type.) So it was with a critical eye that I approached the ramen at Ramen Setagaya at the East Village. After days of sandwiches, hot soupy noodles sounded really appealing to KL and me.

As everyone knows, the true mark of good ramen lies in the broth. In this case, Ramen Setagaya did not disappoint.

I ordered the shio (salt) ramen. The broth was clear, yet tasty. The ramen was firm and springy, while the thin slices of pork, with their fatty rings, slide down my throat ever so smoothly. The egg was delicious too...firm but not hard and it had a gentle flavour, sometimes eggs have a weird taste to me, but definitely not this one! I still drool when I look at the ramen picture above.

KL and I also shared a side of veggie gyoza....oiishi!

Guess what we found while walking around after dinner - a stall serving Japanese streetside snacks like okonomiyaki (pancake-like dish with cabbage, eggs and other toppings) and my favourite, tako yaki! Tako yaki are octopus balls (pieces of octopus in balls of grilled batter) served with lots of mayonnaise, brown takoyaki sauce and bonito flakes. I could never locate them in Orange County so I definitely had to buy some to share with KL.

Left: the hole in the wall joint selling Japanese street snacks; right: me chowing down on tako yaki

 

Yummy...the hot tako yaki makes it the perfect snack for a cold NY night!

Just when we though we were done for the night, we came across this restaurant serving lots and lots of chocolate concoctions : Max Brenner - Chocolate by the Bald Man. The chocoholic in me was of course, helpless against the siren call of chocolate.

KL ordered chocolate chai. I think the presentation is pretty cool, just put the container over the drinking mug and tap to drain the hot chocolate out from the chai mixture.

I ordered the chocolate shot:

Yes that's right, shots of chocolate! I ordered dark chocolate, out of a trio of choices including milk chocolate and white chocolate. Just thinking about the chocolate rush makes my toes curl :D

The apparatus for preparing the chocolate shot, made me feel like I was conducting some kooky culinary experiment. I scooped some chocolate chips into the milk which was being warmed by the tealight, stir to melt and sip via the metal straw. Naturally I loaded lots of chocolate in for the ultimate rush!

The melting heart chocolate cake, served with berries and ice-cream.

And of course, what would a trip to NYC be without a visit to Broadway? We spent an hour or so waiting in the cold gusty winds to queue up for discounted tickets at the TKTS booth at Times Square. In the end, we settled on Chicago. I rather enjoyed the movie version starring Richard Gere, Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and the musical version was not too bad.

Finally the last outfit shot of me in NYC for this trip.

Wearing Rick Owens leather jacket, Zara top, Ksubi black jeans, Ann Demeulemeester boots, Phillip Lim scarf and Miu Miu black coffer.

So long (for now) New York!

New York City Part II - More food porn, the Met and Madame X.

Food! Food! Food!

If there's one thing that you'll definitely be spoilt for choice for in New York City, it's definitely food! From Zagat rankings to celebrity endorsements, most eating places in New York are plastered with such endorsements all over. For a foodie like me and KL, New York City is definitely an eating heaven.. a far cry from the heavily populated franchise restaurant scene in Orange County.

One of my favourite finds during this New York trip is A Salt & Battery.

It's essentially a fish and chips place, but the fish and chips is absolutely one of the best I have ever tasted! The owners were even involved in a throw-down with celebrity chef Bobby Flay and they won! And after eating at this place it's easy to see why:

KL and I got the seafood combo, which consists of fried fish and shrimp. (Sides or chips are a separate order.) The fried seafood is crispy, yet not oily at all, in fact the batter is so light but oh so-very-crunchy! And you taste the natural sweetness and freshness of the seafood through the batter.. I don't know how these guys do it but I didn't walk away with the oily, bloated feeling that I usually get from eating fried food. Seating is limited at A Salt & Battery though, so it's best to get there before the lunch/dinner crowds come in.

And literally by accident, KL and I found this hot dog store named Papaya King:

KL and I remembered seeing a feature on it on Food Network before, so we had to try the papaya drink that the signs plastered all over the store were hawking:

And you know what, the drink lived up to its hype! It's sweet and creamy, yet not overly so. We could taste the papaya in the drink and it was very refreshing. The hot dogs were good too, better than most I had tasted, but I personally preferred it without the onions which were hmmm, a little overpowering to me. One thing to note though, KL and I first tasted this at the Greenwich Village store and we ordered the same papaya drink again when we came across Papaya King a few streets away from the Met. It seems like the quality varies from store to store as the papaya drink at the Met location was really watered down and not at all like the manna that we had tasted the night before.

Did I mention the Met (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)?

I wanted so badly to see the exhibitions at the Costume Institute when I was there but it was closed. Nevertheless the Met was a great visit, even for the second time, as there was plenty of stuff to occupy my and KL's time!

Ancient jewellery:

I'll gladly wear these cuffs!
Some serious bling:

I don't know what is it about me and ancient sculpture, but I am always tempted to do some cheeky (no pun intended) poses of the butt-pinching variety among them. Maybe it was just a desire in me to offset all the seriousness of the crowd brought on by the history of the pieces. Or the nudity was getting to my brain ;) I'm not too sure how my well my antics would have gone down with the stern security personnel nor the crowd, but nevertheless I managed to sneak a couple in:

Say meow!

One of my favourite permanent exhibits at the Met is the Arms & Amor collection:

The intricate details on all the armor and weapons are amazing, not to mention the skils it must have taken to produce them. What I find intrigung though is how small most of the suits of armor are...even to me. I guess people were really smaller back then!
A close-up of a burgonet in the shape of a lion's head. I believe it's Italian in origin...note the attempts at mimicking the texture of fur and hair using metal:

And for first-time visitors, the Temple of Dendur is a most see. It's a Nubian temple that was phyiscally relocated (yes, building, gates and all!) to the US and subsequently the Met in the 60s'.

This was a perfect opportunity to break out my "Walk like an Egyptian" pose, but the security personnel there was so tense and stern that he quickly dampened any enthusiaism that I had. He was always anxiously scanning anyone who approached the structure..hmm, first day on the job perhaps?

The painting collection of the Met is definitely impressive and I didn't have time to take it all in at my leisure. Yes, even on my second visit. I knew that there was one painting that I had to see again:

Madame X. The original It girl maybe? Once again another painting which I had studied in school that fascinated me then and still, today.

And here's a random outfit shot of what I wore that day.

Zara military jacket, helmut lang top, ksubi jeans, ann demeulemeester boots, miu miu coffer.

Next: Last night in New York City and all that jazz!

New York City part I - Of good eats, the Rockefeller center, AMNH and the New York City Ninja

As you call all tell from my photo, it was absolutely freezing when we arrived in New York City at night.

In Ninja mode - Ozetta large warmer from etsy, Zara military jacket, black vintage tiered ruffled dress, Falke tights, Ann Demeulemeester boots

When it comes to eating, New York City is one of the best cities to be in. Great eating places are open till late at night, or early in the morning, depending on how you look at it. So, be prepared for lots and lots of food porn because I do have plenty of pictures to share!

One of the shops that KL and I had to visit was "Eileen Special Cheesecake". We discovered this hole in the wall joint by accident on our first trip to NYC and fell in love with the cheesecake there. Unlike certain cheesecake factories on the west coast, the cheesecake at Eileen's is light and fluffy, with just the right amount of sweetness. The cheesecake in the shop is sold in small portions so that you don't feel guilty indulging. I had to stop myself from ordering all the flavors that they had available!

KL and I finally decided on the Oreo cheesecake and the strawberry cheesecake:

Washed down with a canoli ;)

Yummy!

At night, KL and I walked over to the Rockefeller center which was near our hotel. The skating rink is still there, even though it's already spring!

A shot of the building through the fairy lights on the trees. Ah, memories.

The very next day, we went to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). I believe that this is the very same museum in the movie, "A Night at the Museum"?

I was really looking forward to seeing all the dioramas again, as well as view the exhibits that KL and I missed out on the last time we were there. But, first.. DINOSAURS!!!

When I was a kid, I loved to spend Saturday mornings in my bed reading and re-reading my encyclopedias on dinosaurs and pre-historic mammals like the mammoths and the sabretooth tiger. So I definitely had to hunt down their skeletons:

From left: Mammoth skeleton, sabretooth tiger skeleton.

It's kind of a pity that we'll never get to see these animals alive again. But that's evolution and seriously, I highly suspect that they will not inspire half the fascination that they do now if their species were still around today.

And the dioramas....it's weird as the animals seem so life-like, but of course they are just the creations of really gifted taxidermists. It's hard to believe that the dioramas were constructed in the 30s' - look at the skill of the taxidermy involved!

I strongly urge anyone who hasn't been to the AMNH before to go in the morning and be prepared to spend the whole day there. It was the second visit for me and KL this time, and we went right after lunch, but still it wasn't enough. Besides the dioramas, there are also exhibits on different cultures, a gemstone gallery, IMAX movies to catch...you get the idea.

And in the spirit of Easter:

Don't tell Tobey and Raisin!

Next: It's getting hot and heavy as the food porn continues.... and Madame X! :P

Mini Road Trip

KL and I had something to attend to in downtown L.A last Friday. We hardly ever drive up to L.A nowadays because of the terrible traffic, but there are indeed wonderful places to visit up North, so we decided to make a day trip out of it.

First stop - can anyone name the area? Those of you who have attended college in LA should be able to recognize it.

After we settled our stuff in L.A, we decided on an impulse to drive up the Pacific Coast Highway, instead of having lunch at Santa Monica. This has possibly got to be our favorite highway ever....we used to drive up North a lot along this highway to San Francisco in the good old days ;)

Lunch was at one of our usual pit-stop at a cafe in Summerland. KL and I much prefer to break at Summerland wherever we drive along the Pacific Coast, instead of Santa Barbara, because of its little-town quaintness and that the beach is literally minutes away by foot. The food here is simple home-made fare, nothing fancy, but it's fresh, hearty and delicious!

Pictures of the cafe:

Food! KL had steak and eggs with a side of toast, even though this was a late lunch..but he loves breakfast food, especially eggs. I had the crab cake salad...lemon juice over fresh greens is a genius move!

Their restroom doors - roosters for guys, hens for gals.

A better shot of my outfit in the cafe's restroom..yes I'm narcissistic and voyeuristic this way ;)

Ya Ya Aflalo vapor leather jacket, Zara blouse, AA leggings, Ann Demeulemeester boots

After the meal, KL and I headed to the beach nearby to walk off the lunch. It felt quite extravagant to be enjoying a leisurely lunch and beautiful stroll by the beach on a workday, but it's really the simple things like these that reminded us what we love about California and what made us decide to move here in the first place.
This day trip provided a much needed reprieve from the craziness of the office for us... next stop, New York City! (in 2 weeks anyway ;))

Things that make me happy

1. TGIF

2. These Zara Balmain knock-offs:

I finally got them after stalking the Zara store in South Coast Plaza for the past 3 weeks! And while the magpie in me admires the original ones on the runway, I feel that my money would be better spent on a certain pair of lace-up boots by a certain female Belgian designer ;)
So this inspired version will do nicely..and honestly this pair of shoes is really well-made and I can't stop fingering the studs and sparkles. Can't wait to wear this out with something white, grey or nude...or maybe all of the above ;)

Edited to add: I've received quite a few queries about these Zara heels, so this is what I know.
They retail for USD$169, not inclusive of sales tax. The article number for this design is 1369201040, so it's worth a shot calling your nearest Zara and quote this number to see if they have this pair and your size, in stock. Lastly, for anyone in the Orange County area, there were still 2 pairs left in a size 39, at the Zara in South Coast Plaza as of Friday, February 27th. Good luck!

3. Cooking carrot cake
No, not the sweet carrot cake that most of the world knows as a dessert.

I'm referring to the Singaporean version, which is a savory dish known as fried carrot cake or colloquially referred to as "Chai tow kway"(菜头粿). Its main ingredient is flour and radish, which is combined together and steamed to create the cake. The steamed carrot cake is served in dim sum in huge slabs, but in Singapore, we stir fry it together with eggs, sweet dark sauce, chilli sauce and pickled radish to make fried carrot cake!

KL and I discovered that the secret to getting the authentic Singaporean taste really laid in getting the right sweet dark sauce and chilli sauce. For the dark sauce, we used kecap manis, which we finally located in an Asian supermarket. As for the chilli sauce, we combined 2 types of sambal (spicy shrimp paste) sauce, one for the heat, one for the garlicky flavour.

This is my favourite breakfast dish (KL's too in fact!) and we are just darn proud of ourselves for being able to recreate it in the US! ;)