drive on

you know how everyone drives in LA? well they do... nobody takes public transportation there. only one person i know of has admitted to taking the bus before! i understand that Los Angeles County is enormous and you need a car to get around the different cities, but people will drive EVERYWHERE, even if it's to the grocery store 5 blocks away... i guess i shouldn't be too shocked by what they actually have drive-thru's for here in LA, but i am! can you believe that they have drive-thru ATM's and drive-thru dry-cleaners?!

i guess i'm used to living in cities where public transportation is incredibly accessible and cheap, and i'm used to walking around. but do people in LA really hate walking so much that they can't be bothered to park, get out of their car, and walk a few steps to withdraw cash or pick up their dry cleaning? or do they just love their cars and love driving that much that they don't wanna get out? and my biggest question is if people in LA never have to walk anywhere, how do so many of them stay so skinny?!?

and what will they think of next? a drive-thru Starbucks?? (oh wait, do they have that already too?!)

fish n' chips

we went to Ye Old Fish Head in Santa Monica for lunch yesterday, where we shared their famous fish n' chips. shawn brought up a very good question, that if "chips" is actually french fries, then what do the British call potato chips, since Americans call it chips? apparently, it's "crisps".
want some crisps with that dip? ;)

star-gazing

Los Angeles... Hollywood... the land of stars...

i'm in LA for the week, hanging out with Shawn. after dinner tonight with Frances and Justin and friends, Shawn and i headed to Westwood to Diddy Reises for the famous $1.25 ice cream cookie sandwiches (a scoop of Dreyer's ice cream sandwiched between 2 freshly baked cookies). the movie theater across the street just happened to have the official movie premiere of "Miami Vice", starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx. the red carpet was rolled out, and the street was blocked off.

while we were enjoying our ice cream cookie sandwiches on the sidewalk, the movie ended and everyone filed out of the theater and onto the red carpet in front of us before heading to the post-movie party a block away. we saw a handful of familiar faces but couldn't pinpoint who they were. we DID recognize Shaq walking by (after some guys near us commented on his height). i was excited to see Colin Farrell stop near us to wave to fans!! i know he has a bad rep for being a jerk, but i've gotta say, he's definitely good-looking in person, very hot! ;) too bad my camera was too slow, i couldn't snap a picture of him in time... =P

A-list Hollywood star-sightings on my second night in LA... hey, not a bad start! ;)

golden

i'm back in the Bay Area and i decided to go get some color in my hair today.
i went to my favorite hairdresser, Tia, (she's awesome!) in Emeryville for some highlights. i asked for dark blonde highlights against my dark brown/black hair, so she had to give me the two-step process of bleaching and toning. the whole appointment took over 3 hours, half the time was spent waiting for the bleach and toner to set in. i'm happy with how it turned out-- my highlights are a light brown color right now, but they'll get lighter and more "golden", or dark blonde, as time goes by. i've never had such light highlights before, so i'm looking forward to this! yay for experimenting with fun hair colors in the summertime!

the only thing i wasn't prepared for was the cost when it came time to pay for my lovely highlights. my last highlights costed $90, so i was expecting today's to be the same or about $5-10 more for inflation... it came out to $145! (good thing she accepted credit cards!) it turns out the extra $50 is for the double-step process of bleaching and toning, which is like getting my hair colored twice in one day (first to lighten, then to darken to the perfect color).

it's alright though, i'm cool with it... it'll be fun to have blonde highlights for once! and it's not like i go and get expensive haircuts and hair colorings that often (it's more like once every 1-2 years for each!), so this is a little treat for myself. thanks, me! ;)

Getting to Know NYC 101

here are some basics to getting around New York City:

-directions refer to Uptown (north), Downtown (south), Eastside, and Westside.
-streets run east to west, and are short blocks.
-avenues run uptown and downtown, and can be equivalent to 4 street blocks!
-Houston St. is pronounces "HOW-stin", not "hew-stin".

*the many different neighborhoods:
-NoLiTa (North of Little Italy) - up-and-coming with boutiques and restaurants.
-Tribeca (Triangle Below Canal Street) - some big name restaurants and a few bars, but mostly residential lofts and commercial buildings.
-SoHo (South of Houston Street) - a hip and trendy neighborhood known for its shopping, food, and celebrity/model hangout spots
-NoHo (North of Houston Street) - some restaurants
-Lower East Side - slightly grungy, it's up-and-coming with many restaurants, and bars known for hosting local band performances.
-East Village - tons of quaint little restaurants and boutiques
-Alphabet City - Avenues A through D. it used to be a dangerous neighborhood, but it's cleaned up and become much safer. lots of restaurants and bars.
-West Village - a quaint, hip neighborhood filled with cute restaurants, cafes, dessert shops, boutiques. some blocks are very picturesque with their tree-lined brick-building streets.
-Greenwich Village - NYU college-town. tons of affordable restaurants, bars
-Murray Hill - lots of restaurants, some bars/pubs
-Curry Hill - near Murray Hill with lots of Indian restaurants and Indian markets
-Chelsea - known for being a gay-friendly neighborhood, and for hip clubs/bars
-Meatpacking District - meat-packing warehouses by day... by night, it's known for its hip restaurants and lounges
-Hell's Kitchen/Clinton - a bit grungy, but has lots of restaurants
-Grammercy/Flatiron - centrally located, has some good restaurants
-Union Square - centrally located, home of the semi-weekly outdoor greenmarket and many good restaurants
-Upper East Side - upscale, expensive neighborhood
-Upper West Side - upscale, super-expensive neighborhood. great brunch places.
-Harlem - you've all heard of it. good soul food
-Spanish Harlem - lively neighborhood. predominantly Spanish-speaking community.
-Downtown/Battery City Park - Wall Street, financial district, World Trade Center site. busy during weekdays, quiet and abandoned at night.

each neighborhood has its own unique character... and you can find good restaurants in each one! my favorite neighborhoods to stroll around are the West Village, SoHo, East Village, Union Square, and my old 'hood Murray Hill!
which ones are your favorite?

4 random facts about me...

i just received one of those emails where the sender lists random facts about themselves and then i'm supposed to fill in my own random facts and email my lists to people i know. i'm posting my answers here so that you all can get to know me a little better (if you don't know me well already).

Things you may not have known about me.....

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. cashier girl at Mrs. Field's Cookies
2. bank teller at Bank of the West
3. accounts administrator (funds manager) / accounting
4. wife (my favorite one!)

B) Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Lord of the Rings (the whole trilogy!)
2. Moulin Rouge
3. Charlie's Angels
4. Love Actually

C) Four places I have lived:
1. Hong Kong
2. New York, NY
3. Oakland, California
4. Brooklyn, NY

D) Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Sex and the City
2. Friends
3. What Not to Wear (on TLC)
4. Entourage

E) Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Thailand
2. Paris
3. Hawaii
4. Prague

Websites I visit daily (or semi-weekly):
1. Blogger.com (to update or check on my blog)
2. iStockPhoto.com (to check on my photo sales)
3. Tchaofun.com (Joel's blog)
4. StephanieKlein.blogs.com (i'm a fan of her blog)

G) Four of my favorite foods:
1. chocolate
2. cooked fish (sea bass, salmon,...)
3. Thai noodles
4. crab, scallops (i love them both!)

H) Four places I would rather be right now:
1. with Larry (it's been 2 months since i left him to go on my trip) :(
2. playing with my niece, Celine
3. lying on a beach in Aruba or Hawaii or somewhere tropical
4. in NYC (oh wait, I'm here right now! never mind!) ;)

RETURN DIRECTIONS: Please do not spoil the fun. Hit forward, delete my answers and type in your answers. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know INCLUDING the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little known facts about those who know you. Remember to send it back to the person who sent it to you.

oven or sauna?

i think i've been spoiled by the perfectly mild weather in Northern California, where the concept of "humid summer" does not exist. NY summers can get hot and muggy with high humidity, but it'll usually last a few days to a few weeks during the summer. the worst humidity i've ever experienced was probably in Florida, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. in places like those, you start dripping sweat and feeling sticky as soon as you step outside. you sweat through your clothes and you end up taking several showers a day. you could be standing perfectly still on the sidewalk and you'll still sweat like a maniac.

what did i get myself into by moving to Hong Kong, where humidity pushes temperatures up to 105 degrees daily?! where hot and humid summers last 5-6 months out of the year?

"dry" heat is liking walking around in an oven... you feel hot and toasty.
"wet" humid heat is like walking around in a sauna... you feel hot and you can't stop sweating.

which one's worse?
i say the sauna!

i couldn't resist...

i was originally supposed to leave NYC today and fly back to California.
i was having such a blast here in NY that i couldn't resist... i extended my trip...

i decided to stay in NY an extra 10 days, fly back to SF for a few days, and fly down to Los Angeles for a week. then i'll be back in SF for the last week of July before i *finally* head back to Hong Kong on 8/1.

i figured that since i'm not working yet, i should take advantage of my free time. i'm enjoying it so much being out in NY again, so it was really tempting to stay a little longer. i feel like i want to make the most of my trip out here since it's a long flight out and it may be a while before i come back! it'll also give me the chance to hang out with friends and relatives here a bit more. and since HK is scorching hot and humid (feels like over 100 degrees with humidity) during July and August (the two hottest months of summer in HK), i don't mind staying away from the miserable heat as long as possible! i know that NY can get hot and humid too, but it's nowhere nearly as bad as HK!

i was talking to Grace about how i was considering extending my stay, and how hard it had been for me to leave NY last year because i loved being here so much.
me: i was so sad when we had to move. i just wasn't ready to leave yet...
Grace: i know... and you're STILL not ready to leave!

yup, so true...

now that's what i call... a food marathon!

two of my best friends, Shawn and Ying, were out in NY too this past week, so we had a blast hanging out together. the theme of the week: some sightseeing, and eating, eating, and more EATING!

day 1: the top of Rockefeller Center. on a clear day, the view would've been spectacular from the obsevation deck. unfortunately, the skies were hazy, so the $17 ($19 regular price!) fee we each paid to go up was NOT worth it. lunch at 'ino (21 Bedford St, in the West Village) was fantastic with warm, perfectly grilled panini sandwiches. i couldn't decide between two, so i got half of both... chicken with asiago cheese, and tomato with mozzarella. yum! we strolled through West Village, passed the "Friends" apartment on the corner of Bedford and Grove, and had dinner at L'Ecole, the French Culinary Institute (462 Broadway, in SoHo). $35 for a 5-course gourmet dinner was a steal! i had a scallop dish that was delicious!

day 2: at Shawn's request, we went to see the Statue of Liberty. also we stopped off at Ellis Island, where we learned about the American immigration experience back in the late-1800s to mid-1900s. we lunched at Perry Street (176 Perry St, in the West Village), a cool, modern restaurant owned by Jean-Georges Vongerichten. be forewarned, it ain't cheap! luckily, they offered a 3-course prix-fixe lunch for $24. they had an amazing rice cracker-crusted seared tuna appetizer and a chocolate pudding with crystalized rose petals dessert. =9 after lunch, we walked around Central Park, where we saw the filming of the movie "Enchanted" around Bethesda Fountain. we went rowboating on the lake behind the fountain. (it was so much fun!) the three of us girls took turns rowing. i had a shaky start and rowed us into some bushes on the side of the lake, but i eventuallly got the hang of it. we even parked our boat behind the fountain for a bit (as did many other rowboats) in hopes of making it into the movie scene. look for us on the big screen! ;) for dinner, i took them to my favorite Thai restaurant, SEA (114 N. 6th St, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn). it's a very cool, hip, trendy place with a buddha statue in a pond in the middle of the restaurant. (apparently, "Sex and the City" had filmed an episode there -- it was turned into "Raw", the sushi restaurant where Samantha first met Smith when he was working there as a waiter.) the food was great and price was reasonable! we all agreed that our favorite dish that night was a deep-fried snapper seasoned with lemongrass, coconut, basil, and lots of garlic. =9

day 3: brunch at Clinton Street Baking Co. (4 Clinton St, in Lower East Side). French toast with an "it's-so-bad-for-you, but tastes-oh-so-good" buttery-maple syrup. mmm... we proceeded to walk off some of the meal by walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. it's a great experience, you get this incredible view of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn and close-up views of the bridge. after we crossed the bridge, we rewarded ourselves with ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory at Fulton Landing. then we took the subway over to the World Trade Center site, and then walked through nearby St. Paul's Chapel to view their moving display of missing-persons signs collected from the days following 9/11, and banners of hope from other cities and countries. one especially sad story described was that on 9/11, rescue workers changed out of their civilian gear and hung up their boots along the fences of nearby Trinity Church before rushing over to the burning towers. at the end of the day, the unclaimed boots left hanging on the fence belonged to those who had perished in the collapse of the towers, leaving behind an eerie memorial... so sad...
Shawn joined me at dinner that night with my relatives at Ping's in Queen's (83-02 Queens Blvd). it was my aunt's birthday, and we had a huge 8-course Chinese dinner. it was really wonderful seeing my relatives, who are all super nice!

day 4: brunch at Cookshop (156 10th Ave, in Chelsea) was good stuff. we walked around Chelsea Market on 9th Ave and W. 16th St, where we enjoyed tasty brownies at Fat Witch Bakery. then we watched "The 40-year Old Virgin" at Ying's sister's apartment. (hilarious!) dinner was at Alias (76 Clinton St, in Lower East Side). dessert there was yum -- mint ice cream sandwiched between fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies! by then, we'd been eating nonstop all week and were stuffed silly. but no, the eating spree was NOT over yet!

day 5: we headed back to Chelsea Market for some delicious, fresh lobster roll sandwiches at The Lobster Place. but they were small and not that filling, so the solution was to keep eating... we crossed the street to Pop Burger (58-60 9th Ave), where the others filled up on mini slider burgers, shakes, and fries, while i ordered a rich, creamy chocolate milkshake myself (soooo good). =9 you'd think that now being completely stuffed, we'd stop eating, right? nope! we walked over to Billy's Bakery (184 9th Ave) and just had to try their cupcakes. granted, 5 of us shared 2 cupcakes. we went over to Yingping's apartment, where she had been wonderful enough to cook us a delicious dinner of pulled pork and chicken wraps, and an amazing balsamic strawberry and mozzarella flatbread appetizer. that girl can cook! in fact, the Su sisters are great cooks! it must run in the family... why can't it run in my family? ;P anyways, that brings us to the end of our eating marathon, since both Ying and Shawn had to leave for their flight.

i can't believe we ate so much this week! we basically ate continuously all day long! granted, we walked a lot, but it wasn't enough to offset all the food that we inhaled. i guess this is what happens when you're on vacation, in one of the food capitals of the world, and you're surrounded by friends who love good food. ;)

now i've gotta go workout!