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!