Well, in New York, THIS is my sign!
I spent more time on the 6 Local than on any other line on this trip. I saw that sign everywhere!
Art at the Guggenheim!
Here’s the famous gallery
Fun to skate down, can?
How about some disco lights?
Dance with the girl, lah!
Or some kid art?
That’s a frog!
Here’s the latest prototype from Airbus. WAHAHAHAH
A few days in Manhattan (in the summertime)!
Note: More hotel pix to come, erm, when I feel like posting them!
Did you know…
That New York City gets about 4 inches of rain EVERY MONTH? That sounds amazing to me, a native Californian, who comes from a place that’s basically a desert with irrigation.
I found out about the rain when I came out of the Guggenheim (which is currently being renovated) and it was raining Bangkok-style. It reminded me of the deluge that I got caught in when I was over there last. That much rain in 15 minutes!
Also, NYC has the most ridiculous lodging prices, period. First off, it’s high season. Second, you can’t make a nice place affordable here because of land prices and to keep it bum and scum free. So US$125/night for a “European Style” (which means common bathroom) room is not bad.
Presenting room 1526 at the Pod Hotel!
This is my room as you walk in. Really, this is it.
Desk and Chair and Bed and Window that opens
Flat screen on the wall and wash basin
Remember how I said that this room was with shared bathroom? Well these lights above the door go on and off to let you know if there’s anyone in the can. If the light is off, run on in.
No lights on, time to grab the FT and go on in!
Those of you who appreciate irony will like this: It’s across the street from the Singapore Consulate.
Well, at least I can read week-old copies of the ST here…
Things are relative here in NYC. US$125/night for a nice newly remodeled place like this is a good deal. The neighbourhood is nice and the #6 is two blocks up on Lex. So I’m hoping that their rates go down in the off season. Think I found my place to stay when I’m here (unless one of my buds winds up with a two bedroom flat somewhere around the 5 boroughs…).
The Pod Hotel
230 East 51st Street (btwn 2nd & 3rd)
New York NY 10022
212-355-0300
http://www.thepodhotel.com
Phoenix shuts down early?
Well, at least the airport does. I’m glad my flight arrived before 2100. Because when I disembarked thirty minutes earlier, half of the food places (and all of the Starbucks!) were closing.
I barely had enough time to grab a “beef machaca burrito” at “Blue Burrito Grille” and some Reese’s for the flight to JFK before the doors were slammed shut.
The burrito had lukewarm shredded beef and Taco Bell caliber shredded lettuce and cheese. It was not that great. Not worthy of blogging. And definitely NOT a true machaca burrito like I’ve fawned over on these pages before.
Just think, Noo Yawk and real food is only 5 hours away! Mmmmmm….
A bit run down but there’s free Wi-Fi!
blogging from Terminal 1 food court, just outside security, SFO…
The price of procrastination is an airplane ticket that goes up US$150 in two days.
When I finally clicked on “purchase”, I wound up on US Air flying on the “connecting in PHX red-eye to JFK” because I turned all wishy washy about when I was going to visit Noo Yawk. As a result, I’m on a flight that’s about the same price but 4-5 hours longer. At least I’m getting EQMs and it’s 1000 more miles than I would have gotten if I flew UA. Yeay.
That’s why I’m in Terminal 1 @ SFO waiting to board a connecting US (sc)airways flight. First to PHX then a redeye to JFK. It’s been a lot of years since I’ve been here last. Generally, if you fly UA out of SFO, you get to know Terminal 3 and its museum exhibits on the peoplemover very well. As well as the hella expensive food court. At least there’s free Wi-Fi in Terminal 1. Take THAT T-Mobile and Terminal 3! *keeps hard earned money in pocket* Wonder why this even merits a blog entry? Call me sentimental. It goes back to my years at uni when I flew out of here A LOT.
You see, US Air used to have a formidable presence in California, having bought out the mother of all low-cost and fun airlines, the late PSA. At both LAX and SFO, PSA and later US Air occupied Terminal 1 at both airports, running the shuttle between the two every 30 minutes at a good price. Delta and United Shuttle were competing against US Air and what resulted was great prices for the customer and bonus miles galore! Good times, being able to fly LAX-SFO-LAX for US$49 with a one week advance with triple miles!!
What to look forward to? Phoenix Sky Harbor has a lot of places to eat. And they have free wi-fi too. How progressive!!
Have some cookies!
Did anyone bring milk?
Music!
Hey! Do you like club music? Yeah?
How about classical music, the kind that you go to concert halls with dates to?
Well, how about combining the two?
50 Cent Vitamin Water Commercial
Posted Jun 02, 2007
So what’s so bad about a food court?
Maybe I should elaborate. Food Courts in American malls are generally bad. I mean, if a restaurant is in the local mall’s food court, chances are that the food is, ahem, pedestrian. Food meant for the masses and designed to appeal to people from Sioux City to Santa Clarita. And the less said about “ethnic” food chains that almost exclusively exist in food courts, the better. Think Panda Express or Sbarro’s or even Wolfgang Puck Express for a better idea of what I’m trying to get across here.
You can find good food in here (besides the groceries)
Food Courts in ethnic (read: not Safeway, Vons, Whole Foods or the like) grocery stores however, can be really good. Hell, even my beloved hawker centres in Singapore can be considered “food courts” minus the air-con. If you’ve got air-con, you then become an indoor food court.
Here in Costa Mesa, you have an udon place, a donburi place and a ramen place and a couple of other places tucked away inside this Mitsuwa Marketplace. Sometimes they are even part of a (gasp!) chain.
There’s good eats in this food court. Really.
Santouka Ramen in the food court
In Santouka’s case, they ARE part of a chain of ramen restaurants. From Tokyo. Does that still make them an evil chain? Probably not. Does their ramen deserve the hype? Well, that’s what I’m here to find out, 10 minutes away from John Wayne Airport (SNA), having a late lunch.
What to eat? How about that one on the left bottom corner?
According to ramenramenramen.net and rameniac, they’re part of a Tokyo based chain that is expanding in Southern California. Now I’m normally a Kyushu-men (Tonkotsu broth & stewed pork) kinda guy and this will be the first time I’ve had Ashikawa ramen (pork bone & seafood stock), which hails from Hokkaido. I ordered the #7, the shio ramen combo with the noodles and broth in a bowl and the pork and other condiments on the side (Sally would appreciate that), leaving the springy ramen noodles swimming in the surprisingly light shio broth with sesame seeds by itself. It was great! Although you can’t really tell the greatness by that simple statement because it’s not in ALL CAPS and in 60 point strong text, because that would be tacky. When you assemble your #7, drop the chasiu into the broth and then bury it under some noodles for a minute to warm it up. Then chew slowly, letting the buttery, meaty goodness coat your tongue before you let it slowly slide down your gullet. So there’s something good in THIS food court. Eat here!
The number seven comes with noodles & broth separate from the sides…
…so you can make your own bowl of shio ramen!
If this is what “chain restaurants” can be like, let’s have MORE Japanese food chains in supermarkets!! Santouka’s also in West LA too.
Santouka Ramen (inside the Mitsuwa Supermarket)
665 Paularino Avenue
Costa Mesa CA 92676
714-434-1101
Boring Stuff, Nothing of note to Report
…so not a lot of update-worthy stuff happening.
Unlike my fren DSD, who took the plunge and moved to London on a UK working holiday visa (Why we dun get those here, I’ll never understand. Must be a union thing), I’ve been up to ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that’s worth recording in photo or in words.
Over the next few weeks, here’s what’s up with me (as of 1 June):
Fix my black car’s headliner Done!
Fix the washing machine (stupid electrical stuff) Done!
Begin replacing windows in one of the buildings Signed Paperwork to authorise work
Begin backyard renovation (a lot of weeds to pull)
Begin hunting for new used couch & chair
Begin cleaning out the garage
Explore bathroom remodel
Explore repainting the house
You will notice that NONE of these things involve travel, EQM or flirting with SQ girls. How boring! I did take a brief roadtrip to the Napa Valley and paid a return visit to the Silver Oak Winery. You will recall, last time I made the trip up there was for the February winter release party that was to be the last one there because they’re tearing down the old, fire damaged building. I found out on my recent visit that Silver Oak will continue to have release parties in Oakville. But the question is, how?
It has a purty parking lot though. Wonder how they’re going to pull it off?
A brief visit to the SFMOMA
There was a long line. Some of it was because of the early Picasso exhibit, but mostly it was because the SFMOMA is open late on Thursday night (to 2030!) and it’s half price starting at 1800.
Unlike many of the other museums I’ve been to (Tate Modern, Louvre, MOMA, Musee d’Orsay), the SFMOMA forbids photography in the main galleries. WTF? I guess they REALLY want you to buy an overpriced exhibition catalogue. As a result, there won’t be a lot of pix in this post.
As with the other “modern art” museums I’ve visited in the past, much thought was put into the design of the building. SFMOMA is no exception to that. When you first enter the museum, your senses are assaulted by both a bright airy space and a very shiny patterened floor. It works.
It’s a nice building, the permanent exhibits are interesting and it’s half a block down from the W San Francisco and its XYZ bar. What more do you need?
You must be logged in to post a comment.