I won! I won!

Just when I was a little worried that I don't have anything to blog about before the weekend, I found out I won an award! And before you get too excited, I didn't get an acadamy award or anything; I recieved an Kind Blogger Award from my blog friend JelO , which is still really cool and made my day.

There are a few rules before posting this award and here they are:

1. Only 5 people are allowed to receive this award.

2. Four (4) of them are followers of your blog.

3. One has to be new to your blog and live in another part of the world.

4. You must link back to who ever gave you the award.

Here are my lucky winners, go check them out!

1. Syarlilady

2. Jewelry Rockstar

3. Turtleann

4. Per se

5. Soyun

San Francisco - Miller's East Coast West Delicatessen

Miller's East Coast West Delicatessen in San Francisco is probably one of the closest thing you can get to a New York deli on this side of the coast. Having just been to NYC, I thought it would be fun to do a deli showdown! Are you ready to rumble?!?!?!?! East vs. West! Who makes the best bagels? The best pastrami sandwich? Matzo soup? Who will prevail? Read on and you will find out.

If you ask me, I will always root for the West coast cause I'm a California girl, but in this case East Coast wins hands down all the way because Miller's deli IS an east coast deli! The peppery, herby pastrami they have was flown in from the Bronx, and the bagels were partially boiled and baked in New York City before there were shipped to California to be finished off in Miller's oven. You can't get any more authentic than this short of flying across the country and eat it at the source like we did.

We have been to Miller's deli 3 times now and enjoyed the food each and every time. I know some of you guys who are the real deal New Yorkers might go there and think that it sucks, but to my west coast taste buds, this place is a great substitute. Beggars can't be choosers, right?

Left: Millers Right: Ess-a-Bagel

"Tender and fluffy on the inside and has a nice crispy texture on the outside" was what I read and expected from a NYC bagel but sadly did not receive during my New York trip, (read about it here) however, that line describes the bagels at Miller's exactly to the tee.

I took the photo after I took a bite out of the bagel so you can see the texture of it. It is so soft, so airy, and had a nice crunch to it. If this was the kind of bagel I got when I was in New York, I, too, would've became a believer right there and then. Miller's bagels surely redeemed NYC bagels in my eyes; now I just need to find out where they got them!

Bagel round goes to......... Miller's!

Left: Miller's Right: Katz's

Both of the hot pastrami sandwiches were great! I think it just depends on what kind of pastrami mood you're in that particular day. Miller's pastrami were thinly sliced and has a more robust pepper and herb flavor. Katz's meat are a little milder on taste, but they are thick, juicy and a little fattier.

What my boyfriend liked about Miller's is that you can choose what kind of bread you want for your sandwich, as opposed to Katz's where they only serve it on rye, which is probably the more authentic route.

Hot Pastrami round is a tie!

Left: Miller's Right: Katz's

Miller's popped both of our cherry for matzo ball soup. I didn't really know what to expect when I ordered the Chicken noodle soup with matzo ball, and when the soup came I kind of had doubts that it would taste good. Well, if you don't know what I mean, just look at it! The soup looks so clear and kind of bland. How was I suppose to know that it was full of flavor and a joy to eat? Even my boyfriend who is a super soup snob liked it, he liked it so much that I had to spoon fight him so I can get another taste.

As for the matzo ball soup at Katz's, it was decent, but not as flavorful, plus I like it that Miller's had a lot of chicken and noodles in their soup.

Matzo ball soup round goes to.......Miller's!

Miller's has a very extensive menu and serves up soup, sandwiches, salads, burgers, hot plate meals, and more. I especially like their beer battered onion rings; they are sweet and seasoned with a little bit of salt, and as you can see from the picture on the right, there is actually an onion ring inside the batter! (unlike the fast food ones)

And lastly, I just have to mention the new favorite sandwich of all time: The day after. It is roast turkey, stuffing, melted Swiss cheese, cranberry sauce and turkey gravy on toasted rye bread. This sandwich is so good! You can't be afraid to get your hands dirty if you want to eat this sandwich cause the bottom of the bread is a little wet with the sauce and gravy. Plus, you have to try and eat everything in one bite, or two if you have to, because it's the contrast of the savory and sweet, crunchy and soft that makes this sandwich so brilliant and wonderful.

As for the service, it is a little inconsistent; we always seem to arrive at the deli after their rush and it kind of puzzles me how service can be very slow when there are only 5 tables to take care of. The empty cup was sitting at our table for 20 minutes before it got refilled. However, when the deli started to fill up a little at our last trip, we actually got very decent service, hmm... shouldn't it be the other way around? Oh, our server also remembered us from our first visit and what we ordered, which was very nice.

It seems like Miller's came out on top of my comparison test, but I'm sort of partial to it, too, since I only need to drive 60 miles north to get to it, and not have to fly across the country. If and when you can, eat at the source, but if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area and you feel homesick, go try out Miller's east coast west deli and it just might make you feel a little better.

Final Big Apple post - a few more destinations

The time has finally came! This is my final post about NYC for this trip, why oh why did the trip have to end? As promised from my last post, here are some more photos from my massive photo folder.

The Fuller building, which is also known as the Flatiron building, is one of the most recognizable buildings in New York City. I took this picture when I was in the taxi so the angle is a bit off, but this building is a triangle shape and resembles a flat iron, which is where it got its name, and subsequently the area around it was named the Flatiron district.



What surprised me about the financial district in NYC is that there were still a lot of people (mostly tourists) walking around on a weekend. We barely have anyone in the San Francisco financial district at night or the weekends, but there probably isn't as many tourist destinations in the SF financial district than in NYC.

You can't tell from this picture, but there were A LOT of people around the Wall Street Charging Bull. Like most people, I also went and rubbed its horn and balls for good luck, hopefully now my stocks will go through the roof! My boyfriend did a little more than I did and caused a old Chinese woman to gasp and cover her mouth. What is it that he did you ask? Well, I'll leave it up to your imagination. The first person who guesses it wins a prize!

New York Stock Exchange

Apparently, the Charging Bull was a guerrilla art and was originally placed in front of the NYSE by the artist, Arturo Di Modica, as a Christmas gift to the people of NYC back in 1989. The police seized the sculpture which led to a public outcry and they eventually put the sculpture at Bowling Greens, which is where it stands now.

Right across the street from the NYSE is the Federal Hall with a bronze statute of George Washington. I didn't know this but this is where George Washington took the oath of office as the first President of the United States. Sweet~~~

A waterfall under the Brooklyn Bridge? Yes you saw it right, this is an art project by artist Olafur Eliasson, and there are four waterfall sculptures installed in New York City which you'll be able to visit till October 13th. If you happen to get a chance to go to NYC in the next couple of months, be sure to check it out! http://www.nycwaterfalls.org/

Bethesda Fountain

So I learned that our Golden Gate Park was modeled after Central park and it is about 174 acres larger, however, after a trip to Central Park I got to admit that I liked it much more than Golden Gate Park. (Man, I feel so dirty for saying that, I'm sorry San Francisco!)

Central park is beautiful, very people friendly, and you can probably spend a couple of days there easily. There's even a zoo there! I also saw a carousel somewhere, too bad we were only there for a weekend, otherwise I think I would really enjoy exploring the park more.

Horse carriages in the park. I love horsies!

Fountain at City Hall Park

GTA4 fans, you should recognize this fountain right? And if you don't, shame on you for saying you're an avid GTA4 fan! Shame on you, I say! (j/k) We actually made a point to track down this fountain because my boyfriend keeps seeing it in GTA4 and a few times when we were in a cab, he would point at the fountain and say "Hey! I know that fountain, it's in my game!"

I really enjoyed the short time that I spent in NYC. My boyfriend and I always talked about living in New York City for a few years, and after this trip we could really envision ourselves living there. It's a great city with diverse cultures, amazing food, beautiful scenery, and suprisingly very clean and tasty water. We shall return to you NYC, we shall return...

The Big Apple - Times Square and the Empire State Building

I finally went through all of the photos we've taken during our short trip to NYC and sorted them out. You know... the usual weeding out the ones that are overexposed, strange pictures of the ceiling/floor, *accidental* shot of someone's crotch. yeah... yeah... ladies, you know what I mean... *wink wink* Ok, fine! I guess I'm alone here. I think I heard someone say "eww", but really I'm kidding, I prefer upskirt shots! Still kidding! (not really, I'm just saying that, shhh..) Please don't leave..... I promise you there will be some pretty pictures. :)


It took me this long because apparently we took close to 400 pictures in one and a half day, well, what can you say, we're Asians! So after the weeding, resizing, and brightening up the ones that are way too dark, I kept about 300 pictures that we took and will now share some that I cherry picked out for this blog.


Time Square was so crazy! We got there somewhere between 9:30 and 10pm and there were just loads of people there. In Chinese it would be described as 人山人海 (ren san ren hai) which literally means "people mountain, people sea" There were bright lights coming from every corner of the buildings, electronic billboards everywhere, and flashy signs; they pretty much lit up the sky and the short couple blocks of the city felt like it was daytime.

We passed by this Toys"R"Us store and I pretty much just ditched my companions and ran inside cause I saw this:

The store is so huge that they could fit a 60ft ferris wheel inside it! It costs $4.00 to go on the ride. Too bad we didn't have time, otherwise I would so take a ride on it! Doesn't it look so fun?

After Times Square we made our way to the Empire State Building. It was around 10:30pm when we arrived, and I was not expecting the big long line that was there. We read that there's a Express pass ticket you can buy but didn't know where to purchase it, so like everyone else, we stood in line. After half an hour we finally made it through the security check and got in another line for the ticket, and my boyfriend decided it's time to ask someone about the Express Pass ticket.

Apparently we didn't have to be in line for the past 30 minutes! Err! They waved us pass and escorted us to the ticket booth window, and after we got the ticket there were no more waiting for us. Want to take the elevator? Sure! Go through your own special entrance, flash the Express Pass ticket and we're in!

Both of us are big fans of not having to stand in line so it was pretty cool. I think we probably saved ourselves 2-3 hours because of the ticket, but of course we did pay for it, it cost about $45.00/person vs. $18.00 for a normal ticket. However, if you don't have too much time to spare, or you feel that your time can be spent doing better things elsewhere and you don't mind paying the price, I would highly recommend getting the Express Pass ticket. Just don't do what we did in the beginning and grab someone right off the bat and tell them you're going to get the Express ticket.

The view of the city at night was amazing! No wonder our friend told us to come at night.

Since there were way too many pictures, I will post the other ones on the next post.

The Big Apple - a few short reviews

So here is where my advanced apology is going to be useful. Other than the french fries place, I pretty much gobbled down all or most of the food before I could take pictures, so there won't be that many pretty pictures to look at this time, sorry!

First up is Doughnut Plant:

This cozy donut place at the edge of China town had just edged my favorite warm glazed donut from Krispy Kreme down to second place. I've seen this place featured on Food Network and The Travel Channel so I knew it was good, but I was just not prepared for how good these donuts are. Actually these donuts are not good, they are GREAT!

Hazelnut glazed

The donuts are big and fluffy, not to mention delicious! It was so good that I ate about 3 of these babies and I'm a pretty small girl who eats like a bird. They use fresh fruit for the glaze and filling, and believe me, it makes a really big difference! The peach glazed that I ordered had a very subtle peachy flavor that just lingers in your mouth begging you to take one more bite. The Blackout, which is a chocolate cake doughnut with chocolate pudding in the middle, is unlike any cake donuts I have ever had. It tastes just like a chocolate cake and I had to fend off my boyfriend, who doesn't like cake donuts, from taking it from me.

This is a must visit for anyone who travels to New York. The donuts are a little pricier than what you're used to, but it's worth every penny!

Next, Pommes Frites:

This is another place I saw on the Food Network, Pommes Frites is a small little, mostly takeout shop that sells only one thing: pommes frites aka french fries. What makes this place unique is the 25 sauces that you can get with your fries; sauces such as Pomegranate Teriyaki Mayo, Peanut Satay, Sweet Mango Chutney Mayo, and Irish Curry are just a few that caught my attention.

We ordered the regular size with roasted garlic mayo. They filled the fries into a paper cone and if you are able to sit down at one of the few tables they have in the back, you can sit your cone down in one of the holes on the table, which I thought was pretty neat. We also ordered the poutine, which we were really excited about and always wanted to get ever since we saw Jay and Silent Bob mentioned it on an episode of Degrassi.

Poutine

The fries were very thick and crispy, but I don't know if it's because they're double fried or maybe ours were fried a little too long, the inside was a little bit dry. In my opinion, I think the fries that I made at home tasted better, but that can very much just be a personal taste issue. The garlic mayo was different but good, my boyfriend enjoyed it more than I did because he's more of a mayo person than me.

The poutine was quite tasty though. For anyone who doesn't know what poutine is, it is a Canadian comfort food that has french fries topped with fresh cheese curd and brown gravy. The gravy helped with the slightly dried fries, and the cheese curds was somewhat rubbery and squeak against the teeth when bitten into, which was pretty fun for me to eat. I know it's sort of strange that cheese would squeak, but I learned from my Wisconsin trip earlier this year that the squeaking of the curd is a sign that it is fresh and good.

Even though Pommes Frites did not make my definite go back list, I would still recommend my friends to check it out since they are quite unique and is worth a try as my taste could be very different from yours.

And lastly, Gray's Papaya:

We went to the Midtown branch at the corner of Eighth Ave. and 37th St. and ordered the "Recession Special" which consists of two hot dogs and a drink that costs $3.50. For me, Pink's hot dog in L.A. is still my favorite, but you can't beat the price at Gray's Papaya, unless you go to Costco. The hot dogs are smaller and thinner than what I'm used to, but it's full of flavor and snaps when you bite into it. And don't get me started with the papaya drink. I really didn't think I would like the papaya drink, I would eat fresh papaya, but it really wouldn't be my first choice for fruit, however, the papaya drink was so goooood. It was light, refreshing, a little frothy on top, it's no wonder they're famous for it.

If you ever decide to check it out, be advised that this is not a restaurant and you won't be able to sit down to eat your dogs. It is open 24/7 so it's a great place to go for your midnight munchies or after a fun time from partying at the clubs.

Sneak Peek - Two heads are better than one

I feel like taking a break from writing about New York today and will let you guys in on a sneak peek of what I'm working on craft wise which will soon to be in my store.

I think many of us have seen or heard of the Japanese origami crane (if we have not already folded them ourselves). For those that are not familiar with the origami crane, an ancient Japanese legend says each paper crane can live a thousand years, and promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the gods.

I really like folding paper cranes, they are fun to fold and the end product is very elegant, but I want to do something different, hence, two heads are better than one: twin sister cranes. Siamese style! :P

These two cranes are connected by the wing and no.... they are not glued together. They were folded from one single sheet of paper using the technique: Renzuru, which is an origami technique whereby one folds multiple cranes from a single sheet of paper.

I folded the purple one using a double sided origami paper, it seems to turned out pretty well.

Ok, break time is over for me, got to get folding if I want to get some cranes in my store next week. Hope you all are having a great relaxing weekend!

The Big Apple - 30 Rock

As a 30 Rock fan, I couldn't pass up the chance to visit the Rockefeller Center. Heck, even if I wasn't a fan of the show, the Rockefeller Center is still a must do when you visit New York City. Here are a few photos from my trip.

The Prometheus Fountain. During winter time this area is turned into the famous Rockefeller ice skating rink.

Even though it was a little out of the way, I had to walk around the corner to get a shot of this sign.

30 Rock fans, recognize this?

Heading up to the top of the Rock inside the elevator

The observation deck was closed from 1986 and wasn't reopened till November 1st 2005. You take a very quick and fun ride in the talking elevator to the top of the GE building to get a spectacular view of NYC.

Central park. Look at the size of that thing!

Breathtaking view, isn't it?

If you squint your eyes and look very intently, you might be able to see the Statute of Liberty far far away. Can you spot it?

We're going to the top of that one next!

The Big Apple - Smith & Wollensky

Dinner time!

For our Saturday dinner, our friend suggested Smith & Wollensky, stating that they have the best steaks in town. Since we trust his judgement and we are not ones to pass up a good hunk of meat, he went ahead and made a phone call, worked his magic in German, got a call back a few minutes later, and we got a table at 8pm.

For the remainder of the day, we probably watched 5-10 Smith & Wollensky's commercial in the cab, and a few times our friend would be giddy as a school girl when he watch the commercial, it was actually quite amusing to watch him. At the end of the commercial their tag line is "If steak were a religion, this would be its cathedral," and hearing that all day long has set my expectation quite high, I hope they will live up to their claim.

We got to the restaurant at about 7:30pm, the host checked us in and we had a few drinks at the bar; about 15 minutes later we were told to go upstairs and ask for John, who seated us at the corner table deep inside the dining room. Since our friend, Alex, wanted us to experience the lively atmosphere and be in the center of the action, he asked if it's possible to move to a table that's closer to the middle of the room. At first it didn't seem like a big deal and they moved us right away, but immediately after we sat down, another person came and told us that the table has already been spoken for; they then got us another table, we sat down, and the same thing again. The table was reserved and we were ask to get up and wait at the bar till a table opens up.

I can't fault the restaurant for not having a table, since they did seat us at a perfectly fine one and it was us who requested to have another one; however, I do believe that I would have had a better experience if they didn't keep sitting us down and telling us to get up.

We started our meal with the fried calamari and hashbrown. The calamari was well seasoned, but the breading was a little heavy and the calamari was just a tad overcooked. The hashbrown... oh the hashbrown... mmm... this hashbrown (bottom) might not look like much, but it was quite tasty! It has a nice and crispy exterior and a meaty soft interior with some onion flavor to it. I normally don't order hashbrowns in a steak house, but I'm so glad we got them here. I think it might actually be one of the best hashbrowns I've ever had.

For the main course, I order the bone-in Ribeye, my boyfriend got the Cajun seasoned Filet Mignon, and our friend got the Au Poivre Filet Mignon.

Alex, if you ever read this, I'm sorry! To me the steaks were good, but was not great. It was not the best steak that I have ever had, but I suppose no steak can be since the best steak I had was the Kobe steak that I had in Kobe, Japan, and no one can beat a Japanese Kobe steak that just melts in your mouth... mmmm... Kobe steak...(drooling) Ok, let me wipe my mouth and get back to Smith and Wollensky before I make this a Kobe steak post. The steaks here were well cooked, I won't argue about that, but it just didn't have that "umph" to push it over the top and live up to the hype.

Bone-in Ribeye

My Ribeye had a wonderful exterior, it was seared nicely and produced great flavor; but maybe because it was a thick cut of steak there was only flavor on the surface and I wanted to sprinkle some salt on it every time I took a bite, plus I ordered medium well and my steak was pretty well done. The Au Poivre filet was tender and juicy, the sauce was a little bitter, but maybe that is what it's suppose to taste like. My favorite is the Cajun Filet, and despite the name, it is actually not spicy hot but it definitly is full of flavor. If you ever been to Morton's, it is very similar to their Cajun Ribeye. In fact, all the three steaks that I tasted are comparable to Morton's, except it has a higher price tag.

Au Poivre Filet Mignon

For the three of us, I believe we spent about $250.00 just on the food, which is a bit on the pricey side. If it was about $60 to $70 cheaper, then it would be a better value, but it was the good company and conversation that is important to me, and you can't put a price tag on that!

Overall, Smith & Wollensky is a good steakhouse, but for me, I think I'm going to keep searching for my cathedral.