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New York City, Days 9-10

After a slow weekend and a minor bout with an upset stomach, I had an eventful couple of days.

Day 9 (Tuesday, July 15th)

Lunch: Momofuku Ssam Bar…Emily and I have been wanting to try this place since we read about David Chang in Esquire. I must say that it was a disappointment though. The dishes were either too salty or too oily, and it seemed like they couldn’t decide if they were gonna be an Asian place or an American place. The biggest disappointment was that all of the dishes were basically ripoffs of Asian dishes. The steamed pork buns were basically Taiwanese gua bao, the banh mi is a glorified Vietnamese sandwich, and the sam gyup sal is like kal-bi lettuce wraps.

Afternoon: After lunch, we watched Wall-E, then bought some picnic food for the NY Philharmonic at the Park. It was on the Great Lawn of Central Park.

Day 10 (Wednesday, July 16th)

Lunch: Red meat for breakfast? It can work! We went to Peter Luger for steak shortly after waking up today haha. It’s supposed to be the best steakhouse in NY. The steak was good…soft and flavorful. Was it the best I’ve ever had? I don’t think so. Also, the decor was too old-style for me (bland) and the service was shoddy (utensils thrown down casually, water not refilled, and bad-night-at-the-improv humor.

Afternoon: We went for some ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory and also took some pictures right under the Brooklyn Bridge. We also caught a glimpse of 2 NYC Waterfalls and the Statue of Liberty from afar.

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Hey dum-dum. You got gum-gum?

Hey dum-dum. You got gum-gum?

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A Dairanosaurus Rex!

A Dairanosaurus Rex!

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Joe Fox: [sitting behind Kathleen in the coffee shop] You know what that hankie reminds me of? The first day I met you. Kathleen Kelly: The first day you lied to me. Joe Fox: I didn’t lie to you. Kathleen Kelly: You did too. Joe Fox: No I didn’t. Kathleen Kelly: Yes you did. Joe Fox: No, I didn’t. Kathleen Kelly: You did too. Joe Fox: I did not. Kathleen Kelly: You did too. Joe Fox: I did not Kathleen Kelly: You did too, I thought all that Fox stuff was so charming. F-O-X. Joe Fox: Well, I didn’t lie about it. Kathleen Kelly: Joe? Just call me Joe? As though you were one of those stupid 22 year old girls with no last name? Hi, I’m Kimberly, hi I’m Janice. Don’t they know you’re supposed to have a last name? It’s like they’re an entire generation of cocktail waitresses. Joe Fox: Look, I’m not a 22 year old cocktail waitress. Kathleen Kelly: That is not what I meant.

Joe Fox: [sitting behind Kathleen in the coffee shop] You know what that hankie reminds me of? The first day I met you.
Kathleen Kelly: The first day you lied to me.
Joe Fox: I didn’t lie to you.
Kathleen Kelly: You did too.
Joe Fox: No I didn’t.
Kathleen Kelly: Yes you did.
Joe Fox: No, I didn’t.
Kathleen Kelly: You did too.
Joe Fox: I did not.
Kathleen Kelly: You did too.
Joe Fox: I did not
Kathleen Kelly: You did too, I thought all that Fox stuff was so charming. F-O-X.
Joe Fox: Well, I didn’t lie about it.
Kathleen Kelly: Joe? Just call me Joe? As though you were one of those stupid 22 year old girls with no last name? Hi, I’m Kimberly, hi I’m Janice. Don’t they know you’re supposed to have a last name? It’s like they’re an entire generation of cocktail waitresses.
Joe Fox: Look, I’m not a 22 year old cocktail waitress.
Kathleen Kelly: That is not what I meant.

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New York City, Day 4

Lunch: Cafe Lalo, the site of the coffee shop scene from You’ve Got Mail. Dave Chappelle: “If you don’t like Kathleen Kelly…you ain’t gon’ like this girl.” We opted for the brunch food here, which was a big mistake — gotta stick with the desserts and coffee. I ordered a Swiss breakfast, which was yogurt, fruit and muesli, along with a half grapefruit. And Emily and Jackson each ordered steamed eggs.

Afternoon: Walked around the American Museum of Natural History. We spent the most time on the 4th floor, in the dinosaur, vertebrate and early mammals exhibits. I’d say it was 50% learning and 50% taking silly pictures with the exhibits. We also had to take a long trek to take a picture with the “dum-dum” (if you’ve seen A Night at the Museum, you’ll know what I’m talking about).

Dinner: Yakitori Totto in the Theater District with Jackson and his friend, Michelle. The food was pretty good, if a little pricey. They primarily served little skewers, like miso eggplant, chicken hearts, asparagus, chicken skin, skirt steak, beef tongue, etc. The hamachi ceviche was pretty good too.

After walking around the museum for 3-4 hours today, I was totally beat before and after dinner. Do New Yorkers even need to exercise? All this walking alone could make me get fit. I did come home and do an ab/core workout out of my Men’s Fitness magazine though.

Today: Cafe Habana and The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in NoLita/SoHo.

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New York City, Day 3

Break day! No big activities today. I signed up for a 2-week trial at a Bally Total Fitness near where we’re staying. It’s a little cramped b/c it’s underground, but it’ll do for the time that I’m here. The good: a bench, treadmills built after 2000, medicine balls, a cord pulley station and new weight machines (lots of back row machines)…none of which I have in my gym back home. The bad: No dumbbells between 15 and 35 lbs (makes it really hard to do bicep curls) and no tricep-extension grip for the cord station. A basketball hoop would have been wishful thinking too!

Emily got a “tui-na” massage and got her nails did, while I hung out at Starbucks and read magazines. Then we shopped at the Time-Warner Whole Foods (CROWDED) and cooked spaghetti for dinner.

For lunch, I discovered a place called The Pump: A Physical Fitness Restaurant. Every thing they serve is without salt or oil and nothing is fried. Most of the foods are high in protein and the breads are all whole-grain. I ordered a chicken pita…it was kind of like a meatball sub with chicken instead of meatballs.

Tomorrow: The Natural History Museum!

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The place we’re staying at in NYC is crazy nice. It’s off 5th Ave., just above the MoMa and has incredible views of the city. It makes enjoying the city a lot easier when you don’t have to crash on someone’s couch or pay $400 a night for a Comfort Inn. New York City, Day 2  Lunch: Bread in SoHo is a cool little place. The interior is all-white and stylish and the music and waitstaff add to the ambience. I had a salad with tuna, avacado, tuna and olives, and Emily had a panani with brie cheese, tomato, prosciutto cotto and dijon mustard. Afternoon: Shopping in SoHo…I wanted to check out this store called Uniqlo that kept getting mentioned in Esquire. It was disappointing though, kind of like a glorified American Apparel. They did have some t-shirts, but I didn’t like any of them. Expected them to have more Japanese stuff. Dinner: Delivery Japanese…ugh. Exercise: Just some pushups, got lazy.

The place we’re staying at in NYC is crazy nice. It’s off 5th Ave., just above the MoMa and has incredible views of the city. It makes enjoying the city a lot easier when you don’t have to crash on someone’s couch or pay $400 a night for a Comfort Inn.

New York City, Day 2 

Lunch: Bread in SoHo is a cool little place. The interior is all-white and stylish and the music and waitstaff add to the ambience. I had a salad with tuna, avacado, tuna and olives, and Emily had a panani with brie cheese, tomato, prosciutto cotto and dijon mustard.

Afternoon: Shopping in SoHo…I wanted to check out this store called Uniqlo that kept getting mentioned in Esquire. It was disappointing though, kind of like a glorified American Apparel. They did have some t-shirts, but I didn’t like any of them. Expected them to have more Japanese stuff.

Dinner: Delivery Japanese…ugh.

Exercise: Just some pushups, got lazy.

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You’re fired!

You’re fired!

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