sometimes beginnings arent so simple
sometimes goodbye’s the only way
and the sun will set for you
and the sun will set for you
and the shadow of the day
will embrace the world in grey
and the sun will set for you
the fog already heavy on my mind evokes a time that’s turning colder
at breakfast the effect is picturesque
the window opens up and lets in
the santa ana winds again
strange how such a gust of gentle breeze can ravage hearts across california
you start to grow accustomed to her turn around
she’s gone of course she warned ya
she sometimes passes in a single night
and other times she lasts the weekend.
the santa anas certainly are ravaging hearts across california. i cannot even begin to comprehend the kind of damage the wildfires are causing. trying to understand it in numbers, in acreage and population and dollar signs… are just a desperate cry for us to feel something, to reach out and touch someone who’s lost everything they have. it’s so easy to ignore what’s going on outside of our beautiful southern california bubble, but really, how pathetic do we have to be to sit here and ignore what’s going on under our noses. i mean literally, we’re breathing the effect of the fires on our doorsteps, and remain unfazed.
signs of the times are passing before our eyes and we’re not looking at all.
(massive photo post… continued from yesterday)
pretty sure any new york city tourist has heard of lombardi’s. so of course it was on our must-eat list. and, i have to say it lived up to every bit of its hype. they had the most delicious sausage–sweet, and with lots of fennel. oh, and a word of warning–new york pizza places dont ever serve by the slice.. so you gotta grab a table and wait. we learned that the hard way haha..
we also took a little side trip to coney island since we heard it was closing down at the end of september for massive renovations. and what’s a trip to coney island without world famous nathan’s hot dogs? they were delicious, but it’s the same stuff as the nathan’s you can find in your grocery store. i still liked gray’s papaya better.
angie and i had an AMAZING greek meal that totally took us by surprise. it’s kind of a funny story actually. this one night we were pretty tired and didnt have anywhere special to eat, so we decided to go back to astoria (where her cousin lives) early and hopefully try one of the places there. apparently lots of greek people live in astoria and there are greek restaurants up and down the block. so we had no idea what we were doing and wandered into one of the shops that had a million people inside. it was exactly like my big fat greek wedding. i mean the waiters were yelling at each other and all seemed to be related, ranging in age from 12 to 60, haha. the menu was written in greek on whiteboards around the room and everyone sat at long, shared tables. it was pretty cool since ive never been in a really authentic greek place. and the food was AMAZING! i had the moussaka, which is kind of like lasagna.. its a casserole with eggplant, ground beef, pasta and bechamel sauce. angie had a gyro, and i think its the best one ive ever tasted–i usually don’t like lamb but theirs was delicious. we were soo stuffed at that point but it was so good that we just. kept. eating. haha. okay i cant remember the name of this place which sucks. i think it’s called michael’s.
and of course, serendipity. it would be embarrassing to mention how many times we stopped by and left because the wait was 1.5 hours. but the last time we tried there was no wait at all :) overrated, of course. but i still loved the frozen hot chocolate. its surprisingly rich.
this is the shake shack! it’s right in the middle of union square and the place is not a joke. i wish i had a picture of the line (angie does but im too lazy to get it :P), because it was about fifty people long. maybe more. they even have these signs that tell you how to “shack-xercise” while youre waiting in that ridiculous line. but they’re amazingly efficient–you get a pager for when your food is ready, none of that standing around and waiting for your name to get called or whatever. besides the burgers, shake shack’s also famous for frozen custards and, well, shakes. and the shakes WERE good. you can actually suck it up with a straw and it doesn’t taste like melted ice cream. how do they do it??? we got strawberry. :)
quite possibly the best burger i’ve ever had, outside of the kobe burger i had at anthology (that doesn’t count–it’s $26 compared to this one at $7). OMG, i need to hunt for a burger as good as this one in LA. i think its only good for cheese lovers though. that fried thing right there is a deep fried portobello stuffed with emmental. to die for.
finally, we couldn’t leave new york without trying junior’s cheesecake. this was sort of a cheap way out since we got it at the airport, haha. it was still delicious, but a lot more like what you would think a cheesecake would taste like. carnegie’s though… that’s something else. :D
okay, that’s it. now that ive made myself all wistful about (and hungry for) new york… i’m determined to find some good food right here in LA. i’ve lived here all my life and havent really explored it. who wants to go on a food adventure?? :D
(massive photo post)
i was going through my new york photos again and these were making me hungry, so i thought i’d share them here–lots of people have asked for a list of places to go, and i’d recommend each and every single one of the places we went to! i was very proud of angie and myself–we didn’t once eat at a chain for the entire week in the city. couldn’t have done it without joyce’s fabulous suggestions and our trusty fodors handbook though. :)
first stop: carnegie deli! knocked out two new york city classics in one night :) it’s really too bad we rushed through this meal because we were trying to catch hairspray in time. the place was delicious and i’d totally go back.
absolutely the most fantastic pastrami i’ve ever had. on delicious rye bread. and i don’t even like rye!
and cheesecake that is TO DIE FOR. have you ever seen that episode of friends where rachel and chandler steal cheesecake from the poor old lady? this is what i imagine it tasting like :P
this guy is known as the dosa man. he runs this little vegan indian food cart on the south end of washington square park, across from an NYU building. it’s super unassuming, until you see the ridiculous line that winds its way around the back. we got lucky and somehow ended up there five minutes before it opened at noon, and there was already a line, but a bearable one compared to the way we left it.
sooo good. its a crepe made of lentils and rice, with potatoes inside. the best part’s the dipping sauce, which is kind of curry-flavored but creamy at the same time. and you dont expect it but the SUPER spicy kick comes at the very end.
what’s a trip to new york without a good street hot dog? :) apparently new yorkers swear by gray’s papaya (and variations: papaya king and papaya dog). the other thing they’re famous for is their fresh juices–papaya, obviously. personally though i don’t really like papaya so we got the pina colada (no alcohol :( haha). it was surprisingly delicious! not sweet at all, so you could definitely taste the fresh fruit.
and the hot dogs. YUMMY.. that’s all. also, you get the juice plus these two hot dogs for like, $3. even less at the stands.
obligatory pilgrimage to magnolia bakery, for satc fans. their cupcakes though, sadly, are nothing to write home about.
i LOVE joyce for this next one… and maybe the next one after that… haha. but this is mexican style grilled corn at a cuban place, cafe habana. it looks a little intimidating at first but OMG… so good. at $1.90 each, we had to seriously resist going back for more. i’m told you can get them at swap meets or something over here though.
we trekked all the way to east village for this one–a super detour but i think angie and i were both SO GLAD we went.. because they’re probably my favorite out of all the things we had in nyc. it’s a tiny place called caracas, and they serve arepas–venezuelan corn cakes with all kinds of fillings. this one was suggested by the book and its SOO GOOD. chorizo, grilled paisa cheese, roasted jalapenos and peppers. spicy and buttery and just. so. good. dang, i need to find these in LA.
ummm crap. i didn’t think i’d write so much and now im super tired, and theres like 29384765 more photos. haha.. maybe tomorrow.
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