Chinatown bus
This weekend I went to Boston to go to my friend Rob’s wedding. I decided to take a ‘Chinatown Bus’, because I heard how convenient (and cheap) they are. There are several similar companies, operating buses for travel among New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia (www.staticleap.com/chinatownbus/), with names like ‘Lucky Star’ and ‘Fung Wah’. I decided to go with Lucky Star (www.luckystarbus.com), as the technician in our lab, Leigh, had just used it on a trip to Boston a couple of weeks ago. Still, I had my doubts about how clean it would be and how long it would take for me to go from New York to Boston. I had visions of a jam-packed bus, standing room only, with babies screaming and chickens flying all over the place. Anyway, for $15 each way (+ a 50 cent surcharge for booking online) it was worth a shot. I was surprised to arrive at the ‘bus depot’ to find it was just a normal looking shop, on a main street (Chrystie) in Chinatown, about a 5 minute walk from the Canal Street subway station (conveniently on the same line that runs from the upper east side). There was a girl asking passers-by if they wanted a ticket to go to Boston, kind of like the minicab guys standing outside of a bar late at night in London. It seemed like I was the only person who had made an online reservation, but they looked at my printed receipt, asked me to sign it, and said that it was my ticket. I waited with a few other people until the bus pulled up about 20 minutes before we were supposed to leave, literally parking in front of the shop. I put my suitcase in the luggage compartment and boarded.
The inside of the bus was similar to the Greyhound buses I took home from University in the late 80s/early 90s, except there were 2 TVs on either side of the bus. I thought maybe there would be some ‘in-ride’ entertainment! By the time the bus left for Boston it was about 2/3 full, with maybe 30 people. When we started off I realized the TVs weren’t going to be used, so I took out something to read for the ride...
About 3 hours into the trip we pulled off the highway and into a little strip mall to make a pit stop. We parked in front of ‘Century Buffet’, next to another Lucky Star bus (presumably going to New York from Boston), and the driver announced ’15-minute break!’ Everyone filed off the bus and into Century Buffet; they seemed to know what they were doing so I followed like a lemming and into a completely empty (except for us) Chinese buffet restaurant. The owners of the restaurant must know the Lucky Star people because nobody said anything as 30 people walked through to use the bathroom. A lot of the people from the bus got some food (a lot of fried, fatty, chicken, pork and beef dishes) for the road, we all filed back on the bus, and after a head count, left for the second leg of the drive.
We ran into a little traffic outside of Boston, so by the time we got to South Station it had been a 5 1/2 hour drive. For $30 round trip, I'll take it!
Eating my way through the upper east side...
This place will never make 'Restaurant of the week', but if you're ever in the mood for something cheap and a bit different, it's worth a look.
Brother Jimmy's BBQ, 1485 2nd Avenue, between 77th and 78th.
Actually, it's a small chain (3 shops), with another restaurant on the upper east side and one in Grand Central Station. I could describe this place in one word - basic. They aren't trying to be, though. In fact, tonight was karaoke night. Thankfully, we finished before that started. For about $10 you can get a sandwich/burger/po' boy, which comes with a side (I had corn on the cob) and for 50 cents extra you can have a bit of 'slaw', i.e. cole slaw. All this, and the NBA playoffs on TV. Not bad...
Happy Birthday Mom!
Thought this would be a different way to wish my mother a happy birthday. Not just for me, but for all of you! So, if you'd like to say a few words to my mother on her birthday, click on the light blue 'comments' link at the bottom of this entry! Go on, I know she'd like to hear from you!
Hope you have a good one Mom.
aron
Restaurant of the week
This week's is more of a 'budget pick':
879 Taco, 1229 1st Avenue, between 66th and 67th St.
I've been to this place twice; once eating in, and once (tonight) taking my dinner 'to go'. Both times I had a burrito (tonight was steak), and both times it was excellent. At less than $10 for dinner, this place is definitely a keeper. There isn't any 'service with a smile', but at that price, who cares. Honestly, sometimes you want to sit down for a meal without the waiter/waitress introducing themselves, asking how you're doing, and checking in with you every 5 minutes to see if you're OK... this is the perfect place for those times.
A night out
After spending last Saturday outside walking around and hanging out in Central Park, I went for a drink with Sean and Ana, the two students who moved out here with the lab from London. We decided to walk around the neighborhood, see what looked interesting, and go from there. Two things about going out for a drink in Manhattan that are obviously different from going out for a drink in London: 1) the bar scene generally starts, and ends, much later than in London, and 2) you need to bring your i.d. In the UK, and elsewhere in Europe, they basically don’t card you unless you look like my 10-year-old nephew (and he might be OK in a Weatherspoons pub). In New York, it’s better to bring one. So although I’m sure that the doormen have never seen UK or Portugese passports, Sean and Ana are fine as long as they show the doormen where it says their date of birth.
We settled on a really nice cocktail/martini bar on 1st Avenue called ‘Stir’ (http://www.stirnyc.com). I’m sure there are a million bars like this in New York, but we haven’t seen them yet, so this one was a nice change to the pubs that I had been to so far. The DJ was playing just the right amount of cheese, we settled into some comfy couches, and just relaxed and had a couple of drinks. The XXX martini tasted of nothing but olives, which was too much for me, but they definitely don’t use measures here, so I don't mind paying $8-$10 a drink. Nice to know there’s somewhere like this in the neighborhood.
'You don't even know you're in the city'
That was how a friend told me it feels when you go to Central Park in Manhattan. So this past Saturday, when it looked like a beautiful, sunny day, Sean (one of the graduate students who moved out here with the lab from London) and I decided to walk over to central park and hang out for a while. I’m not sure what my friend meant, but even if you missed the people (who were everywhere), the skyscrapers you could see in the distance from ‘The Great Lawn’ gave it away – we’re definitely in New York City.
Pretty cool...
Although I have a lot of family in L.A., I was never really into spotting film stars. However, this morning as I walked past Java Girl (the coffee shop on the corner of my street) on my way to work, there was Harold Varmus (Nobel Laureate, former director of the National Institutes of Health and current President and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering) sitting in front, having a coffee. Now that's cool.
Restaurant of the week
People tell me that eating out in New York is more common than eating at home, so I thought I would try to have a weekly 'restaurant of the week' post. If you come to New York and try one of the places I recommend, let me know how I did.
This week's pick is: DAE Dong, 17 W. 32nd St., between 5th Ave. and Broadway (http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7079448/)
DAE Dong is in the heart of Korea town, and when I told my friend Heather that I felt like Korean bbq, this was her first choice. We went on a Monday evening, when it wasn't so crowded, but there is a small bar in the front to have a drink if you have to wait for a table. The tables have a gas grill in the middle for the bbq, which is what most of the people in the restaurant were having. We split a couple of bbq's: bul go gi (marinated beef) and a pork bul go gi, and an appetizer portion of jap che (clear noodles dish with vegetables and beef). I hadn't had Korean bbq in the States in a while; in London everything has to be ordered separately, including kimchee (preserved cabbage). At DAE Dong, like other places I've been to in the States, they bring out little portions of a lot of different appetizers to eat while you're waiting for the bbq and during the meal, and everything was very tasty. After we were finished with the bbq they brought out some sort of vegetable spring roll and an orange slice to round out the meal. All in all (with a bottle of Asahi beer each), it came to $30/each (with tip). Definitely better value than London. I've had better Korean bbq, but this place was a nice introduction to Korea town. On the Jaffe scale of 1-10, I give it a 7.
Where are the real grocery stores????
It's been a few days since I unpacked my dishes, and I've been on a mission to find a place to get some normal food to make simple dinners at home - basically pasta. In particular, filled pasta. Have to say, I got into the habit of getting the 2 for £2.50 filled pasta at Sainsbury's in London, and I can't find something similar here at all. The closest thing is massively overpriced ($4.99) tortellini at pretty much every local 'grocery store' in the area. So it looks like I'm going to have to find a substitute cheap, easy dinner. A lot of the grocery stores I've been to here are filled with 'gourmet' products, which are 2-3x more expensive than the same items in Europe... Illy espresso is over $12 for a can? Are you kidding me? Will have to bring a separate suitcase next time I go to Europe just to bring back coffee! The places that most closely resemble real supermarkets are Gristedes, which a friend in the lab described as being 'Morrison's quality at Waitrose prices', and The Food Emporium, which is definitely Waitrose quality at Waitrose+ prices (there the Illy was $14.99). Now I know why people were telling me it's not much more expensive to eat out!
One week down...
and I finally went an entire day without going to Bed Bath and Beyond (or going anywhere to buy something for the apartment, for that matter). Also made my first (semi) real trip to the grocery store. Picked up a few little things. Will have to start cooking soon... eating out is nice, but all of the meals are a little bit more than I'm used to eating; I haven't been to the gym or for a run and I'm feeling extremely sluggish. Just found out about a deal with a local gym (New York Health & Racquet Club) that sounds completely reasonable - especially since on the website they say that they will wash and dry your gym clothes between visits and leave them in your locker! Nice. Seems like the laundry thing is big here in Manhattan. I have a place next to the apartment that will wash, dry, and fold your clothes for $0.60/lb (that's $1.32/kilo), and if I bring it there before 10am they have it ready for me by 3:30pm. What a city...
It's snowing!
It's early April and it's snowing! Amazing. Growing up in Chicago, I've experienced snow in the spring, but it definitely has been a while. Fortunately, it won't stick; I'm guessing by the time I go home things will have cleared up. Still, it's pretty amazing looking out from the window at work. Can hardly see the top of the Chrysler building at the moment.
One week down... and still can't make a meal at home!
Just came back from my daily visit to Bed Bath and Beyond on 60th and 1st, sitting in my apartment listening to 'The World Today' on the BBC Worldservice, and just can't bring myself to do any more unpacking. At some point it would be nice to have my dishes completely unpacked (at least a spoon to eat my yogurt in the morning)...
Had my first New York burrito for dinner at 879 Taco, around the corner from work on 1st Ave. I was stuffed for $10... a nice change from dinner prices in London. I can see how tempting it would be to eat out a lot, but maybe I'll stick to the 'tuna special' night at the sushi place at the end of my block - $8.75 for a huge sushi plate!
Tomorrow I'll make sure to get salad in a bag.
