I (barely) survived my 14 hour day. I woke up specially early today. My body and mind knew it needed to get up since it's my first day of work at the other place. I had to be there by 10:30am. Damn MTA's Saturday subway schedule got me there at 10:45. Brunch shift was easy. A couple tables trickled in the morning, slowly growing to a steady and light rush. I realized, that once you start waiting tables, you can pretty much work anywhere. I was nervous about working this second job since my first week at the veggie place was a major disaster. But, as Mica told me, my experience at the veggie place has rendered me over-qualified for this new job. They had no proper system of running the floor. It basically ran on the fly, taking things as they come with no proper order to just about anything. It was easy (to not care) and I could definitely see myself NOT working there full-time.

The manager and owner of the veggie place have been informed of my taking a second job weeks before my first shift. I don't think the news quite sank until I told them I was pulling a brunch shift there before coming in to work for them today. Later, after the morbidly-busy-that-nobody-had-time-to-drink-think-or-pee dinner rush died down a bit, I was ushered into the office where the 65 year old owner tried to talk to me about this new job business and how she could help me. Her Cantonese native tongue proceeded to sputter out words in english trying to get me to understand what she was trying to say. I tried to be respectful by nodding and smiling while making a mental note to ask Lily what the hell the owner was trying to say. I didn't fool her, she must've detected my apparent confusion and soon calls Lily into the office to try to translate.

They were offering me a promotion.

Well, sort of.

Long story short, I would be tasked to handle all the duties that (based from experience) Lily hated, which was policing the servers into doing their side works and doing all their shit right and always being on point. I was also given the task of doing the server's weekly schedules. and training all new hires. Me?! TRAIN NEW SERVERS?! Basically, it sounded like my job at TPC only in a restaurant setting. They're only request was that I NOT work the other job at the other place. They seemed pretty adamant about that bit. What made that a bit funny to me was that earlier that day, the owner/head chef of the other restaurant was trying to talk me into leaving the veggie place and taking them on full time. I mean, seriously. Me? All you have to do is read my blog posts in December 2008 to see my numerous restaurant faux pas and misadventures and know that the idea that two restaurants seem to want me is absolutely hilarious.

I have the day off tomorrow to think about their proposal. The answer is pretty obvious to me, I already know what I'll say. The only issue is how I'm going to negotiate the terms of their proposal to a scenario that will benefit me. No amount of telling me that "You're doing an excellent job" will pay for my new camera or trip to Martha's Vineyard this summer. Hold on, I need to make sure I get time for MV this summer!!!

I guess I have to postpone my (imaginary) plans of taking a solitary 1-2 month break this summer. I was just thinking of maybe taking time off and buying an unlimited 60-day Greyhound bus pass and touring the United States, just as Ella and Andy did. I was hoping to save enough money to pay for the trip, travel expenses and enough money to cover my rent here while I was away. Oh well, the money needed to cover this dream endeavor is way beyond my capacity right now anyway. I've just been in a mode wherein I keep thinking I don't have enough time to do all the things I want to do that's why I keep going out and trying to eat my way through NYC.

In another topic, one of the new girls at the veggie place, Mandy, has taken to being uberly nice to me. I trained her when she came in a few weeks ago and in less than a week, she has been my buddy in handling tables. We share our sections and split our tips and help each other out. Her boyfriend is a sushi chef at a restaurant in Brooklyn and tonight is the second time she got him to make me my favorite rolls. I mentioned in passing that I like eating sushi on my day off and our next shift together, she hands me an assorted sashimi platter. Tonight, she gave me a philadelphia roll, a spider roll and an ebi tempura roll. By the time I got home, I went straight to the kitchen and quietly devoured my late night dinner under the stove lamp. Mica had a guest who was sleeping in the living room so I tried to be quiet.

Also, on our kitchen counter was a white paper bag with my name written on it. I look inside and find a mini apple pie!!! I was certain it came from Caitlin since I spent our last brunch/visit to farmer's market waxing poetic about my love for apple pie.

Hopefully tomorrow is sunny enough for me to enjoy a day out walking. I might visit my cousin Ana who just gave birth to her son, Santiago last Thursday. I'm a first time Aunt!

It never fails to amuse me how people here always make a game out of guessing where I'm from. I took a cab home after I dropped by the other place after my shift at the veggie place. Mica was working the late shift and wanted to teach me how to work the new register since I'm working there tomorrow at 10:30am brunch until 4pm then heading over the other side of town to work the dinner shift at 5pm to midnight for the veggie place. Diyos ko, bakit mahirap kumita ng pera?

Anyway, the cab driver was a chatty one. Eventually he got down to asking me if I was from Peru. When I said no, he proceeded to name a few other south american countries, trying to figure out where I was from. I told him he was so far off and asked if I was asian, where I said yes. He named several asian countries before he finally ended up with Filipino. This little guessing game is nothing new to me since a lot of my customers from the veggie place do the same as well. I don't quite see what's so fascinating about it but I let them have their fun.

I will keep this short. I need to get enough sleep in preparation for my 14 hour day tomorrow. Wish me luck.

My plan for today was to head out for lunch then spent time reading in a park somewhere before deciding where to eat for dinner. It was supposed to be my day OUT. I woke up to see gray cloudy skies that threatened of rain. The sun was no where to be found. Defeated, I decided to make Banana Walnut Muffins instead. If you are my friend on Facebook, you can see the album their along with the recipe for the muffins. If you aren't, then you can see the rest of the album on my multiply but without the recipe. Why? Because I'm too lazy to retype the recipe there. If you really want it, then ask me. I cannot claim the recipe as my own. It was a mash up of three recipes for banana muffins which I combined to achieve the kind of cakes I wanted. I had made all three before individually, but on their own would either be too dry, too boring or too plain.

I've been craving for banana bread for week so I decided to make them today. I didn't want to spend $2 on a slice of banana loaf elsewhere when I can make about two dozen muffins here.

I woke up to the sound of jazz music emanating from the kitchen. I walked out and found my two girlie roomies making breakfast. There was fresh coffee in the french press and I poured myself a cup as I waited for Caitlin to finish making the waffles and Mica made the bacon.

Mica's friend Giorgio dropped by soon after and they prepared to head out to walk around the city and take advantage of the sunny day. I, on the other hand, prepared to for laundry as I needed to wash all my winter coats before I store them since winter is officially over.

Strike 1: I went down hauling all my dirty laundry, stuffing them into the washers before I realized that I forgot to bring my laundry detergent with me. I had to call Mica and ask her to bring them down before they head out.

I skyped with Mama after laundry while I decided where to eat dinner. I settled on Cafe Mogador, a Moroccan restaurant in the east village based on it's high ratings and good reviews on Yelp.com. I got dressed and headed out to meet Mica's friend Giorgio, since he was accompanying me to dinner while we waited for Mica to finish her dinner date (long story).

Strike 2: When I met up with Giorgio, I was reaching down the pockets of my drawstring pants and was surprised when my hand met the skin of my thigh. I looked down and (re)discovered a half-foot rip along the seam of my pants. I remembered this happened long ago and I've been meaning to sew it but eventually forgot. I spent the rest of the night with part of my thigh peeking through the side of my pants.

Dinner was fun, despite having just met Giorgio, he was pleasant company and we had comfortable conversation while I stuffed my face with an appetizer of mixed platter of baba ganoush, hummus, tabbouleh and Mediterranean salad followed by an entree of Lamb Couscous.

Strike 3 (you're out!): When it was time to meet up with Mica, I asked for the check, grabbed my bag and was horrified to discover that I did NOT have my wallet on me. I had to embarrassingly ask Giorgio if he could spot the dinner her did not share with me and I promised to pay him back when we met up with Mica. I had only met this guy and he ended up having to pay for my meal. Geezuz. It humiliating that I offered to pay for his drinks just for being kind enough to spot me for a while.

We passed by a used bookstore and I walked away with two books again, About a Boy by Nick Hornby and Revolutionary Road.

We met with Mica and we headed back to the apartment where we watched Into the Wild while sipping on glasses of Pinot Grigio we got from Benny's collection.

...according to my door, which decided to go off it's hinges tonight. Caitlin and Mica were practically on the floor laughing when they saw my door barely on it's frame.

Fixing this was a bitch since we all had a bit to drink before this. I was buzzed and said goodnight to both girls when I found my door like this. Imagine having to hold up the door by yourself at the same time hammering screw anchors in then manually screwing the bolts in since we have no power tools.

I just remade the delicious omelet I had at Cheryl's. I made myself a tomato, asparagus and goat cheese breakfast omelet coupled with my staple triple shot cappuccino. Thank you Ella for telling me about the Bialletti and thank you Grace for buying me one. I can't imagine breakfast without it.

Last night, I said goodbye to the one of many Pauls in my life. Paul (from the restaurant) worked his last shift with me last night. By this time, he would be on a plane headed to Hong Kong, his first trip home in about 4 years. When he comes back to NYC in May he shall be pursuing other business interests and I told him to remember to hire me when his wife does decide to open that studio.

I'm really loving the book Comfort Me with Apples. I found it while browsing through the book section of the flea market last week. They had a 2 for $5 book sale and I just picked up two books based on their title and cover. I'm really, really happy I got it. Although it's written in a tone that paints infidelity in a romantic light, Ruth Reichl writes in a manner that makes you sympathize and understand either sides of the story without being judgmental. She also writes about food with such careful detail and warmth that it makes me sad to have never heard of her until now. I would have enjoyed reading her articles at Gourmet Magazine or reading up on all the restaurants and food she's reviewed within the last two decades. I can only imagine a time where food writing as a profession, was frowned upon and considered a low level career choice. Now, with the advent of the food revolution, food blogs and self proclaimed food writers are everywhere. Some people have mistaken my (this) blog to be a food blog since my photos and stories lately have been revolving around restaurants I've tried and dishes I've made. The blog, still is mostly about me, and whatever I'm into at any point in time. Food has just been a constant factor in my life since I started cooking back in 2006. Prior to that, I can't remember what I'd be writing about.

I was never one to obsess about my weight. Most of the time, I really don't care. My personal rule of thumb is if I'm happy with myself then my weight doesn't matter. Over the past few years or so, I've gone through phases in terms of weight. I was skinny (but didn't think so), then when I moved to SFO and became unemployed and was left alone in the kitchen and I gained (a lot of) weight. Then I moved back to Manila for about 18 months where I lost a bit of it but not completely but maintained that for a while. When I returned to the US and shit hit the fan, I gained weight again being homeless, clueless, broke, unemployed once again and holed up in my aunt's apartment which never seemed to run out of apple pie. When I started making money, I started losing a lot of weight due to stress and adjustment to the kind of physical work and schedule my body was not used to. When I got the hang of my schedule and living environment, I ended up where I am now, which is (semi) contented, living quietly and enjoying myself despite being 20+ pounds overweight.

As I've mentioned earlier, I don't care much about weight loss except if I'm no longer happy when I look into a mirror. Well...I'm no longer happy when I look into the mirror. I'd like to give the excuse that washing and drying has caused my clothes to get a little too snug but I know that to be a lie.

Today, I made a decision. I made two decisions actually but I'm not quite ready to set the other one in stone. Anyway, I decided to start doing yoga today. Classes are expensive so I got myself a perfect book, OM YOGA TODAY. I've been meaning to do this for a while but I keep saying I have no time. I stumbled upon this book today and I bought it for it's practicality. It had routines that fit different time intervals depending on one's availability. I finally get to use the yoga mat Louiie gave me early last year. I got home and I tried the 15 minute routine and I ended sweaty, a little sore (I'm sure it will be worse tomorrow) but I feel good about finally starting. I may finally use the $50 Best Buy gift certificate I got for Christmas to get a power yoga dvds too.

I doubt I'll lose the 20 lbs I've gained since 2005 but at least I won't be too ashamed of myself when I squeeze myself into this when I go back to Martha's Vineyard for the summer.

Invited Caitlin to brunch since Mica is MIA somewhere in Queens the past couple of days. We opted to walk over to Cheryl's instead of taking the train since it was such an awesome day out and we didn't want to waste it underground.

We got to Cheryl's and it was full so we had to wait 15 minutes for a table but didn't mind since it was such a pleasant wait sitting on the bench outside watching people walk by. When we got seated, we both ordered omelets. I had asparagus, tomato and goat cheese and she had ham, cheddar and tomato. I also got a side of crispy bacon which went so well with my meal.

I attacked my omelet as soon as they set the plate down in front of me that I forgot to take a photo of it. Here's Caitlin with my plate licked clean.

This shot looks like we ate inside a sauna room. Cheryl Smith herself was in the kitchen making everyone's meals. She walked out a couple of times to check the dining area donning a white apron and her hair pulled back. It impresses me how some celebrity chefs still make time to dedicate themselves to their kitchens.

We headed over to the greenmarket around the corner which was filled with people and families pushing strollers and riding bicycles. They didn't have much in terms of produce yet, mostly still root vegetables so we didn't get much. I did, however get a bunch of pastries like a mini pumpkin loaf, an apple walnut muffin and a small plate of these pinwheel rolls of raspberry jam, pecans, brown sugar and cinnammon. I also got a small package of assorted goat cheese logs and caitlin bought eggs, rhubarb sauce and apple cider. I was so disappointed that the milk place ran out of chocolate milk. I was really hoping on chugging down a jar of it on the way home.
We also bought a half pound bag of dried lavender and proceeded to stuff them into cheesecloth bags when we got home and stuffed them in our drawers and hung them in closets. My fingers smell so good from the lavender that they make me want to take a nap before work. Sadly, by the time I finish this post, I have to change and head back to the salt mines.

I can't help it.

I'm OBSESSED with food.

Sometimes (well, lately it's been all the time), when I'm alone, I think to myself how utterly unfortunate it is that I discovered my love for food this late in life. Louiie keeps saying it's not too late but despite my fascination with flavors, I think I've outgrown the desire to work 18 hour days in a hot kitchen in the company of high testosteroned cooks. She keeps telling me to run her kitchen if and when we decide to open our own place. I think, if I ever agree to this impossibility, that I shall be single for the rest of my life. Louiie, that is NOT a future I look forward to.

Although I can't stop wondering about it. Right now, all I keep spending time on is thinking of what to try, where to eat, where to go, what to make. I may be online from the second I wake up and the last few minutes before I sleep at night. But the time I spend on the world wide web is not for religiously updating this blog (which I try to, as much as I can) or uploading and updating my pbase online portfolio (which I really should do), I spend countless of hours looking at restaurant reviews, online menus, searching for books about food, reading about food writers, and more.

This may be just a phase. I distinctly remember similarly waxing poetic about photography not too long ago. I do still take photos when I can. I do still want to pursue it. I just have been very distracted by all these new places I've been going to lately. My days off are timed to brunch schedules and dinner reservations. The realization that I live in one of the best cities for exploring flavors of the world has got me even more eager to try them all. I no longer go shopping. In as much as I would like to buy that pair of shoes, right now, a strong part of me would prefer to use that money for another plate of Apiary's Hamachi crudo, or Flatbush Farm's chorizo stew or sausage gravy, or maybe Prune's plate of roasted marrow bones. I walked by One if by Land, Two if by Sea on my way to work today and got a quick glimpse of their menu. They have grilled octopus, I have to try that. They also have a $25 Sunday Jazz Brunch that instantly earned a place in my go-to list. Yes, it's a lot of money for brunch, but really, there's nothing else I can think of that I'd rather spend my money on right now. I'm single, with no other obligations in life. As my mother recently finally admitted, you can't really take your money to the grave. You might as well enjoy what you can, when you can.

Tomorrow, I plan on having brunch at Cheryl's Global Soul which I heard served simple yet perfectly prepared omelets. I wonder what else they have. Their website chooses to be mysterious since they don't post their offerings online. I suppose I will have to see for myself tomorrow morning. I'm working later in the afternoon so I may walk on over to the weekend greenmarket nearby and see if the onset of spring has given us a better selection of produce. Louiie is one unlucky bastard. Exactly one week from that day she arrived in NYC after which she enjoyed over 72 hours of rain, today, we enjoyed 72 degrees in the city. It's as if the weekend she was here, the sky decided to flush out the last remnants of winter in preparation for spring. We've been getting beautiful sunny weather since the day she left for Vegas. It's such a pity I've been spending my days since then, holed indoors serving vegetarians who satisfy themselves by eating soy mutations and convincing themselves that it tastes just like chicken (I sadly admit that I lend a hand in that game of persuasion). If they had Scott Bryan's Roasted Chicken with wild mushroom jus and potato puree, they might just hang themselves.

The week before Louiie's arrival in NYC, the city was enjoying beautiful warm(er) sunny days. Everyone was out in their spring wardrobe walking around and enjoying the streets. The day of Louiie's arrival, however, she was met with gloomy, cloudy gray weather accompanied by a relentless downpour of rain. It literally did not stop raining the entire time she was here. We spent her entire trip slugging the streets in rain boots while attempting to keep ourselves dry under our teeny umbrellas. The city streets were littered with corpses of dead umbrella's turned inside out or ripped by harsh winds. If it weren't for Louiie's visit, I would have spent my days indoors sipping hot soup in my jammies while watching back episodes of No Reservations.

L's headquarters at mi casa

Her first night was spent in my resto with Kelly, waiting for me to get off work. They sat in the bar for a good 3 hours and watched me serve what little customers we had who decided to bide their time waiting for the rain outside to let up (but didn't). Kelly was tired, a little drunk and couldn't drive us back home so Louiie experienced her first taste of NYC driving. Rain was slamming down our windshield but she managed to get us across the Hudson River in one piece.


The next day we had brunch at Rye House with Mica and Caitlin. Alcohol was consumed despite Mica, Caitlin and I having to be at work later in the afternoon. Later that night, it was so slow that Lily let me off work early and I was hoping to catch Mica at her place of work over on the other side of town. I called her up and she informs me that the place is so packed that no one can get in anymore. Louiie and Kelly, who were supposed to be there as planned but went back to the apartment to take a nap, would not be able to meet me in time. I was hungry and decided to go and have sushi. It was cold and wet so I headed on home. Louiie and Kelly were picked up by Kyle and went to a bar somewhere on the Lower East Side. They came back a little after I got home and Louiie made us sweet plantains for a late night snack.

Sunday morning, I got a call from Tita Chon saying they were on their way to Brooklyn for brunch and invited Louiie, Mica and I to join them. Poy picked us up and we met up with them at Tavern on Dean where we were joined by Ana, Nana, Tita Susan, Tito Morio and the Elabdounis. After brunch, the three of us went over to the indoor Flea Market on Atlantic Ave. We had to head home soon after that since we needed to get dressed and ready for our dinner reservations at Apiary. We met up with Baby G and her boyfriend JP and also Kat Dy, who landed in NYC last January to study at F.I.T. It was a fantastic dinner as always. Apiary is quickly becoming one of my absolute favorite restaurants in NYC. They have a small menu and it looks like it won't be long before I've tried everything they've got. For dessert, we walked on over to Chikalicious where most of us ordered the molten lava chocolate cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (OMGOMGOMG).

Sunday was spent mostly eating. We did get a lot of good picture time too though. First, to satisfy my craving for Korean, we headed up to Koreatown on 32nd st. We walked up to 42nd st Times Square to give Louiie the opportunity to take more photos for her photography class assignment. Later, we made our way east to Williamsburg for a couple of hours of bowling followed by pizza dinner at Roberta's. Roberta's was literally a hole in the wall. We went looking for it based on a recommendation from Caitlin. We traveled further east to find it and walked through deserted streets lines with abandoned looking buildings. If Louiie didn't see their unlit sign, which looked like it basically scratched on wood, we would never have found it. The pizza was really good but the rest of the stuff we ordered were pretty meh. I would go back if I lived anywhere nearby but this place is waaay too far from my apartment. Our trip home took over an hour which is too long a trip for a meal.

Louiie's last night was spent drinking Stella's while watching Disney's Aladdin upon Mica's insistence. I woke up and made a less than stellar breakfast. Louiie woke up at 7am to find the sun shining and no traces of clouds in the sky after 5 days of torrential rain. She was so pissed. I decided to cheer her up a bit by finally taking the photos she's been begging me to take of her. We took them on the roof of my apartment building while the warm sun blazed down on us.

Louiie made a simple pasta dish before Kelly picked her up and took her to the airport. Later, Louiie calls me up as soon as she lands in LV. I didn't expect any less, I knew she was going to. She said it best, "I've now been reduced back to a voice on the phone."

Somehow, I believe, it will not be for long.

Was at Benny's fund raising event tonight. Mica and I played coat check girls for the evening while we took advantage of the the night's open bar. I don't know how much Mica had but I had about 6 vodka cranberries and was a happy coat check girl. We didn't make much in terms of tips. We had enough to buy a pack of cigarettes to share so I guess the evening wasn't a total loss. Benny and his dancers performed an excerpt from their piece for the April show and it looked really good so far. I can't wait to see the whole performance. A reporter for the Asian Journal and a correspondent for TFC's Balitang America was there to cover the event so you might see it out there soon.

Mica and I got home to find Caitlin watching Lie To Me. I set to work on making a pitcher of sangria which we enjoyed while scarfing down hotdog sandwiches and watching Lie To Me. I'm inebriated enough to enjoy a good night's sleep but not so much that I can still type this before passing out. Hurray for me!
I made a drunken comment about having two hotdogs in a bun which caused an awkward silence followed by Caitlin going, WHOA there!

Louiie,

Nakalimutan ko ang birthday mo. Well, not really. I know when your birthday is. I just didn't realize that today was the 7th already and I wouldn't have known it if you hadn't thanked people for their greetings on your FB status.

Does this make me a bad friend?

I did greet you though. I might be late in NYC time but you're still in Nevada time so I guess I'm glad you're on the other side of the continent.

B.runch, M.ovie and W.ork

Last night, I promised myself I wasn't going to waste another Saturday morning at home watching nonsensical crap on Hulu or surfing the web (a.k.a. refreshing Facebook about 50 times). When I got home from work, I found Mica in the living room reading and I invited her to go to brunch with me this morning followed by watching Alice in Wonderland before I had to go to work. I set my alarm, woke up this morning an HOUR after it rang. Caitlin woke up soon after I did and we invited her along for brunch. Went to Flatbush Farm since I was craving for their sausage gravy and buttermilk biscuits. I ended up ordering the Chorizo Stew and eggs instead, which freaking ROCKED btw.

meet our new roommate Caitlin
here's Mica overly salting her meal
(as she does with just about everything)

We checked out The Brooklyn Larder over on the next block to see what they had in store. I was disappointed to see they didn't have a wide collection of cheeses. I was hoping I didn't have to go all the way to the west village to get my cheese fix. I did, however, find these
I was not aware that Davao produced chocolate or cocoa beans good enough to merit a $10 chocolate bar. I love the packaging and it's pretty good too.

Mica and I headed to the cinema while Caitlin headed to the flea market. It was a good thing Mica and I went early because within minutes the theater filled up and were please to get good seats. The movie was a joy to watch although I guess you can't get anymore elaborate with it plot-wise since it's Alice in Wonderland. I was very much excited to see this since I've mentioned before that it's my favorite book of all time. I suppose since I was a child, I gravitated more to reading stories of fantasy that take me to places no one can go and people you will never meet. Which is also why I think I love Neil Gaiman so much.

Work was surprisingly busy. Last night was busy too so we expected tonight to be slow. It's rare that we get both Friday and Saturday full, it's usually one or the other but we had good luck this weekend.

I got home and was pleased to see Caitlin brought a bottle of wine home from work so Mica and I had a glass before bed. Quoting a line from Waiter Rant, "For waiters, your first drink is medicinal, your second is for relaxation and the third will anesthetize you."

I have another 12 hour day tomorrow so one glass is enough to put me to bed.

So I survived the trip, event and back home in my mary janes. I got a little lost when I got to New Jersey but eventually found the country club where the event was held. And OMG, can you say rich-ass-mansion?!? I felt like I was in a film. When I got inside, it was obvious I didn't belong there. The place was filled with old rich people in fancy suit jackets and expensive jewelry sipping martinis and glasses of wine. Vested waiters walked around offering guests hors d'œuvres in silver trays. There were tables set up on separate corners, each table offering different menu items. There was a sushi table, pasta table, chinese food table, etc. Me? Well I went straight for and attacked the cheese table. All I had this morning were the pancakes so I was hungry when I got there. Big mistake though, because Mica failed to inform me that dinner would be served during the show. I sat in front of the bar snacking on shrimp tempura, mini sweet potato and spinach turnovers, crab cakes among other things. I was right by the piano where a guy was playing the usual elevator music people play at these things. I look over at the pianist and who do I see? If you've been watching Late Night with Conan O'brien or his short-lived stint with The Tonight Show, you'd recognize him too. It was La Bamba from the The Max Weinberg 7. Mica says they have him and his other band every year. Last year was supposedly the last time since they were moving to California for The Tonight Show but since that gig fizzled and died, he's apparently back in the east coast.

When it was time to enter the main ballroom, I was the first one in since I wanted to get a good seat at my assigned table. The room was made up that it felt like I was in a mini version of the Golden Globes. When everyone was seated, waiters moved around asking everyone for their choice of entree. I had the filet mignon since it felt like the safe choice. The chicken, I thought might be too dry and the fish, I felt were simply thawed out frozen filets. The mignon was tastier than I expected but too dry for my taste. I couldn't finish my meal no matter how much I forced it. I had too much food from the appetizer tables already. There was a bit of dancing and Mica and the rest of the company performed two excerpts from their shows. Desserts soon followed and I was ready to skip it until I saw what it was, apple pie a la mode with chocolate dipped strawberries. I dug in immediately. I honestly couldn't breathe through my dress at this point and I was glad to be informed that we needed to leave soon to catch our train back to New York.

I don't have (decent) photos from tonight, just random snapshots from my phonecam. I sneaked a few shots while David, one of the company members, were teaching some of the guests to do a chinese ribbon dance, hence the ribbons of color.





Tomorrow is laundry day once again. I was hoping to do it much later since I now have an abundant supply of underwear and socks (I no longer run out of them as fast). Although now my problem is my laundry bag is now stuffed full with dirty clothes. One thing I hate about winter is how much layers you have to wear everyday, you end up using twice the normal amount of clothing.

Caitlin brought home a waffle maker the other day and I got so excited because I thought of buying one before. I woke up this morning and excitedly prepared the batter. However, my overly-excited-inexperienced-in-waffle-making self poured too much batter in the waffle griddle and within seconds, batter flowed all over the kitchen counter and down to the floor. Caitlin's waffle maker was a bit of a mess and I spent 30 minutes, scraping bits of batter off the corners and ridges. I conceded and ended up making my usual silver dollar pancakes, vamping it up a bit with crushed walnuts and sliced strawberries to compensate for my waffle disappointment.

I'm excited and nervous about tonight. I'm Mica's plus one to her dance company's benefit gala. I'm hopping on the New Jersey transit tonight all dressed up for a semi-fancy-schmancy event. People who've worked with me before at The Picture Company know that I like getting dressed up for work a lot. Since I've moved here, it no longer is the case. Being a waitress, my wardrobe now consists of 70% blacks tops and I wear my Nike Air Max 5 out of 7 days in a week. On my days off, I still avoid any shoe with heels higher than an inch because I spend most of the day walking. One time, I braved wearing a pair of 3-inch ankle booties and when I was rushing down the subway trying to catch the train, I slipped and fell, landing on my ass several steps down. I never attend things that require me to get a bit dressed up. I've been in jeans and sneakers the entire time I've been in NYC that my feet have forgotten that it used to be quite at home in heels. Tonight, I'll be wearing satin flats for my commute then change into heels when I reach the venue.

I just finished a pint of Haagen Dazs Butter Pecan. I feel somewhat bad having just finished all of it in one go but I can't deny that it was soooo goooood.

I just got myself so excited and salivating once again after my chat with Louiie regarding the itinerary for her short return to NYC. Well, actually, after I gave her the details, I noticed it wasn't so much of an itinerary as it was an eating schedule. All I really gave her were restaurant names I was gonna take her for brunch and dinner and on what days we were going. Seriously, my fascination with food is getting a little too much but I don't see the need to stop anytime soon. I will be taking her to my recent favorites (Apiary and Prune) but what I'm most excited about is our midnight trip to Kum Gang San (the korean BBQ place) after my shift on Saturday night. I just found out that the korean bbq place is open 24 HOURS! So I figured we'd go scarf down some beef and kimchi after my shift, which ends at midnight (if I'm lucky).

I'm currently reading Waiter Rant and am laughing my ass off (I don't care if I look like an idiot with my restrained chuckles while reading on the subway). That book is so incredibly hilarious and SO relate-able. If you have time to read, go and get it! If you've read Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, then what it did for your perception of kitchen behavior will be the same for your view of waiters. Really! It's sooo funny to me because everything I've read so far has happened to me!!! I'm not alone! Warning though, once you've read it, you shall be compelled to always tip your servers 20%, which is not necessarily a bad thing, and ensures excellent service on your future visits.

Ok, back to my book.