One way to fight stress is to pamper oneself. I convinced my friend to join me in shoving pasta into our faces after a terrible day, and she convinced me to run to Central Park with her. A bonus was that I got to accompany her on one of her errands...a trip to the nail salon. I didn't mind partaking in the activities. Here are my nails in Essie's My Fair Lady.
I always wondered why some people are so adamant about closing the lid when a toilet is not in use. I get it now.
And I totally would have still used this, but I didn't want to get E.coli in my eyes. If it were face cream, it would have been a different story.
I hate going through this claustrophobic tunnel at 14th Street. It's so rape-y. Ugh.
My first time having balut, a developing duck embryo. The liquid inside the shell tasted a bit like hamburger juice. The yolk tasted the same as usual, but the duck part was really gamey. I am ok with not ever trying it again. I'd have a really hard time eating balut at a more developed stage.
We went to Maharlika in the East Village. The place is very cute inside and had a great menu. If you like pig, definitely get the Sizzling Sisig! And with garlic rice. Actually, whatever you order, make sure you also complement it with garlic rice! The lamb adobo was legit. Don't forget to wash it down with good ol' San Mig. That beer brought back memories of my trip to the Philippines over a decade ago! Ps. Pass on the Spam fries. Pss. The word of the day above has a more scandalous definition.
Since I was already in the Bronx for an appointment, I decided to check out some local fare. Someone recommended Patricia's. It was ON. Their olive oil that came out with the bread had loads of garlic in it. Right then, I had a good feeling about this place. The waitress recommended the seared scallops with lentils/pancetta to go with my Vongole. Both were AMAZING. I need to go back for all that and the crispy octopus that I didn't get to try.
Headed out to Portland for a wedding. Spent a fun day exploring the book store and local markets.
Some of the downtown area reminded me of Williamsburg.
Apparently, the food carts are a big attraction. It looked like half were closed due to the holiday weekend. We tried the Rolling Gourmet Fusion cart (rated 5 stars on Yelp). Thumbs up on the fried snapper sandwich and the kimchee pork tofu dish. The Grilled Cheese Grill had a really long line, so I'm assuming it's popular and could quite possibly have awesome grilled cheese sandwiches. I heard a lot of people talking about the Kindergartener (though it seems like the least exciting choice.)
Say hi to grumpy Portland cat.
So I heard a lot about Voodoo Donuts. I totally planned on waiting in a monstrous line. When we checked into our hotel, I asked the front desk how to get there. The hotel rep went to the back and brought out a box of those donuts! She said somebody had brought them for the staff that morning.
I took the pic of the line when we walked around the city AND after I ate the donuts. It's nice to see how much time we saved while still getting a little taste. The Butterfingering Donut was delicious! The Peanut donut was good, but not great. There is a bubble gum flavored donut that makes me ill just thinking about it. I find it funny that there is a Cock-n-Balls donut. In the shape of...you guessed it.
We will still be exploring Oregon tomorrow. The adventure continues!
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