Monthly Archives: October 2011

Ha-Lu @ Mt Hawthorn

Posted in Food, Japanese by

Finally, a Japanese restaurant in Perth that I actually enjoyed and liked because it is different. Ha-Lu is a tapas-style Japanese restaurant tucked away along Oxford Street in Mt Hawthorn which looks small on the outside but is actually more spacious inside than it seems.

I’ve been going on and on about how much I loved Sake Bar Hagi in New York and, if you ask me, I think Ha-Lu is as close to Hagi as we can get in Perth. Ha-Lu has a sister restaurant called Satsuki in Subiaco. The menus are a bit different so come and try Ha-Lu. If you have been and enjoyed Satsuki I think you would enjoy Ha-Lu even more.

But let’s talk about the food. The menu is different from the standard Japanese restaurant menu that we have all around Perth like bento boxes, teriyaki stuff, california rolls, yaki soba, etc. Their’s consists of  what I think is contemporary food with a Japanese twist (or Japanese food with a contemporary twist). Indeed the serving size is smaller so for a group of 4 we ordered 8 dishes altogether plus steamed rice and also miso soup for the 2 of us. According to the website, their dining style encourages “social interaction around the table”. They’re not wrong about that. As soon as you’re seated social interaction about food begins. Everyone was tasked to choose 2 dishes each to be shared amongst the group and we could’ve ordered the entire menu. Almost everything looks so interesting that I really wanted to try them all!

It was mostly L and I who chose what to order and convinced the 2 others, D and A, to agree with us. Just for the record, everything we had was exceptionally good except for the teriyaki chicken because it was a normal dish but someone just had to insist that we order it and the deep fried soft shell crab because there was not enough taste to the dish.

Here’s what we ate that night -

Homemade tofu & Mizuna salad with wonton crisps. L insisted that we have this because she’s had it before and loved it so much. She’s not kidding hey. The tofu was soft as (but not as smooth as I expected) and the salad dressing – soy mustard - was very good too. A refreshing dish that is made better by the wonton crisps.

Sashimi boat. 4 people and only 3 pieces each of the salmon, tuna and kingfish sashimi. Good thing D is not a big fan of raw fish so L, A and I had a piece each. Nothing special here but the sashimis were fresh on this occasion.

Soft shell crab tempura. I’m not entirely sure why this dish came with 2 pieces of deep fried soft shell crab and 2 pieces of fish. It wasn’t mentioned on the menu that it would have fish. So as a result we had to halve everything; except for one of the fish that D mistakenly thought was crab.

Duck and aubergine Madeira sauce. Is there really anything more succulent than duck? The duck in this dish was very flavourful and cooked until just pink inside and the duck slices sit atop a cube of marinated aubergine.

Grilled miso Patagonian toothfish. A rather different way of preparing toothfish because I usually eat this fish in Chinese restaurants where they serve it panfried with soy sauce. This one here is lighter in seasoning so you can taste the fish itself.

Wagyu beef “Ishi Yaki” grill with fried onion. Rarebeef slices in a very hot stone bowl. The waitress advised us that if we to have a well cooked beef instead we should place the slices on the edges of the bowl to cook them. Works perfectly and the beef was tender.

Unknown dish. Here’s a dish which I cant remember what it is. I’m not even entirely sure what it was when it was served. All I know is that it was something soft like egg whites with some seafood in it..perhaps scallops?

Two girls and two guys – the dishes seemed little at first but we left feeling really full and everyone had a great night.

My rating: 8/10
Ha-Lu on Urbanspoon
www.halu.net.au

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The Naked Fig @ Swanbourne

Posted in Breakfast/Brunch, Food by

A semi-swanky restaurant situated in one the best spots on the beach that offers breakfast, lunch and dinner…now that’s my kind of restaurant. Two things I come to The Naked Fig for – the rampant swan smoothie and the view of the ocean. And really, that’s all I come here for.

Let me start by saying that this is one of the better spots along the Cottesloe shoreline, but I guess The Naked Fig is technically in the Swanbourne precinct, because it feels secluded yet busy enough inside. The restaurant is located in a no through road so once you get settled in you won’t be bothered by cars driving past. But the restaurant is also busy enough to bring life to it. Every time I come here it’s always full. And every time I plan on coming here I forget to make reservations. The wait’s usually half an hour and they direct you to the comfy couches in the waiting area overlooking the ocean. Man, if I come alone I really do not need a table. I can just sit on the couch whilst sipping on my smoothie.

The Naked Fig: eggs on fire

I sometimes find that there is no consistency with the way they prepare the food and drinks. The first few times that I was there it was all bliss. No complaints whatsoever and staff was very knowledgeable. However, the last time I was here, which was last Sunday, things seemed to be a bit off. I can almost swear that there was an item missing from the menu which I was keen on ordering. Something with salmon. Either that or I was in lalaland. So instead I settled for my usual eggs on fire breakfast consisting of poached eggs, bacon, potato cake, corn relish and an avocado. I wanted to try something new but I find that the other items are too common – eggs benedict, pancakes, muesli – so I always end up ordering this. I love how the corn relish complements the potato cake; it gives more flavour to the potatoes and makes it less dry. The bacon I had though was way too fatty. Sometimes it’s perfectly cooked and sometimes they just don’t get it right. I’ve tried the pancakes too but nothing special with them. Better than Dome pancakes but not the best. I still don’t get why there is a need to serve the pancakes with eggs. Bacon I can understand but not eggs. You can have the eggs however you want them but they came sitting atop the syrup drenched pancakes. Yikes. Looks unappetising at all because the scrambled eggs looked like a big mush so I’m glad that was not what I ordered.

The Naked Fig: pancakes

So while we were seated on the couch waiting for our table, it was a good for them to take our coffee orders while waiting. Well it was a good idea at first…until they got confused. The staff had to ask us 3 times while in the middle of our meal – what did we get, where was our table, blah blah blah. Obviously there wasn’t a system in place for orders like that. That was a bit annoying. The coffee is on the stronger and more acidic side. Not my taste.

Also had lunch here with L. I have a thing for steak sandwiches so I ordered just that upon seeing it on the menu. A big disappointment. It was as bland as can be. The ones I make at home are definitely better.

Going back to the smoothie that I love so much – rampant swan smoothie made with cherries, berries, pineapple and mango. What I love is the refreshing sweet and sour taste. But last Sunday there was a huge block of ice that was not blended with the drink. A block that big I don’t know how they could’ve missed. If it were me it’s either I take out the block of ice or put it back in the blender. I was a smoothie maker in my past life and I can tell you now that it’s really not that difficult. For the price they’re charging you’d think that they’d pay more attention to what they’re serving.

The Naked Fig: rampant swan smoothie

If it really were not for the view and that smoothie there’s pretty much nothing more to this place.

My rating: 6.5/10
The Naked Fig Cafe on Urbanspoon
www.thefig.com.au

Recipe: Meatballs with tomato sauce

Posted in Food, Recipes by

I’m finally back to reality. After a month of eating out every single day I started feeling a little averse towards restaurant food. I missed home cooked meals and I missed cooking. I find it really frustrating when i get this craving for a certain taste but couldn’t find anything close to satisfying it. This frustration is actually why I love to cook. You get to eat exactly what you want however you want it.

My particular craving while I was out gallivanting? Good quality tomato sauce, with pasta or whatever. Doesn’t really matter so long as it’s tomato sauce. So as soon as I came back to Perth I made meatballs straightaway simmered in tomato sauce. Now I don’t make my own tomato sauce because I’ve yet to do that so the key is finding good quality canned ones. I’ve gone back and forth with brands already but, alas, Annalisa saves the day. It was just exactly the kind of taste I was craving for. I’m not sure if Coles or Woolies carry this brand but the last time I went there wasn’t any so I just assume Annalisa is sold in specialty stores only. I’ve found them at Galati & Sons in Freo or Station Street markets in Subi. Once you’ve had Annalisa you will never look back. Seriously, I can’t believe I’ve put up with this other brand I’ve been using for so long.

Ingredients

Meatballs

1/2 kilo ground beef or pork

3 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper

1 egg

1 slice bread, made into breadcrumbs

oil

Tomato sauce

1 can Annalisa whole peeled tomatoes

dash of red wine

pinch of thyme

salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients for the meatballs except the oil and mix well. Then shape into 1-inch balls until all the mixture has been shaped.

2. Heat a medium pan then add enough oil for pan-frying. Cook the meatballs until golden brown on all sides.

3. In the same pan, add in all the ingredients for the tomato sauce. Using your spatula, break/crush/mash the tomatoes until they are chunky. Simmer the meatballs for about 5 minutes. Season to taste.

4. Serve and enjoy.

I love you New York. Will you marry me? Part 3

Posted in Adventures, Travel by

The last 2 full days of our trip to NYC were full on. As you may recall I went back to the hotel quite early the night before (but didn’t sleep til late anyways) so I started my 3rd day in the city that never sleeps super early, as in 6am, with only a few hours of sleep. Why? Because I wanted to watch The Today Show to see the people who have been keeping me company in the mornings. That, and also for my 15 seconds of fame. This was one of those days when I am very thankful for staying in such a convenient hotel. Nobody wanted to accompany me to the show so I went by myself and I had to walk in the dark because I had to be at Rockefeller Center before everybody else to get a good spot. I got there around 6:45am. It wasn’t full yet but there were only a few spots left where you can lean on the railings. Being shorter that almost everyone at the set I really did need to be in front. Let me tell you this - the experience of watching the show on TV is completely different to actaully being on the set and wanting to be on TV. When you watch it on TV it seems like so much fun. Of course it’s only fun on the set when they actually get to your corner. You have to know where the hosts stand so you can greet/shake hand/chat/take photos with them at the first instance; otherwise it’s gonna be a long wait. It didn’t take me long to realise that I would be at the set for quite some time. I was at the opposite end of where the hosts first did their recordings and all that. Then they vanished back into the studio; and then come out again each time going to a corner other than mine. Because of that a group of frustrated middle aged ladies left 15 minutes before Jennifer Garner came out. I’m glad that I stayed back – for a further 3 hours. It became less crowded towards the end as the audience has started leaving once they get their screen time and autographs. Although it was getting frustrating towards the middle of the show it ended well. I got to see the hosts (except for Matt Lauer), Jennifer Garner, Deidre Hall and someone else from Days of Our Lives, whom I don’t even know), took some photos, and got on TV. Wow, what a great start to the day.

After being starstruck and all I met up with K and V and we ventured off to the Museum of Natural History. K and I were really excited at first because we thought that this was where they filmed Night at the Museum. We found out some time later that the movie was a scam. All but two of the “history pieces” they featured were nowhere to be found. Only Rexie and Dum Dum were there. Even though we were disappointed in that regard we still had a great time there, me specially. Out of all the museums in New York that I went to the Museum of Natural History has got to be my favourite. The other museums are too artsy fartsy for my uncultured brain to comprehend. But anyway, we spent a good deal of time looking at the frozen animals on display and I even had a free admission to a show about stars held inside a planitarium that gave me nothing but headache. Yeah, 2 things that make me feel sick: non linear spaces and 3D shows. It was an informative show but I found that there was too much information to digest for half an hour.

After all that brain stimulation, we decided it was time to go for a stroll in Central Park. This park has the same feel as Vancouver’s Stanley Park on a smaller scale. We didn’t really spend much time here other than sitting on a park bench eating lunch and going to see the small castle up in the park somewhere.

Much of what’s left in the afternoon was spent in what I’d call a photographer’s heaven. V brought us to B&H Photography and I almost went crazy. I’m not a pro photographer of any sort but I love checking out cameras and their gadgets. If only I had the whole day to spend there. Well, I almost did damage to my credit card but the guy at the counter convinced me that I do not need a new camera no matter how much I wanted to upgrade. He had a point. I left empty handed but we came back the next day because we just couldn’t get enough of cameras. By we I meant me and V. K was rather indifferent but she did buy me a pink/white polaroid camera as an advanced birthday present.

MP met up with us for dinner at Chipotle after her class and us girls had a girls’ night out. V bought us tickets for Colbie Caillait’s show and it was well worth it. I wasn’t a huge fan of hers before the show but I’m beginning to become a convert now. She is such a good performer and a great singer – sounded exactly like the CDs. Now that was a fun and relaxing way to end the night.

Onto the next day…

I woke up earlier than everybody else, as usual, even though we all went to bed at the same time after our midnight trip to the Empire State Building. No lines during midnight. Hurrah!

So onto this day, with my CityPass, I decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I know nothing about art and ditto for this museum so I didn’t know beforehand what to expect. My only goal was to use all the ticket passes in my CityPass. Well, it’s safe to say that the Met is a huge ass museum full of art and artifacts that I absolutely do not get. Rather than being an avenue for those who truly understand art and all its glory I think this is one of those many museums that is really just a tourist trap (okay, I’ll admit it. I am one of those tourists). A clear sign of this are the many flags displayed at the info desk indicating which languages the museum tours are offered in. It’s also always so crowded that it becomes less enjoyable because I prefer quiet (really, I prefer dead silent) museums where you can just sit in one of the benches and drift away into fantasyland. Not in New York museums. I quickly rushed through the whole building that is so confusing it’s almost like a maze hoping to have enough time before lunch to visit the Guggenheim (also because of the CityPass). I ended up not going though and strolled around Upper East Side instead then met K and V for lunch at the Shake Shack. This place has the most amazing burgers. The shakes are not so good but the burgers are so tasty I don’t know why people would eat a MacDonald’s burger. Oh right, I do know why. It’s because it’s too pricey for such a small albeit filling burger. I suppose you get what you pay for. The burger bun is way too good too; it’s not the usual white bread bun but is a butter bun, as in it tastes like butter and is yellow in colour. Very similar to Asian bread if you know what I’m talking about.

The next adventure was at the Financial District. We got there very late in the afternoon so it was not busy anymore which is a good thing because you don’t get shoved by rushing business people for walking slowly. K wanted to take a picture with the stock market bull (more like the bull’s testicles for good luck apparently) so we searched for it only to find out it was barricaded. We can still go in and take a picture but there are guards around and there was a line. The jumping photo is now a no-go so we just stood stoically beside the bull and hurried out so other people can go in.

While waiting for MP to finish her class we dropped by some pier to catch a glimpse of the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a spectacular view at night with all the lights lit up. The cool breeze from the river that night did not hurt either. V wanted to have dinner at Hagi so we took a much rather expensive cab ride back to Midtown. There were more of us this time so we were able to sample more Hagi food and a pitcher of Sapporo beer. I really cannot stress enough how amazing the food is at Hagi. Twice I’ve been here; twice the amazement.

And so the night ended.

Before any of us knew it, it was time to say goodbye to my love, New York City. But not before squeezing in a trip to the Museum of Modern Art, for me anyway. While the rest of the gang were busy getting pissed the night before, after the dinner, I managed to crash and sleep like a log. My body is really just wired for an earlier bedtime and not being able to withstand alcohol. The rest of the gang were still sleeping when I left to line up for tickets. As with the other museums, I went there because it’s a cliche. All I wanted to see was Van Gogh’s Starry Night but it made me realise that I really like Monet’s works too. Maybe a little more research and preparation beforehand would have me appreciate art more. I have had a bad expeirience with an art class in Uni before so maybe that’s why the museums just do not have that impact on me. But let’s not ruin what’s left of that little impact it has on me by talking about a certain professor; that’s not the memory I’d like to think of before I wave goodbye to New York.

I love you New York. Will you marry me? Part 2

Posted in Adventures, Travel by

Despite continuous rain and thunderstorm weather forecasts New York has been really good to us. It wasn’t exactly always sunny with blue and cloudless skies; rather it was cloudy with imminent rain. But, hey, I’d take cloudy over rain any time when I am travelling. What better way to spend this non raining day than to pay Miss Liberty a visit. The whole gang (me, K, MP and V) have decided the day before to do something else but, given the sunny day, I convinced them that today was the perfect day to go to Liberty Island. It’s bad enough that I get seasick but what’s worse is riding in a ferry when it’s raining. I just always have this vision that the ferry will capsize at any stage during the trip due to roaring waves and the ferry filling up with rainwater. This really is an irrational fear of mine.

Anyway back to our journey to Liberty Island.

We always hear people warning us that the line for the ferry to the island is super long and in order to avoid this you should get there earlier than everybody else. Of course that didn’t happen. We have been sleeping later and waking up even later so we arrived at Battery Park around 11am-ish. Yes the line was indeed long but not as crazy long as I expected. And then, as luck would have it, a new line opened up and we were able to jump the queue. We got into the security screening area in no time and boarded the ferry onto Liberty Island. Once there I scuffled hurrily to get a good spot for taking photos. It was quite a challenge to take a photo of us and the whole Misss Liberty all in one frame but we managed. Hurrah! Aside from this there wasn’t much else to do in Liberty Island. You could go to the other side, though, for a view of NYC from the other side.

After much shopping at the gift shop where I ended up buying a replica of the Statue of Liberty (which I later had to jam into my suitcase), we took the next ferry out of the island and back into Manhattan but not before getting off at Ellis Island by mistake. You should’ve seen the confused look on our faces because Ellis Island certainly did not look anything like the port where we originally boarded the ferry.

Between the heat, hunger and indecisiveness of where to go in the afternoon, we landed in Greenwich Village somehow.  And let me tell you I sure don’t mind spending the whole day in this part of Manhattan. First up was a late lunch at A Salt and Battery for some fish and chips. M, our friend from Toronto, has recommended this place and he was right. Almost everything is deep fried to perfection – very crispy on the outside and steaming hot and soft fish on the inside – except of course those sides like mashed peas and coleslaw. The onion rings were pretty good too.

MP claims that she knows this area better than other parts of Manhattan because she comes here frequently. She then took us to her favourite bookstore by Marc Jacobs called Bookmarc. It is a quaint little shop that is overcorwded. Bookwise there isn’t a lot of variety so I guess it’s for a selected clientele only. I also found the Marc Jacobs trinkets to be too expensive. While the rest of the gang were inside the store, obviously getting tricked by marketing into buying stuff, I waited outside perplexed by the massive crowd going in and out of Magnolia Bakery just across the bookstore. That bakery is way overrated in my opinion. What’s so good about a tasteless cupcake and sugar whipped frosting? The cupcakes don’t even look that appetising, to be honest. I was already forewarned by 2 people that this bakery is not worth a try but, given the hype, I thought why not? It’s either I prove my friends wrong or I prove them right. Turns out they were right. Not worth my $3.50.

I did find better cupcakes though inside the Chelsea Markets. Those belong to Elenis. Elenis specialises in cookies but they also make cupcakes. They were not superb but are far better than Magnolia’s. And what’s even better is that those cupcakes go on sale during the last trading hour of the day. Half price cupcakes baby. Needless to say I ate more than I should have. I love markets and this market here just takes it to a new level. Unlike the ones I go to in Perth, Chelsea Markets is in an actual building with more stores and more variety other than just fresh produce and quirky things. We stayed there until we got our cupcake fix.

Later that night I met up with a friend from Uni all the way from 2004. She suggested we go to Sake Bar Hagi near my hotel so I knew exactly where it was. Not a bad choice. In fact, a great choice. I don’t usually like Japanese food but I’m starting to rethink this after eating at Hagi. It’s a tapas style Japanese restaurant and everything we had was simply divine.

I went home earlier than usual that night in preparation for something that I had planned for the next day.

I love you New York. Will you marry me?

Posted in Adventures, Travel by

No one could have said it better than Chandler Bing when he exclaimed, and I quote, “New York is AWESOME”! To say that I heart New York is an understatement. What’s a deeper level of love? Adore? Nevermind what that word is; the bottom line is that out of all the cities I’ve been to on this trip, New York is my favourite. The lights, the sounds, the smell and the people – what’s there to hate? We had a mere 4 full days to spend in this city so we knew every single day was to be maximised as much as possible. In hindsight, we should have kept New York to 5 full days as originally planned. But no matter how tight the days were I think we did a pretty good job squeezing most of the things that need to be done in New York in 4 full days.

Welcome to NY. As soon as we landed K and I made our way to the hotel, checked in, waited for a friend then headed off to dinner at Sapporo in Midtown. It was a good Japanese dinner, also evidenced by the number of people waiting to be seated. You may have read how I love the Miso Katsu from Taka’s in Perth so I was all excited to see this item on the menu in Sapporo. The verdict? Taka’s wins. The miso sauce at Sapporo tasted more soy sauce-y than miso but the chicken was good. And just to make us even fuller, we shared a plate of gyoza that was very delicious!

Since our hotel is located in a very convenient location (we stayed in Midtown) there was no problem with us getting around Manhattan. The first destination of the night was Times Square; and I thought Dundas Square in Toronto was cool enough. Times Square in Manhattan is just unbelievable – larger than life lights and ads in an overly crowded space. Now that feels just like New York. Even late at night with the rain the city is still bustling with people. Seriously, where do all these people come from? I have already almost forgotten what it’s like to live in a busy city and by the end of my first night in New York I have concluded that I should move and live there permanently.

Top of the Rock & All That Jazz. I woke up earlier than usual the next day so that I can fit in as many things as I can. I left K behind  because she was feeling unwell and wanted to rest so I went ahead to Rockefeller Center and went up the Top of the Rock to see some foggy views of New York City. The line wasn’t long at all. I guess going there solo made it easier to squeeze into lines. A cloudless sky would have made the view more fantastic but, given that the weather forecast was thunderstorm, I am just glad that there was not a single drop of rain that day. As I made my way out of Rockefeller Center I stopped by the NBC Experience store and got dragged in to joining the NBC Sutdio Tour. I have already decided not to do the tour the day before but I just had to go and ask the guy at the counter what time the next tour was. He said it was in half an hour and I had time to spare so I just joined it anyway for $20. It was pretty cool touring the sets of Dr. Oz’s show and Saturday Night Live. They were actually preparing the stage and sets of SNL’s season premier (the one with Alec Baldwin as host) when we visited so that was indeed very awesome.

After that I went strolling around 5th Avenue. No I did not go shopping because I cannot afford anything there.

Afternoon came and I met up with K again and another friend, MP, who lives in New York. We dub her as a fake New Yorker because, even though she lives in New York, she hasn’t been around as much as we thought. It turned out to be that we were giving her the tour around the city. We grabbed a quick lunch and headed on to Broadway to watch Chicago starring Kara DioGuardi. It wasn’t until MP told us that I realised she was in American Idol before. I was more surprised to find out that Best Buy Theater is merely a small theatre unlike that of Burswood Theatre. Well, there are tons of plays going on at the same time in various theatres every single day in New York so I really shouldn’t be surprised with the size of the venue. Unlike Perth where plays and musicals are on for only short seasons we need a bigger space to accommodate everyone. In New York, just pop by the theatre and sometimes you can score cheaper tickets on the same day. Another thing I found unusual was that almost everyone who went to the theatre was every casual. Everyone except me, K and MP. It’s a habit of ours to dress up a bit whenever we go to the theatre so we brought something dressy and high heels for this show only to find out that New Yorkers are very casual when it comes to this. Jeans and flip flops to the theatre? Oh well.

SoHo shopping. We went back to the hotel to change into more comfortable clothes after the show. On the way we met a stranger, V, who popped by New York to see his girlfriend. V is K’s boyfriend, by the way, and you just can’t imagine my reaction. Even more so for MP. I haven’t had that “confused” look in a long time. Anyway, MP took us to the subway station and showed us how to ride one. The subway map looks exhausting, seriously. I didn’t even bother learning how to ride the subway and just went with the flow. MP says we take N-Q-R we take N-Q-R; easy peasy. We wound up in SoHo for a little shopping – a little only because if we went all out it would take the whole night! For me SoHo is way too crowded on a weekend. Everywhere you turn you bump into someone. It is a great place for shopping though. Just about every store is in SoHo.

Chinatown, NY-sytle. Feeling hungry after that little shopping, we decided that we want Chinese food because, first, we haven’t had a lot of decent Chinese food for this whole trip, and, second, Chinatown was very close by. By that I meant walking distance from SoHo. Wow. New York’s Chinatown is huge and, you’ve guessed it, very China-like. Here are my justifications (and guide for an awesome Chinatown) why NY’s Chinatown is superb.

  • The chaos – There is chaos amongst the streets and people. Vendors trying to get customers and customers trying to get a bargain. People shouting here and there. Fake stuff for sale. It’s almost impossible to breathe and walk without tripping in Chinatown.
  • The smell – The smell is…garbage. When you walk the streets of Hong Kong and smell something funny you’d know for sure you are in a Chinese town. Same thing goes for NY’s Chinatown because it smells like the streets of Hong Kong – garbage. Big black rubbish bags tied up and piled high on the streets. There is stench everywhere.
  • The bakeries – Chinese bakeries are different from Western bakeries and seeing those Asian bakeries reminds me of home. The bread is different, the cakes are different, and there are other Asian treats like sesame balls that I love. Well, there’s pretty much bubble tea in almost all the bakeries too.
  • The signs – These signs and shop names include the words golden, century, horse, lucky, dragon and Mr someone’s-last-name or the number 8 and are in red or yellow or gold colour.
  • The people – do I really need to elaborate this one?
  • The food – “Authentic” Chinese food everywhere. A lot of them claim to be authentic but, really, only a few are worth trying. A guide to which restaurants are good is the number of Asian people dining there. The number of Asian people should outweigh the number of Western people. No, I’m not trying to be racist but that’s how you’d really know which Chinese restaurants are good.

Based on the above, New York’s Chinatown is 4.5/5. Yay. We originally wanted to have dinner at this Peking Duck restaurant but it was very full and we had to wait for another 40 minutes or so for a table. Well our tummies were not up for that so we went to the restaurant across it, a Shanghai restaurant whose name I can’t remember. The xiao long baos, pan-fried dumplings and hot and sour soup were very good. Other dishes we had were a little off taste-wise. They were sweeter than saltier and I find that strange. Like a soy sauce based dish is sweeter that saltier.

Remembering 9/11. After dinner, which finished late, we walked around Chinatown still looking for dessert. Most shops were already closed by then so we thought we’d head off to the financial district while it’s not crowded at night. We passed by the 9/11 memorial but sadly it was all fenced out due to construction. We needed a ticket to actually see the memorial and offices were already closed. Plus, they only allow a certain number people to go in and see the memorial. I really wanted to see the memorial so I walked around here and there, up and down, and finally found a spot where one could see a glimpse of the memorial.

Stay tuned. New York City and I are getting married soon. :)