Christmas in New York Day Three

The day after Christmas, Mooey and I had a private food tour with Myra from Noshwalks. This tour was in Queens, specifically in Elmhurst.

We met at this grocery store. Myra took us in and we looked at all the different can goods and seafood. Some of the stuff was bizarre.

Then we stopped in this tiny grocery store that was also a video store. Myra picked up some fried plantains and taro root.

As I was looking around, I noticed these bugs for sale in the freezer. Yummy!

We walked around and she showed us this Thai church. It was beautiful.

Then she took us to another small grocery and we picked up this mackeral thing and a drink made from basil seeds. We took all our stuff and went to a nearby park to eat it. It was really cold that day and we nearly froze to the concrete bench.

Mackeral paste stuff. That's the best way I can describe it.

These were peanut balls. The outside was very chewy and had no taste but the inside had peanut butter.

This is the basil drink. It was okay tasting but I kept thinking there was a bug in my drink.

This is chicken with onions and cliantro. It was SO HOT!

After eating, we went into another grocery store. Check out this okra!

And green bean popsicles. MMMMMMMMM!

How about some whole squid?

Myra then took us to this dumpling house. She said they would make noodles from scratch right in front of us.

After making the noodles, she cooked them with some pork. The soup was great.

Then we ordered some pork dumplings. These were by far the best dumplings I've ever had in my life. I could've eaten 10 more.

Then, because we'd never had them, we ordered scallion pancakes. They were awesome.

Our last stop was an Indonesian place called Java Village.

Myra ordered some kelp (I actually ate it!) and some chicken dish. It was so great. I could've eaten the whole thing myself!

Here is Myra with the chef at the restaurant. They were very nice.

On the way to the subway, Mooey could not resist a ride on Donald Duck. Myra lent me a quarter and off she went. We laughed and laughed until the ride was over.

Christmas in New York Day One and Two

The first day we needed to kill time before the matinee so Mooey had seen in Time Out New York there was a lizard and snake exhibition at the Museum of Natural History. We had to attend. They had a chameleon!

Chameleon! He was bad ass. We watched him for about 20 minutes. His eyes moved independently of one another. It was bizarre and fascinating.

I can't remember if this was a boa constrictor or a python. Either way he was creepy.

This lizard was a spaz and was jumping from limb to limb with his tongue out.

This is the Emerald Tree Boa. He was beautiful but scary. We had a stare down and he won.

After the snake show, we took a cab to Times Square and shopped at the M & M store. I bought a few things and Mooey bought a bag of peanut M&M's for the show. It was a small bag, probably the size of a softball, and it cost $8! Unbelievable. They were good during the show though.

After eating some terrible pizza at Ray's, we went around the corner to the Gershwin Theater. Mooey's dad had scored us house seats for Wicked. It's sold out every performance.

The stage was very elaborate with a huge dragon at the top.

The rain never let up so after the show (which was amazing), we cabbed it back to the apartment to visit with Mooey's parents. We got Indian delivered for supper.

The next morning the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. It was Christmas! We walked the several block to Central Park and went to one of my favorite places, Strawberry Fields.

After wandering around, we caught a cab to Chinatown. We were starving and it was time for Dim Sum. We usually ate at Mandarin Court but Mooey wanted to try something new. We settled on Oriental Garden Restaurant. As we rounded the corner, we saw the huge crowd standing outside. Mooey went inside and got us a number. The man said 20 minutes. 45 minutes later, we were finally seated. It was so tight and packed in there. The food was good.

Then it was time to do some dreck shopping on Canal St. I think I only bought Weenie a belt buckle which is quite amazing. I usually buy all kinds of stuff.

Chinatown is right next to Little Italy. We rounded a corner and there was a bakery. People were spilling out of it with all kinds of goodies. Mooey and I went in to gander. We came out with a cannoli. It rocked. We shared it.

After tons of shopping, we cabbed it back to the apartment for some much needed rest.

Mooey's parents wanted us to join them for dinner and they picked out this fabulous restaurant.

I ordered the Mediterranean Chopped Salad. Cucumbers, red bell pepper, tomatoes, oregano and feta were finely chopped and tossed in lemon and olive oil. It was one of the best salads I've ever had.

For my next course, I ordered Grilled Hangar Steak with green peppercorn sauce, Swiss chard and onion rings. I'd never had Swiss chard and I really don't eat many green things. I surprised everyone at the table by eating all of it. My dinner was awesome.

Coffee and cheese cake for dessert. The food and conversation were delightful.

We walked back to the apartment and hit the sack!

New Years!

We celebrated New Year's Eve at Ronny and Susan's. They had a giant party and it was so fun. We think about 100 people showed up.

Party hats for everyone!

After we rung in the New Year, Susan sat down and played us some tunes. Magical!

Meredith and Weenie joined in for a song.

After most of the people left, we played a couple games of darts on their new dart board.

Dancing!

Drinking!

I'm not sure when we left but it was a fucking awesome party!