tien mao's little read book...

Eating Portland: Bunk Sandwiches

2009-11-19T18:49:35-05:00

Another lunch spot we hit up (non-cart lunch spot), was Bunk Sandwiches in Southeast. Much to my dismay, they didn't have the pork belly sandwich that even the cashier recommended on the day we went. So I went with the meatball parm hero instead. It was good. Better than most pizza place meatball parms that you get, but much smaller as well. I guess I didn't need the extra calories anyway, considering all the other stuff I ate on the trip.

If you do go to Bunk though, be sure to avoid the busy lunch hours. We got there at 11:30 or so and there was a line out the door 20 minutes later.

Eating Portland: Nong's Khao Man Gai

2009-11-18T13:08:55-05:00

Portland's food cart scene is ridiculous. The food carts in Portland don't seem to be of the mobile variety (like the ones in NYC), but mostly parked in parking lots around the city, and mostly concentrated in the downtown area. There are so many carts, in fact, that there's a blog dedicated solely to food carts in the city. For comparisons sake, the sheer quantity of carts in just one of PDX's parking lots puts the Red Hook Ball Fields to shame (in quantity of carts and possibly quality of food — no he didn't? Yes, I did).

In the 10th and Alder (Southwest) parking lot is Nong's Khao Man Gai a Thai cart that specializes in Khao Man Gai, or chicken and rice. They're so specialized, in fact, that it's all they have on their menu. For $6, you get your chicken and rice, a side of ridiculously tasty sauce and some slices of squash as well as a soup (perfect for a chilly Portland day).

As good as the food is, sitting in front of Nong's and watching Nong Poonsukwattana interact with her customers is just as enjoyable.

Possibly the only thing I regret not doing in Portland during this trip was eating at more food carts. I only had time to eat at two. And one cart was actually sold out of meat! WTF?!

More information:
- Nong's Khao Man Gai website
- Nong's on Food Carts Portland
- Profile of Nong on Serious Eats

Eating Portland: Slappy Cakes

2009-11-17T11:10:43-05:00

If you like pancakes and you like cooking food at your own table, then Slappy Cakes in Southeast Portland is your heaven. At Slappy Cakes, which just opened two weeks ago, you can make pancakes at your table with your choice of toppings. But don't worry, if you're not into paying to make your own food (which I totally understand), then you can order pancakes from the kitchen. And if you don't want pancakes, they have other food for your tummy.

The way it works is you order a bottle of batter (buttermilk, buckwheat, vegan and gluten-free and carrot) and then cook your preferred pancakes at the oiled griddle at your table. The downside of Slappy Cakes, much like Korean BBQ and any "self-cook" restaurant, is that you leave smelling a little like the food you were preparing. And no matter how easy pancake making is, you can still fuck them up (see 4th photo). You can also order a bacon strip in your bloody mary, something that apparently isn't very popular yet.

I'm wondering how long until New York City gets one of these.

Eating Portland: Mother's Bistro & Bar

2009-11-16T09:10:08-05:00

Get ready for an onslaught of food porn from Portland. While out there last week, we ate our way through the city (kind of, anyway). After asking people where we should eat in Portland, several people responded with suggestions.

One of those suggestions was Mother's in Southwest (the city is divided into five areas, primarily using the Willamette River for east/west and Burnside Street for north/south). I ordered the wild salmon hash while Shannan had the grilled portabella mushroom scramble. Delicious!

Hello from Portland

2009-11-09T12:41:14-05:00

I'm told that November in Portland is pretty rainy, and after two days here, I can tell you that that's been very, very true. But ever so briefly on Saturday, the rain let up and there was a rainbow!

More rain in the forecast for most of this week. Fun times.

Halloween and the 2009 NYC Marathon

2009-11-02T08:48:10-05:00

For Halloween, which I really hate dressing up for (as an adult), Shannan made us some bobble heads. They both came out really, well and actually bobbled. Somewhat creepy though, were the eyes that were painted onto the head.

The day after Halloween was the 2009 NYC Marathon and event with almost 44,000 people from around the world running in the streets of New York. I love the marathon, but I don't think I would ever run it. So maybe I should say "I love watching the marathon."

In the 1st marathon photo, you can see eventual women's winner Derartu Tulu (blue top on the right). Leading the men at mile 12 was eventual winner Meb Keflezighi, the first American to win the NYC Marathon in 27 years. Does that guy in the 3rd marathon photo look familiar? That's because it's Anthony Edwards! You may recognize him from such movies as Top Gun and Revenge of the Nerds and TV shows like ER. If you're wondering, he does respond to people (me) yelling "Go Goose!" Edwards was running for the charity Shoe4Africa, which is raising money to build a public children's hospital in Kenya. And, yes, that last photo is of a guy carrying an Eiffel Tower replica.

Oooooh, Scaaaaarrrryyyyyy

2009-10-31T08:45:05-05:00

Two weekends ago, we went down to the Princeton area to visit Johnny and Katie at their wonderful new home. One of the fun things we did was go to a farm to pick pumpkins (they were already out of the patch) and then carve them!

From top to bottom: my pumpkin, Shannan's, Maggie's, Calvin's, Katie's, Johnny's and the fun you can have while carving pumpkins.

Scenes from Vermont

2009-10-14T12:40:00-05:00

There's nothing that screams Fall like a foliage and an apple festival. This past weekend, we went up to Grand Isle in Northern Vermont (we're talking really close to Canada) with a group of friends for a relaxing retreat. It also happened to be the South Hero Applefest which was like a craft fare, yard sale and celebration of apples all rolled into one. One vendor at the Applefest was selling maple cotton candy, which I'm crowning as the best cotton candy I've ever had (and I love me some cotton candy).

Last Mets Game of the Long, Long 2009 Season at Citi Field

2009-10-12T15:51:06-05:00

Last Sunday finally brought and end to the miserable 2009 Mets season. A season where I went to entirely too many games (curses to that season ticket). But through a stroke of luck, we ended up in the front row on the field level for the final out of the stadium's inaugural season. Following the game was the Mr. Met Dash on the field for season ticket holders (not that they actually checked). Also, the word dash is very generous for the event. You're really just walking around the field as the people tell you not to stop. But at least we got to step on three bases (2nd, 3rd, and home).

If you're wondering what's going on in the 3rd photo, it's David robbing a home run with his newspaper.

An Evening at the Statue of Liberty

2009-09-30T14:30:43-05:00

Last Friday, the National Park Service allowed night visitors to the Statue of Liberty for the first time ever as part of National Parks Week NYC. Two boatloads of passengers headed over to the island at about 7pm, just in time to catch the end of the sun set over New Jersey. I took a lot of photos of Lady Liberty, but eventually they all end up looking the same. The ones here are the ones I liked the most.

Let's Be Sure to Get This Dumpster Full!

2009-09-25T14:16:24-05:00

The people sure got their money's worth in this garbage haul.

Those New Bike Lanes on Kent Avenue

2009-09-22T13:45:22-05:00

Not surprisingly, the new dedicated bike lane on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg and the change in traffic patterns have caused some outrage in north Brooklyn. The new lane was just finished a couple of weeks ago and people are still getting used to it (see cyclist using right side of road in 2nd picture). As much as I like the new, dedicated lanes, I had no problem at all with the old lanes. In my opinion, this mostly seems like a pain in the ass for people that used Kent before. But once people get used to it, I'm sure it will be fine.

One person that wasn't used to the change (or just decided to ignore it) was a minivan driver that went south (against traffic) IN THE BIKE LANE despite the obvious green paint and signs saying the street is now one way. This guy drove the whole block in the bike lane, forcing me and another cyclist to move out of the way into the parking lane. I can only hope I don't see this happen again.

Breakneck Ridge in Hudson Highlands State Park

2009-09-09T12:25:51-05:00

This past Saturday we took a short drive with Calvin and Maggie upstate to hike Breakneck Ridge. Let the name scare you, for Breakneck does indeed have its scary parts. In fact, one description of the trail said, "If you deviate much from the rock ledges that comprise most of the trail, you'll fall hundreds of feet down the mountain's south face. Take utmost care on Breakneck, as carelessness has occasionally resulted in deaths." Another description reads, "while the clearly marked trail is easy to navigate even for first-timers, Breakneck Ridge may not be recommended for height-fearing folk prone to vertigo." Wonderful!

The start of the hike, a scramble up very rocky terrain, is the most difficult and time consuming. I would show you multiple pictures of the amazing view, but I was too exhausted to take out my camera more than a couple of times. For a good idea of what the climb looks like, check out this Wikipedia image. The start of the hike is from the stone structure at the foot of the mountain (left side on the Hudson River) and you essentially work your way up next to/along the exposed rock.

Once you reach the top, the trail becomes slightly easier, but the key here is to choose your descent wisely. We went with what seemed like the longest trail down the mountain. It didn't help that we got lost (despite having a trail map), resulting in an extra 1/2 miles of walking. Nor did running out of water with about two hours left on the hike help either.

If we go again, we'll probably take the shorter route down.

Totaled Car From a Fatal Greenpoint MVA

2009-09-03T12:14:19-05:00

Sunday when we returned home from upstate, we saw this this horrifically mangled car sitting across the street from our apartment. With a police station also across the street, we'll sometimes see impounded vehicles and cars that were damaged in accidents before they're moved to another location.

This accident occurred early Sunday morning in Greenpoint (Green and Provost) and it looks like the car just flew into some sort of pole. The car was bent right at the driver's side door. People were saying that the accident killed the driver (not surprising given the damage) and that the girlfriend in the car was at Bellevue and had regained consciousness by Sunday night. It also looks like the jaws of life were needed to extract the victims since the roof is totally cut off.

On the Roof of 5 Pointz in Long Island City

2009-08-20T11:23:07-05:00

Anyone who has taken the 7 train into Queens is surely familiar with the graffiti covered building in Long Island City called 5 Pointz. The building owners allow for graffiti artists to use the exterior as a canvas as long as they don't use curses, religion or race in their artwork. Inside, the building was mostly used as artists studios. But earlier this year, after an exterior staircase collapsed, the building was shut down until the appropriate renovations could be made. The owners later determined that the repairs were impossibly expensive and the tenants were told to have everything out by this Saturday. Last weekend, I went over to the building to take some pictures of the interior and roof (the exterior should still be a canvas for graffiti). More photos over at Gothamist.