holidays

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30
Dec 17

A last-minute Christmas

A little bit at the last minute, I decided to spend Christmas with my brother and his wife. Partly because I wanted to see their new house and partly because the holiday is a bit boring with my parents (it’s not a big deal to them). In fact, they encouraged me to go. In that case, okay!

Of course I had a fun time. Here are some highlights.

The house is really nice. Spacious and light-filled. I loved having my own room and bathroom. I kept thinking, This is way too comfortable. I may never leave.

Here’s Looking at You is good but expensive. We went out with their friends one night at this hip and fancy place. The food was incredible, but it was pretty danged pricey. Then again, it was probably fitting for a special holiday dinner.

Bob Ross’s Art of Chill is hard to understand but fun as hell. They had a couple of friends over for a fittingly chill night. However, at first it took us FOREVER to understand how to play the game. But somehow something finally clicked, and once we started playing, it was tons of fun.

The Keepers was very disturbing. Yet I binge-watched almost the whole thing.

My brother’s turkey dinner was delicious. As were all the sides by him and my awesome sister-in-law.

Now to go on a diet until next Christmas.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Easter Parade

So my friends and I ate and drank at a ton of places, and went up to Beacon for the day. Think that’s enough? Au contraire.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

This was my first time here, and it was perfectly lovely, although of course it would have been nicer if more trees and flowers had been in bloom. But the ones that were in bloom were gorgeous:

While we were walking around, I kept forgetting where we were. L.A.? Europe? The garden did a good job of making me feel like I was away.

Easter Parade

We had big plans to see this parade, but we got there too late. However, we still got to see a lot of people dressed up, especially in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

The parade inspired to maybe (emphasis on maybe) participate next year. Seems like all I’d need is a dress (check) and a great big hat with some flowers slapped on.

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05
Jan 17

NYC Adventures: 2016 Holiday Edition

While last year I went out of town, this holiday season out-of-towners came to me, which meant I got to see some New York sights I’d never seen before, and a few I hadn’t visited in a while.

The United Nations

[Photo by Paul VanDerWerf, CC BY 2.0]

I worked near the United Nations for 10 years but never went inside. Last week was my first time. My friend Motoko from Tokyo and her son wanted a tour, and Ellen, my buddy in Boston, was kind enough to arrange it and to, of course, join in on the fun.

You have to go through quite a bit of security before getting inside. No wonder they ask you to get there an hour before your tour time. You check in at one location, wait in line at the main location, then put your stuff through metal detectors and go through a full body scan, just like at the airport. It was so similar, some people were about to take their shoes off.

Once you get inside, it’s worth it. The lobby is beautiful. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures. That’s what I get for not having much memory on my phone.

The tour was interesting, but because I was sleep deprived, I didn’t retain much of it. What I do remember was the guide was credentialed up the wazoo. She spoke three languages (English, Japanese, and Spanish), had a master’s degree in international relations, and was fluent in English despite having come from Japan just two years ago.

She was also nice enough to translate for Motoko’s son, although that wouldn’t have happened if Motoko hadn’t noticed her Japanese name, or if Ellen hadn’t asked her to translate in the first place.

Grand Central Oyster Bar

I’ve been to the Grand Central Oyster Bar a couple of times before, but it’s been several years since my last visit.

[Photo by Jazz Guy, CC BY 2.0]

That’s not my picture of the bar although we sat at the bar.

What I love about the place is that it’s a mixed crowd. You have tourists but you also have working stiffs who want to get away from their desks for 40 minutes and enjoy some delicious clam chowder.

Which is what I had. Tasty and filling and only $7.

The Met

Of course I’ve been to the Met a hundred times, but what I’d never seen before was a line that long. How long? It went out the door, down the stairs, and onto the sidewalk. It was a perfect storm of the early afternoon, the holidays and a chilly, steady rain.

Little do the hoi polloi know, there’s a semi-secret side entrance which is a million times less crowded. Another friend showed it to me and Ellen long ago, and it’s the only entrance I’ve used ever since.

Still, that didn’t keep the rest of the museum from being mobbed, especially the Impressionist wing. Our guests lasted half a dozen Monets, Degas, and Seurats before we took refuge in the cafeteria.

Peter Luger Steak House

A great thing about out-of-town visitors, besides the company of course, is that I end up doing things I never would have on my own. Such as dinner at Peter Luger.

If you want an old school New York experience and don’t mind spending a little dough, you’ll love Peter Luger. Perhaps its Brooklyn location has something to do with it, but I felt like everyone — the managers, the waiters, even the other diners — had walked straight out of some movie about NYC.

And the food was good too. We started with sliced tomatoes and onions, which is literally just that. What makes the dish is their sauce, similar to cocktail sauce but not tomato-y. We also got a single (massive) slab of bacon.

Unfortunately by the time our 16 ounce steaks came, I wasn’t that hungry, and could barely make a dent, although I had no problem finishing off our sides of creamed spinach and German fried potatoes, which were similar to hash browns.

It came out to about $80 per person including tax and tip, which may seem steep, but with all the leftovers and the experience itself, it was worth it.

Corner Cafe & Bakery

I’ve been wanting to try this place since I moved into my neighborhood little more than a year ago. New Year’s Eve morning, I finally did, and it didn’t disappoint.

I got the Southern breakfast.

A photo posted by actung9 (@actung9) on Jan 1, 2017 at 4:51am PST

That’s three eggs, bacon, potatoes, a corn muffin, and fried green tomatoes with remoulade sauce. A delectable way to finish out 2016.

InterContinental Barclay Hotel

Something else I don’t usually do is go out on New Year’s Eve. To me NYE is basically SantaCon without the Santa suits. But this year I found myself out and about, and I have to admit, it was a nice change of pace.

After helping Motoko pick up some provisions for her feverish son, Ellen and I ended up spending a relaxing afternoon at Motoko’s beautiful hotel.

While we charged our phones at the bar, we each got an old fashioned.

A photo posted by actung9 (@actung9) on Jan 1, 2017 at 4:54am PST

It was very well made, and I got sufficiently tipsy. Plus the bartender was very nice and didn’t make us feel rushed.

I’d definitely return to the InterContinental Barclay bar just to have a drink and hang out.

Times Square on New Year’s Eve

Our relaxing afternoon came to an end when we headed out to meet our friend Aki. She and her boyfriend had a party later and were staying at a hotel for the night. Unfortunately that hotel was right near Times Square.

Getting from Midtown East to Midtown West on New Year’s Eve was like trying to climb over the Berlin Wall. But climb over it we did, mostly due to Ellen’s persistence. Like Aki said, I was about to call it a night when Ellen finally found a cop who let us through the barricades.

The hotel itself was pretty relaxing. We ended up eating discounted happy hour snacks in the lounge instead of trying to find a restaurant. The food hit the spot. Wings, pita and hummus, quesadillas, and a pizza-like flatbread.

At about 8:30 I made Ellen leave. The last thing I wanted was to be stuck in that part of town close to midnight. We walked Aki and her boyfriend partway to their party and grabbed a cab at Columbus Circle. By nine, we were in PJs and watching Orange Is the New Black, my kind of NYE. I was happy that Ellen was so accommodating.

Pure Thai Cookhouse

The next day we headed back to the west side and had our first lunch of 2017. Pure Thai Cookhouse was an Aki find. It was packed but didn’t seem touristy, an excellent combination.

I got the special, a beef dish in a mildly spicy curry paste with a fried egg.

A photo posted by actung9 (@actung9) on Jan 5, 2017 at 10:08am PST

A yummy start to the new year.

Here’s hoping that every day of 2017 is as delicious.

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07
Feb 16

NYC Adventures: The Lunar New Year Edition

I don’t usually do much for the Lunar New Year, but this year a weekend visit from my friend Aki happened to coincide with the festivities.

Friday night

First thing: noodles! This time at Mew Men in the Village.

Eating long noodles during the New Year and on birthdays is important in Chinese culture since long noodles symbolize longevity. But mostly we had them because we’re ramen fiends.

The pork was kind of tough, but the broth and noodles were excellent. Plus each was only $5 with a coupon Aki had.

Afterward we walked up to Union Square and stopped in Korean beauty product store Nature Republic. We both ended up buying this Korean version of Baby Feet, that feet peeling kit. I’m kind of scared to try it since the results, while effective, are supposed to be disgusting.

Saturday

We had a very packed day ahead and needed to start it with some sustenance. Blue Stone Lane to the rescue.

While overpriced, I do think their food and coffee is really good. Usually I get the avocado toast, but I felt like changing things up and had the soup instead – lentil Italian wedding. It was so good, as was the toasted bread that came with it. And when we left, I couldn’t resist a $5 vegan apple cinnamon donut for a snack later (that was delicious too).

Our next stop was The Met, where there was lion dancing:

Like most things you do on the New Year, lion dancing is supposed to bring luck and chase away evil spirits. Plus it just looks and sounds really cool. The lobby was packed to the gills, but we had a pretty good view.

Besides lion dancing, we checked out the Temple of Dendur, then went upstairs to see it from the Asian art wing.

Next up: lunch! Aki had heard that the best xiao long bao in the city were at Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao in Flushing. So out to Queens we went.

There were tons of people waiting. They told us about 20 minutes, and that’s what it was. We got dou jiang, one youtiao to split, and pork and crab and pork buns.

Pork and crab soup dumplings #nanxianglongbao @bangbangcloud @joeboy369 #flushing #queens

A post shared by Dave Brue (@davidbrue) on Mar 2, 2015 at 9:50am PST

The verdict? I don’t know if they’re the best in the city since I haven’t had all the little juicy buns in New York, but they were damned good and well worth the schlep and the wait.

After lunch we went to New World Mall. It was a tad overwhelming, and since neither of us were hungry, it was kind of a waste on us. I’ll have to go back on an empty stomach.

Our last stop of the night was, you guessed it, food! We hit another ramen place, Nakamura, this one on the Lower East Side.

I wasn’t too thrilled about it at first, to be honest. Although there were a ton of empty seats, we were told we had to wait 30 minutes (I guess there were reservations?). And the fact that the waiter was wearing a fedora didn’t help matters. I wanted to leave, but Aki convinced me not to.

In the end, I’m glad we stayed because the food was really good. Aki, who’s super picky, pronounced it one of the best bowls of ramen she’s ever had.

I absolutely loved my Japanese curried spice ramen.

It also had something a little different: cilantro, which Japanese food never has.

Sunday

Aki was all set to leave that morning when she said, “I want bagels.”

I couldn’t argue with that.

We went to a place not too far from my apartment, H&H Bagels (which doesn’t have a website, weirdly enough). There was a line, but it wasn’t too crazy. I got my usual sesame bagel with lox spread.

Aki got a sesame bagel with nothing on it, figuring I’d have more than enough cream cheese, which was true.

The bagel was really good. I ate mine in about five minutes, Aki said, which is a bit of an exaggeration. But I did eat it quickly.

Interested in more of my New York adventures? Check them all out.

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30
Dec 14

Christmas in Los Angeles: Good food and fun times

It’s been a long time since I last spent Christmas with my brother. Plus having his sweet girlfriend there too was an added bonus.

A turkey Christmas Eve

My brother is an excellent cook, and one of his favorite things to make is a turkey dinner with all the fixings. I was really excited. For sides he was planning brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. The one thing he forgot to get were the cranberries for his homemade cranberry sauce.

“Aw man!” I said. “But it’s so good!”

So on the way home, despite my protests, we stopped at the grocery store, where he ran in and got some cranberries. He said the lines were crazy but a cashier, probably seeing that he had one thing, took pity on him and rang him up at customer service.

Dinner was excellent. My brother’s girlfriend made garlic mashed potatoes, and those were really good too.

Stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce.

Garlic mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts.

After cleaning up we took a walk around the neighborhood. It wasn’t too cold out, and it was really nice to see all the lights. On one of their walks, they had found a house with an amazing tree house, and that was sort of our goal. At first it seemed we wouldn’t find it, but then we did. The tree house was crazy and wonderful. Like something out of Swiss Family Robinson.

A British-y Christmas

After a morning of opening presents and an afternoon of eating leftovers and lazing around, we headed out to my brother’s friends’ place for a little Christmas party.

The hostess is a an anglophile and so as per British tradition, handed out paper crowns and little gadgets and toys, including Christmas crackers. Dinner was great. Ham with potatoes, zucchini, sweet potatoes, stuffing, and delectable dinner rolls with this incredible cinnamon butter.

After dinner was the gift exchange. There was some specific exchanging as well as kind of gifts that were just free-for-all, like a grab bag. The hostess was kind enough to give me Cinder by Marissa Meyer, a young adult book that’s a science fiction take on Cinderella. In a nutshell: Cinderella is part cyborg. Exactly up my alley.

After that we played this fun “gambling” game called Left, Right, Center. I won’t get into the details except to say that in the end my brother’s girlfriend won. The game involves lots of single dollar bills and she hilariously threw the money up like confetti after she won.

All in all, one of the most fun Christmases I’ve had in a long time.

Catch up on my other Christmas-in-Los-Angeles posts.

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29
Dec 14

Christmas in Los Angeles: What we saw

We did more than eat, if you can believe it.

Venice Canals

On my first day we went out to the Venice Canals, and that’s where I had my celebrity sighting: Rosario Dawson looking tiny and pretty in big sunglasses and a long black dress with spaghetti straps. Can’t have an L.A. visit without spotting at least one famous someone.

The weather was lovely and warm. My back had been bothering me, but walking all over Canal Town helped a lot. Of course I also loved looking at the beautiful houses.

Biltmore Hotel

After dinner at The Factory Kitchen, we went to the beautiful Biltmore to meet some of my brother’s friends for drinks. Unfortunately when we got there, we saw the bar was closed and had to make other arrangements.

But in the meantime, I got a snap of their magnificent ceiling:

Getty Museum

This was my first time visiting this beautiful hilltop museum.

Everything about it was beautiful, from the train ride up to looking at the art to wandering through the different grassy areas and gardens.

The Huntington

It was my first visit to this place as well. The library had a very nice Christmas tree:

I enjoyed the art museum as well, which houses, among other works, Thomas Gainsborough’s The Blue Boy:

The gardens are beautiful and the English-style tea we had for lunch was yummy. It was all-you-can-eat so I stuffed as many little sandwiches and pastries into my gullet as possible. My favorite dessert was this dense brownie which was almost like fudge. (Even in a post not about eating, I have to talk about eating.)

Next up: Christmas Eve and Day.

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29
Dec 14

Christmas in Los Angeles: Where we ate

This year I wasn’t able to head back east for the holidays, and I thought I’d be own my own, which, although not ideal, would have been fine. I have extended family in the area, and I like that peaceful feeling of solitude.

But at the last minute my brother found a reasonably priced flight for me to go down and see him and his girlfriend in Los Angeles, and of course that was much more fun.

Urth Caffe

We stopped here on my first day on our way to the Venice Canals. It was pretty crowded but we scored a table outside. I had the corn chowder soup, half a curry chicken salad sandwich, and, the best part of the meal, this chocolate cookie with chunks of white chocolate. So. Good.

The Factory Kitchen

We had a lovely dinner at this Italian place the night before Christmas Eve. For appetizers we shared chicken liver pate and pork belly, and for my entree I had their famous handkerchief pasta in basil pesto sauce. All of it was delicious, including my negroni.

Daikokuya

On my last night I had a ramen craving so we had dinner at this place in Little Tokyo my brother’s girlfriend had been wanting to go to anyway. She warned us the wait would be crazy long, but we were up for it.

To kill time we walked around a bit and got a drink at a nearby bar (unfortunately I can’t remember the name). I got an old-fashioned, which was yummy, and made me a little tipsy. We returned to the restaurant and waited another 30 to 40 minutes. People seemed happy when they finally got a table, especially since it was kind of cold out. We were the same way.

We got some tsukemono to share.

And while my brother and his girlfriend went with the classic pork ramen, I got the spicy one.

It wasn’t too spicy and the broth was very rich. The pork was also high quality, and the egg was cooked to runny perfection.

Next up: what we saw.

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06
Dec 14

Thanksgiving 2014: Noodles, wine, and biscuits

Sure, there was the Thanksgiving feast (read: Mongolian hot pot) at home, but there was also much ingesting and imbibing with friends in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.

Xi’An Famous Foods

I met up with my college roommate Sandy for lunch in the city. Besides an alma mater, we also share a love for Chinese good. So I was thrilled to learn a Xi’An Famous Foods had opened in her neighborhood on the Upper East Side.

I first heard about the restaurant from Anthony Bourdain, which is almost always a guarantee of good food. I got the oxtail noodle soup.

Looks great right? Well, unfortunately looks was all it had. No, that’s not entirely true. The flavor was good, but it was lukewarm. Maybe the servers, who were all white, didn’t know that noodle soup has to be burn-your-mouth-hot. Then again, doesn’t any soup? So I was pretty disappointed. At least the company was good.

ChikaLicious

I also had the chance to see and stay with my friend Yiannis. One night, craving something sweet, we stopped in ChikaLicious.

While it might sound like a chicken place, it’s actually a dessert bar — New York’s first, according to the website. Also according to their site, the line sometimes goes out the door, but that Saturday before Thanksgiving, there was no wait.

I noticed a dough’ssant in the wild —

— before settling on the banana custard pie.

Banana-custard-licious!

Sweet Science

One morning Yiannis and I met up with his sister and her friends for her birthday breakfast. One of her favorite places is Sweet Science in Brooklyn, and with good reason.

I got the biscuits with sausage gravy and bacon:

Decadent and delicious!

Amalthea Cellars and Sharrott Wineries

Good times were also to be had in my home state. My friend Ellen was also visiting for Thanksgiving, and we met up with our other friend Aki, who lives in New Jersey. She and her fiance had to drive one of their friends to Philadelphia so she suggested a couple of wineries along the way.

I’ve never been to a wine tasting before and thought I wouldn’t be that into it since I’m not a fan of wine. But it was actually really fun. The combination of the small amounts with a wide variety was perfect for me. Plus! I never knew wine could be sweet. All I knew about were the very dry ones. Turns out I love sweet wine.

Our first stop, Amalthea Cellars, offered 11 different tastings for $6, plus a little tour of the place. I thought the Leda, a “dry ‘travel style’ rose” with “notes of strawberry,” according to the info sheet, was so pretty:

Although for some reason the tour guide looked right at me when he said it “goes well with Chinese food.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ My favorite was the Callisto Gris, a “bright red apple and strawberry notes.” Of course it was sweet.

The second place was Sharrott Winery, which offered six tastings for $12 plus snacks. By that time I was pretty tipsy, as was this big group of loud ladies who were traveling by bus from winery to winery. (We had a designated driver in Aki’s very kind and patient fiance.)

Hiro Ramen House

Our next stop was Philadelphia and a ramen dinner. Hiro Ramen House is apparently the place to be. We had a 20-minute wait, but it was totally worth it. For appetizers we got the karaage, or fried chicken, and takoyaki, octopus balls:

I got the spicy ramen, which really hit the spot post-wine tastings.

Lotus Garden

All good things must come to an end. To close out my visit, my mom and I had a goodbye lunch at one of our local favorites, Lotus Garden. It’s not bad for central Jersey, and seems authentic, if only because it’s usually packed with Chinese people. I got the beef noodle soup:

Not as good as Mom’s but better than Xi’An Famous Foods, I have to say.

Until next time!

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07
Dec 13

Catching up, the Thanksgiving edition

The rest of Thanksgiving weekend was super fun.

The dinner that my brother cooked was delicious: turkey, homemade cranberry sauce, stuffing with sausage, buttery mashed potatoes. I can’t even remember what I did that night. Probably worked on my novel a little and watched TV a lot.

Friday we all stuck around the house. None of us wanted to do Black Friday. I took a walk down to the shopping center and back — luckily no dog chased me this time — which was over 3.5 miles. The day before I worked out in the basement: running around the perimeter, squats, push-ups, burpees, jumping lunges, sit-ups, etc. I got pretty sweaty.

Oh yeah, I also spent a lot of time sorting through and packing up old books. I had SO MANY.

Saturday we had our family outing. We got lunch at this Chinese place that specializes in xiao long bao, or little juicy buns, and afterward we went to look at my parents’ new house.

Right now it’s just the foundation, but we could see what the other houses looked like, as well as the club house, which was huge. It has a small gym (though still bigger than my condo gym), a dining room, a little kitchen, a theater, and an indoor pool (there’s also an outdoor pool). Dad said he might actually go swimming.

I really like the idea of Mom and Dad living there. Right now Dad walks only on our tiny street. He used to do the three mile walk to the shopping center, but now he feels like it’s too dangerous for him. After they move, he’ll be able to walk all around the retirement complex, as well as on the trail behind the club house.

After that, we went shopping for a couple of hours. I got a little black jacket and some new jeans.

That night was my brother’s 20th high school reunion so he was off fairly early. I saw a couple of friends over the next couple of days, and then Monday morning my brother and I got coffee. We hadn’t had the chance to hang out one on one before then, and he was leaving that afternoon. It was nice catching up and chatting.

That afternoon, after he left, it hit me that I was leaving the next morning, and I still had work to do as well as packing and cleaning up. But I was stressed out only for a couple of hours before I got everything organized.

The next morning, although I was exhausted, getting to the airport went smoothly. Security however took a year. I thought I’d be tagged for TSA pre-check like on my way in, but I wasn’t. The line seemed like all old people. They were SO SLOW getting their stuff ready for the scanner.

By the time I got through, I had only half an hour before boarding, enough time to pee and buy a coffee and water. Luckily Mom gave me some food, including a roast pork bun, which I inhaled.

The flight was full but since it was Virgin, it didn’t feel as cramped. The lady next to me had B.O., but she was very nice. After we landed I kept running into her: at baggage claim, on the BART.

Oh yeah. When I first boarded, my seat mate, not the lady another guy, was in my seat arranging his shit. I let him I was waiting, and he said, “Just a minute,” and then stood there getting out his headphones. Meanwhile I’m blocking the aisle and there’s a whole line of people behind me.

I was like, seriously dude? You can’t move in and do that? I said, “There’s a whole line of people waiting,” and he very reluctantly let me in.

SERIOUSLY?

The lady behind me was like, “That’s very kind of you,” and these two older men across the aisle smiled at me like, “You go girl.”

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28
Nov 13

A Thanksgiving Post

I’ve been at my parents’ since Sunday morning. My flight was good — in fact, it got in early, but since it was a red eye it felt interminable and as usual I couldn’t sleep much.

Getting to the train took longer since something was wrong with the shuttle, but I made it just in time. Actually, as I was running down the stairs with my suitcase, the door closed.

“Please wait!” I yelled, and I’m guessing the conductor heard me because the doors reopened.

At home I ate something, showered, then slept for about three hours. I could have slept more but I wanted to get on east coast time. Plus I had some work to do.

That night and the next day I was just at home. My brother was in town but he had gone into the city to hang out with friends. I went into the city that night after dinner and went straight to the YP’s, where we just chilled, watching Hunger Games again in anticipation of Catching Fire the next night, although we ended up talking over most of it.

I thought I’d have no problem sleeping that night, but it actually took me a long time, and then I was up early. Got probably just a few hours.

We went together to the YP’s office and worked all day, which was fun. For lunch we went with a couple of his coworkers to get “Indian burritos.” They were so good. His coworkers’ orders were taking a long time so we waited outside since some lady’s perfume was giving YP a migraine and I was about to pass out from the heat. We were standing there talking when suddenly I looked up and there was my brother!

“That’s my brother!” I said.

I had posted on FB where I was, and he happened to be in the area. Too funny!

After work, YP and I grabbed dinner at this cute place. The food was good — we both got the curry tofu — although the portions were pretty small.

By then it was raining and windy, but I still preferred to walk rather than take the subway. It wasn’t too long to the theater, about 20 minutes. His sister got there first and snagged us seats.

I kept picturing the theater jam-packed, so I thought it was hilarious when we walked in and it was his sister and one other dude. I guess people were traveling or staying in because of the weather.

We all agreed the movie was SO GOOD. Even better than the first one.

The weather was worse was when we left. We cut through a Whole Foods, where YP picked up a few things and I got a snack — salmon sushi — since I was starving after our meager meal.

Since it was almost 11 on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, people had very full carts AND there were hardly any registers. The couple in front of me drove me crazy. The man insisted on bagging first before swiping his card. Swipe then bag, idiot.

Back at the YP’s, I ate my sushi, he had a PBJ, and we watched The Mindy Project and Brooklyn 99. I had the herbal relaxant my acupuncturist suggested to help with my teeth grinding. During Agents of SHIELD, I promptly lost consciousness and will need to watch it again.

I crashed hard that night. Slept solidly for a good six hours.

Got up early to do some work and then went to meet the ES and SB at 10. We had a late breakfast/early lunch at Pret, and had fun chatting and catching up. Then ES and I caught a bus to the train station and, just in time, caught the 12:07. It was pretty crowded but we each got a seat. At first we weren’t together, but then very quickly her seatmate got up, and then we were. We chit chatted the whole time, and it made the ride go really fast.

That night ES, AY, and I met up for happy hour at this very nice, kinda kooky place. It’s in the middle of a sculpture garden and on the way there, there a lot of giant sculptures along the sides of the road.

We had drinks and a TON of food since the little plates were so cheap, just $2 to $5 each. We talked and talked and talked. Eventually we talked about stuff from 20 years ago, which we always do, but now it makes me feel kinda old. We were three women in our early 40s reminiscing about the 1990s. Good lord. But it was tons of fun.

We stayed until about 10, and I slept hard again.

Did some work this morning, and also managed to get in some revisions for the novel. Yay! The last time I worked on it was November 24, four days ago, and I think I probably barely did anything then.

I was going to write a blog post for work but I don’t know if I will. If I feel like it later, maybe. I need to work on my novel more, and hardly anyone else is working at my company. I had a problem this morning and everyone basically ignored me. *Shrug.*

Right now my brother is cooking Thanksgiving dinner. The novel calls but I also just want to watch a movie.

Angela Tung Oversharing on the internet since 2005.