Saturday, June 20, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
San Francisco!
Christmas on the West Side

I never got to post the pictures from our San Francisco trip here. I think it was because for a while, Javi banned me from using the computer at home because I had gotten so addicted to surfing Realtor.com for hours! And then when I was allowed to go online again, the excitement of having gotten back from SF had faded, until I totally forgot that we even went. Oops! I guess it wasn't that much of an exciting trip, then! But San Francisco certainly has a lot of character!

Still, it was great to have been able to leave the apartment and go on a vacation together. More importantly, Javi and I got to go to the West Coast during Christmas, when it becomes very lonely for us since we don't have family here, and most of our friends go home to the Philippines for the holidays.

Out of loneliness, I was bawling in front of the computer one evening in early December, and on a whim decided to book us tickets to San Francisco - Javi's birthplace, and also where his cousin currently lives. It's also somewhat of a joke among Filipinos who migrate to San Francisco - because of the large Filipino population in this city, we always say it's as if they aren't really going anywhere far from home.We also took a city sightseeing tour bus and went around downtown San Francisco and saw the famous Transamerica building.
Below: Transamerica

The clocktower at the Ferry Building:



Another highlight of our trip: Alcatraz!
The tour guide locked us up in this pitch-black cell!
Gar and Carina (Javi's cousin) at the Crab House.

Of COURSE we had to see the Golden Gate Bridge!

San Francisco victorian row houses: "Post Card Row"
Which one belonged to Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen's character in Full House??
Jim, one of our tour guides, shows us the alley where they filmed "The Pursuit of Happyness"
And here you go - I found that video!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Momofuku NYC
As a continuation of our farewell to Manhattan, Javi and I decided to go to one of our favorite Asian restaurants one Sunday. The weather was gorgeous, and this restaurant was only a walk away from our current apartment, so off we went to order our favorite chicken buns at Momofuku!
Now before I talk about Momofuku's chicken buns, let me tell you why these are so important to Javi and me. Pork buns, chicken buns, even beef buns, are really originally from China, but the Philippines adopted it as its own and called it the Siopao. (In Chinese: Sio=Hot, Pao=Bun).

Most Chinese take-out places will sell you the American version of the pork bun (using bread as the outer shell), while only a few will sell you the kind with authentic dough.
Momofuku, on the other hand, gives you the yummy nummy dough, with an Americanized twist to the stuffing that goes inside it - instead of just shredded beef or chicken with sauce, Momfuku adds (in this case), fried chicken skin and cucumber slices - making it a refreshing, yet sumptuous dish!

This restaurant, which name actually means "lucky peach" in Japanese, aims to cater to a wider audience by adding special dishes, such as the ravioli, below:

There are also several branches within the city, such as the Momofuku Milk Bar a few blocks away from where we finished our pork bun + ravioli lunch (they actually went well together!).

At this milk bar are the most delicious deserts - and they taste like they just came straight from Mom's oven!

Above: the Banana Crunch cookie - it gets more banana-er in the middle of the cookie! YUM!

Javi and I will definitely miss enjoying the Village on weekends. Just take a look at the view outside the Momfuku Milk Bar - what a building with character! There are so many buildings like this around Manhattan. Still, I am also excited to move to the 'burbs... no more ambulance sirens in the middle of the night, or rushing to the subway to get away from the strong gusts of wind coming from the river during winter.
And as long as Momofuku stays in town, Javi and I will always have a reason to come back to NYC - for those steamed buns!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)