En Route To Shanghai, China

I left my place 3 hours ahead of my flight time on Friday morning to get to JFK, in anticipation of all the much talked about enhanced TSA screening procedures.  I was fully prepared to be groped by some TSA worker when my coworker, who had arrived REALLY early, texted me to say that the new procedures had not been implemented in the terminal from which we were departing.  I took a deep breath relieved that I would not be subjected to unnecessary radiation or getting publicly felt up.

When I did eventually get to the security check, I took my laptop and fluids out of my bag, removed my shoes and jacket and put everything in the little bins on the conveyor belt to be zapped.  I was stopped after I walked through that metal detector thing and was asked to show my hands.  I was baffled but held my palms out for the dude and he swabbed them with a cotton pad, presumably to make sure I had not just fabricated some kind of explosive device.  Then I was pulled aside to have my bags swabbed as well.  The dude made small talk and asked me where I was going to which I replied China.  "Oh are you Chinese?" he said and I informed him that I'm Canadian, but then told him my ethnic background (I knew that was what he was getting at).  He said something pretty cringe worthy - he reiterated my background (i.e. you're 50% this and 50% that) and then said with a big grin "But you're 100% beautiful."  I smiled uncomfortably and gathered my belongings and walked toward the lounge shaking my head, thankful there was no pat-down involved!

An Homage To Mac And Cheese

I have already professed my obsession for pizza in this blog and now I move onto my other great love - mac and cheese.  If it's on the menu, I will be tempted by it and usually wind up ordering the thing with a green salad on the side to cut some of the richness.  In NYC, there are hundreds of places to indulge in this comfort food, and I have not tried a lot of them, but I have compiled my own list of favorites.

Most Cheesy @ Ditch Plains - I waited an hour at the bar on a Friday night with 'Cuse and Commack to get a table.  While the guys drank beers, I got a bloody mary to quell my hunger, snacking on the olive and celery garnishes.  While at the bar, 'Cuse went on some rant about not being able to get laid in Vegas by his own girlfriend - yikes.  The Ditch Plains concoction resembles french onion soup on first glance, with a crunchy but gooey gruyere crust on top.  Once you break through, it's creamy gruyere, american and parmesan blended together - pure heaven.

(Ditch Plains)

Most Sophisticated @ Artisanal - My favorite brunch spot for out of town guests, since it's great and around the corner from my apartment.  I remember meeting Stamps here for lunch on a day off, recovering from my latest bout of jet lag.  It's not called mac and cheese at this French bistro, but Macaroni Gratin, which is a blend of gruyere, parmesan and marscapone topped with a crunchy bread crumb crust.  I was on a serious serotonin high after the carb fest - so happy that I followed up my feast with a two hour nap.

Best Delivery @ Maxie's Grill - It's yummy and comes in a tray ready to be reheated - plus it's cheap at $6.99!!!

Best Cafeteria Style @ City Bakery - Take out time!  This mac and cheese comes in a huge tray out of which a square can be cut out, as big or small as you would like.  They weigh it, heat it and then it's ready to eat!  The sauce is drier than my other favorites, with the standard blend of gruyere, cheddar and parmesan, but it never disappoints.  This place is very close to my yoga studio and sometimes I just have to undo all the good from 75 minutes of downward facing dogs and sun salutations with a slab of this stuff.

(Side at Stand Burger - a not-so-rich but still good mac and cheese)

Best Steakhouse @ Primehouse - Had it once and was one of the yummiest things ever.  Baked and crunchy.  I must go back since I can't remember the exact details of this one.

Other places to kill a vicious mac and cheese craving?  Cafeteria (get the sampler with the original with cheddar and fontina, one with smoked gouda and one with truffle oil), Delicatessen (appetizer sized with cheddar, american and swiss) and the heat and eat mac and cheese from Whole Foods is yummy.

The bad?  Check out this train wreck from Au Bon Pain that I ate at my desk this week for lunch.  Soupy and oddly smooth, though it reminded me of some cheesy Lipton's noodles and sauce thing I used to buy in undergrad, when I wanted a break from my Kraft Dinner.

(Au Bon Pain - never again)

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

Going home is never easy, mostly due to the logistics of making it there and back - Subway to AirTrain, flight to Buffalo and then a drive across the border.  And then a few days later, I have to repeat this whole mess in reverse.  My trip home ended up being particularly eventful due to way too many cups of coffee, an unplanned pit stop at the U.S. border and a random dude on the train.  After a delicious Sunday brunch with a couple girlfriends at Spencer's at the Waterfront in Burlington,  during which we lingered over several cups of coffee and glasses of tap water, I got into my tin-can of a rental car (damn you Chevy Cobalt) to head to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport to catch my 7:20 pm flight.  I was flying along and would have plenty of time to top off the gas and relax before boarding, but was foiled by the U.S. Customs agent at the Lewiston-Queenston bridge who informed me that they were x-raying vehicles that day.  I was surprised since I NEVER have issues with customs agents anywhere (do we remember the knife incident in Ecuador?), but proceeded to the line up of vehicles off to the side to be zapped.

While I stood in the cold with the passengers of the other seven cars selected, I began to feel the effects of all the coffee and water on my bladder.  I paced a little and watched the unmarked white truck slowly drive up one side of the line of cars and then up the other. When I was allowed back in my car, I decided (stupidly) that I didn't want to stick around any longer at the border, since I was now running late.  Instead, I began speeding towards the airport in a desperate race, praying that I would not be pulled over, which would have spelled disaster.  I was bouncing around in the driver's seat when I finally pulled up to the gas station by the airport, where I happily used the facilities even though typically I avoid the gas station bathroom at all costs.

The plane ride was smooth and I read a magazine and dined on a mozzarella and tomato sandwich purchased before boarding.  Once at JFK, I took the AirTrain to Jamaica Station where I noticed a cute guy in front of me going through the turnstile also wrangling a suitcase.  Once on the platform, he sat on the bench and I walked forward a bit and stood by the track.  I kept turning my head in the direction of the train, which happened to be cute guy's direction and kept noticing him looking at me.  Usually I get all freaked out when this happens, but thanks to my friends' choice of a fancy brunch spot, I was actually nicely dressed and feeling good in dark straight-leg jeans and a shirt worn under my fitted black wool coat,  a cream colored pashmina looped around my neck and metallic flats on my feet.  Typically, I would be looking all bedraggled in comfy sweats for the plane ride, but this was my lucky day!  Just to be sure I was at my best, when the dude wasn't looking I tried to smooth my hair to make sure it wasn't too crazy and put on some lip gloss. When the train pulled in, he walked over and got on the same car as I did and ended up sitting across from me.  We ignored each other until an announcement was made that we would have to switch trains at the next stop, when we made eye contact.  We both got off the train and the dude asked me "Are you going into the city?"  After that, we sat together on the R train while he figured out where we were with some app on his iPhone and chatted and laughed all the way to Manhattan.  Before he got off at his stop, he handed me his business card and suggested we get together.  I shocked myself with how calm and collected I was and smiled and replied "I'll send you an email."  I sent him a quick note at work the next day and we've made plans to grab drinks.

This trip back to NYC made me rethink a couple things.  Gas station bathrooms have come a long way!  They are no longer an unwashed outhouse to which the attendant gives you a key, but are located in the store and get cleaned regularly (well, at least a lot of them are).  Additionally, I have wasted years of work travel in Business Class, dressed like a teenager, eschewing the typical business traveler uniform in favor of comfort.   Looking like a pulled together traveler has its benefits, like not being told by airport workers "Umm this is the Business Class line you know" and maybe even catching the eye of a handsome stranger also in transit.

The Best Things I Ate This Week - The Canadian Edition

November 6 to 13:

• Fattoush Salad @ La Luna - Family bonding over a Lebanese feast.  I have dreams of this salad that I have eaten since I was a kid at our favorite restaurant that is owned by a patient of my dad.  I even had my sixteenth birthday party at their old location and they served all my traditional Lebanese favorites as well as chicken fingers and fries for the picky eaters.  The salad itself is a mix of lettuce, cauliflower, green peppers, onion and radish with a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, oregano and sumac and topped with crunchy pieces of pita bread.  Every bite makes me happy and yet a little sad that I only get my favorite salad the couple times a year I get home.  My dad called ahead and in addition to the salad they prepared a huge spread of hummos, baba ghanouge, kebbeh, falafel, tomato and cauliflower, sauteed mushrooms, rice, beeftek and shish tawook (though no meat for me) and some homemade baklava for dessert.  Needless to say, there were a lot of leftovers.

• Poutine @ Swiss Chalet - Lunching and wack-o watching with my brother in Downtown Hamilton.  I love poutine and I love the dipping sauce at Swiss Chalet, which is like my crack (I stock up on pouches of the sauce mix), so the combination of the two is absolutely brilliant!  Once I took some of my American coworkers to a Swiss Chalet and they didn't go nearly as crazy for it as I had hoped.  Oh Swiss Chalet you will always be close to my heart nourishing me when my mother didn't feel like cooking and several nights while working late in public accounting.  To round out my meal, I had a garden salad with Chalet dressing, which is pretty much like Catalina dressing only better!

• Caramel Chocolate Pecan Cookie @ Tim Horton's - Snack and run.  To fuel my baby tour of Ontario and to satisfy a long overdue craving, I stopped at Tim Horton's for this cookie and a large cup of the famous coffee.  Although NYC now has several Timmy's locations, it will never taste as good as it does at home.  Other random things I crave that I can't get here?  Ketchup and all-dressed flavored chips, fuzzy peach and big foot candies, President's Choice vegetable lasagna and the white cheddar macaroni and cheese in a box, coffee at the Second Cup, Lick's veggie burgers, Indian food from Gate of India, Cave Springs wine (gamay noir) and dim sum (it's just better in TO).  I didn't satisfy all these cravings (that would be just wrong) but will need to visit soon to get a couple more of these things in!

Watch What You Eat

I met up with my friend Beaner in Etobicoke, Ontario at Jack Astor's for lunch, one of our favorite chain restaurants in suburbia and a frequent meeting spot for drinks years ago.  I ordered the Jack's Veggie burger which is a soy burger piled with cheddar cheese, sauteed mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, barbecue sauce and chipotle mayo.  It looked delicious:

I picked up the burger and got ready to take a bite, when something caught my eye.  It didn't resemble food so I looked a little closer:

Now I realize that the dude that is in the kitchen slicing the tomatoes is likely not the sharpest knife in the drawer but come on!  Did I send it back?  Nope.  I just sliced off the offending tomato sticker and unwashed skin beneath and ate the damn thing.

Tea And Sympathy

On Tuesday night, I met up with Stamps and Giggles at Go Japanese Restaurant in "Little Tokyo" which is centered around St. Marks Place in the East Village.  The place definitely qualifies as a hole-in-the-wall, with its scratched tables, rickety chairs and most of the menu plastered all over the wall - but it's cheap, delicious and I can dress like a bum without judgment.  It's also one of those few Japanese restaurants that makes me want to stray from my beloved sushi and order the hot dishes.  Me and Stamps arrived first and got a table, followed by Giggles looking rather stressed.  "What's wrong?" I asked to which she responded by rambling incoherently about work, but not really answering why she appeared so un-Giggles.  Stamps, frustrated by the lack of an answer, turned to me and said abruptly "So when do you leave for China?" referring to my Shanghai work trip at the end of the month!

After surveying the menu and the various dishes scrawled in colored markers on white 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper in both English and Japanese, we settled on a couple of old favorites -  the omusoba (stir-fried yakisoba noodles wrapped in an omelette) and the black cod with miso.  We also ordered the steamed kabocha squash, tofu and unagi cooked in egg, okonomiyaki (savoury pancake with pork and veggies) and spare ribs (an impulse add-on for Giggles, who was craving meat).  All the food was tasty with the exception of the okonomiyaki, which was a bit heavy after having consumed the omusoba according to Stamps and Giggles.  Giggles did decompress a little as she ate and even perked up when I suggested cupcakes for dessert.  With the usual favorite cupcake spots too far away (mmm Cupcake Cafe) we decided to try a place across the street called Spot, an Asian-inspired dessert tapas bar.

We sipped cups of tea and sampled the mocha maldon salt caramel and vanilla caramel vietnamese coffee cupcakes (bit dry, but good buttercream), with a chocolate mint cookie thrown in for good measure.

Giggles spoke a little more about her day and Stamps's ear was a bit more open with the introduction of chocolate.  Soon Giggles managed to abandon some of the negativity of the day and happily dreamed aloud about selling pad thai off a food truck.  We never really found out what plagued her that night, but sometimes a good meal, a bit of sugar and just being with friends is enough to make it all seem better.

NYC Marathon 2010

It's marathon day in NYC and the city was abuzz with over 42,000 runners from around the globe, who have come prepared to run through all five boroughs (Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Manhattan), a feat that would be exhausting enough by subway.  Even that Chilean miner who was trapped for 69 days and ran up to 6 miles a day in work boots to keep his sanity until his rescue, was here to conquer the streets of this city.  I headed to the Upper East Side to meet Frenchie, to cheer on OCD who was running in her first marathon.  As I approached 1st Ave, the runners came into view and I could hear the yells of encouragement from the mass of spectators.  I waded through the crowd at the corner of 78th and 1st and finally managed to spot the back of Mr. OCD's head and then Frenchie soon after, who was waving a Canadian flag.

Both of them had downloaded the runner tracking application on their iPhones, however the network was flooded and the app was slow or just not very accurate.  Based on the last update, we figured OCD should be passing us (mile 17) around 1:30 to 2:00 pm.  We stood screaming out at runners who had emblazoned their names or nationalities on their dri-fit shirts, or to those sporting bizarre costumes.  "Allez la France!" Frenchie called out to her people.  We saw a man in a chicken suit, one in a full rubber rhino costume and even Jared the Subway guy and his large entourage run by - but still no OCD!   At some point, Bubbles stumbled out of the bar on the corner to join us, slightly tipsy from the four bloody mary drinks she had consumed.  "I met the cuuutest guy" she gushed, while chomping on a chicken wrap, probably trying to sop up some of the alcohol in her stomach.  We waited and waited and the pace of the runners became noticeably slower with so many looking painfully exhausted as they ambled along the route, littered in water cups and damp sponges.  The sleek, light footed participants were long gone and replaced by middle-aged men with skinny legs and beer bellies, older ladies in running skirts and people who honestly looked like they fell off their couch and decided to run a marathon - the crowd clapped and urged them on.  I loved seeing the look of excitement on a runner's face, the moment they spotted their personal cheering section and would skip excitedly towards them for words of motivation that would miraculously provide a second wind.  The woman beside us shrieked out in rapid Spanish when she saw her man, wearing a shirt with the Peruvian flag.  He came over and planted one hell of a kiss on her - adorable.  Guessing that OCD could not be part of this pack and she had passed, Bubbles returned to the bar and the rest of us walked towards Central Park, stopping briefly to recharge at a Starbucks.  "We must have been distracted by the Subway guy" mused Mr. OCD, trying to figure out how we missed our girl.

Once in Central Park, we situated ourselves along the race route around two miles from the finish line.  It was even more fun here as it was less crowded and there were no barricades.  Frenchie, our little impostor, waved the Canadian flag and howled at the Canadian runners who would reward her with a smile, a holler back or a high five.  Of course her yells of "Allez la France" were a bit louder with one of her countrymen hilariously responding "La France est fatiguee!" ("France is tired!").  We saw the chicken, the rhino, Jared and then all of a sudden - it was OCD!  We cheered wildly, yelling out her name!  She smiled and scampered along, looking strong and every bit an athlete in her technical running gear.  She slowed down as she neared us and declared "I am never doing this again!"

Happy that we had actually seen OCD on the course, we walked to the exit to meet up with her after she finished.  We also managed to pick up Bubbles on the way, who appeared to have sobered up a little.  We passed hoards of finishers, wrapped tightly in silver heatsheet blankets, medals around their necks, some limping in pain and we offered our congratulations.  When we met up with OCD, she described how hard it was and how she hit a wall after mile 12 and thought she would cry but regained her will at mile 20.  Near the end she had started to walk, but an older man, who had been tracking to her pace the entire race encouraged her to run on and she gained more speed in the last half mile.  She also explained that she had to stop three times to use the port-o-potties and all three times there was no antibacterial hand gel!  I dug through my purse and handed her a bottle of Purel which she gratefully accepted.  We had a celebratory post-run dinner in K-town followed by Pinkberry, but what OCD craved most was - Tropicana orange juice.  

We are awfully proud of OCD and very much inspired by her accomplishment and really the accomplishments of all those average joes that fell off the couch, trained hard and ran.  It was a great day and demonstrated several things - that people are amazing, NYC is amazing and that even those seemingly impossible goals are attainable with hard work, perseverance and the support of your loved ones.  And the support of roughly 2.5 million complete strangers can help too! 

The Best Things I Ate This Week

October 31 to November 6:

• Blue Benedict @ Blue Ribbon Bakery - Sunday brunch comfort food and a rehashing of a particularly eventful Halloween weekend with Stamps.  The poached eggs atop tomato, jarlsberg and toasted challah minus the serrano ham and hollandaise on the side - totally worth the almost half hour wait .  I saw a woman walk by with a delicious looking Bloody Mary, generously specked with horseradish and I could not resist.  I ordered it virgin and extra spicy and it was perfection.  Lessons from Stamps during brunch - if you don't like attention, do not dress up as Snookie and if you jokingly text a dude that you want to "smush" he will likely take it seriously.

• Veggie Burger @ Stand Burger - Weeknight shoe shopping, burgers and work-related b**chfest with Giggles.  My new favorite grain-based veggie burger, although I generally prefer a soy based patty.  It's this messy but yummy creation composed of a quinoa, mushroom, zucchini and parmesan patty, stacked with lettuce, tomato, onion marmalade and homemade ketchup on a soft brioche bun.  I added white cheddar cheese.  There were a couple crunchy, deep-fried pickle slices on the side (Snookie would approve).  I washed this down with a diet coke, my usual burger and fries and greasy food accompaniment.  Me and Giggles also shared a side of sweet potato fries, as well as our disdain for "that guy" who always recaps what you just said and then makes it seem like it was his idea in the first place, leaving you thinking "What the f**k just happened?"

• Peanut Butter, English Muffin @ My Place - Post-gym dinner and channel surfing.  Too hungry to really cook something, I pulled sprouted grain english muffin out of my freezer, split it,  toasted it and slathered each half with gooey, organic peanut butter from Trader Joe's.  Peanut butter makes everything better - well, almost everything.  I also had some green tea and two bananas just the way I like them - slightly green and completely speckle free.  I ate at my dining table (i.e. my coffee table), sitting on the edge of my couch in comfy pajama pants with my wet hair still twisted up in a towel.  I was watching Real Housewives of Beverley Hills reruns on Bravo - love those crazy b**ches!