Maru

Last Friday, the NY nuts went to check out a couple of cool places in New York. It's the first meeting we had with some of the nuts since we visited the Singapore chapter. Zambolism, Springlily and other new and old friends we know turned up. After doing some research over the Internet, we settled on Maru. The pictures of the place seem impressive and we went with much anticipation.

The place was ultra cool. Check out the décor
















Best of all drinks were 25% off during happy hours, 7 days a week. Even though we ordered a ton of food which all tasted pretty good, check only came up to $30 per person. It was awesome. The only letdown was the missing Tao Chiam (who was working as usual), Natto (who had better plans), and Quierotango (who was out of town). We will go back soon with the full nuts gang to check out the karaoke upstairs.

Funniest of them all?

Over-Heard on a sub-way ride:
Don't subways need to stop get gas? How come they can run round and round forever?
(Question is not from a 6 year old kid)

Over-Cake and milkshake on an icy winter night:
Young Friend: I keep getting calls on my cell that are not meant for me.
Me: Think your number is recycled.
Young Friend: Recycled? I thought everyone gets one number and the number never runs out?
Me: What?!? If they do not recycle, you must increase the number of digits.
Young Friend: (Looks Confused)

Over-Drinks in K-town
Female Friend: My laptop broke and I keep getting an error message. I decided to shake it to see if it would become better. Instead, I got a new error message. My friend who works in IT told me I should not have done that. Worried, I shook it in a different direction to correct it.

Me: At the risk of losing two friends, I decided to share the lighter moments of life in the Big Apple. The last story reminds me of a Dilbert strip I read. Dilbert's boss could not re-boot his laptop and asked Dilbert for help. He was told to shake it. Satisfied, the boss left. Dilbert then whispered to his co-worker: "It seems the boss is not aware that we have given him an etch-a-sketch." Feel free to share which story you think is the funniest and other funny encounters.

2 bowls of ramen any1?

Last week, I had an enormous craving for a bowl of hot steaming ramen. It could be the -12C weather or just missing my trip to Tokyo. My business trip to Tokyo should be more accurately termed my semi-annual pilgrimage to the shrine of food. After doing all the research, I decided to visit this place raved by New York Times and many others - Momofuku Noodle Bar. Having heard that the wait could be as long as an hour, I rushed there after my facial hoping to beat the lines. Since I was very early, there was only one other person in this tiny establishment. I ordered the signature dish which is supposed to be this mouth- watering Berkshire fatty pork ramen. What a let-down! The noodles were soggy and the soup was obviously just some kelp soup. There is no taste of pork bone in it at all. A poached egg was served instead of the nice hard-boiled egg with the runny yolk. The other signature dish is fatty pork in a steamed bun that sells for $9. It is just our Chinese fatty pork buns. Kong ba bao. Shocking! This chef was nominated as the rising star in the James Beard awards. I am all for creative new chefs but I don't think that should be at the expense of the food. Thankfully, he did not win. I was only able to swallow 2 mouthfuls and left to get a real bowl of ramen somewhere else.

The lesson learnt here is not to trust an angmo's opinion on Asian food. This is the second Asian place I have been where the hype outweighs the quality of the food. In Momofuku, the waiters and the "chefs" at the counter were too busy trying to look cool to care that I did not touch my food.

Ah, I miss the feast in Tokyo.

IPodisation

It's amazing how a small little gadget like the iPod has become a living lifestyle statement. I went to see a new development last week and one of the features that the developer is promoting includes an in-wall iPort port wired to kitchen and bathroom ceiling speakers. I am not sure whether this trend is restricted to America or other countries are started to feel the need to include an iPod port. I also wonder about the longevity of such a feature. I cannot imagine 50 years down the road, the next person who wants to buy this development, will they see this as a plus point....

Bad service galore

After my trip to Asia, I thought my spell of encounters with bad service was behind me. No such luck. I went to take my blood test yesterday and the person working there was out for a lunch break. It was 4pm. How long can lunch be? Apparently she has not been back for a while as her co-worker was complaining loudly about it the whole time I was waiting. Rather than helping out with the patients, co-worker felt that time was more effectively used complaining and berating the person when she returned. All this took about an hour of my time. The person who returned then tried to make me leave as she claimed I would have a long wait. She spoke to me loudly in Mandarin asking me to come another day. Good thing I was well enough to say no, very loudly in English. She probably thought I was some FOTB she can bully. Anyway, she apologized later for making me wait.

One happy note, it was snowing while I was waiting and the flakes are still beautiful even viewed from a doctor's office. It is -12C in NYC now. (10am)