Yilin continued to uphold her promise of 3 birthday surprises last night when she took me to dinner at The Striphouse. It's not what you're thinking. The Striphouse is a well-known NYC steakhouse that is decorated a bit like a burlesque house: the walls, ceiling, and chairs are all deep red, the lighting is low, there are black and white photos everywhere (mostly of 'manly' men, but a few are of naked women), the wallpaper has nude silhouettes amongst the victorian-floral prints.
I have been wanting to go to this restaurant for a while. I've heard lots of good things about it, but never had the chance to go, nor the money to spend. Well, that's not entirely true. I have had the money to spend, but I usually opt to spend it at Peter Luger's, my favorite restaurant in NYC.
Last night, we had a bibb salad (with bacon!), strip steak, crispy goose-fat fried potato, black truffle creamed spinach, and bittersweet chocolate ice cream for dessert. Yes, and a bottle of red wine, too. It was fantastic.
(Yilin asked, "Why is the potato fried in goose fat? That seems ridiculous." I responded, "Tell me how ridiculous it is after you taste it. I equate it to my bacon fat french fries that I want to make." Sure enough, after it arrived and Yilin tasted it, she understood why it was fried in goose fat.)
I was very happy that Yilin brought me there for my birthday. But let me mention something else which occured that fateful day.
It started off well: I had breakfast with Yilin, and she toasted some banana bread that she made for my birthday. I went to lab and had El Malecon for lunch, with a Guinness.
However, before I left to meet up with Yilin, Hyunmi and Katie stopped by my lab. They had a bag with them. After shouts of "Happy Birthday!" and hugs all around, Hyunmi pulled out a card and handed it to me. It was a funny card, but I won't get into it to much more than to say that it had a very very manly 'woman' on the front.
She then handed me the bag which contained gifts from her, Mike, and Katie. I unwrapped them and was surprised and delighted to see that they bought me Ansel Adams' three part series on photography which is often regarded as required reading for any serious photographer. (The books are: "The Camera", "The Negative", and "The Print".)
I had been eyeing these books for about a year, so naturally I was wondering how they knew that I wanted them. It crossed my mind that perhaps they just went and got these books based on their reputation, and knowing that I have been taking photography more seriously. Then Hyunmi said something interesting.
"Amazon wishlists are great."
Apparently, sometime in February, I had set up an Amazon wishlist and put these books on it. I completely forgot. My only explanation is that I set it up as a reminder to myself of books that I wanted to order. (Of course, it makes me look like an idiot to forget about a reminder...)
Hyunmi, Katie, and Mike must've searched Amazon.com to see if I had a wishlist, which I did, and then read through it to buy me birthday presents. That was very... sneaky. But appreciated.
Can today be better than yesterday? Maybe, maybe not. But I will still give it a chance.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
Fall Foliage Hike 2006
This past weekend Yilin and I joined Mike and Hyunmi and Alex and Sara (our new lab tech and his wife) on a hike in the 'Gunks. It was cool and windy, but actually perfect fall weather for hiking. The leaves were pretty much in peak color (perhaps we were a tad early), so it was very beautiful.
We ended the day with a trip to Bacchus (a New Paltz restaurant) for a beer, which turned into dinner and more beer, followed by hitting Cookies and Cream for an ice cream dessert.
You can view photos here.
Miscellanea: This morning I went to Student Health to get vaccinated. Yilin and I are attending a wedding in Costa Rica in March, and I haven't been vaccinated against anything in years, so I thought it would be wise. For a mere $225 I had the pleasure of becoming a human pin cushion by receiving vaccinations against Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Polio, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Typhoid. I am interested to see how I feel this afternoon. :)
We ended the day with a trip to Bacchus (a New Paltz restaurant) for a beer, which turned into dinner and more beer, followed by hitting Cookies and Cream for an ice cream dessert.
You can view photos here.
Miscellanea: This morning I went to Student Health to get vaccinated. Yilin and I are attending a wedding in Costa Rica in March, and I haven't been vaccinated against anything in years, so I thought it would be wise. For a mere $225 I had the pleasure of becoming a human pin cushion by receiving vaccinations against Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Polio, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Typhoid. I am interested to see how I feel this afternoon. :)
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Domo Arigato Mr. Morimoto
Yilin was feeling a bit bummed for the past two days, so I decided she needed cheering up. We all know the best way to cheer someone up is to surprise them, usually with a scary costume and late at night. (Well, OK, maybe that isn't the best way.) Last night I left lab early, showed up at her place of work 5 minutes before she was to leave, and surprised her. I took her to dinner at a fancy pants restaurant opened by famed iron chef Masaharu Morimoto. The restaurant: the eponymous 'Morimoto'.
We got there at an early enough time to sit at the sushi bar and watch the sushi chefs work their sushi magic. Interestingly, there was some white guy who was a sushi chef. Somehow, being white made us question his credentials ("Yeah, like you know how to make sushi, whitey."), but he seemed to know what he was doing. Also, there was a female sushi chef (Japanese), which I thought was odd because I remember hearing that women are not regarded as highly because they supposedly have warmer hands. (Which I don't believe because I have never met a woman with warm hands.)
The meal was amazing, needless to say. I won't go into specifics other than to say that Yilin's eyes and smile were huge the entire time from sheer ecstasy. (Not the drug, but the joy of eating seafood.) I thought she was the happiest I had seen her in days; until He walked in.
She was staring open-mouthed over my shoulder and squeezed my arms tightly with both hands. She practically shrieked in a school girl voice, "It's Morimoto!" I turned around, and sure enough he stood there in the flesh. He was wearing a medium gray samurai-style kimono with the sleeves tied up around his arms ala Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo. (I missed it, but before I turned around he apparently closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and then began his brief walk around his restaurant.) It was as if he were prepared for battle. A battle worthy of Kitchen Stadium and Iron Chef America, no doubt.
Yilin was beside herself. As he walked past within a foot of us, I kid you not, she waved her hands in circles in front of her, wafting his smell up to her nose, and then she inhaled deeply. She was completely smitten. As I said, I kid you not. I could never make up anything that ridiculous.
I was then privy to the extent of her fanaticism: she told me that he was like a rockstar to her, and that she was torn between Morimoto and Mario Batali as to whom she loved the most. She then told me that they were numbers 1 and 2, and that I was number 3. (Well, at least I rank higher than Bobby Flay, the other male chef on Iron Chef America.)
And so, Yilin was once more her happy smiling self, in love with life and everything around her. It only took one good meal to restore her to her former condition. One good and expensive meal, that is. I hope she doesn't become bummed out too often once we are married. ;)
We got there at an early enough time to sit at the sushi bar and watch the sushi chefs work their sushi magic. Interestingly, there was some white guy who was a sushi chef. Somehow, being white made us question his credentials ("Yeah, like you know how to make sushi, whitey."), but he seemed to know what he was doing. Also, there was a female sushi chef (Japanese), which I thought was odd because I remember hearing that women are not regarded as highly because they supposedly have warmer hands. (Which I don't believe because I have never met a woman with warm hands.)
The meal was amazing, needless to say. I won't go into specifics other than to say that Yilin's eyes and smile were huge the entire time from sheer ecstasy. (Not the drug, but the joy of eating seafood.) I thought she was the happiest I had seen her in days; until He walked in.
She was staring open-mouthed over my shoulder and squeezed my arms tightly with both hands. She practically shrieked in a school girl voice, "It's Morimoto!" I turned around, and sure enough he stood there in the flesh. He was wearing a medium gray samurai-style kimono with the sleeves tied up around his arms ala Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo. (I missed it, but before I turned around he apparently closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and then began his brief walk around his restaurant.) It was as if he were prepared for battle. A battle worthy of Kitchen Stadium and Iron Chef America, no doubt.
Yilin was beside herself. As he walked past within a foot of us, I kid you not, she waved her hands in circles in front of her, wafting his smell up to her nose, and then she inhaled deeply. She was completely smitten. As I said, I kid you not. I could never make up anything that ridiculous.
I was then privy to the extent of her fanaticism: she told me that he was like a rockstar to her, and that she was torn between Morimoto and Mario Batali as to whom she loved the most. She then told me that they were numbers 1 and 2, and that I was number 3. (Well, at least I rank higher than Bobby Flay, the other male chef on Iron Chef America.)
And so, Yilin was once more her happy smiling self, in love with life and everything around her. It only took one good meal to restore her to her former condition. One good and expensive meal, that is. I hope she doesn't become bummed out too often once we are married. ;)
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Birthday surprise the first
Yesterday I told you that Yilin had a birthday surprise for me. Well, she was very sneaky. (No, she wasn't so sneaky as to not actually have a surprise; there was one.) Yesterday afternoon she emailed me and told me to meet her at a particular restaurant. I was almost there when she called and said that she was actually across the street from me. She then walked toward me and told me that we weren't really going to that restaurant; there were other plans.
She handed me an envelope, I opened it, and inside were two tickets to "Spamalot"! Now, I usually dislike musicals, but how could anyone possibly dislike anything by Monty Python? Especially when it is a "rip-off" of "The Holy Grail"? So we ate a quick dinner at a nearby pizza place (John's Pizzeria, I think; Hyunmi first brought me there). Then we dashed over to the theater to sit in pretty much the best seats: first row of the Mezzanine (first balcony), slightly to the left of center. Amazing seats, really.
As for "Spamalot": hilarious. Absolutely non-stop funny. Sure, they recycle some bits from the movie, but there is a bunch of new stuff as well. They also throw in one of their most popular songs, which was featured in "The Life of Brian". (I won't tell you which one; you'll have to see the show.)
I don't think I can ever go see another musical, as no other musical could ever possibly be as good. Ever. Even the program is funny: there is a fake "About the Cast" section that could easily be confused for the real thing except upon reading it. (It's long, too.)
That was the best birthday present I have gotten so far. (Yes, I realize it is the only one I have gotten so far, unless you count my half of the lamp.) Therefore, the gauntlet has been thrown, the high mark made, and the standard set: everyone reading this will have a tough time topping that birthday present. But I have faith in you; I know you can do better. I challenge you to best that gift.
She handed me an envelope, I opened it, and inside were two tickets to "Spamalot"! Now, I usually dislike musicals, but how could anyone possibly dislike anything by Monty Python? Especially when it is a "rip-off" of "The Holy Grail"? So we ate a quick dinner at a nearby pizza place (John's Pizzeria, I think; Hyunmi first brought me there). Then we dashed over to the theater to sit in pretty much the best seats: first row of the Mezzanine (first balcony), slightly to the left of center. Amazing seats, really.
As for "Spamalot": hilarious. Absolutely non-stop funny. Sure, they recycle some bits from the movie, but there is a bunch of new stuff as well. They also throw in one of their most popular songs, which was featured in "The Life of Brian". (I won't tell you which one; you'll have to see the show.)
I don't think I can ever go see another musical, as no other musical could ever possibly be as good. Ever. Even the program is funny: there is a fake "About the Cast" section that could easily be confused for the real thing except upon reading it. (It's long, too.)
That was the best birthday present I have gotten so far. (Yes, I realize it is the only one I have gotten so far, unless you count my half of the lamp.) Therefore, the gauntlet has been thrown, the high mark made, and the standard set: everyone reading this will have a tough time topping that birthday present. But I have faith in you; I know you can do better. I challenge you to best that gift.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Canadian Thanksgiving
Yilin and I drove up to Montreal this past weekend not only for Thanksgiving (Canada holds it the Sunday of our Columbus Day weekend), but also for the Moon Festival, and because her aunt and uncle were in town.
Driving to and from wasn't too bad; we made decent time and traffic was ok. New Jersey is the worst place to ever drive and I am sorry to say, but it is my least favorite state thus far. I suppose it is possible that I could dislike another state more, as I have only really been to 15 for an appreciable amount of time. That leaves 35 states that have the potential to be worse than New Jersey, in my opinion. But I digress.
Saturday we met up with the reverend who will be marrying us. We had a nice conversation, and he recommended a book on married life. (We will be buying and reading that in the near future.) He's a great guy, and didn't make us feel awkward or uncomfortable at all. I mention that because I have heard some horror stories from friends about meeting with the priest/reverend/minister beforehand...
Afterward we all had a nice dinner which Yilin, Siska (Yilin's mom), and Yen-I (Yilin's brother) prepared.
Sunday we went to visit some friends of my future in-laws for another great meal. They have a cottage on a lake, so we got to canoe for a bit and relax by the water. All-in-all a good day and a great way to finish a fun weekend.
Tonight Yilin has some sort of birthday surprise for me, even though my birthday is more than 2 weeks away. It seems very mysterious...
Driving to and from wasn't too bad; we made decent time and traffic was ok. New Jersey is the worst place to ever drive and I am sorry to say, but it is my least favorite state thus far. I suppose it is possible that I could dislike another state more, as I have only really been to 15 for an appreciable amount of time. That leaves 35 states that have the potential to be worse than New Jersey, in my opinion. But I digress.
Saturday we met up with the reverend who will be marrying us. We had a nice conversation, and he recommended a book on married life. (We will be buying and reading that in the near future.) He's a great guy, and didn't make us feel awkward or uncomfortable at all. I mention that because I have heard some horror stories from friends about meeting with the priest/reverend/minister beforehand...
Afterward we all had a nice dinner which Yilin, Siska (Yilin's mom), and Yen-I (Yilin's brother) prepared.
Sunday we went to visit some friends of my future in-laws for another great meal. They have a cottage on a lake, so we got to canoe for a bit and relax by the water. All-in-all a good day and a great way to finish a fun weekend.
Tonight Yilin has some sort of birthday surprise for me, even though my birthday is more than 2 weeks away. It seems very mysterious...
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