CHECK!

It’s been a month! So sorry for being in hiatus for the past few weeks. As you may have guessed, I’ve been profoundly busy for these couple of days by(1) school work – I really ought to be writing a paper on sustainability and computation of ecological footprints… blah blah (I know right? –my business classes has gotten me so high on these things that I don’t even have time to talk about my personal life); (2) social events that I cannot seem to say no to (some of which are for good causes) and (3) the “lazy bones” syndrome – I can’t seem to shake it off.
So as an attempt to revive my blog (and my blog readers) – here I am again! Draining a few inches off your precious time. I cannot believe May 2011 is down to its last few days and slowly I am creeping into my second month in New York! Can you believe it? I have survived New York! What seemed to be a far-off crazy dream of mine is actually unfolding bit by bit and who would have thought, after barely 2 months, I would still be in it? LOL.
I never had a check list of the top things that make you a true New Yorker; it was only up until I got so excited to be acting like one for the past month. This is nothing relevant really, I just laugh at the fact that I’ve done these things that I never thought I could. So please indulge with me for a bit – or not.
One of my proudest moments in the city would be was when I gave the CORRECT directions to a complete stranger at the subway some few weeks ago.
(1) Make everyone believe that you’re a New Yorker by giving them right directions at the subway – CHECK!
I had the best 5-course dinner in my life at Del Posto! It was an experience I will never forget, heck, I will probably even blog about! Mario Batali and his Italian food was pure… Love.
(2) Eat at one of the most coveted restaurants in the City – CHECK!
 Someone asked me what I think was the best thing about NYC that I can never compare to other cities. I answered: “I love that everyone’s weird in the city, some even flaunt it around like a Channel bag”
(3) Love all people, Black, White and Weird! – CHECK!
 This one, I’d rather not expound upon:
(4) Get hit on by a shirtless (cute) construction guy yelling “Ola, Mama!!! Want some of this? (he was referring to his abs) While walking down 42nd street at 12 midnight. – CHECK!
There are a few dozen more of these that I will publish but right now I just realized I must get to my other writing excursions – the kind I’m actually being graded upon. I really hate to cut this short but I really have to get things done ASAP. And just as promised, this article does not end here. The city and I have so much more to “reveal” and I hope you stay tuned for that one. And on that note, I will leave you with one more:
(5) Smile and stare at the most ridiculously handsome guy on the subway (surprisingly he smiles back!) – CHECK!

;)

My first New York

The other day I celebrated my birthday in New York City; Since America is 12 hours behind, it was actually the 13^th day of April in the Philippines. Appropriately so, the start of my class as well fell on the same date as my birthday. Among other things, April 12 was oddly stimulating on my part. It could have stood on its own. Apart from it being my birthday everything else was, for lack of a better word, EPIC. So I hope you don’t mind if I switch to storytelling:

I walked to Trump Tower to meet up with a classmate. It was a solid 10 blocks from where I was and the cold kept creeping up on me all throughout the walk. Rhanda and I went to look for books at a Barnes and nobles store along 5^th avenue and 46 St. only to find out that they didn’t have it in stock. As advised, we went to check out their other branch all the way down to 18^th street and Broadway – the long walk from 46 street turned out to be worth it! With no luck finding the books, I went on looking for a good map of the city. I stood in line to purchase my map and I saw this woman in front of me holding a different map, which I thought was better than what I had; so I asked her “Excuse me ma’am, Where’d you find your map?”. When she turned around and answered me, I realized I was talking to KATE WINSLET. She answered me with a predominant British accent and pointed to the east side of the store – I of course, was not paying attention to what she was saying and just looked straight at her with an eager stare. Can you blame me? In all fairness, I was very proud of myself for keeping calm about it; there was not even a hint of panic when I answered her back “Thank You very much, have a nice day!” I left the store with excitement and disbelief across my face – I guess I have to get used to things like that in NYC.

We took the subway and walked across Rector Street to our school in 42 Broadway – a block away from Wall Street. Is there any other place that’s more perfect to study business than at the heart of New York’s financial district? Somebody pinch me. The classes at ESE are very interactive and multi-cultural! Just in my classes alone, I have several classmates who are from Italy and Greece, two from Russia, one from Mexico another from Columbia, and one from Indonesia. I feel like I have already explored the world by just being in the same room with these people! LOL. All classes are very challenging as well, all because I am with MBA students. I hope and pray I can keep up.

Royce and Bryan were so nice enough to bring me to a karaoke place in 13^th street for my birthday. I sang about a DOZEN of songs which was mostly the highlight of my evening. And the best part?? They didn’t even let me pay! As you know, Filipinos are accustomed to treating everyone out for their birthday, not the other way around. So it was a very nice way to celebrate my birthday for a change – celebrating it the AMERICAN way. So that’s how my birthday went. Here are some photos you may want to see:

I pass by Time Square every time I walk to Trump Tower

this is right at 5th ave and 56th street.

and Trump Tower, our school office is on the 19th floor.

one of the classrooms in 42 Broadway

my classmates says hi! or should I say, HOLA!

lunch.

so sweet :)

at the karaoke place

and... that's me!

do you want me to blog about something? just send me a message in facebook and we'll work something out :)

Fill you in

11:27 pm, Sunday. April 10 2011.

I just got into Manhattan, at a friend’s place in 50th street; it’s on the 25th floor with a ridiculous view of the city. I can’t believe school is starting this week! Right now though I can only fill you in on what went on for the last two days because I’ve only been here for that long. My flight came from Manila to Hong Kong then from Hong Kong, it’s a 15 hour flight to JFK Airport. When I got to Hong Kong, I had to hit the ground running (literally) because my flight from Manila was delayed (thank you Cathay Pacific) so I had to run down three walkalators to gate 21 to catch my next flight. I was initially planning on making a blog entry as I would have waited in Hong Kong but apparently, my airline did not allow me that much time privilege. Customs and immigration took so long and I was worrying about what they might ask me. But everything went well; they were so nice and didn’t really think of me as a threat to the American border. LOL. Heidi picked me up from the airport which was by the way, a 7 hour drive from where she lives – I am eternally grateful! Come Sunday and a few wrong navigational turns later, we found ourselves at a Free Methodist church in Brooklyn called Living Hope. Everyone was so nice and friendly; I could definitely see myself going there regularly on Sundays.I just have to figure out how to get there from Manhattan.

I didn't expect it to be this cold, I am not complaining though – I kind of like the cold. They did tell me that the weather’s gonna get better as the season progresses to spring and summer. So I will be OK – for spring and summer at least. In the meantime, I will be dating this city like crazy. New york and I will spend every single day together for the next 8 months or so, holding hands, getting around the subway, meeting weird people on the streets until both of us barf from excessive togetherness (LOL, I know right?). And just as a stalker is obsessed with her prey, I will be just as insatiable.

I have a school orientation at 3pm on Monday at Trump Tower, Thankfully it’s only a couple of blocks from where I am staying. I hope I survive it. I will surely blog about it, so you better check on my site every now and then for updates (demanding e noh?).

the view outside the window. nyc at night.

good morning west side!

please keep me in your prayers :)

love,

april

Food City: Dining with Chef Tatung

I have been very excited about this restaurant since the day I discovered it! I instantly urged my food buddies (AL & Robert) to check this one out. They were both equally enticed by how I described Chef Tatung’s private dining experience and we came up with a better idea! We decided to make it more interesting by holding Al’s birthday blow out and my going away treat in the same night and have the whole gang join us! It’s a different turn for us since we usually dine at places within the popular central district (e.g. Greenbelt, Serendra, etc.) – it has only been, just recently that we opt to try the hush-hush places like this for instance. I am going to cut to the chase – first impressions?

the place is tucked around a corner along Matipid street. When I first saw it, I got chills.

the ambiance was very intimate and cozy, perfect for a romantic night out. They seated us alfresco side - just the way we wanted. Our table setting was put together so elegantly with the candle lights and champagne glasses, the works! they could not have been more thoughtful.

one of the most attracting features at Chef Tatung's would be the menu. for only a minimum of PhP500, you get an appetizer, a salad, the main course and (drum role please) a dessert! Very interestingly as well, the menu varies weekly depending on the Chef's mood. So you always get something different every time! That night Chef Tatung was incorporating an Asian flair to our dishes -so oriental!

As we waited, we were served with a delightful basket of freshly made bread by the Chef himself.

staying true to the Asian theme, we all started off enjoying a bowl of warm tom yam kung. The flavors were spot on, it kind of transported me back to Thailand!

Our salad was conveniently packaged by virtue of the Lumpiang Ubod - very Filipino eh? I personally have difficulty eating large servings of Lumpiang Ubod, I couldn't really finish even regular portions of it. This part was a bit of a "humm-hah", nothing out of the ordinary. Well, except maybe for the bits of shrimp I found in each bite.

I had the pan glazed pork chop for the main course, it was very tender and savory. It was comfort in each bite, if I could say so for myself. the combination of the pork and the sauce with the mashed potato on the side was very satisfying, I ate everything on my plate this time. I was probably compensating for the lumpiang ubod. LOL.

the Birthday girl AL went for the fish option, the maya-maya. It was a lovely plate of pasta topped with servings of the maya-maya fish. According to her though, there was nothing special in her plate. As she would put it, it was "OK LANG". For the record, Al is very hard to please when it comes to food - that in itself is a disclaimer for future reference.

my good friend JE tried the Nasi Goreng topped with fried egg served with stuffed chicken leg and pickled vegetables.We were joking him that he just ordered chicksilog (chicken and itlog) at a private dining restaurant. When asked if it was good, he as well said "OK LANG", he liked the stuffed chicken leg but could not say the same with the Nasi goreng . Khryss and Robert said the rice is something they've tasted at a Chinese restaurant, being that both of them are Chinese -I guess you have to have an acquired taste to appreciate it.

the pricy option would be the premium steer midloin grass fed beef steak with balsamic syrup - phew! that was a mouth full. when I grabbed a bite of it from Robert's plate, I thought it was a tad bit too sweet than the pork chops. Robert disagreed, she said the pork was too sweet. Either way, the steak was tender and savory just the way Robert likes it(I still preferred my pork chops over her beef steak).

At long last! DESSERT!! The Chef served us his interpretation of cassava cake. I was expecting a traditional slice on a plate but surely, this was far more exciting. It was really good! everyone was exclaiming, "Ang tamis, SARAAP!". If you know our gang,a dessert never fails to make us swoon. So as long as it's sweet, we're good!

smiley face!

the group with Chef Tatung himself, it was a delightFULL night indeed. Overall, the food was OK and the whole experience was very charming and different. I would say it was a good value for our money, everyone should try a private dining experience like this at least once in their lifetime (or from time to time even!).

The 411 on Chef Tatung's Private Dining:

address: 17 Matipid St., Sikatuna Village, Quezon City

RESERVATION is a must, contact them through: +632 352-6121

Or through facebook, type in: Chef tatung

Japan and all that's left

This is a sample satellite picture of the damage brought about by the tsunami in Japan.

please view the complete article of pictures via this link: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html?ref=asia

I’ve been sitting here organizing my thoughts on which stories to share and blog about. I’ve realized that I’ve not been very sensitive to the real issues commencing around the globe; and neglecting the cloud that’s hovering over Asia, more specifically, JAPAN. It was on March 11, 2011 – my last day at work. I was running around the office (like a chicken with no head) organizing the food my coworkers and myself prepared for everyone in the building – never thought despidida parties could be so stressful! After feeding the hungry savages, I got a chance to check my email. And there on my yahoo page, a frightening headline about the earthquake in Japan and the horrendous tsunami that came after. My ears momentarily deafened the rave inside the office and I could hear my deep breath mouthing the words: “OH NO” in silence. It was difficult; I could hear the people crying for the loss of loved ones, the tsunami tarnishing everything in its path and the sound of despair that comes with it. I was brought back to when “Ondoy” plagued the Philippines without warning; But this – this was far beyond anything like a super typhoon. Nothing could have prepared them for the earthquake, let alone a tsunami!

I am aware that Japan and the Philippines have had their share of divergence in the past. Most Filipinos even tend to dislike the Japanese simply because of how they treated our ancestors. I must say, the darkest and grimmest parts of our history would be the time when the Japanese invaded the land. A lot of deaths took place and not to mention a swarm of suffering and injustice all across the country. And just recently, a video surfaced on the web showing hundreds of Japanese local fishermen slaughtering poor and helpless dolphins by the shore. It was an awful sight to see people butchering each dolphin alongside the whole stretch of sand with which turning the sea into a deep murky red.

However atrocious all these things may seem to be, I cannot and will not put myself to judge their country no matter how harshly they’ve treated ours in the past. There is a lot of opinion going around the web about how the nation (Japan) so rightfully deserves what is happening to them because of the many human (and animal) deaths they’ve caused – I just think that is downright hypocrisy! Our country and even we individually, in one way or another, have caused suffering towards someone or something. Who are we to say that they should suffer because of their sins when we are just as sinful as they are? Are we that blameless to point a finger towards a nation that suffered enough death and hardship?

Come on people, don’t be so thick. Blaming other people won’t do any justice to us, or even to the slaughtered animals. Let the man without sin cast the first stone.

let us all continue to remember Japan in our prayers.

I love Sara B!

Sara Bareilles is one of the (very) few artists nowadays that actually has talent. i was so excited when her follow up single, uncharted, went out! She has an amazing way of writing about things that I wish I could put into writing myself. Her songs are very relatable and at the same time, very unique and fresh - Something that real artists now try so hard to bring about in their songs. I love the effortless flamboyance in everything that she does with her songs. Truly spectacular! What can I say? I’m smitten.

And so are these people:

I am actually on my way out to grab a copy of her album, kaleidoscope heart. you should too!