over the past year I dawned on me that I've focused so much on cooking non-asian food that, well quite frankly, I miss it!
I cooked up a pot of taro with fresh ginger and chicken, baby bok choy with sliced mushrooms and a dash of sesame oil and garlic ... that was so damn good. Part of why I was cooking so much non-asian food was because I felt it was necessary for me to really have a round view on cooking. I know I can cook chinese food I grew up cooking this stuff. Since i was a little kid I would always be in the kitchen helping my mom prepare all the food and watching her and at big family dinners all the aunts and my grandma make amazing food.
I'm becoming too american perhaps in trying to cook traditional american food. I do make a really solid roast tenderloin though. Back to my roots and chinatown!
Food review: Shangri-la - Tibetan food cart in Jackson Heights (74th Street and B-way stop on the 7 train) is DAMN good. Momos - meat dumplings made fresh for us while we waited around were amazing.
Try it...it's worth the trip into Jackson Heights.
It's wonderful how music can truly capture how you feel, your moments in life - you know how you hear that one song that'll just bring you back to say the summer of 1999 your last summer before college, or your late nights with friends over midnight runs to Wegmans - it's also great how it sums up exactly what you want to say sometimes
It's nothing but time and a face that you lose I chose to feel it and you couldn't choose I'll write you a postcard I'll send you the news From a house down the road from real love…
Live through this, and you won't look back…
There's one thing I want to say, so I'll be brave You were what I wanted I gave what I gave I'm not sorry I met you I'm not sorry it's over I'm not sorry there's nothing to say
The Stars "Your Ex-Lover is Dead"
but hey! Look Fall came and went... sorry there's no music interlude to go with it...but it's been a great couple of weeks kicking of winter...it looks quite as promising
Our first day was basically 24 hours of flying to get to our first destination. From JFK to Heathrow to Istanbul to Bodrum (southern coastal city on the waters)
First two days spent Bodrum\Gumbet...where we encountered south beach\cancun like bars and people (except instead of 20-something's it was mostly families and 70 year old British women)...apparently the high season isn't until July and August which suited us just fine , the sight of 5-6 Turkish men dancing in fairly empty bars to backstreet boy moves to draw customers was not what we expected. Two days in Bodrum\Gumbet was definitely enough and got us energized after work\finishing school to put us in vacation mode.
Our third day in we bused over to Marmaris (which is an amazing port city) where we commenced our 3 day Blue Voyage on a gulet (chartered boat) . The rest of the travelers we sailed with consisted of two other Americans and 10 ozzies. It was great to on the deck at night and to hop from cove to cove during the day. The crew consisted of a captain, skipper and cook. It was a rough life of waking up by sunrise every morning and having bfast prepared for you, swimming in crystal clear blue waters and sleeping on the deck as we moved from island to island.
Our captain spoke no English, but, was amazing in that he steered, ported, basically did everything and was everywhere all at once. He allowed us to have a very comfortable and awesome time, our skipper did not impress us too much, seemed like he just steered every so often and mostly sat around smoking up until we ported on our last day and maneuvered the boat very professionally between two other boats, Our cook, Aşhmet, was our translator and definitely an amazing cook, humored us all by calling himself Rocky Balboa and made amazing food every meal. Oddly enough, none of the crew knew how to swim! I would definitely recommend doing a Blue Voyage to anyone else who visits Turkey - it was an amazing experience to get to know so many people, we were fortunate to have had so many English speaking companions .
We ported on Saturday in Feıthıye, and very luckily found a direct bus to Cappadocia where we would spend a day and a half. It was a 15 hour bus ride overnight to go inland, we thought for sure we would have to transfer to multiple cities and buses. The buses are every very reliable here as the major mode of transportation for Turks.
We arrived at 5am in Cappadocıa waking up our hotel manager and sleeping in the lobby till 8am when we could grab bfast and check in. We immediately booked a tour since Cappadocıa is a region not just a city (we're currently staying in Goreme in a Cave Hotel - Pasha Han). Our tour brought us to many cave churches, a hike through a gorge , visit to Pigeon Valley.
By Monday we flew out to Istanbul (short flight) where we spent the rest of our week viewing the very beautiful Hagia Sofia/Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace, bargaining in the Grand Bazaar, going to the Turkish Baths, sailing up the Bosphorus, visiting the Princes Islands (their version of the Hamptons), and generally roaming the streets of Istanbul. Most interesting and lively spot in Istanbul is Taksim square - their equivalent of the e.village and lower east side. Very active live music and jazz scene, lots of writers and cafes and bars. While Istanbul is not up to par with the more modern day European cities, it's gaining momentum though.
Thanks NY Guide... even I didn't know this about chinatown. Foot massage anyone?
Getting a Massage How do you choose from among the dozens of FOOT BACK RUB! basement entrances? Aim for 70 cents a minute. Skip places that charge more than $1 a minute unless you really crave a door that closes and a table longer than five feet eight.
* By Arianne Cohen
The Parlor The Layout What Happens Details Best Deal Melanie's Body and Foot Massage Two tiny rooms inside Tinny Beauty School. Ignore the scary machines and bevy of heavily made-up women outside. Helen works wonders with a steamed towel, and her Thai foot massage ends with an awe-inspiring knee rub. 75 cents a minute, 126 Lafayette St., nr. Canal St., second fl. 917-680-7843. Best Facial Katy's Face Center Cluttered, well-equipped four-room spa. Katy, a 41-year-old industrious Hong Konger, makes you fill out a very detailed questionnaire. Her face massage is exquisite. $1 a minute, 184 Mott St., nr. Kenmare St.; 212-226-3278. Best Walkin Wu Lim Services Cavernous rooms of four to fourteen beds filled with naked women draped with towels. Not for the modest. The masseurs talk to each other constantly, but you get sixteen minutes of invigorating Chi Quong. Men might prefer 179 Grand, where the clientele is more male. 70 cents a minute 145 Grand St., nr. Lafayette St.; 212-925-1276; 179 Grand St., nr. Baxter St.; 212-334-3909.
I have one criteria (seriously) for living somewhere. It has to have an awesome subway system. And I've finally found a list (pretty damn good one too, thanks Virgin) that pulls together the top 11 mass transit systems in the world.
Paris and London are looking pretty damn good. Madrid (?)
Hong Kong - NOT. Yes it's clean, the octopus is kinda cool and easy to use. The fare is also based on distance which can be pretty good, considering the furthest stops will cost you at most $2 USD. But there's no unlimited pass, so those fares add up and the stops are not that close to each other. It relies heavily on the buses
Tokyo - Boo, too crowded. Period. From what I've heard it's like my Q train commute but worse with men groping me. nah.
1. London, England
The London Underground is Europe's largest metro subway system and is the world's oldest underground system (it was inaugurated in 1863). It covers 253 miles of track and transports 976 million people yearly. The Underground is also connected to a variety of rail services to London's surrounding areas (including the Eurostar to Paris). Among these services is the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), a popular driverless light rail extension, which offers many scenic views of the Thames river and surrounding areas.
Highlights: Cushioned seats. LED time displays hanging from the ceiling in stations indicate the number of minutes you need to wait before the next train. Eclectic station artwork (such as this January 1st photograph of the Gloucester Road station). Oyster cards allow you to touch against a subway turnstile and go -- and you can pay as you ride.
[Photo montage of a typical, yet scenic, commute on the London tube stystem.]
2. Paris, France
The Paris subway system is the second oldest in the world (the initial system was completed in 1900) and aids roughly 1.365 billion people with their daily commutes. Running over 133.7 miles of track and stopping at 380 stations, it has a great amount of coverage throughout the city.
Highlights: Excellent coverage: every building in the city is within 500 meters (1600 feet) of a subway station. Many stations were designed with the distinctive unique art noveau style. Modest fares.
[Family video of Paris views of Paris and subway coverage.]
3. Moscow, Russia
The Moscow subway system has the biggest ridership of all metro systems throughout the world, with 3.2 billion riders annually traveling on 12 subway lines to 172 stations. In total, the Moscow Metro covers approximately 178 miles. On an average weekday, the subway itself carries about 8.2 million passengers. While most of the Moscow trains run underground, some lines cross bridges and provide scenic views of the Moskva River and the Yauza River.
Highlights: Ornate architecture (at least 44 of these stations are rated as architectural sights). The system has many trains that stop frequently (trains stop at stations approximately every 90 seconds during peak hours). Fastest worldwide system (120km/h or 75mph).
[Informational video about the Moscow subway system, with English subtitles]
4. Madrid, Spain
The Madrid Metro is the second largest underground system in Europe and the sixth largest system in the world. It has 141.7 miles of track and an additional 27.5 miles are expected to be completed by the end of this year. The Madrid Metro is the densest metro network in the world.
Highlights: Very clean and is implementing an ecologic cleaning system. Fast rides. Affordable fares. Great progress in system expansion (47 miles of new subway lines were built between 1999 and 2003). Modern stations.
The Tokyo subway system carries approximately 2.8 billion people per year to 282 subway stations. In addition to underground subways, the Tokyo transit system consists of the Toden Arakawa light rail line and the Ueno Zoo Monorail.
Highlights: Extremely clean. Trains are on time. The seats are heated. Trains always stop in the same place alongside markers. Subway stops are announced in both Japanese and English. Modern system. The system has underground malls and customer amenities.
The Seoul Metropolitan Subway is one of the most heavily used subway systems in the world with more than 8 million daily trips. It is also one of the biggest subway stations worldwide, running 179.4 miles in length. The trains mostly run underground, but 30% of the system is above ground.
Highlights: Beautiful architecture. Growth of the system has been incredible over the past few years. Utilizes T-money, a prepaid transportation card for transport throughout the city.
[A view of a commute as a train travels from one station to another in Seoul.]
7. New York City, USA
The New York City rapid transit system is one of the most extensive public transit systems worldwide. It has grown from 28 stations when it was founded in October of 1904 to 462 stations presently. The subway carries 4.9 million people daily.
Highlights: Offers express services that run on separate tracks from local trains. The MTA is currently testing out LED displays in subway stations to let commuters know when the next train is expected to arrive. 24 hour service. Unique and distinct artwork (mosaics) throughout the system.
The Montreal Metro is a modern system that was inaugurated in 1966. It is a small (37.8 miles reaching 65 stations on four lines) yet unique and modern system that was inspired by the Paris Metro.
Highlights: Diverse, beautiful architecture and unique station art (each station is designed by a different architect). Pleasant riding experience (smooth rides: the trains run on a rubber surface to reduce the screech of train cars). Trains are frequent and fairly comfortable.
The Beijing Subway is a relatively new subway system that opened in 1969 and serves Beijing and the surrounding suburbs. It is currently being expanded upon in a 7.69 billion USD (63.8 billion yuan) project to prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games. The expansion project is expected to bring the current length of the subway station from approximately 71 miles to nearly 300 miles.
Highlights: Fairly easy subway to navigate (especially if you're a foreigner). Cheap fare (3 yen for most trips). Interesting architecture on the newer subway lines. A very ambitious expansion project is in the works.
The Hong Kong subway, also known as the Mass Transit Railway (which translates to "underground railway" in English), was established in 1979. Despite its relatively small size compared (56 miles) to other transit systems, the MTR transports an average of 2.46 million rides per day. The Hong Kong system is based on a British design.
Highlights: Efficient. Frequent service, High-capacity cars. Extremely affordable. Clean and modern system with air-conditioned cars. Uses the Octopus contactless smart card for subway currency, allowing travelers to swipe their card near the turnstile for easy access to train platforms.
The Sao Paulo Metro is the first underground transit system in Brazil. It works alongside a larger company called the Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos (CPTM) and together they cover 187 miles of track and transport approximately 3.7 million people daily.
Highlights: Known as one of the cleanest and safest systems in the world. Affordable fare.
kar·ma kärm n.
Hinduism & Buddhism.: The total effect of a person's actions and conduct during the successive phases of the person's existence, regarded as determining the person's destiny.
