Mike really wanted to go see some big trees so we packed a lunch and drove a few hours up island until we hit MacMillan Provincial Park. The easy trails were filled with enormous ancient trees! We took our time exploring these old giants... absolutely amazing!!! The park is famous for Cathedral Grove, a patch of oversized old growth trees that are so tall they create the effect of being in a gothic cathedral. We had so much fun the whole time in awe of such large growth.
The weekend after we arrived back from NYC (we'll get back to those posts later) our friends from Korea, Hye Jung and Mike came for a visit. We spent the whole day in and around the harbour. First we went to the James Bay Market and the Fisherman's Wharf, Alissa's favourite. We enjoyed admiring the unique houseboats, watching the harbour seals and eating some famous fish and chips at Barb's Fish & Chips.
Later we made our way to Canoe Club for some drinks, and then walked around the harbour to Spinnakers for dinner. It was cool outside but we still managed to have fun. We made sure Hye Jung kept warm by chasing her with bugs.
We woke up on this beautiful hot, sunny day, ate our daily breakfast of bakery fresh muffins, croissants, and bagels and took the metro to City Hall. With the weather so nice we couldn’t resist a little stroll across the historic Brooklyn Bridge- the first steel wire suspension bridge in the world. Neither of us was particularly excited about coming here but did because of a strong recommendation by Rick & Barb. When we got there and started to take in the web of cables and clear Manhattan views we really, really feel in love with it.
Afterwards, we went around a few blocks to the South Street Seaport. The appetite from the walk demanded drought beer and hot dogs from a street stand and so we gave in, and ate them on the dock in the warm sun. The atmosphere on the wharf was a great a mix of business men on lunch breaks, tourists, and some families. We did some shopping in the old brick buildings of the Seaport for a while then returned home.
At home we ate dinner and had a few beers. Matt got a bit tired but Alissa insisted that we got out at least for one drink. We decided to go to Dos Caminos mainly because of location right on the pizza slice intersection of 14th , Greenwich and Hudson- the entrance into the party hungry Friday nighter’s favourite- Meatpacking District.
We sipped on our drinks at our outside table watching the drunken spectacle unfold around us… ahh …. New York.
We woke early in hope to get wait list tickets to The View. Alissa‘s favourite actress Gwyneth Paltrow was being taping on the show that day so this was a great opportunity. After going down to the ABC Studio and waiting in line for three hours we were given a dilemma: Because we were 6-9th in line we were guaranteed to see the first taping (with guest Hulk Hogan) or we could be at the very front of the line for the second taping (with guest Gwyneth Paltrow) but were not guaranteed to get in.
We put it all on the line for Gwyneth Paltrow, after all she was the reason we went to try to get tickets in the first place. We had about 2 ½ hours to kill before the second taping and were guaranteed our spot in line. We decided to snoop around the lower section of the Upper West Side. We went through the small farmers market in Lincoln Square and some box store shops around the neighbourhood in the shadows of famous apartment buildings that house New York's famous. It was cool to think that we were walking the same streets where the real life events from the famous musical The West Side Story.
We had a very original lunch at Nanooish, a fresh, modern Mediterranean and hummus restaurant. Our lunches were light and smart, and the atmosphere was funky. Matt had the
Hummus Mushroom Wrap made with hummus, tahini, organic greens, organic mushrooms and organic onions. Barb had the Nanoosh Green Salad with organic arugula, organic carrots, organic raisins and organic walnuts with walnut and grapefruit dressing (oil free) or XV olive oil and citrus dressing. Alissa had the Quinoa Salad with organic quinoa, red peppers, red onions, organic walnuts, dried cranberries, organic raisins. So good. But we hardly had time to enjoy it before we had to make it back to the studio.We got there and waited a bit more until finally someone came out and broke the real shitty news that they are full and aren’t accepting any standbys. Well that sucked! So we decided to shake it off and spend the rest of our afternoon shopping at Macy’s because we had a 45% discount coupon.
When we got home the Mochanazes (Mike & Maureen) had arrived from Regina. We had a few beers before going out for dinner with them at nearby Mexican favourite Benny’s Burritos. The place was packed as usual and the margaritas were $3.00 as usual! We had a few rounds with our complimentary homemade tortilla chips and salsa and burritos. By the end of the meal we were all stinking drunk and spent the remainder of the night down at times square, mainly in Macy’s, doing some drunkin' shoppin'.
Ahh… with Garret gone our pace in NYC slowed down considerably. We woke up slow and made our way down to the Flatiron District, stopping in shops along the way. We chilled out in Madison Square Park appreciating the architectural beauty of the Flatiron Building, the Met Life Tower, and the other buildings old and new that stood around us. We quite enjoyed the art exhibition, Event Horizon. It featured 31 life size nude bronze cast statures of artist Antony Gormley, that were placed on buildings and in and around Madison Square Park. The exhibition created a feeling of surveillance, of being watched from above and below, the piece gives you a sense of place.
We were starting to get hungry so made our way down to Korea Town. When we got there, Korea Town seemed more like Korea Block as all the businesses were densely clustered on 32nd between 5th and Broadway. But the feel remained overwhelmingly Korean with buildings arranged architecturally similar to Korea’s big cities and with just as much sign population as well.
We carefully walked down the street and scouted out the best option for authentic Korean food. We chose Kunjip, it was packed with Koreas and lined up out the door- a good sign! The tables were crowed, the place was loud, the service and atmosphere was fast-paced, verging on hectic, and the only cooks in the kitchen were old Korean grandmas- we thought we were back in Korea! The menu was also extensive and offered many local dishes that you probably would have a hard time finding anywhere in the city. Alissa had the classic Kim Chi Jji Gae and Matt Bu Dae Jji Gae- both were better than what you would get at some restaurants in Korea.
After filling up on our meals and a few refills of some of the side dishes, we made our way to SoHo by subway.
We took the afternoon exploring the back roads and main streets of Soho. The shopping here was some of the most interesting in NYC. We broke up the shopping with a pint in Puck Fair, a funky Irish pub that manages to retain its historical feel.
We made our way all the way down to TriBeCa before we realized that it is 6:00 and we are missing dinner! We took the stuffed-to-capacity subway home.
The last meal with Garret was lunch at La Carbonara. The place is just a few shops down from Rick & Barb’s place and boasts a nice balance of homey and classy Italian atmosphere. All of our meals were tasty. We couldn’t resist an afternoon bottle of wine too!
After saying our, “see you laters” to Garret we were off to the Late Show With David Letterman. Although Matt considers himself more a Jimmy Fallon fan, the Late Show was hands down a much better experience. Everything from the organization and waiting times to get in, the size, space, setup, and atmosphere of the studio, the quality of the show, the guests, and the jokes from Dave.
The main guest was Courtney Love and she mainly talked about the time she fell off the coke wagon and flashed Dave in a 1995 interview. She preformed a new song titled “Skinny Bitch” and also Michael Caine was interviewed- amazing storyteller.
Speaking about good stories- on a dimly lit residential street at around 10:30pm, on our way to find the apartment from the sitcom Friends just a few blocks from Rick & Barbs place, within an arms length distance away from us, we witnessed a horrible mugging at knife point…
Some stories are best told in person.
First was visit the restaurant from Seinfeld. It was the same on the outside but completely different on the inside. Instead it was filled with memorabilia from the popular NY sitcom. We ate lunch there, soup and sandwiches, pretty good standard dinner stuff.
After lunch we took the subway to Martian Luther King Drive (125th Street) and did a quick run through past soul food restaurants, your typical chain stores, and the famous Apollo theatre in Harlem.
It started to rain as we made our way to Central Park. On our way we were sidetracked by the magnificent Cathedral of Saint John the Divine. The fourth largest Christian Church in the World, it is a mix of many different architectural styles and country influences but its mainly Gothic feel is overwhelming. The feeling of being overwhelmed reaches a head as you step inside and are dwarfed by enormous stone pillars that stretch 70.7 meters into the air!
The most amazing thing of all is that the whole church is built using only traditional masonry techniques in which no metal is used. When the pipe organ sounded, chills were sent down our spines.
Admiring the wild Peace Fountain outside in the gloomy rain added to the dark feel of the day.
We walked in the rain through the empty Northern part of Central Park before making our way to the Upper East Side. When we got to the posh Madison Ave the rain stopped as we passed by all the top expensive designer stores. We made it back home in time to get into some dry clothes for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
Spent the first few hours of our day waiting in line for tickets for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. We secured standby tickets and had to return in the early evening for the taping.
When we came back for the taping, they pulled Garret, Alissa, and Matthew out of line just before we entered the studio and asked us if we wanted to dance onset to the musical guest. We agreed and as a consequence were seated at the very back of the studio until the band came out- shitty trade off!
The main guest was Kathie Lee Gifford. The musical guest that we got to groove out to was some Eastern European band (tricky name escapes us). The highlight was probably being entertained by the Roots, the funk house band of Late Night- they were addictively toe-tapping!
Dinner was to “the last of the Bohemian bars in Greenwich Village”, Corner Bistro, for 2.50 ales and famous cheese burgers- Matt and Barb got theirs medium rare…
Is there anything better than eating Bistro’s bloody burgers, pint in hand, surrounded by a century old interior and jovial atmosphere?
After last night we woke up late and a tad hungover. We went to nearby Chelsea Market and spent a good three hours there. This place is a must see in NY even if just for a stroll through the restored building, the old Nabisco Cookie Factory, and a listen to the classy live performers. Alissa & Barb must have spent half of that time in the trendy clothing shop Anthropologie.
After Chelsea Market, we went to Times Square to wait in line at the TKTS booth for discount Broadway tickets. We were undecided between Billy Elliot and American Idiot. We went with American Idiot. None of us are really theatre lovers so it was a good choice (at 40-60% off, any show would have been a good choice!).
Before we took in the show, we went to Junior’s for dinner. We ordered way too much food- the potion sizes in NY was something that we never got the hang of. Rick the Grill Cheese, Barb the Buffalo Shrimp, Garret the Mac & Cheese, Alissa the Cobb Salad, and Matt the Hungarian Goulash. Rick insisted on getting the cheesecake, one of the best in NYC and Puff Daddy’s favourite!
We gorged, then waddled to St. James theatre to rock out to Green Day!
With Garret leaving in a few days, we hoped to have a good night out on the town. We primed ourselves by drinking beers at our pad on 14th Street while watching the NHL playoffs. After feeling it, we headed just down the street to the Meatpacking District.
Our first venue was the Gaslight, the place was pumping and the beer went down fast. They had bottles of our favourite American beer, Brooklyn Brewery Lager. We took turns buying rounds, mingled with some of the locals to the backbeat of safe club hits of the last 5 years. We all agreed that this should have been a place we hit at the end of our night. Reluctantly, we decided to move on, we tried to meet some friends of Garret’s that were visiting but couldn’t find their club, Kiss & Fly.
After walking around a bit we decided on a quick sake stop the Japanese Restaurant and Bar, Tanuki Tavern. Garret couldn’t stomach the warm sake shots and Matthew could barely stomach the over-the-top Japanese décor.
We headed into Greenwich village in search of one of NYC best beer pubs, Blind Tiger, but was sidetracked by Bleecker Street Pizza, Jimmy Kimmel's favorite, on the way. The pizza was thin crusted with zesty sauce and a classic pizza feel. We chowed down then headed down the block to Blind Tiger. They had only microbrews on tap but, shit, there was a lot of choices- lots of good beer.
We then went for a long walk that went nowhere so we decided to make a B-line to Cafeteria, the lively and vibrantly gay restaurant and bar we ate at for dinner last night. The gouda and bacon mac & cheese that Rick ordered yesterday was the perfect late night remedy. When we got there they had just started a line and it began to rain. We jammed out and finally met up with Garrets friends, attempted to go to the best burger place in NY, Corner Bistro but the kitchen was closed when we got there and the run down pub just announced last call.
