Monday 2/25 - Ahh THE very last Monday. Slow start to the day, as I didn’t leave my apt till 3ish, since I tempted to re-pack, in the earlier half, in preparation for the real move-out later this week. But, I didn’t get too far since Gab was scheduled to come over in the evening to pick up some random items. (So I just moved a few pieces around to make it look productive.)

I decided to go for a walk without my ipod in ear - in order to take in all the “wonderful” sights, sounds and smell of NYC. Sounds dramatic, doesn’t it? Well it is, but I might as well get used to it because it’s not like I walk around the streets of my hometown with my ipod attached to my ears. It’s really one of those “only in NY” things to do. But for real, I wanted to take in all the random cell phone conversations, the multi-languages spoken, ugh the honking, the sounds of MTA buses, street vendors whether it be hot dog, pretzel and/or halal stands.

I headed up to Madison Square Park and snapped a few photos…

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I then came upon Shake Shack, Danny Meyer’s “roadside” food stand in Madison Square Park, serving burgers, hot dogs, frozen custard, beer, wine and more… Shake Shack had been voted “Best Burger” in 2007 South Beach Wine & Food Festival Burger Bash, plus my friend Edric had been talking about this spot for a while, but I had yet to give it a try. I had a moment of indecision since it was nearing 5pm and I planned to meet up with Edric at 5:45pm for a round of bubble tea, plus dinner with Gab at Spice. So I paced for a period that seemed about 10min, and finally gave in and got in line to try out one of these burgers.
Next, I receive a tap on my left shoulder. I look left, I look up and WOW! It is Jesse (former night manager at Cielo). My immediate response: “Oh my God! The universe really is bringing all sorts of familiar faces to me! I was just at Cielo on the fly the other night and asked about you!” So we got into the whole “I’m leaving NYC… going to Shanghai…thing.” Jesse and I had worked together on numerous occasions back in the day… but since I left GS, we had not seen each other since ehhhh November of 2006. So we each grabbed a burger and chatted up. (Burger is EXCELLENT, by the way.) He is no longer at Cielo, however is doing super well, managing all sorts of venues including Room Service and congrats on Jr #2!!! Soo great to run into him! And just as he said of me, he was a pleasure to work with … “professional yet mellow.” Here, I promised he would make my blog :-) …
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Then I headed back downtown to Saint’s Alp Teahouse to meet up with Edric for a last round of bubble tea in the city. (Taro with tapioca, cold. I dare not to deviate from this because the couple times that I have, I regretted and wished I had gone with the taro w/tapioca, cold.) Memorable dialogue of our bubble session:
  • Me: So I’m meeting with Gab for dinner at Spice after this. I already know what I’m gonna get.
  • E: Drunk Man Noodles.
  • Me: Nope. Even though that is definitely a Spice dish. I’m gonna get shrimp fritters, fried calamari, grilled pork chop and maybbbee the fried banana dessert.
  • E: You just had a burger!! And now bubble! Are you pregnant?!
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Classic!! Goes wayyyy back to freshman year!! Oh some things just never change…
img_3039.jpgNext stop! Spice! Always a favorite for Gab/Mimi moments. I stayed on course with the exception of the shrimp fritters (since Gab wanted the shrimp curry dumplings) and I did not have room for the banana dessert…
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Gab & I….I would have to create an entire new blog to devote to all the good times we’ve had throughout the last 8 years. (We’ve also learned that we can NOT talk about sports.) But, it all started in Florence, Italy back in 2000 and was awesome to have been able to re-experience Florence this past summer (2007) again as a tag team. Great heart (though she’s begun to adopt my “i hate people” a tad) + hilarious personality, never a un-laughable moment!
Case in point….(outside of Rugby store). — Gab has this thing about imitating mannequins. Again, started in Florence with Pajama Man.
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img_3042.jpg(The PLAID-dow sparkles!!)
Thennnnnnn… after a quick run to my apt, we head back out to Three of Cups to join in celebrating the Engagement of Tara (with an N) & Aram! CONGRATULATIONS, YAY!!!
Overall, just a nice easy-going day. I’m beginning to get used to this….
. . don’t burn the day. .