Friday, September 27, 2013

Poorly Named Restaurant

I would never have "nasty" in the name.

Plus, what exactly is Latin-Chinese food?  Tacos with fried rice?

Die-NASTY-Uh...not going to try.

(New) New York Food Discoveries

Remember last year when I ordered Spicy Chicken?  Well, I just made the mistake of asking for my dish to be made spicy.

I picked out a few of the peppers to tone it down.
I ate about ten of them before I gave up.  Interestingly, the pepper contains a chemical that numbs your tongue.  Eventually you can't taste anything.  That explains how they expect you to eat this many of them.  What do you think would happen if I called and complained that there weren't enough peppers?

Purple blob dessert.
I don't know what this is.  I didn't order it, but I did eat some of it.  It's sort of like eating slightly sweet melted plastic.

Who doesn't throw an over-easy egg on their sandwich?
A slightly strange version of bahn mi.

The world's smallest hamburger.
You could eat it in one bite, although I decided to do it in two so I could take a picture.

OK, this is actually from Nashville, but it was too tasty not to include in this photo array.
Marche Artisan Foods.  Try it out next time you want tasty southern food and live music.

Never Go Hungry

This picture shows one of the things I love most about living here.

Maximum variety.
On the far left is the famous Katz Deli.  Then we have a Coldstone Creamery,Lobster Joint, Ray's pizza, an Arab grocery, Philly's (who ripped off the Disney logo), Empanada Mama (one of the best places ever), and a Turkish Kebab place.

If you can't find something to eat on that stretch, you have some serious dietary restrictions.

Good luck finding anything except the Coldstone Creamery elsewhere.

Bicycle Graveyard

I guess bike thieves went wild while I was away.

Locked the frame and back tire, but this guy will still have to learn to unicycle.

On the other hand, this guy is just screwed.

Maybe if they combined these with that red frame?

Some more spare parts...
These pictures were all taken on the same day.  Do they sell bike insurance?

Old Buildings

Sometimes you get desensitized to just how amazing the buildings are here.  These buildings are on my street, just one avenue down.

I see this every day.

This is a different one, same street.
This doesn't even include all the Columbia buildings.  After living in Texas for the summer, you appreciate the older designs.

Back to New York!

I'm excited to be back!

Let's get started with a few of the wonderful things I have found since returning.

Fashion!

Overalls!

Women with half-shaved heads!

Hipsters!

Blue velvet pants...purple socks...I have no idea...
Food festivals!

A random festival on Broadway in Morningside Heights.

Not overcrowded.

Cheap Thai food from a stand.

Some pretty stellar clam chowder.  (Chow-dah!)
Green grass instead of dead grass!

Old people playing...something?

Let's go bowling on the lawn?

Central Park

It sort of looks like paradise.
Restaurants that serve nothing but dessert!

I was good and didn't order anything, but my other half wasn't as reserved.
Erin's order.
Hotel workers that look like the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz!


Vacation Highlights

We spent a week in Curacao and Bonaire.  Here are the highlights.  Actually, Erin won't let me share all the real highlights, so these are the Erin-approved highlights.  (I thought she was a highlight, but she disagreed.)

Marriott Curacao restaurant.

Some sort of fruity island drink.

Marriott lobby.

Erin on the famous floating bridge.

Me with a local fish dish.

Erin is excited about her clear water!

Yellow crabs invaded the beach.

Me in one of the picturesque bays.

"Downtown" Curacao.

Erin was really excited to find vegetables.

Taking the ferry across the water because the bridge was open.

Our Bonaire hotel had a pet chicken.

Erin's paradise.

A friendly hotel iguana.

Doesn't she look happy about vacation?

Donkeys

We visited a donkey sanctuary in Bonaire.  I learned that donkeys are pretty hilarious.

Donkey petting area.

Roadblock.

Erin likes her new friends.

It's totally normal for donkeys to hang out in your car.

Two vegetarians!

Who ate the top of the carrot?

Quintuplets?

No caption necessary!

One donkey gets a little aggressive.

Yes, you're eating a tree.

Nice donkey...good donkey...