this will be the first of several posts made while on my trip home to america. as i do not relish these trips simply because of the arduous traveling, i do enjoy getting to see my family and spend time with them. this will be my first trip home in 25 months.
i arrived safely on EVA air at newark international airport. i took the nj transit train into nyc's penn station for a great fare of only 15.00 usd and then took a cab uptown to my brother's house for 20.00 usd including the tip (to go by cab from the airport to the house would have been 80.00 usd and taken longer). door to door the trip was 30 +/- hours. we said hello and soon crashed. as i had not slept much on the plane it was easy for me to fall asleep despite my body clock telling me it was 1nooon time and not midnight. the flight was not bad, EVA has good in-flight meals and there entertainment suite is also great. every seat back has a small computer monitor in it and all the music, movies and games are accessed with a very well thought out control/remote.
on the flight from bkk to taipei i had garlic pork and rice, from taipei to newark the main meal i selected was chicken in a tomato based sauce over pasta. these meals came with shredded green salad, fresh baked rolls and dessert. one was a pistachio pudding and the other was coffee crumb cake. both meals also had a small dish of fresh fruit salad with them. needless to say they also gave us all the juice, wine or beer and coffee or tea we could drink. the last meal, an hour before landing was breakfast. i opted for the pork congee over the omelet. having been made in taipei it was great. during the flight EVA offers all the snacks, cookies and drinks you can consume. being an asian based airline this is all part of the regular service at no extra charge unlike usa based carriers who skimp on everything, serve inedible meals and charge for the simplest of beverage service.
i got to watch some great japanese and chinese films as well as some very sophomoric american ones. all in all the flight was good and my luggage arrived along with me.
on sunday after having gotten a few hours of sleep my brother, his girlfriend and i decided to go to china town to have an early dinner. as i am not in new york a lot it was my choice. i picked a great place my brother turned me on too a few years ago when i was there last, shanghai cafe located at 100 mott street. this joint specializes in dumplings, and their soup filled dumplings are superb. we had a basket of steamed crab and minced pork ones. we also had baby bok choy in a thin white gravy, stir-fried string beans, scallion pancakes and batter fried salt and pepper squid.
the menu, i will scan my copy and postwhen i get back to my scanner.
the dinning room.obviously the emphasis is on the food, not the decor.
everything was just as i remembered it except we all agreed that the portion sizes had gotten about 20% smaller. the dumplings are all made fresh and steamed to order. filled with a very aromatic broth and served with a soy based dipping condiment they were great. the squid, which is another of my all time favorites there was lightly batter fired and then covered with coarse salt and sliced green chili peppers that have been scorched in a wok. the string beans are also simply stir-fried with a little stock and light seasoning and the bok choy came swimming in very thin white chinese gravy that does not hide the simple taste of the cabbages. the scallion pancakes were perfectly fried and was not greasy as it can be.we washed it all down with big piping hot glasses of tea and the total bill was 54.00 usd including the 20% tip.
nikon pic
nokia 6500 pic
the last scallion pancake and the end of the string beans
baby bok choythe waitress made a point of our recognizing that this dish
was 10.00 usd before ordering
dumpling drone at work.how they can do this day in and day out is beyond me,
but i am glad they do.
another dumpling drone at work.
the duck shop next door.i can never take enough pics of ducks in windows, wherever i go.
after dinner we walked 2 blocks across the border from china town into little italy so my brother could get himself a cigar and i had a cup of espresso and bought a half-pound box of pignoli cookies at cafe roma, 385 broome st.
the mulberry street cigar company where my brother gets his fix.this too is a part of the ritual of going to china town for us. little italy is so close and the two neighborhoods are both well maintained tourist areas that are safe, clean and fun to cruise day or night.
the best thing about these was that the pine nuts were fresh
and did not taste stale as they so often do.
and did not taste stale as they so often do.
notice this box is tied with string and not taped.very traditional shop in every manner.
if anyone is in nyc and they wish to go to china town i highly recommend shanghai cafe for a light meal of dumplings. if you want something more than i suggest walking to the other end of mott street to #17 and having something to eat at wo hops. their wor shu op is great (pressed roasted duck in brown mushroom gravy) as well as their sub-gum fried wontons ( shrimp, chicken & roast pork w. broccoli, chinese vegetable & crispy fried wonton) with huge slices of red cooked pork tenderloin. the hot and sour soup, as it is in almost every nyc chinese establishment.
i am writing this post on the amtrak train to brattleboro, vt where my mom will meet me and drive me home. i am sure i will post a bit on her fantastic meals as she is probably the best cook in the family and her food is tops.
my trusted wide-screen dell laptop and my nikon cool pix camera.looking to up-grade to a better nikon or
possibly a panasonic with the great leica lens.
all of these pics were taken on the train with my
nokia 6500 mobile phone
which has only a 2.0 mega pixel lens.
it was very easy to bluetooth the images to the laptop
for reformatting in ACDSee and to later post
into the blog once i got to my mother's house.
possibly a panasonic with the great leica lens.
all of these pics were taken on the train with my
nokia 6500 mobile phone
which has only a 2.0 mega pixel lens.
it was very easy to bluetooth the images to the laptop
for reformatting in ACDSee and to later post
into the blog once i got to my mother's house.
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3 comments:
$10 for a small plate of bok choy!crazy! just forgo it n fry it urself.
am looking 4ward to ur mom's cooking. n pls post some pics of ur hometown. never been to vermount but if it's anything like upstate ny...it's beyond beautiful.
wishing u n ur loved ones a very merry christmas david :))when will u be back in bkk?
terri: sometimes it is nice to have that good chinese restaurant taste that is only gotten from a seasoned wok using seasoned oil and super fresh veggies. but i understand your comment.
i am taking a series of pictures of vt. we are now into day 3 of a huge snow storm and every day i have taken a few shots outside the house. in this way folks will be able to see how it accumlates here.
when i first arived it was raining down ice, at least now it is snow which is good for skiing, which is in-turn good for the local economy, just as long as the skiers can get up here.
also, today i will take pictures of my mom cooking her famous shanghai ham with spinach. this is an awesome dish that she has perfected over the years.
no kidding, shanghai ham with spinach. would tt be jinghua ham?
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