One of the Few on the Filipino Frontier

Last night I met Marcus after work and we ended up eating at a small hole in the wall type restaurant that caught our eye because it always seemed busy, but we didn't know anything about it. It's called Grill 21. And it turned out to serve Filipino food! And pretty damn good Filipino food, for that matter. Because there's such a shortage of Filipino restaurants in Manahttan, and because honestly, my mom's cooking is slamming, it's really hard for me to justify eating at a Filipino restaurant in this borough. But I had the pancit palabok (rice noodles with delicious garnishes) and suman for dessert, a personal childhood favorite. It's sweet rice that's served in banana leaf and you can top it with the sweet, coconut paste. Anyway, Marcus had rice with bitter melon, eggplant, string beans, shrimp, and squash. They apparently serve breakfast, too, so I'm definitely going to check it out. You should, too!

My Weekend

So this past Friday, I went back to Westchester and got a facial from my most favorite facialist. Then super early the next morning, my sisters and I embarked on a day trip to Brimfield: the famous antiques show. If you're into antiques, you should not miss it. The show happens a few times a year. It was a long, but rewarding day and I discovered the lobster roll sandwich! Lobster is one of my favorite foods, so this was a natural for me. Yum yum. And I got a great deal on a mid century bench with chrome legs. We stumbled upon this vendor based out of Long Island who was selling all sorts of Persian and Oriental rugs, but I was really into a patchwork version they had, where they took pieces of Persian rugs and sewed them together like a quilt...it's in the photo. Then I headed back to NYC and this morning Marcus and I went to brunch at Virage down in the East Village. I then headed to the Soho area and checked out the Spanish clothing chain Desigual. Not really into it. But glad I looked into it. then I ventured to Topshop, which I did like! Had lots of funky, kinda outta control stuff, which is just up my alley. Just before hopping on the bus, I stopped into Yonnah Shimmel's for a vegetable knish. I headed home and found Marcus watched a personal favorite of ours, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall".

Gym Mishaps

Well, I've been trying to get to the gym as much as possible. This has been challenging when I've been dealing with maintenance issues in our apartment that forces me to stay here for 4-8 hours at a time waiting for people. But anyway, I went to a body sculpting class today. I've been interested in trying new things...and my beloved spinning class wasn't available at a time I was interested in. So I thought I gave myself enough time to walk to the gym, but I walked in late. Needless to say, I didn't know what was going on. I have never taken a body sculpt class, so I didn't even know what type of weights to grab, or where they were! So I hastily grabbed some weights and found a spot on the floor. It turned out to be frustrating. I couldn't see the instructor, and I had weights that were way too heavy! So next time I better show up early to prepare myself! I really like my gym, but I wish they had Bikram Yoga. You do yoga poses in a room that's heated to about 100 degrees F. I love it, and better yet, the instructor doesn't even do the poses with you, he or she meticulously explains what poses you have to do and it's clear enough that from day one you can feel as though you're actively participating. It's pretty hardcore. And at least from my naive standpoint, I like the athletic challenge of it; I'm honestly not interested in doing yoga to calm my mind or any of that. What's the deal with the photo to the upper left? Ya, that's Bikram, the founder of Bikram Yoga; I think it's a pretty funny photo because he looks naked behind the woman.

I Have Been MIA for Weeks!

Woah---I have been neglecting my beloved blog. So much has happened. We moved into the city, thanks to the assistance of Imperial Movers, who I would highly recommend. Well, we had a slew of maintenance issues in our apartment, all within one week of moving in. It's been a really stressful time subsequently. I haven't been relaxing much, which has been really disappointing because I had this one month off before I start my new job, to detox from my internship. But at least I'm not at that job, right? But we've been practically next door to Terry-a, Steve, and Seren, so it's been great. They've been kind enough to cook dinner for us as we settle in, lend us stuff, and we've been spending a lot of time together. We recently went to the Brooklyn Flea Market, which has been fun, and I've seen Stephen, who I haven't seen in a while. I recently joined the New York Health and Racquet Club because I'm going to get back in shape, Goddammit! Jennifer and Caroline have been over, Gina came over from Long Island, and Gustaf has been a brave little boy throughout all of this...