Beitlers in NYC

Coney Island is in a lot of movies.  And in the movies it looks really gaudy, but even so, I had to check it out.  Our new friend Vanessa explores something new in New York once a week.  As much as my mono will allow, I’ve tried to follow her lead.  This time, we decided to go to Coney Island together.  Girts was a little concerned that, klutz as I am, I might step on a hypodermic or something, but that didn’t stop me.  And I am here today, needle free, to tell you that Coney Island is just as obnoxious as it looks in all the movies, complete with amusement rides, loud music, bright lights, graffiti, a dilapidated boardwalk, and trash everywhere.  It must have been something in its heyday, though.  I do have to say that dirty as it was, I still enjoyed going into the water and getting sunburned.  I even managed to catch a wave.  That’s saying something in the Atlantic!

Every year Trader Joe’s hosts a party for all of the “full-timers.”  This year’s East Region party was held on a boat in Boston.  We decided to take the train since we are now car-less.  So we left our apartment at 5:30 am, walked a few blocks to the subway, traveled two stops to Penn Station, took the train to Boston’s South Station, traveled two stops on Boston’s Silver Line, and then walked across the street to the hotel.  Sometimes it really is easier to ditch the car!  I have to mention that I intended to sleep on the train to Boston, but I was distracted by all of the places I could visit on that route…New Haven (Yale), Mystic, Providence…there’s so much to explore!

Our hotel room had a view of the harbor along two walls, so instead of walking along the harbor, we enjoyed our air-conditioned view and took a nap before heading to the party.  The boat cruise was beautiful and provided another opportunity to escape the heat (but not the humidity).  I also enjoyed meeting some new people who I can hopefully connect with again.

The next day we drug our hung-over bodies out of bed at 11:00 and took a shuttle to downtown Boston with Nicole and Steve.  After a much needed meal, we traveled along the Freedom Trail.  For all of you history buffs, Boston is easy.  All the historical monuments are connected by a brick trail that meanders through the city.  It begins at Boston Common.  We started in the middle and ended at the Common.  Afterwards, we traveled to Cambridge and wandered around Harvard for a bit.  And since this is a blog about NYC, I will just say that traveling through Boston did a couple of things…1) it reminded us of Seattle, maybe because it is missing some 150,000 college students and seemed a little quiet, and 2) made us realize that our perspective is already changing, even though we have been living in New York for a very short time.

There are some things in New York that are just more difficult. For instance, there is a drug store every other block, but in every single one of them there is a long line. This is also true with grocery stores. Especially the good ones. And in the good ones, not only do you have to wait in line, but you also have to battle your way through crowded aisles. You don’t fully understand the meaning of combat shopping until you have braved Fairway Market, Whole Foods, or Trader Joe’s on a Sunday in New York City.

In addition to crowds and lines, you also have to deal with empty shelves and shortages of products. In the case of our Upper Westside adventure this week, the shortage wasn’t of products, but of notary publics. Thanks to the bureaucracy of the Washington State Department of Licensing, we needed to get something notarized then mail it to Washington. Seems simple enough. Just as with drug stores, there’s a bank every other block. But some things in New York are just more difficult.

Bank 1: Notary public’s day off – Great
Bank 2: Notary public with another customer for at least 25 minutes – F#*& (remember its hot, humid, and we’re on foot)
Bank 3: Notary public at lunch – You’ve got to be f#*$ing kidding me
Bank 4: No notary public at this location – Huh?
Bank 5: Our saving grace. Multiple notary publics, one actually available. Can you hear me sighing? He didn’t even charge us!

Next stop…the Post Office. Guess what we did there? Yep. We waited in a long line. At least it was normal and expected!

Girts and I aren’t very familiar with Korean food, but Vanessa, our new friend from NY, was talking about it when we went to dinner last, so Girts and I decided we should give it a try.  Of course, I researched where we should go and Gam Mee Ok seemed like it would be a good option: cheap and highly recommended.

The menu didn’t have that much on it, but the oxtail soup came highly recommended, so we ordered it and a brisket dish.  I couldn’t figure out what was so cheap about the restaurant, but what I didn’t know is that the food came with a variety of side dishes: kim chi, sauces, and three long, skinny, green peppers.  The peppers puzzled us the most.  Were they hot?  Were we supposed to dip them into the sauces?  Should we add them to our food?  We couldn’t tell from the people seated on either side of us.  So Girts finally just went for it and took a bite.  The first bite wasn’t hot at all.  So I took a bite.  I think I ate some seeds because what I was expecting to taste like a bell pepper tasted a lot more like a jalapeno.  I know, Rob, for you that would be nothing.  But for me it was hot.  After another bite Girts agreed that it was hot.  The weird thing is that one of the three peppers really wasn’t hot and the other two were.  We still never found out what we were supposed to do with them.  I know, we could have asked.

The oxtail soup was delicious, like comfort food.  The brisket was ok, but the julienned scallions in sesame oil that came with the brisket were amazing!  We also really enjoyed the Kim chi.  In the end we had more than enough food and paid less than $30 for everything, including tax and tip.

Girts and I decided to be a little patriotic this year.  Or maybe we just wanted to see how New Yorkers celebrate the 4th.  There were three fireworks displays.  We decided to watch the one that is directly East of the Empire State Building (34th St).  The FDR drive was closed so people could watch the display.  We didn’t really know where we were suppose to go, so when Girts, Vanessa, and I left Trader Joe’s on 14th street, we followed the crowds East.  We ended up entering FDR drive a little up from there, so we didn’t see the display head-on, but there were still lots of pretty colors in the sky.  One thing I hate about the 4th is dealing with traffic.  That wasn’t such a concern this year since we were on foot.  Above is a picture of the festive Empire State Building.

Rob, Michele, Girts, and I have this habit of going to restaurants and gorging ourselves. One of my best birthdays ever was when Rob and Michele took me to Wild Ginger. Rob had a huge credit there because he re-upholstered the chairs in the dining room. We literally ordered everything off the menu that we wanted to. I want that and that and that and that. The food just kept coming and it was fabulous. It was like a dream-come-true.

So once again we found ourselves eating too much. Rob wanted to go to Chinatown so I researched, as I like to do. I hate going to a neighborhood and passing restaurant after restaurant thinking, “it could be good. It could suck.” I find myself being even more indecisive than I usually am when I face rows of possible eating establishments. So after some researching, New Green Bo sounded like a good possibility.

Getting to Chinatown was a no-brainer and didn’t take long at all. We even had time to wander around as we waited for our hunger to fully kick in. There was a line at the restaurant, but it only took about 10 minutes to get seated. Our table was right next to a couple on a date. Seriously, right next to it. Girts was bumping elbows with the guy next to him. The proximity proved to be beneficial, though. Michele leaned over and asked for suggestions. The couple, who when we first sat down appeared mortified, ended up being quite helpful and before they left gave us a list of scrumptious possibilities.

We ordered boiled dumplings, fried dumplings, sesame pancakes, orange chicken, aromatic beef noodle soup, sautéed asparagus, and Chinese cabbage with beef over rice. I think that was it. Everything was outstanding and the portions were generous. As people arrived to the restaurant they admired the gluttonous array of food on the table. Either that or they thought we were total pigs. Regardless, we had people asking what we were eating and soon found that we were the ones being quite helpful by dishing out possibilities.

And what was the best part about the dinner? The bill. All that came to less than $45. We will definitely be going back to New Green Bo.

Oh how I’ve come to dread those words.  Tonight we were relaxing on the couch drinking wine, when I hear Girts say, “uh oh.”  He didn’t scream or anything, but it was enough to send the goose bumps to my skin and give me the weebie geebies.  Why you might be wanting to know at this point?  La cucaracha.  Cockroach.  After much disgusting research, I can say more precisely an American Cockroach.  How can I be certain that it’s an American Cockroach?  Well, American Cockroaches are the ones that grow to 2″.  And I think it’s going to be a long night because it was crawling across our bed.  On my side.

Girts has ensured me numerous times that it must have crawled in through a crack that opened up under our air conditioner.  There was a crack (that is now sealed).  And this does fit the behavior of American Cockroaches.  After scouring the apartment with a mirror (that can see under and behind places) I know I shoud trust my husband, but I still can’t get past the weebie geebies.  This weekend Girts has the job of cleaning under the kitchen sink and next to the fridge where we have stacked our paper bags.  German Cockroaches like eating paper bags.  I’m not sure about the American ones, but one can never be too safe.

I know I will need to cohabitate, to a degree, with cockroaches, but I am not looking forward to it.  Zoe really needs to do a better job of catching the crawly things that creep throughout our humble abode.  And to those of you who are planning a visit…I will make no guarantees, but August 1st, the first Tuesday of the month, when the exterminator wakes us up knocking on our door, we will take advantage of the free extermination.  It’s cat-safe.

One way to quickly orient yourself with a city is through a very touristy bus trip or, as in our case, cruise.  I do have to admit that even if they are touristy, I love boat cruises.  In addition to some great city views, I thought going on a boat would be a good way to escape the heat.  I was right, although I think the true credit goes to the thunderstorm that loomed overhead through most of the cruise.  Actually, the storm was fabulous.  Although, stupidly, I spent most of my time trying to get a picture of lightning.  Not only is my camera not capable, but I ran my battery down trying.  I barely got a shot of lady liberty!

Michele, Rob, Dawn, and Aaron joined us on the cruise.  If you brave our air mattress you may end up with your photo on this blog.  Check out the whitecaps in the background!

Before the cruise, we found our first true cheap-eats establishment.  Havana Chelsea filled us up and more for around $10 per person.  We chose Cuban food for a late lunch and didn’t need dinner!  Not even a late one.  And the food was outstanding. We chose to dine family style and because there were six of us, we had quite a variety of menu items: cuban sandwiches, breaded steak, cuban style chicken, saffron rice, red beans, black beans, and green and ripe plaintains.  We will definitely go back.

Many of you know by now that I am teaching an English Methods class next year at NYU.  I will be teaching the Fast-Track master’s students.  I’m a little nervous about teaching college students.  They’re a bit of an audience change from my last teaching position.  And my sense of humor suits middle-schoolers so well!  I am excited by the content, though.  When I think of some of the other classes I could be teaching, mostly general education and philosophy of education classes, I consider myself very lucky.

So what do you do when you are nervous?  Find support!  I contacted one of the other instructors for the course and found that he is willing to collaborate.  He has already taught the course for one year and is excited about having someone to work with to improve his teaching.  Today is my first meeting with him and also my first venture into Queens, not including trips from the airport!

Michele and Rob arrived right before Eric and Leann departed.  To spend less time on the floor, they decided to go out as soon as they got here – 1:00 am!  So needless to say, the next morning they slept in a bit.  That day they were craving home cooking, so we got on an A train up to 125th street in Harlem and ate fried chicken, ribs, collard greens, corn bread, black eyed peas, banana pudding, and coconut cake at Sylvia’s.  Sylvia’s was ok.  Maybe a bit touristy.  We contemplated going up to 155th street to a higher rated, less touristy home cooking establishment, but decided on Sylvia’s.  In retrospect, we should have chosen the other restaurant.

The one benefit of Sylvia’s was its location relative to Central Park – only 15 blocks uptown and since Rob and Michele wanted to walk through Central Park, we did just that.  We meandered through starting at the very northern tip.  It was interesting to see how the park changes from Harlem to the Upper Westside and if you ever have a chance to walk this route, or a similar meandering one, I highly recommend it.  I particularly enjoyed getting to know the park better, but man was I tired by the end.  It was nap time for me!

Leann and Eric were our first visitors. Up to their visit, Girts and I barely had any opportunities to be tourists in NY; Eric and Leann gave us a good reason. They put in some serious miles walking around the city. We joined them for the Natural History Museum, the Guggenheim and some good eats.

Check out the smiling turtle!
You’ll have to ask Leann and Eric how the air mattress experience truly was, but there seems to be enough space in our apartment for a couple of visitors. One night we had an overlap and there were actually six of us crammed into the tiny apartment. Michele and Rob were nice enough to take the floor!

I should just change the name of the blog. Yes I’m in NYC. Actually I arrived earlier than I originally planned since I found out I had mono. Well, have mono. I am feeling better now, but have overdone it a little in the last week and my sore throat is back. Now it’s back to laying in bed and being bored. The cats don’t mind, though!