Snapshots

1. The Best of Street Food

Takoyaki Sampler, Curry Fries and Dessert Balls at Maru Global. Hi Jeff!

I took these pictures a few weeks back and after the meal, I realized the pictures were way way too small. You'd think I would learn by now but no. Last week, I went to the Met only to realize I didn't charge my battery so I went home, charged the battery, went out to dinner and realized I forgot the memory card. Sigh. Anyways back to these pictures, I found out that I could put them all into a collage! Maru Global is a specialty takoyaki joint in Philadelphia with made from scratch takoyakis on a takoyaki stove. SO LEGIT. The owner is from Japan and the food is as authentic as it can get when it comes to Japanese street food. They even have a takoyaki hat. 

Takoyaki literally translates into fried/grilled octopus. The octopus (or other seafood) is inside a ball of batter and is served with bonito flakes and Japanese mayo or some other cheesy/glutinous goodness. So so so so good. Googling takoyaki actually turned up a restaurant called Otafuku in the East Village. Guess I'll be going there next weekend!

2. Another Attempt at Dan Dan Mian 

Sauce ingredients: Peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic salt, chili sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper, szechuan sauce, garlic sauce...might have missed something but that sounds about right. Used same ingredients (minus peanut butter) to cook the meat and added hot chili oil and peppercorns.

MMMMM. I want noodles now.

After looking up the directions to Dan Dan Mian, I realized I had missed about 10 ingredients in my first try. Then I realized, we didn't even have half of the ingredients. At least this attempt was closer but it still resembled noodles with peanut sauce. Hm oh well. At least it was still yummy.

3.Wisconsin!

My dinner...

Connie's dinner...

Forgot to include these pictures from my travels but we went to an adorable little town near Mequon, WI and ran into a cafe when got caught in the rain (which has happened 3 times already in the past week). Seriously, the weather in New York has been so spazztic. Its sunny in the morning and storming at night and then sunny again.

4. Metropolitan Museum of Art - Alexander McQueen Exhibit & Contemporary Art Section

Mcqueen and sitting on the Met steps. What else can you ask for on a Saturday?

As promised, here are some shots of all of the "cultural" activities we have been up to :) The first time we went to the Metropolitan, the line for the Alexander McQueen exhibit was completely overwhelming and we decided to skip the exhibit (poor choice).  Regretting it the moment we got back home, I decided I needed to get back ASAP. Sooo my roommates and I went back on Saturday (when the line was even longer) but we were on a mission. The museum didn't let us take any pictures, but I don't think pictures would have done justice to the exhibit. It was one of the most stunning things I had ever experienced. Now I understand what all of the hype around that guy is. There's also some pictures of the exhibit on the museum website which are lot better than anything I would have taken haha.

5. Cirque de Soleil - Zarkana

I'm surprise I managed to get some decent pictures given the low lighting but some of these are not too shabby.

There are very few things in life where the actual experience lives up to the hype and expectations. Cirque de Soleil definitely falls on that list. The show was absolutely amazing. Everything from the orchestral music, the singing, the acrobats, the set design was perfect. You could feel the suspense and tension in the audience whenever one of the performers flew across the stage or was vaulted into the air.

Whew that was on jam-packed post! Birthday dinner at Hurricane Club forthcoming!