PhotosI made sure to take a nap during Saturday afternoon in preparation of my evening activities and set off. Here is my chronicle of that night.
6:00PM Saturday
My evening started in Chinatown. I met up with brother and had drinks with him and his friends. After that, I met up with some friends at Tonic East.
12:17AM Sunday
Tonic East, if you have never been is a trendy bar located in Murray Hill. It caters primarily to the 20 something crowd and is a really good place to bring a group of friends. Not really an ideal place to meet people.
4:00AM Sunday
I got back to my apartment with my roommate with some other friends trailing behind. I told them my master plan of getting a Nintendo Wii and they all thought I was crazy. My other roommate turned out not to be home, so we decided that there was really only one thing to do, beer pong and loud music.
5:30AM Sunday
Walked over to Toys R Us and found myself entrenched in people, about 200 people to be exact. I had done some recon the day before at the Nintendo World Store and TRU and I knew that they would only have about 200 units. I decided to give up at this point and walked home. As I was leaving, one of the people at the beginning of the line offered to me a chance to cut the line if I gave him $50. I was just about to reach for my wallet when 5 people behind him got up and started protesting. I decided that it wasn’t worth my life to get a game system. I went home
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( 2.6 / 1117 )One of my favorite hobbies within cooking is making sushi. It can be a lot of fun and simple to learn. Here's some info, knock yourself out.
Basic Equipment
1. Rice Cooker ($20 from target. Its useful even if you only use it once in a while)
2. Knife (Sharp kitchen knife will do. Sushi knives are special in that only one side is sharp. This allows you to cut fish without tearing it. If you ever get serious about making sushi, you should definitely get one.)
3. Glass or wooden bowl to hold the rice. (Do not use metal as it will interact with the vinegar and create and odd taste)
4. Cutting board
5. Sushi rolling mat (Can be found at sushi counter at grocer)
Ingredients
1. Rice (Nishiki Brand or Kokuho Rose brand medium grain rice)
2. Sushi Vinegar (Can be found at sushi counter at grocer)
3. Wasabi Powder ((Can be found at sushi counter at grocer)
4. Light Soy Sauce
5. Filling ingredient (crab, chicken, tofu, tuna, salmon, etc)
6. Cucumber
7. Avocado
8.Roasted Sushi Seaweed Sheets (Nori)
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( 2.7 / 988 )On my way to work this morning, I happen to accidentally bump into someone on the street, hit his hand, which at time was holding glasses. The glassses flew through the air and hit the ground. I picked them up, apologized, and went on way. Half a block later, the person I bumped into, a 16 yr old or so African American kid taps me on my shoulder. He showed me his glasses which were now cracked in one of the lenses. My immediate reaction was apologetic. I had no money on me and I offered him my number to call me and I would gladly pay to repair his glasses.
At this point, he started to become hysterical, telling me how he couldn't afford to not have his glasses for school, how they cost a lot of money, how his mom wouldn't be able to afford to fix them. He asked me why I couldn't go to the ATM and give him money immediately. He then proceeded to play the race card and told me that if he wasn't black, I would believe him immediately and offer to pay. He wanted $147 dollars.
In that moment a number of things went through my mind including the following:
1. Was it true that his race affected my reaction?
2. Was I being scammed?
3. Should I give him money?
4. If so, how much should I give him?
I decided immediately that his race had nothing to do with my reaction. In all fairness I had no idea how much his glasses cost. I also had no idea whether or not his glasses were broken beforehand, otherwise why were they in his hand and not on his face. And I wondered to myself it if were someone else, someone more affluent, whether or not they would have had more trust in me and just taken my number.
I excused myself and called the eyeglass store that happpened to be across the street, inquired as to the average cost to replace a lens, and gave him that amount, to which he begrudging accepted. And to this, I felt like I had done the right thing. Never in my life in NY have felt like such chump doing what I clearly knew was the right thing. I bumped into him, its possible that I broke his glasses, I should pay him. Its pretty black and white. But when you added ambiguity to cause, money, and other factors in, the right thing doesn't seem so clear anymore.
I asked a number of people what they would have done and the overwhelming response was they would told him tough, and left. Did I really do the right thing by giving money or was I suckered? I don't know. My conscience is clear, but never before have I ever felt so muddled when doing the right thing. I hope that the next time my integrity is put to the test, the answer is not tainted.
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( 2.9 / 953 )In the early light,
walkng through the street,
streetlamps flickering white,
there sat a man beat,
face cradled in hand,
looking sullen, worn.
I asked what demand,
said life, dreams, torn.
Time and time again
coins shook in stray
I gave him a ten
walked slowly away.
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( 3 / 941 )When you have insomnia, you start to develop certain habits. This includes eating at 4am because your body thinks you haven't eaten in 8hrs, which it hasn't. I'm like a pregnant woman in her 12th week. For instance, I often raid my fridge at 4am for peanut butter and generously slather that onto a piece of whole grain bread. It is fucking amazing. If you find yourself hungry at 4am, give it a try, unless you're allergic in which case don't.
I've been an insomniac for the last month or so and the doctors can't seem to understand why. They think it might have something to do with a disruption in my daily habits, so I've been making an extra effort to put more routine into my day. Brushing my teeth at the exact same time each day seems to be helping...at the very least I'm getting very clean teeth.
Anyone's who's ever found themselves unable to sleep knows that there are two things you do when you don't sleep, watch movies or read books. No, going to the gym at 3am is not an appropriate activity although the NYSC near me is open 24hrs a day. This means I've been readying a lot of books and watching a lot of movies. There's a limit how many on-demand HBO movies you watch before "In her shoes" becomes a tempting choice, and when that happens, its time to hit the gym.
When I first wake up in the morning, I find that I often check the other side of my bed for a number of objects. This includes my glasses, cell phone, alarm clock, and on occasion girls. Yet, in almost all instances my phone is charging, my glasses on the night stand, and my alarm clock halfway across the room where I threw it between snooze 1 and 2. Maybe its some built in reflex to hunt for objects close to my heart...or like my insomnia, an unexplainable plight that threatens my sanity.
I work out at the gym anywhere from 2 - 7 times a week, every week, with plenty of exemptions. I go on different diets and try different workout routines, but at the end of the day it always comes back to one thing, Which exercise is going to make my arms look the biggest. It's chest day? Let me go do some pull ups first. Lat pulldowns? How about some bicep curls. Yes, the larger my arms are, the more attention they draw away from my love handles and flat asian nose. Grow biceps...GROW!!!Muhahahah
New Years is quickly drawing close and evil roommate has already started to get rile up. This will be my third year celebrating in NYC and like any other New Yorker, I have to decide whether or not I want to spend $100 crammed in a bar, stuffing my face with pigs in a blanket,and sipping 5 dollar champagne. The alternative is to hang out with friends equally jaded by the process, get trashed, play drinking games to Rocking New Years Eve, and be so smash on 1/1 that when I wake up, I'll look for my glasses, realize I'm not in my bed and hopefully the blonde next to me isn't my best friend. All joking aside, planning New Years is a strenuous process and for anyone who has given up on not being trendy, head to NewYears.com for a list of clubs and bars in all major cities where you can dump your hard earned money for cheap booze and avoid Dick Clark for the night. I am hoping to be in the company of good friends and having the best time of my life, bar free.
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