busy girl thoughts

Last night we went to the legendary NY Cafe Wha.

Here’s the intro from their website: Located on the corner of MacDougal and Minetta Streets in Greenwich Village, the original Café Wha? was a “beat/rock” club of the 1960’s at which one could find “soul” food for mind, ear, and body. In addition to a house band that played covers of contemporary popular songs, CafeWha? was famous for both its regular customers - Allen Ginsberg, Abbie Hoffman, and Bob Dylan among them, and its musical and comedy performers. Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, Kool and the Gang, Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, and many others all began their careers at the Wha? Even the staff had its notables - Mary Travers was a waitress at the Wha? until she joined up with Peter Yarrow and Noel Stookey to form Peter, Paul and Mary. Sounds like a wonderful place to visit on a saturday night right?

My first impression of this place wasn’t all that great, to be honest. I was expecting a big lounge/restaurant setting with brand new decor and hip, uran atmosphere. But it turned out to be a tiny cramped cafe/bar underground. With a small stage in the center that could barely fit a band of 5, black booths, chairs and table arranged too closely to one another, and ultra low ceiling (my suspicion was if I were on the stage which was one foot higher than the ground, I could easily hit the ceiling with my head if I jumped slightly). But then on the other hand, we are talking about a place that has existed since the 60s w/ tons of legendary stars discovered here, what the heck was I thinking when I pictured it to be anything like Hard-rock cafe? The menu, consistent w/ the decor, was nothing fancy , featuring typical bar food such as nachos, buffalo wings and burgers.

While 8 of us sitting at this tiny booth shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee, drinking watered down drinks, the show finally started. A host opened, followed by a stand-up comedian. He made me laugh pretty hard but I really didn’t appreciate him using racist jokes and even made fun of blind children and midgets. It was extremely political incorrect but I couldn’t hold my laughter. Others at the table had the same reaction, shaking their heads saying ‘oh my god, that is so wrong’ while laughing out of breath. Then the Cafe Wha? band came up. Their performance was way beyong my expectation. They played everything, from R&B to Raggae to rock. I’d say it’s the best live band i’ve heard, although I haven’t been to that many live band concerts.

During the performance the Korean girls behind us started screaming like they’ve seen a ghost. I turned around and saw two men walking really fast past us. The first man was wearing a cap w/ glasses, walking with his head down like some celebrity walking out of the airport. I didn’t know what was going on or who he was. But a few minutes later, the host announced that they had a special guest tonight, Eugene Park. The Korean girls started screaming again and my korean friends at my table were both surprised and exicted too. They said he’s really famous in Korea, a genius violinist. Eugene Park performed a few songs with the band with an electric violin and it was amazing to see his fingers moving at the speed of light. The host introduced him as the youngest student admitted at Julliard school. After his mesmorizing performance, he grabbed the mic from the host and started, yes, rapping! The surprise really cracked me up, and he was really good too with the moves and everything. No wonder he’s so popular in Korea. He has the perfect combination of a genius musician (an arrogant looking one too, and untailored of course), rap artist and a comedian. I would’ve stayed for the second show, but towards the end of the first one I flelt nauseous all of a sudden and had to leave right away.
I’m not sure if it’s the food or hang over from the previous night (probablyboth). Other than being physically sick, I really liked this experience. The total came up to be $32 per person, and I’d say i enjoyed much more than teatro Zaninni which cost more than $100.

Tonight we explored Meatpacking district. It’s a relatively newly developed area packed with trendy restaurants and bars. Not too long ago it was full of meat packing warehouse hence the name ‘meatpacking’. We went to my first japanese restaurant in NYC, Ono. A little excerpt from citysearch:
Ono
Trendy Japanese is what’s for dinner at Jeffrey Chodorow’s sceney Meatpacking District debut.
The SceneSilk shades hang from vaulted ceilings, spilling warm, flattering light over the already dashing diners. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the bamboo-filled outdoor gardens.

The FoodThe menu is huge, listing traditional Japanese fare (tempura, dumplings), inventive sushi rolls and pieces, and robata (grilled meats and veggies), as well as full entrees. The best bet: Order as you go and share everything, starting with the Kobe-style beef, dramatically presented on a tabletop grill. For the carb-phobic, there’s the rice-less spicy crab roll stuffed with tobiko and avocado, and robata: grilled skewers of lobster, asparagus, clams and much more.

I was certainly impressed with foie gras with sweet-salty shiso and plum. It’s unusual to see foie gras in a japanese restaurant. The combination of melt-in-your mouth warm savory foie gras and the cold sweet plum is rich but not greasy, sweet but not overpowering, utterly out of this world.

Afterwards we went to Level V for lounging. It’s much nicer than the hippiest bar/club in Seattle, Bada Lounge. The whole lounge was dimly lit with subtle neon red light. Wooden floor and brick wall give it an industrial touch. I had the best apple martini there. The catch is that the ‘apple’ part is no regular apple pucker. It was chilled ‘apple foam’. I have no idea what exactly that was but the texture was a cross between slush and foam.

Level V

After getting our drinks, my coworker and I were walking around (somewhat intimidated by the nicely dressed crowd). Luckily we were immediately invited to join a small party (free booze!) and got to meet our first banker/lawyer NY friends. At this point, meatpacking is definitely my favorite part of the city.

Today I met up w/ a friend whom I met from the Caribbean cruise last Sep. He took me to 3 bars near Union Square. I was so impressed! Too bad I didn’t have my camera w/ me.

The first was Coffee Shop, a combination of a bar/restaurant/lounge/dance club.

The food was alright but the waitresses were definitely hot. It turned out that they’re famous for hiring models.

I’ve had my first blood orange martini in the 2nd bar “Union Square Bar”. I told the cute bartender (a girl, unfortunately) I like it ‘a little bit on the strong side’, and she went, ‘i’m glad you told me that!’. After she mixed up the martini, she poured another (at least one and half) ounces of vodka into my glass!!! See, this is what i’m talking about–strong drinks made from a female bartender to a female patron! It was awesome. Not too sweet like minute maid for girl scouts and perfectly strong and flavorful for me!

Afterwards my friend took me to the Under Bar in W hotel near union square. It was lit w/ dim red lights. It reminded me of the club in Belagio in Vegas. Most patrons were consisted of local white-collars, men in nice suits and women in jeans and nice tops. I wasn’t used to seeing the suits in the lounge. In seattle when men are dressed up, we’re talking about nice jeans and tighter T-shirts that SUBTLY reveal tiny little bit of muscle that they work out once a week for.

I had an Apple Martini at the Under Bar and it was as nice as the one I had at Red Square in Vegas a few years ago. A thin slice of apple on top of high quality apple martini.

This is what I wanted to experience in NYC on a weekday night. Nothing fancy, but everything perfectly trendy. Looking forward to weekend nights.

Last November (Y2004) while in Portland on a short-term assignment, I made up my mind to leave Seattle for good and to experience ‘big city life’ in either SF or NYC. I thought NYC was too intimidating and chose SF instead. After several job interviews and the lengthy internal firm transfer process, I announced to Seattle office that I was leaving.

All this time, I was debating between NY and SF, and I remember telling my family and friends that ‘only if I could get a temp assignment to NYC to try it out. And yeah, like it will happen.’

Must be destiny, an hour after I made the announcement to the entire firm about my transferring, I got a firm-wide email about this ‘temp assignment to NYC’. It’s gotta be a joke, I remember thinking that. I thought I shouldn’t say anything since I’ve made the announcement about my transfer, and related personnel from both office have put in so much time dealing with my tranfser paperwork. Luckily a coworker came by, and she encouraged me to speak up. She said, ‘who cares! maybe your boss will like this arrangement better since you’re still in her group and she can take all the credit of the extra hours you work in NY!’

I gathered enough guts to tell my HR mgr. And a few days later, here I am, in NYC! Heart of Manhattan for 3 months, everything paid for!!!! I totally postponed my SF idea. It turned out my coworker was right. My boss was more than happy to hear that since I’m still under her ‘headcount’ when i’m sent to NY from Seattle, instead of being given to the SF partners.

The morale of the long, boring story? ALWAYS EXPRESS WHAT YOU HAVE ON YOUR MIND! YOU NEVER KNOW IF IT MIGHT TURN OUT BETTER.