Gullible's Travels

I've been traveling a fair bit more than the norm lately. My work keeps me busy but it is an incredible luxury to have an expense account that will still allow for some small pleasures.

Props must go to Cutie-Patootie Claussen at the Coopers Square Hotel for taking care of D & I during our stay in NYC. The hotel is too kool for skool(I still love it!), but he made us feel welome and very well taken care of. Be forewarned, next time I see you, I'm putting you in my pocket and taking you home. (Do only older people say things like that? Good god, I'm mortified.)
Must also take this opportunity to plug Accomplice:NY, an amazing group of people who put on a mxiture of walking tour, scavenger hunt, and improv theater. It's a blast and an awesome way to see parts of New York City. Run don't walk(or in this walk don't run?) for your tickets and be prepared to have your wits about you!

Fast foward 2 weeks, and I'm in Hong Kong (I'm so continental!) enjoying a solitary brunch on my one day off during a 2-week business trip. Started out in Singapore and will ultimately end the roadshow in Beijing. The Aircon here can be jarring; and as with visits past, I am fighting a cold. Its annoying but at least I brought fortification (Zycam!). And, as a Chinese-looking, Cantonese speaking ex-Pat in this City, the experience can be an interesting one.
If I use English to communicate, I can be treated differently. Treated better or worse depends on who I'm talking to. The drivers tend to find it funny that I'm bi-lingual. Last night my driver wouldn't shut up knowing I was an ex-Pat. Too bad I only understood about 60% of his story. I think he was discussing Holland? It was nice feeling my Cantonese improve day by day. Who knows, maybe I'll be expounding on the the state of affairs in Holland sometime in the future. I reckon I should learn to expound upon it in English first...

Big Apple Bites

No trip to New York City would be complete without a thorough partaking of local eateries. Its the only other city that could rival the Foodie Paradise that is San Francisco.

Here now some highlights (in no particular order):
Lever House. Located on the ground floor of the mid-century jewel of the same name. I was excited enough to just walk by and marvel at the architecture of the building; so eating there too was a real treat. From the NY Times, "In a reckless gamble, Marc Newson, the designer, more or less thumbs his nose at the severely elegant architecture around him, leading diners down a glowing enclosed walkway into a tubelike dining room decorated with a hexagon pattern on the floor and walls, like an Op Art painting." With the repeated hexagon motif, I felt like a bee cocooned in the hive; but in a good way. For lunch, the place filled up mainly with Power Players in Suits; I decided to forgoe the Power Martini and opted for the fresh lime soda($8). My seared arctic char came with a riesling foam, which I found really intriguing. (That damn Top Chef piqued my curiosity.) This place was uber pricey and at $100 a person(lunch!), it certainly is not a place I could ever afford without an expense account. But the ingredients were fresh and the flavors subtle, if not necessarily memorable.

Perilla. Yes. Cheesy. But I decided to throw caution to the wind and try Harold Dieterle's restaurant in the Village. (I always had a soft spot for the no-nonsense approach that led to his ultimate win on the first season of Top Chef. I know, 2nd reference.) Turns out his place carries out his no-nonsense approach. Small, unassuming, and reasonably priced, I had a great dinner. The highlight here was his signature appetizer, the duck meatballs. OMG. I could've eaten a whole BOWL of this! Spicy duck meatballs on a small bed of spinach and cavatelli pasta(infused with mint!); topped with a quail egg that you break open and mix in. Truly, this dish is a standout that I will remember for a long time.


Rare Bar and Grill. New York is a great city for burgers. I have already been to hall of famer Burger Joint(at the Parker Meridian hotel) and so decided to try something new at R.A.R.E Bar & Gril's 2nd location in Greenwich Village. I had the M&M Burger which was flambeed in whiskey. Nice. I thought it was delicious and juicy and flavorful. But the real deal of the night was the $10 trough of fried goodies: shoestring fries, waffle fries, and sweet potato fries. Said trough was also accompanied by 5 dippings sauces: basic BBQ , chile ketchup(bland), garlic mayo, chipotle aioli, and a honey maple syrup mayo dippy thing. To my surprise, and chagrin, I could not stop eating the sweet potato fries with the maple syrup dip. It was just so weird that my taste buds couldn't get enough. Try at your own risk.

Onward New York

Being a cosmetics buyer is not all fun and glamour. But so far on this market trip to NYC, it has been at the very least, Fun. A definite respite from the daily grind that occurs while stuck in the Office. One of the highlights today was meeting with this guy. I've been using his products for years and to actually sit in a room and discuss retail strategies with him, wow. Its sort of mind boggling..

He's one of those ADD geniuses at work. A wonderful spokesperson for his company and absolutely passionate about his business. While I discussed some details with the VP of sales, he kept saying, "is it ok if I interrupt for a second?". No Peter. You can't. Its only your name on all the product. "I'm making this up here, but..." No problem. Always happy to hear a genius at work. All in all, quite a character. Can't wait to make his business a success for us all.... Bonus baby.. bonus.

After two days of meetings, the pile of goodies to take home is building up. I convinced these people to just ship their generous samples to the office because I can't deal with 70lbs to lug to/from airport. Ladies, go check out the Quinc3 Body Butt3r. YUMMALICIOUS. I usually don't like to request anything specific from my vendors.. but I had to get my hands on this!

Today I have to say, my Product Whoriness served me well...
Onward....

West 55th, Midtown

NYC.
"Business" Hotel. Free Wifi! w00t! A coffeemaker, microwave, and room in mini-fridge for leftovers! Double w00t!

Fat mirror in the bathroom. This place sucks.