Food to try!

Momofuku Noodle Bar
- A young Korean-American chef trains at top New York restaurants like Café Boulud and Craft, soaks up some local culinary culture in Japan, and builds an unassuming nook in the East Village, where he proceeds to cook precisely the type of food he likes to eat

Piece of Chicken
- 362 W 45th St (b/n 8 & 9th Ave)
- a soul food take-out joint (really a kiosk fronting a kitchen) where most things on the menu are a buck or two.

Le Cirque

Thursday, Ruz and I had dinner reservations at Le Cirque. I have been persevering for weeks to get reservations in this place and it is tough! We did get prior reservations, but things would come up, like Lloydie's birthday treat and weather problems. I'm just glad the dinner finally pushed through.

Le Cirque is in a whole different league. Right outside was a nicely dressed doorman greeting incomers and I was in awe when right behind us was a disheveled old gentleman that he greeted by name. Coolness.

You walk in and a host was immediately available. I said we had reservations and he offered to check in our jackets. The place is subdivided into two, left is the main dining room and to to the righ is an upscale cafe/bar. I wsa happy we were sat in the dining room as I have read that many-a-diners are sat in the cafe. I wanted my first Le Cirque experience to be tops and off it went to a great start!

The main dining room decor is contemporary & exudes total class. All the men were wearing jackets (as they are required to dine in the main dining room), and i thought, even at this day and age, that its a nice touch. The plates have this whimsical monkey insignia on them that you really can't say fit perfectly with the ambience, but still pretty amusing



There was a man offering all sorts of bread on a fancy tray throughout the meal. I am usually a big fan of bread baskets, but I was sort of full even before we ordered, and I didn't want to mess up my appetite. They had multigrain, raisin, olive rosemary baguette, and some more. Good variety. I had the multigrain and although I wish it were a little softer, it was good and nutty nonetheless.

For appetizer, Ruz had the Sauteéd Gulf Shrimp with carrot confit and kaffir lime sabayon while I chose Lobster Consommé with ricotta dumplings. Not good. For entree, Ruz had succulent Pork Filet with candied turnips and tamarind. I had the Diver Sea Scallops with sunchoke, grapefruit, and hazelnut crumble. The servings are fairly minuscule. Crème Brûlée “Le Cirque” and Pineapple Carpaccio lemongrass sorbet filled up our sweet tooth.


The experience was a teeny tad pretentious, but then I guess that's what you pay for too.. My night was made when I saw Sirio, the famed owner. Lol, I freaked out a little. Food is good but not great. Better than Tavern on the Green most definitely. I liked Nobu better. I wish I could keep coming back here whenever I want to feel special, but my savings tells me otherwise.

Dr. Jaime Oro DDS at Park & 63rd

Today, I was fortunate enough to get an appointment with Dr. Oro, a dentist referred by Sonia from work. She gave such nice praises that I knew I had to go see him instead of Dr. Nelli at Lexington. See, on Sat night, the gum portion in between two of my teeth  started swelling. Then Sunday night, as I was taking a bath, I felt a lump just below my left jaw. Yesterday morning, I felt another lump below my chin. The pain was most excruciating on Sunday. Yesterday and today was much bearable. 

So at 4:30, Ruz and I were at the clinic waiting. The whole staff were flips, and I appreciated that. I like flips helping out co-flips. The hygienist was a young flip and very pleasant. Dr. Oro was equally nice and explained to me that I was infected by a bacteria and that I needed deep cleaning in order to remove plaque and tartar which increases gum problems. He gave me 6-8 injections of a topical anesthetic to numb the swollen area, as I was at increased risk of pain there during the procedure. 

I'm soo used to cleaning (I am religious when it comes to this preventative dental care) that the sensitivity I felt was sort of, well, better tolerable since I knew what I was to anticipate.

What I wasn't prepared was this: I needed surgery.

HUWAAAT??!! I'm way too young. I'm 25. Apparently, he said that the infection has been present for some time and have already caused damage leading to bone loss just below my my two teeth. I needed bone grafting surgery. And if I don't do it, I may lose my two teeth eventually (even if they aren't loose) because it is the bone that keeps it up. He was pretty surprised that I just had my previous cleaning done on December and that the other dentist didn't see the problem. He gave me prescription meds and scheduled for me to come back in a week.

Anxiety overfilled me while I bit on my numb lower lip. SURGERY? Gosh.

Ruz and I had dinner at East after my numbness subsided (took about 3 hours post-dentist). I just had to have tempura despite my still too sensitive teeth. The age dashi appetizer was fine for my teeth condition. 

After dinner, we went to CVS and ordered my VERY FIRST PRESCRIPTION filled. It's awesome that the pharmacy was just a block from the apartment and open 24 hours. I had a copay of $10 for each medicine, so I paid $20 (well, Ruz paid) for the antibiotic and Peridex mouthwash.

                              Wish me luck!

Being in charge

Mila, Ruz, and I are hanging out right now here in Kuya's waiting for 7pm to arrive. For a long time, we haven't been complete for a gimmick and I'm glad that changes today. Tere, Alvin, Butch, Ace, Acie, Ivy, Miss G, Karla, Sonj, and Lloydie are all coming here in the city. We're having dinner at Tony's di Napoli in the Upper West Side. It'll be loads of fun I'm sure, kahit na I don't feel very well. My lymph nodes (under my left jaw and I found a new one directly under my chin) are swollen. I have swollen gums too, but just in one area in between two tooth. 

I didn't like work today. Sometimes, it doesn't pay to love what you do and be great at it. I.e, I've been feeding this one resident, O.P., because I love her to death and she's been really sick. I feel for her because she's super sweet, giving hugs a million times a shift. For the nearly 3 months I've been working on tenth floor, I've never seen a relative visit her, and its saddening because she's so dear. Her family doesn't bring any clothes, so she wears socks and clothing from deceased residents. She's legally blind and she wanders around the unit aimlessly. One time, she got caught fiddling around another resident's balloons and was trying to get it. The other resident hysterically freaked out. I thought the whole thing was hilarious!

Back to the story, I've been feeding O.P. because she's had a rapid decline and been continuously refusing to eat. Today, another resident's been persistently coughing and her aide thought it best to leave her in her own room for lunch, as not to possibly contaminate the other diners. So guess who feeds her too? Me, the nice unit nurse.

And then this really cool aide who changes colostomy bags for me just stopped doing so. Buuuut she's been doing it for the real charge nurse on the unit (I'm covering for the charge nurse while she's on leave). I.do.not.get.it. I'm very certain she has nothing against me. Positive. I can only assume one reason: That it's ok if she doesn't help me with it, kasi I'm easygoing naman to work with.

Moral of the story: Be firm and stop being so nice when you're in charge.

I have a headache. 

Woodbury, missing a friend, and Papa John's

Just got back from CVS to get cash for mama's laundry. This thursday, Ruz, mom, & i went to Woodbury. We got there at 2 and stayed till closing. That's a new secret I discovered in outlet shopping: Either go really early to pick out new stuff brought out or stay still closing since they take out the new stuff for the next day. Saks had great stuff on clearance and I was giddily browsing the racks despite my feet being so painful from the 6 hour non-stop walking. Ruz and mom gave up and sat on the side. I spent a week's salary that day (but I paid for mom's stuff too, so it's ok). I got 3 tops from Saks, blue cardigan at JCrew, dainty beige flats from Ferragamo, capri jeans at AG, and orange iguana flats from ColeHaan. I am a happy girl.

We ate at the infamous So Kong Dong afterwards. Their prices has gone up. The soup from $8 to $9 a

nd the short ribs from $12 to $15. I'm just glad they let us in even if we got there 15 minutes before closing.

Yesterday, Tere and Alvin came back here in NY to visit. I had a flashback moment last Friday of how good times were when Alvin and Tere were still childless. Don't judge, I'm not against kids, but having a child totally transforms lives, even the ones you think aren't much affected (like me). It used to be that we could just call Tere and she'd be up to go anywhere (i.e. food tripping in Long Island). Not the case anymore, and I guess I'm just missing those good old times. I love Tere.

Ruz and I had pizza delivered today for dinner. Papa John's has a deal where you get a 3 or more topping pizza, you could get a $0.25 medium pizza. First time I got the thin crust from Papa John's. Not bad. But Famous Pizza in Elmhurst is still waay better.