Restaurant Week Extended!

Clearly, someone must have heard that I wasn't able to make it out for Restaurant Week, because I learned today that it has been extended! It's basically restaurant month! So, if like me, you weren't able to take advantage of any of the awesome deals, get on it. For more info ,visit here.

I'm on a Boat!

I may not have a nautical themed pashmina afghan, BUT in the past couple of days I have been spending a good amount of time on various boats. On Thursday, I went to The Frying Pan, this bar that is located on an actual boat. It was way bigger than I expected, and definitely very crowded. I think the best time to go would be after 9 since that seems to be when the crowd thinned out. The drinks aren't particularly cheap, but you're paying for the ambiance, too, so I guess it's okay (....eh...) It does have awesome views, though, and it's near the helicopter launching place so if you're into that, you'll love it. (I am particularly terrified of helicopters, so every time one flew past, I paused and got all bug-eyed, but that's just my neurosis).

Today, I went to a picnic on Governor's Island. It was my first time going to the famed island and I was very impressed. There's so much space for picnicking, running around and really has something for everyone. There was a manhunt game going on throughout the island and a 1920's jazz show going on, so you had people dressed in yellow and red caution tape for manhunt teams and others looking like they stepped right out of 1923. On the ferry ride back, a band began to play spontaneously and a few couples began to dance (check out the pics in the slide show above!). It's things like this that make me really love NYC.

Salvation in the form of Karaoke

There are very few things that will lure me over to the heinous tourist trap that is Herald Square. One of them is Duet 35 Karaoke (the others happen to be Jack's 99 Cent World and Girls Write Now HQ). Duet is my all-time favorite karaoke spot in the city. They feature private room karaoke, so for the shier ones out there, you don't have to suffer public humiliation to belt out your favorite Lady Gaga song (mine happens to be Telephone). They keep their catalog up to date, so you can take your pick at your desired Top 40 fare. Besides the super affordable price of $4/hr per person Mon.-Thurs (and just $5/hr per person Fri.-Sun) during daytime hours, I always get a kick out of the terribly mismatched music videos that accompany many of the songs. So, say I'm rapping "I Get Money" by 50 Cent, the video might be of a neatly dressed Korean man who is a banker. It's absolutely hysterical. But, overall, it's a really great place to chill with friends; they have a bar and serve appetizers as well. You can also order out if you want, the menus are up in the front :) So if you happen to need somewhere to relieve stress after dodging tourists all day, definitely stop by Duet 35 Karaoke.

Lemurs and Hookah Bars!

I spent my 4th of July at the Bronx Zoo (courtesy of Bank of America's Museums on Us program-which basically lets you into select museums/attractions for free with presentation of a Bank of America debit or credit card. If you haven't heard of it and bank with BofA- get on it!) I haven't been to the zoo in YEARS, despite living so close to it, so I was excited to see it. Since I've last been there, they added the Madagascar exhibit, which was very cool. If you check out the slide show, there's this one uber chill lemur relaxing on a branch like he's a boss. I really wanted to go for a camel ride, but it seems that only people 10 and under do these sorts of things. I didn't want to hear "Mommy, why is that old lady on the camel? When is it my turn?" So, I settled on a picture and opted for the monorail instead. All in all it was really great. I'd forgotten how much I used to love going to the zoo as a small child. Plus, it being 4th of July, it wasn't crowded at all. Surely, a true rarity.

Yesterday, to celebrate my coworker's birthday, we headed to Astoria to go to Firdo's Grill. It's a quaint little hookah spot on Steinway. It's definitely a hike from the R train at Steinway, but the staff was really friendly and helpful, plus the music wasn't bad either. I'm not a hookah person (I think it would be inappropriate of me to hack up my lung onto the table) , but from everyone else seemed to really enjoy it. Shout out to our waiter Danny who obliged our multiple requests for pictures!

2nd & 3rd of July

Hello world! Friday, a few of my coworkers and I went to Brighton Beach. We're a very diverse staff, so our cultural expedition actually began on Thursday at Dhaba,which is this cute Indian restaurant that opened not too long ago. They have a $10 unlimited lunch buffet, which was actually pretty decent. But, back to Friday, we headed to Brighton Beach, now in search of Russian food. We ended up at Tatiana.It was right on the boardwalk (which I think was reflected in those prices).

What I really liked about Tatiana was that they have that European dining mentality of 'Stay as long as you want, we'll give you the check when you're ready'. I hate getting the check when I'm not even done eating yet. But, what we were really exited about were the fireworks.

Today, my friend Edithe had a spare ticket for this play called Family Dinner at Theatre Row. Without completely giving away the plot, it's about this family who tries to keep up their image despite all of the internal conflicts and strife that actually happens inside their home. Afterward we went for linner (lunch-dinner)at Bon Chon Chicken, which had this amazing Korean fried chicken. My life has been made that much better because of the introduction of Korean fried chicken. Plus, it was "World Cup weekend" so orders were half off. I think I just officially became a fan of the World Cup.

Well, until next time!