Lullanotes

One of my friends staying in New York City recommended "Fish", a seafood restaurant on Bleecker St. So one afternoon, we made our way there with high expectations, hoping to get a good brunch out of crustaceans.





We ordered lobsters and crabs with chips but to our disappointment, the lobster was overcooked. While the crab was passable, the service staff had an unfriendly and impatient attitude despite the fact that the restaurant was not crowded so that put us off. Needless to say, we didn't enjoy our meal so we paid and left promptly. We were in New York City for a holiday and we didn't want to dwell in any kind of negativity so we didn't kick a fuss. We just wanted to get the hell out of there.

I found myself liking Bleecker St. There were rows of trees on both sides of the street, providing ample shade on a warm day and the street was lined with little shops with huge windows to peek into. Since we didn't have a big shopping budget to blow, we were mostly contented to just admire the jewelery and clothes on display. We did find some shops selling affordable jewelery and bought some to satisfy our vanity. At one of the road junctions, we came across a girl piping cupcakes so we just stood outside her window and stared at her. In retrospect, that must have been creepy and annoying for her.


Our sweet tooth directed us into the shop. After an unsatisfying meal, we needed to find solace in sweets. It was then I realized that we stumbled upon Magnolia Bakery, the very same one which saw Carrie and Miranda (in 'Sex and the City') sitting on a green bench outside the shop, eating frosted cupcakes and discussing Carrie's love life. This was an unexpected surprise and it is further testament to the fact that when Life gives you a bad Fish, find and eat Cupcakes.

T-shirts and shopping bags with their namesake are for sale.
They sell pastel-coloured sprinkles in jars!
Seeing these cupcakes cheer us up considerably.

The shop itself was pretty small and there was already a queue. People were snatching at freshly baked cupcakes the moment they were placed on the shelves. It is also known that sometimes the queue could result in a long line that winds its way round the block. Luckily the queue wasn't that ridiculous. We managed to buy 4 different types of cupcakes. There was a little park with green benches just opposite Magnolia Bakery and already, some seats were taken up by cupcake enthusiasts. We found a spot and sat down and dug into the cupcakes. The rich creaminess and sweetness of them made the day right again.


Magnolia Bakery was the only bakery we tried while we were in New York City so I wouldn't know how they fare in comparison to others but we were fans of Sex and the City. If Carrie and Miranda eat them, it's more than good enough for us.

In the 1000 things to do in New York City, having a burger at Shake Shack took the spot at #19. There are so many movies which had Shake Shack at Madison Square Park as the backdrop. Just recently, I spied it again in "Something Borrowed". We didn't go with the intention of specifically locating the outlet at Madison Square Park because we weren't too sure of our bearings and we didn't know if it was going to be out of the way. It initially stamped from a simple desire to try the burgers and see if they were as good as some claimed. However one night in a taxi ride, we swished past the Madison Square Park and lo behold! We knew we had to sit and eat at the green benches with its incredible outdoor setting.

Going in the afternoon would be nice but going at night was almost magical with its fairy lights. It almost felt romantic but would have been even more so had we been there with our better halves but hey, I was there with my two girlfriends and it in itself was gratifying. The queue was pretty long and it took a while before we got food but consuming the juicy burger, the cheesy fries and washing it down with milkshake was like a heart attack about to happen. Because I am a crap food blogger, I shall leave you with reviews from TripAdvisor.



Although it was good, just as how all sinful food taste like but if you are anything like me, you believe in the power of ambience and company too. One bite sends you to gastronomic heaven but the collective energy of the crowd dining together with you in an outdoor setting as such brings you straight back to Earth to cherish this very moment where you are far away from home, in the city that doesn't sleep, living a life you thought you could only experience when you hit "replay" on a DVD.

I leave you with a dreamy, bokeh picture of Shake Shack.

I was in Sydney last week for a very short work trip. I arrived last Sunday noon and had very little free time but was still very glad to squeeze in an afternoon of dim sum lunch at Fat Buddha and coffee with Kevin and his family. Kevin used to work in the same company as me about 8 years ago and that was how long I didn't see him or even knew he moved to Australia and started a family. The funny thing about friends sometimes is everyone could be busy with their own lives and not see each other for the longest time but when the moment comes serendipitously to meet again, the heart is still full of gladness, particularly knowing that the other person has done well in life and is happy and that was exactly how I felt when I spent the afternoon with him and his family again. It made me humble and grateful that I had the opportunity to travel and have friends in different parts of the world. Also, I've heard that prior to my arrival, the weather was gloomy and cold but the few days I was in Sydney, the weather was sunny, bright and so beautiful.

View of the Sydney Opera House from Waterfront Restaurant at Circular Quay


Watching the buskers perform at Pitt street on a Sunday afternoon
I also did the two favourite things I wanted to do in Sydney.
1. Eat the delicious pippies in XO sauce with fried vermicelli at Golden Century Seafood Restaurant.
2. Have a drink at The Baxter Inn.


I was first introduced to these amazing pippies in XO sauce after a particularly heavy night of drinking which left everyone craving for supper. You can ask for fried vermicelli as an add-on and the thick, slightly hot XO sauce soaks its way through the crispyness of the fried vermicelli. The pippies are bigger than what I could have in Singapore. They are sinfully succulent and juicy and it was not difficult to work through a kilogram of them because you just want to keep going! I can't imagine it would be healthy to have so much of it.


Photo taken from The Vigilante Photographer's flickr

Address:
Basement/152-156 Clarence St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

I may not be a whiskey connoisseur and in fact am very far from it. I like whiskey teamed with ginger ale or green tea and I have been accused of "bastardizing" the finer points of whiskey many a time but hey, to each their own right? The Baxter Inn is located near to Four Points by Sheraton Hotel and one night, my coworker brought me there and we had to walk through a dark alleyway where there was a bouncer who studied us critically before motioning us to climb down a flight of stairs into a dimly-lit basement. I remembered replaying the word 'dodgy' in my brains and was ready to bail anytime I smell a rat ... but the moment we passed through the doors, it felt like I had walked into a different time into a different space. It had transformed into a 1920s saloon and all that was missing was me dressing in glitzy flapper dress holding a jeweled clutch with sleeked back hair and pearls around my neck. The "Wall of Whiskeys" was impressive and I had literally no idea what to order when my turn came so I settled for just house whiskey with ginger ale and watched in fascination all night as the bartenders climbed up and down a wooden ladder to access whiskey bottles placed as high as the ceiling. Because it always felt as if I had gone back in Time in The Baxter Inn, I made it a point to try visit everytime I am in Sydney and one day, I will turn up in glittery wear no matter how odd that may seem.

The work event ran on quite smoothly and I did my fourth attempt at public speaking. I was shaking with nerves initially but after facing the crowd for awhile, the nerves did go away and I retained my composure. I definitely could do better but I was just proud of myself for not letting nerves get the better of me. I suppose the important thing about public speaking is to practice and practice and bravely volunteer at every opportunity you get and one day, you will get used to it. In the meantime, I will keep practicing and going!

Well, something else also happened at the event which had never happened before but I am not ready to talk about it yet so ... we'll leave it for another day and another time. With the ending of the events, April is also about to come to an end. Travelling twice in a month especially even if one is leisure and the other is work is just too tiring and I have never been more glad to stay in Singapore and chill out with friends.