I don't care what the food network stars say, but Grimaldi's pizza in Brooklyn, NY is the best pizza I ever ate. This particular one had garlic, basil, tomato, and pepperoni. OMG the mozzarella... mmm.
It was 100% worth the 1.5 hour wait.
OM.NOM.
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The Best Pizza I Ever Ate
I don't care what the food network stars say, but Grimaldi's pizza in Brooklyn, NY is the best pizza I ever ate. This particular one had garlic, basil, tomato, and pepperoni. OMG the mozzarella... mmm.
It was 100% worth the 1.5 hour wait.
OM.NOM.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Lyon, France
a huh huh huh (deep french chuckle)...
Its been almost 2 months since I was in France, and now that I'm been considering going to Spain in a couple weeks, I thought it would be a good idea to post some of my favorite pics (mostly food).
My trip began in Lyon (one of the gastronomical capitals of France possibly the world), and we stayed at this giant crayon looking hotel. The buildings in Lyon are older and full of history, so there aren't many high rise buildings, so the Radisson Blu hotel sticks out like a sore thumb.
The inside looks nice, kinda reminds me of the Luxor, since the rooms are all around the perimeter of the building. The location of this hotel was nice though. It was close to the main train station in Lyon and the city center (a giant mall and carrefour)
See what I mean? The giant crayon is so out of place haha also, this is a view of Lyon from up on the hill, too bad it was an overcast day. Obviously the architect had some sort of Napoleon syndrome...
There was this giant ferris wheel in the middle of a giant field... but no riders. It was pretty empty. I wonder if the ferris wheel is just up all year around. Makes for a cool picture though.
I wish I stopped here to eat...! Rapido Tacos in France?! plus there's a Century 21 next door? Hella random.
See the giant cathedral and Eiffel tower looking thing on the hill? The cathedral is called Notre Dame Basilica and the eiffel tower shaped thing is just a electricity tower. Notre Dame and Eiffel tower shaped... not too original there, Lyon.
Inside the Notre Dame Basilica. Fancy.
I liked this picture... not sure why its discolored, but it looks cool. Probably one of my favorites of my mom haha
Looks like a dinosaur museum huh? Amazing that it is actually a miniature diarama!? Crazy how detailed it is! This and many others were amazing to see at the Musée des Miniatures et Décors de Cinéma.
Yuck. but cool. also at the musee des miniatures et decors de cinema. You get the idea of what this museum had... pretty cool if you're into movies
Outside of the Musee Gagadne (puppet and history museum), they had this swinging chandelier... Scary! but... its on purpose. Its part of its design. not sure how I feel about that yet but I didn't stand directly under it.
Our lunch break while touring through Lyon. French fries in sandwich. Good. Except the red sauce was supposed to be a hot sauce... it was from a persian place, but it tasted more bitter spicy, so it wasn't very good. I wiped off the sauce and was happy.
So much to say about this sign... UKFC (knockoff?)... says "chicken fried", yet there's an italian man and they seem to be selling 2 pizzas for 11 euro... and it's "hallal"!
After our meal, we checked out the Musee des Beaux Arts in Lyon... they actually had quite a few nice paintings from famous artists that even i have heard of! The museum was HUGE and I would definitely recommend going if you are ever in Lyon.
Outside of the museum was this cool fountain in the middle of this square that had a Hotel De Ville. You know where else there is a Hotel de Ville? Paris. Again, so original there, Lyon.
Ah, food in Lyon. My salad and apertif... everyone has bread for like every meal in France.
My steak and frites.. It looks good, but I personally didn't enjoy the green sauce and the meat was a little charred. Overall pretty good though.
mmm croissants. miss them the most of France. This was a regular croissant and a croissant with chocolate at a chain store called Brioche Doree... and even at a chain store, it was awesome! there's something about croissants in france.... so much better than in the US! I seriously ate a croissant like everyday haha
I should also mention, baguettes! Baguettes are so good! This sandwich looks so simple with ham and cheese but it was AWESOME. Fresh bread, fresh cheese, fresh ham.
I just walked around the mall one day with this in my hand it was so convenient and delicious. Most everyone in the mall was walking around with a baguette in hand. So cliche, but its true.
Saw so much in the 2 days I was in Lyon! I would recommend getting the Lyon day pass like we did. I think it was like 17 Euros per person, and it covered all the metro rides, funicular ride up to Notre Dame Basilica, and admission to all the museums (so you definitely save a few bucks if you pack it in like we did).
In one day we went to :
* Notre Dame Basilicia and Foureviere area
* Musées Gadagne (Historical Museum and International Museum of Puppets)
* Musee des Beaux Arts and Hotel de Ville square
* Museum of Gallo-Roman Civilization (passable... not that much)
* Musée des Miniatures et Décors de Cinéma
* Cathédrale St-Jean
* Maison des Canuts (pass. not really much to see, but the neighborhood around has shops and is just cool to walk around in)
Hopefully I'll get around and post about Paris... I do wish that we went to a michelin star rated restaurant while we were in Lyon. I've read that there are quite a few in Lyon... and Lyon is definitely known for its food, but I will just have to do that when I'm richer to go back :)
Its been almost 2 months since I was in France, and now that I'm been considering going to Spain in a couple weeks, I thought it would be a good idea to post some of my favorite pics (mostly food).
My trip began in Lyon (one of the gastronomical capitals of France possibly the world), and we stayed at this giant crayon looking hotel. The buildings in Lyon are older and full of history, so there aren't many high rise buildings, so the Radisson Blu hotel sticks out like a sore thumb.
The inside looks nice, kinda reminds me of the Luxor, since the rooms are all around the perimeter of the building. The location of this hotel was nice though. It was close to the main train station in Lyon and the city center (a giant mall and carrefour)
See what I mean? The giant crayon is so out of place haha also, this is a view of Lyon from up on the hill, too bad it was an overcast day. Obviously the architect had some sort of Napoleon syndrome...
There was this giant ferris wheel in the middle of a giant field... but no riders. It was pretty empty. I wonder if the ferris wheel is just up all year around. Makes for a cool picture though.
I wish I stopped here to eat...! Rapido Tacos in France?! plus there's a Century 21 next door? Hella random.
See the giant cathedral and Eiffel tower looking thing on the hill? The cathedral is called Notre Dame Basilica and the eiffel tower shaped thing is just a electricity tower. Notre Dame and Eiffel tower shaped... not too original there, Lyon.
Inside the Notre Dame Basilica. Fancy.
I liked this picture... not sure why its discolored, but it looks cool. Probably one of my favorites of my mom haha
Looks like a dinosaur museum huh? Amazing that it is actually a miniature diarama!? Crazy how detailed it is! This and many others were amazing to see at the Musée des Miniatures et Décors de Cinéma.
Yuck. but cool. also at the musee des miniatures et decors de cinema. You get the idea of what this museum had... pretty cool if you're into movies
Outside of the Musee Gagadne (puppet and history museum), they had this swinging chandelier... Scary! but... its on purpose. Its part of its design. not sure how I feel about that yet but I didn't stand directly under it.
Our lunch break while touring through Lyon. French fries in sandwich. Good. Except the red sauce was supposed to be a hot sauce... it was from a persian place, but it tasted more bitter spicy, so it wasn't very good. I wiped off the sauce and was happy.
So much to say about this sign... UKFC (knockoff?)... says "chicken fried", yet there's an italian man and they seem to be selling 2 pizzas for 11 euro... and it's "hallal"!
After our meal, we checked out the Musee des Beaux Arts in Lyon... they actually had quite a few nice paintings from famous artists that even i have heard of! The museum was HUGE and I would definitely recommend going if you are ever in Lyon.
Outside of the museum was this cool fountain in the middle of this square that had a Hotel De Ville. You know where else there is a Hotel de Ville? Paris. Again, so original there, Lyon.
Ah, food in Lyon. My salad and apertif... everyone has bread for like every meal in France.
My steak and frites.. It looks good, but I personally didn't enjoy the green sauce and the meat was a little charred. Overall pretty good though.
mmm croissants. miss them the most of France. This was a regular croissant and a croissant with chocolate at a chain store called Brioche Doree... and even at a chain store, it was awesome! there's something about croissants in france.... so much better than in the US! I seriously ate a croissant like everyday haha
I should also mention, baguettes! Baguettes are so good! This sandwich looks so simple with ham and cheese but it was AWESOME. Fresh bread, fresh cheese, fresh ham.
I just walked around the mall one day with this in my hand it was so convenient and delicious. Most everyone in the mall was walking around with a baguette in hand. So cliche, but its true.
Saw so much in the 2 days I was in Lyon! I would recommend getting the Lyon day pass like we did. I think it was like 17 Euros per person, and it covered all the metro rides, funicular ride up to Notre Dame Basilica, and admission to all the museums (so you definitely save a few bucks if you pack it in like we did).
In one day we went to :
* Notre Dame Basilicia and Foureviere area
* Musées Gadagne (Historical Museum and International Museum of Puppets)
* Musee des Beaux Arts and Hotel de Ville square
* Museum of Gallo-Roman Civilization (passable... not that much)
* Musée des Miniatures et Décors de Cinéma
* Cathédrale St-Jean
* Maison des Canuts (pass. not really much to see, but the neighborhood around has shops and is just cool to walk around in)
Hopefully I'll get around and post about Paris... I do wish that we went to a michelin star rated restaurant while we were in Lyon. I've read that there are quite a few in Lyon... and Lyon is definitely known for its food, but I will just have to do that when I'm richer to go back :)
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Igloo Inuit - The results
hooray! we survived! now to tell the tale...
this is me and Lisa's igloo after we gave up on it. I think we built too high before angling inwards. I think since I was digging my ice blocks from inside the igloo, it ended up becoming deeper faster. I should have started angling inwards from the start.
here is my friend jeff outside of the most successful igloo that was built. They were worried it would collapse but it held up through the night! They were so close, only a small hole at the top left to fill in.
When you're in extreme weather, why fight it? Embrace it! Embrace the cold and make it your bitch to make....
jello shots!
unfortunately, the cold weather tried to retaliate and solidified our jello faster than we could pour them into the cups!
here is my friend charlie eating the jello stuck to the bottom of the pan.. since the jello solidified so fast, the alcohol wasn't really absorbed so it was really really strong tasting.
There was a glorious full moon that illuminated the snow field with a bright light. I thought this picture came out pretty cool.
My igloo in the morning... the other igloo became Charlie's poop domicile later that morning...
Frozen eggs! Everything froze, but I've never seen frozen eggs! In case you've ever wondered...
Before we left, we decided to try knocking down the most successful igloo. Peter the destroyer took on this task very well.
... unfortunately for Peter, Grace peed in that igloo just prior and he jumped into her pee. ha!
It was an awesome trip and there's many more stories to tell. I hope to go again and champion an igloo... and hopefully build a snowman.. and go ice fishing... :)
P.S. I was watching an episode of The Real World DC... and the 3 guys in the house go to happy hour at Nellie's, which I know is on U Street, since I've been there before. I got excited when I saw them walk there because I recognized it... then I remembered... it's a gay bar! haha it was funny watching the Real World kids slowly figuring out that it was a gay bar just like I had to slowly come to that realization when I went. Thinking back, I believe it was the drag queen bingo that gave it away haha
this is me and Lisa's igloo after we gave up on it. I think we built too high before angling inwards. I think since I was digging my ice blocks from inside the igloo, it ended up becoming deeper faster. I should have started angling inwards from the start.
here is my friend jeff outside of the most successful igloo that was built. They were worried it would collapse but it held up through the night! They were so close, only a small hole at the top left to fill in.
When you're in extreme weather, why fight it? Embrace it! Embrace the cold and make it your bitch to make....
jello shots!
unfortunately, the cold weather tried to retaliate and solidified our jello faster than we could pour them into the cups!
here is my friend charlie eating the jello stuck to the bottom of the pan.. since the jello solidified so fast, the alcohol wasn't really absorbed so it was really really strong tasting.
There was a glorious full moon that illuminated the snow field with a bright light. I thought this picture came out pretty cool.
My igloo in the morning... the other igloo became Charlie's poop domicile later that morning...
Frozen eggs! Everything froze, but I've never seen frozen eggs! In case you've ever wondered...
Before we left, we decided to try knocking down the most successful igloo. Peter the destroyer took on this task very well.
... unfortunately for Peter, Grace peed in that igloo just prior and he jumped into her pee. ha!
It was an awesome trip and there's many more stories to tell. I hope to go again and champion an igloo... and hopefully build a snowman.. and go ice fishing... :)
P.S. I was watching an episode of The Real World DC... and the 3 guys in the house go to happy hour at Nellie's, which I know is on U Street, since I've been there before. I got excited when I saw them walk there because I recognized it... then I remembered... it's a gay bar! haha it was funny watching the Real World kids slowly figuring out that it was a gay bar just like I had to slowly come to that realization when I went. Thinking back, I believe it was the drag queen bingo that gave it away haha
Friday, January 29, 2010
Igloo Inuit
I'm leaving for the weekend with Lisa and some friends to go up to Carson Pass (CA/NV) to go snow camping!!! The plan is to build igloos in the snow and sleep in them! It sounded like a good idea at the time...
Inspiration from:
http://www.snowsaw.com/movies.html
What am I getting myself into!? Plan will be to go up to the Tahoe strip and stay in a hotel Friday night (will be gambling) and then head to Meiss Meadow/Carson Pass early to build our igloos! Apparently it takes inuits 30 min to build their igloos... we are estimating 4 hrs for ourselves which might be a little too confident in our abilities in the freezing snow haha
I'm counting on these to save my life...
Hopefully I'll make it back to tell the tale!
Inspiration from:
http://www.snowsaw.com/movies.html
What am I getting myself into!? Plan will be to go up to the Tahoe strip and stay in a hotel Friday night (will be gambling) and then head to Meiss Meadow/Carson Pass early to build our igloos! Apparently it takes inuits 30 min to build their igloos... we are estimating 4 hrs for ourselves which might be a little too confident in our abilities in the freezing snow haha
I'm counting on these to save my life...
Hopefully I'll make it back to tell the tale!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Obama Paper Dolls
So the last time I was in DC, which was a couple years ago, they were remodeling the Smithsonian American History museum. I was so excited to go during my trip this time! There were a few interesting things I saw that I have to talk about. I would definitely recommend going to the Smithsonians if you are ever in DC. I feel like I'm in grade school again learning about history and science... and it might have been boring to me then, but I really appreciate it now that I'm older.
Did you know... that this was not the first Washington monument?
This was the original statue of Washington...! Apparently it was completed in 1841, and many people thought this 12 ton marble statue of Washington was inappropriately dressed... any thoughts on which one is better?
Did you know... Abraham Lincoln had giant hands? I can't imagine shaking a hand that big; his hand would eat my hand.
The thing that captured my interest the most at the museum was the gem I found in the gift shop! On sale for $4.99, I had to get it!!
I think the contents of the pages inside can speak for themselves of why it intrigued me so much. I mean, this is our PRESIDENT!! and the first page has him half naked!!
You can even dress up Michelle Obama and the first daughters! At least they didn't draw them half naked too...
... Michelle's wedding dress...
Barack as a cowboy...? Apparently he really dressed like this in TX. This book is full of interesting facts on the first family's wardrobe!
I can't believe I found this at the Smithsonian!! Paper dolls of the Obama family... with drawings of a half naked president in his like underwear! I don't know why this shocks me so much. I find it so awesome. One day this will be worth something haha
Did you know... that this was not the first Washington monument?
This was the original statue of Washington...! Apparently it was completed in 1841, and many people thought this 12 ton marble statue of Washington was inappropriately dressed... any thoughts on which one is better?
Did you know... Abraham Lincoln had giant hands? I can't imagine shaking a hand that big; his hand would eat my hand.
The thing that captured my interest the most at the museum was the gem I found in the gift shop! On sale for $4.99, I had to get it!!
I think the contents of the pages inside can speak for themselves of why it intrigued me so much. I mean, this is our PRESIDENT!! and the first page has him half naked!!
You can even dress up Michelle Obama and the first daughters! At least they didn't draw them half naked too...
... Michelle's wedding dress...
Barack as a cowboy...? Apparently he really dressed like this in TX. This book is full of interesting facts on the first family's wardrobe!
I can't believe I found this at the Smithsonian!! Paper dolls of the Obama family... with drawings of a half naked president in his like underwear! I don't know why this shocks me so much. I find it so awesome. One day this will be worth something haha
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Ben's Next Door
So, I recently came back from a weeklong trip out to the East Coast. I went to DC --> NYC --> Baltimore. Omg I ate so much! It was great to see old friends out there again and eat all the stuff that I missed and do the things I didn't get to do last time. So, in the next couple of posts, I will be writing about various points of my trip.
So, to begin, let's start in DC where my trip began. I took a redeye flight out on a Monday night and arrived on Tuesday morning. I actually didn't take Tuesday - Thursday off of work, so I had planned on working while I was out there. I figured that there was a 3 hour time difference, so I could do things in the morning and by the time I got back from my activities, it would be the start of my workday on the west coast. :)
So, the first night, my friend Lani and I hit up U Street. It's a strip of bars and restaurant on, you guessed it, U Street. We walked up and down the street to check out what bars were there and which ones have the best happy hours. I just have to say, DC has some of the best happy hours and nightlife ever. Well, I come from San Jose, so I don't know if that says much. haha
Our first stop was Ben's Chili Bowl! Apparently its Obama's favorite, and I can see why!
We actually didn't go to Ben's Chili Bowl, but they opened up a bar/restaurant next door called Ben's Next Door which is a little more upscale, but you can still order items off of the menu from Ben's Chili Bowl there. Man, I totally pigged out there. The waitress even gave us 2 asian girls the up and down look, indicating she was skeptical we could eat all that we ordered. Lani and I each ordered the Half smoke with chili cheese and shared an order of Chili cheese fries and hot wings. Man oh man, it was awesome. Even awesomer because we were there for happy hour and each item was like $5. And, the experience was even MORE awesome because during happy hour, beer on tap is $3! So, I had a purple haze and a newcastle with my meal. yum!
The half smoke is like a polish sausage... big and juicy! The bun was kind of whatever... nothing special, actually kind of dry... but seriously, you can't go wrong with anything covered in chili cheese! I just wanted to eat that chili cheese forever.
The chili cheese fries were good... but again, you can't go wrong with chili cheese! There's just something about their chili... its just plain good. I can't put my finger on it.... but i just know I wanted more of it! Behind the chili cheese fries were the chicken wings... and surprisingly, they were good! They had a nice spice and they came with a blue cheese dipping sauce. Normally I'm not a big fan of blue cheese, but dang, this was good. We were sooo full! Next time I go to DC, I will definitely be hitting up Ben's Next Door again... its nicer inside and they have the alcohol! :)
So, to begin, let's start in DC where my trip began. I took a redeye flight out on a Monday night and arrived on Tuesday morning. I actually didn't take Tuesday - Thursday off of work, so I had planned on working while I was out there. I figured that there was a 3 hour time difference, so I could do things in the morning and by the time I got back from my activities, it would be the start of my workday on the west coast. :)
So, the first night, my friend Lani and I hit up U Street. It's a strip of bars and restaurant on, you guessed it, U Street. We walked up and down the street to check out what bars were there and which ones have the best happy hours. I just have to say, DC has some of the best happy hours and nightlife ever. Well, I come from San Jose, so I don't know if that says much. haha
Our first stop was Ben's Chili Bowl! Apparently its Obama's favorite, and I can see why!
We actually didn't go to Ben's Chili Bowl, but they opened up a bar/restaurant next door called Ben's Next Door which is a little more upscale, but you can still order items off of the menu from Ben's Chili Bowl there. Man, I totally pigged out there. The waitress even gave us 2 asian girls the up and down look, indicating she was skeptical we could eat all that we ordered. Lani and I each ordered the Half smoke with chili cheese and shared an order of Chili cheese fries and hot wings. Man oh man, it was awesome. Even awesomer because we were there for happy hour and each item was like $5. And, the experience was even MORE awesome because during happy hour, beer on tap is $3! So, I had a purple haze and a newcastle with my meal. yum!
The half smoke is like a polish sausage... big and juicy! The bun was kind of whatever... nothing special, actually kind of dry... but seriously, you can't go wrong with anything covered in chili cheese! I just wanted to eat that chili cheese forever.
The chili cheese fries were good... but again, you can't go wrong with chili cheese! There's just something about their chili... its just plain good. I can't put my finger on it.... but i just know I wanted more of it! Behind the chili cheese fries were the chicken wings... and surprisingly, they were good! They had a nice spice and they came with a blue cheese dipping sauce. Normally I'm not a big fan of blue cheese, but dang, this was good. We were sooo full! Next time I go to DC, I will definitely be hitting up Ben's Next Door again... its nicer inside and they have the alcohol! :)
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