blaHCL Presents

Spring time is officially (for now) here in New York! The temperature has been steadily in the 60s and 70s for the past two week. Let’s hope it stays that way over the next few months! Seeing all the effects from Global Warming this past winter, I fear we’ll be in hell (some-what literally!) this summer!

But the current weather is perfect for a stroll down the waterfront walkway, or a tour-de-New York. So on Saturday, after a late brunch with a few high school friends around Lincoln Center, I decided, rather than riding the subway back to midtown, to wander around the city on my way back to Herald Square (34th Street, 6th Ave). Being a directional idiot I am, I began my journey at 66th Street and 9th Ave. Before it hits me, I was at 84th and 10th… Figured it’s time to head back east, I walked back towards 6th Ave and made a turn on the corner of 84th and 8th. Few minutes later I ended up at 90th and 8th…

So I had a bit of detour, however I did manage to spot a few very nice and up-scale condos around the area. Very tempting it was, but I understand those units probably are in or around the millions. Not exactly the price us entry-level-white-collars can afford.

Oh, and I should note the walk first began at around 2 pm.

After some more detours and a nice stroll in Central Park, I arrived at my destination promptly at 5 pm. Not a single bottle of water, or any sort of liquid for that matter, was bought/drank during the entire walk. Not sure why I was so god damned cheap, but now I know… always bring a bottle of water when going out ‘cuz Charlie is too fucking cheap to shell out a mere 2 dollars for a bottle of water… understandable though, he just got a whopping >$100 increase in rent!! Whoopie!!

Ya-ting and Fred were staying over that night, so we met up later that evening. They heard there’s this really good Korean soft tofu place in Fort Lee, so we began our quest to So Kong Dong. Let me point out something here - MapQuest’s direction is utter crap at times, and Jersey has the worst street/highway signs I’ve ever seen. Had we followed MapQuest’s direction, it would take us a few extra turns/detours to get to the restaurant, and we’d be stuck in traffic for hours and arrive at the place just in time to see it closing. And those poorly lit/placed, or lack thereof, street/highway signs… let’s just say I began praising Boston signs after that night…

In any case, we got there at 9-ish. The restaurant was still packed and we had to wait for ~40 minutes before we were seated. The menu was limited (8 or so types of soft tofu soup and kalbi beef to choose from), but the food quality was definitely good. I ordered an oyster soft tofu soup, and unlike some restaurants in New York K-town, there were generous amount of oyster in it. Their appetizers are also pretty good, especially the spicy cucumber. There’s also various levels of “hotness” for the tofu soup. If you’re not used to eating spicy food, I’d recommend starting with “not so spicy.” I was sweating quite a bit towards the end and my soup was only “medium hot.”

So Kong Dong on Google Map

to be continued…