another weekend gone by

Prior to starting school in the fall, I'm trying my best to explore and experience all that New York City has to offer. This is especially true on weekends, and this past weekend was no exception.

Thursday: Watched a sneak preview of Cars with Winnie (who hooked up the tickets with reserved seating) and Andy. I wasn't expecting much though, not being a NASCAR fan or anything, but I really enjoyed it. It was easily the most family oriented and simplest of the Pixar films, but still had its moments. After the movie Winnie and I got chicken and rice from the famous Halal cart on 53rd and 6th Ave. Tasty and cheap! I'm looking forward to going. The line may be intimidating, but it's worth it if you have the time to spare.

Friday: Ran some errands at the law school, then got a haircut at SEI-Tomoko. I've never tried a Japanese salon before, and I probably won't again. I never walk into a haircut with a style in mind, rather I request for them to "cut it short, but not too short, and where it'll grow out nicely for a few weeks." However, the stylist at SEI-Tomoko really only spoke Japanese, with a smattering of English, so it was difficult for me to describe what I wanted. I walked away with a cut that was way too short for my liking and reminded me of when I got my haircut in Beijing and they gave me the traditional flattop with the hair thinned down to almost nothing.

In the afternoon Leslie and I went to the Met, where I wanted to see the Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh exhibit. It was sucha nice day that after the museum we took a nice leisurely stroll through Central Park and did some people watching near the big fountain. For dinner we gorged on KFC before watching This is Spinal Tap, one of my top five favorite movies.


Central Park is the best!

Saturday: Having taken it easy the night before, I woke up early and played a bit of Warcraft before heading out to the Big Apple BBQ Block Party. I got there first and jumped in line as Madison Square Park was jammed full of people trying to get their 'cue. Here's what I ended up tasting:

Pulled Pork Shoulder with Spicy Crispy Southern Mustard Coleslaw (x2), Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q, Decatur, AL
Whole Hog with Mustard Coleslaw, Mitchell's BBQ, Wilson, NC
Baby Back Ribs with Beans, Memphis Championship Barbecue/17th Street Bar & Grill, Las Vegas, NV/Murphysboro, IL

My favorites were the pulled pork shoulder, spicy coleslaw and the beans.


Crazy queues for 'cue!


Pitmaster Chris Lilly, winner of the 2004 Memphis in May BBQ Cookoff


Everything that didn't get cooked from the whole hog


I love baby back ribs!


Gerald taking pictures as usual

After stuffing ourselves silly Gerald, Francis, Rachel and I headed down to Soho for some shopping. Rachel went off to do her girl shopping while the rest of us went to Crumpler Bags to check out their Beer for Bags promotion. I ended up turning in a case of Leffe and a bottle of Chimay for a Complete Seed bag. After I got my bag, we headed over to the West Village location where Gerald and Francis turned in two bottles of Patron for their own messenger bags. All the while, they were handing out beers in the store, and we took advantage of the free refreshments at both stores.


Me, Gerald and Francis enjoying Pacificos at the Crumpler store

And finally, on the way home I stopped to watch some high school hoops being played at "The Cage," a little black top court by my house. Basketball there can be competitive, and there was a pretty good AAU game going on when I passed by on my way home, complete with coaches yelling with loudspeakers on the sidelines and bystanders groaning and cheering with every play.


Crowd watching the hoops action

By the time I got back home I was thoroughly pooped and spent the rest of the evening at home playing Warcraft.

Sunday: I'm back here at work, but definitely plan on hitting the gym. Other than that, Crumpler is having their big beer party to give away all of the beer that they collected tonight, so I may drop by with G and Francis.