kate+speaks

darn KAPANGPANGANS…

so for those of you who don’t know, Kapangpangans are people from Pampanga, Philippines. they speak their own dialect, and are known as kapangpangans just like how some of us filipinos are tagalog or ilocano. so basically, i roll with a lot of them kapangpangan people, the best friend and boyfriend are both ka-pang-pang. the reason i must curse at them in the first place is because they are some DAMN GOOD COOKS. all their mama’s are great cooks. you know its good when you’re not even hungry but you get food… JUST SO YOU CAN TASTE IT. well thats the way it is with their food.

I ATE A LOT THIS WEEKEND… MAN… a lot, and i’m not even ashamed cause it was all tasty.

yesterday we went to jeremy’s graduation party, who is also kapangpangan, and his mama cooked up hella food. damn. jeff’s family was up for the weekend and they always feed me well.

darn you people who originated from pampanga… you guys got all the secret recipes and don’t wanna share.

DID YOU KNOW… that the summer is half over… or is it half full?

i say its half full, so who’s down with that concept?

things i still need to do:

- camping with the NOCAA FAMs (yeah we make kare kare for dinner and sometimes the uncles bring satelite tv, but so what… i love it.)
- hit the santa cruz/capitola area
- 4th annual monterey daytrip barbecue at the spot.
- ROCK THE BELLS [damn right, we got lower level tickets. kweli, we shall finally meet]
- 23 years of living
- san diego mini-vacay
– plus more…

BREAKING IT DOWN.
unless you’re that curious, i doubt you’ll read the whole thing.

if you know me very well, its evident that i plan my stuff down to the t. especially first-time vacations to a new location. i leave space for some spontanaity, but seriously… my obsessiveness causes me to know what i should see/eat so i don’t freak out when i get home, thinking i missed this… missed that… etc. etc. plus, my vacation planning is HIGHLY efficient. for someone who hasn’t been to the place, i research weeks before and get a feel for the different areas, one whole day is often in a completely different area and it will flow. yes, i’m cocky about how i plan vacations. i told you, i’m efficient. next time though, i’m doing whatever i feel like doing, whenever. it was a good first trip.

anyways… my vacation is a blur, but i’m going to try to give a day-by-day breakdown…

day one, sunday:
-didn’t sleep the night before, slept through most of the flight. fly american airlines if you’re traveling in pairs, their planes have two aisles. it was nice that it was just jeff and myself near the window. i hate those three seats-aisle-three seats configurations. -got to jfk, waited an hour and a half for our shuttle (don’t use super shuttle in or around nyc). -got stuck in traffic, then we were last to get dropped off, we arrived @ our hotel at 9pm, we arrived in nyc at 4:30, what a waste of time right??? -ground zero was directly in front of our hotel. we were set up on the 26th floor so we really saw the amount of land that the two buildings occupied -we walked out of our hotel without a clue at 10pm and decided to go to times square cause it was sunday and we wanted to get that place over with. -found a open subway station and figured out the system. -also went to the 24hour apple store after that. -decided that even nyc chain-pizza is still better than any chain in california.

day two, the anniversary:
-went to serendipity III, got there 15 minutes before it opened. put our name on the list and only had to wait an additional 25 minutes. lucky… their food is just ok, but we ordered their “peanut butter frozen hot chocolate” and that first sip is unexplainable. too good for words. i’m sure their original frozen hot chocolate is great, but i’m a fan of peanut butter and chocolate combined, so it was basically like drugs. -accidently lead jeff to the metropolitan museum of art instead of the moma. -the MOMA is great, but san francisco’s store beats the nyc one. i saw a couple warhol’s, van gough’s, & magritte’s. personally, i love magritte’s disturbing paintings. -visited the huge cathedral -got lost in the wrong part of brooklyn, had to endure a crazy jamaican dude in the subway train yelling at a white guy for a good 10 minutes -took a taxi to the right part of brooklyn to get to our anniversary dinner spot. -ate at “sea thai bistro,” its the restaurant used in “garden state” with the buddah in the middle. was the best thai food i’ve ever eaten in my whole practically 23 years of existence. it was a beautiful restaurant, super trendy and so affordable. we ordered four items (including a $4 calamari appetizer), got full, and still brought leftovers back to the hotel.

day three, the fourth of july:
-went to the natural history museum, to see some dinosaur bones, cause you know we can’t see those on the west coast. was disappointed cause the exibit called “human biology and evolution” was closed for renovation and i really wanted to see the cave-man couple that was in “friends.” -went to “gray’s papaya,” was in love with the first bite. -headed to the bk bridge, but it was closed because of fireworks, so we took the subway to brooklyn. took up a spot on the deck near the bk bridge where a whole bunch of people were already posted for the fireworks. best fireworks display ever, have you ever seen a firework blow up into three perfect happy faces? -ate @ grimaldi’s pizza after the display, waited 5 minutes. best simple pizza ever, no meat, just wonderful. decided that pizza in california is hella pathetic. -got a “chocolate eclair” from mister softee, how come they don’t have that on the west coast?!? -walked back to manhattan on the bk bridge that night, beautiful weather.

day four, wednesday:
-it poured cats and dogs outside but it we still went out. you could get soaked in a few minutes without an umbrella. -went to times square to find the TKTS center, to get a deal on some broadway tickets. -mr. tanhueco ended up picking “phantom of the opera,” we got orchestra tickets half off, only paid $60 each for the matinee show. -walked over to le parker meridian to find the “burger joint” inside. hella great burger & fries combination. found kweli’s signature on the wall, sat in a booth he probably sat in. ohh i love kweli -went to the majestic theater to watch the show, it was awesome, jeff ended up laughing during the most dramatic parts, but go figure. -walked around soho -ended up falling asleep longer than we planned, supposed to go to the empire state building but gave up, too tired. -woke up, jeff got the idea to get hot dogs at midnight. left the hotel, got to gray’s fine, but the subway system screwed us over and we didn’t get back until past 3am. longest run for food ever. there was a crazy dude singing opera at the subway station, his voice was high, like he didn’t have male genitalia. that night is going down in books.

day five, thursday:
-hit the lower east side -checked out the east village -ate the best french fries in my life @ pommes frites -had dinner next to a filipino shim (transvestite) on a date with a white guy. they didn’t talk at all during dinner, and the white guy was texting something to someone while shim was in the restroom. it was quite weird, but highly entertaining. we think it was a blind date. -went to the empire state building at 11pm, got pissed off and decided it was a tourist trap rip-off -ended up in times square again, to buy people tacky gifts

day six, friday:
-the only day my hair would behave cause it wasn’t humid -walked through central park -decided that riding with shitty smelling horses is not my idea of romance (horses are gross anyways) -went back to soho -went back to the bk bridge, this time with the slr -had dinner in little italy -ate at rich to riches, pudding that makes ice cream look stupid. -packed up that night so we could still hit stuff the next morning.

last day, saturday:
-ended up waking up an hour later than we should’ve. -decided to split up for our food-runs, so i got off at one stop while jeff continued. ended up going to magnolia bakery (”lazy sunday”-chris parnel/andy sandburg) alone. semi-experienced the west village all by myself. bought 10 cupcakes to bring back home, they smelled like instant diabetes. -jeff went to gray’s papaya to bring back 20 hot dogs. -got back to lower manhattan trying to search frantically for a bagel with real lox, no luck. -ended up buying pizza from a deli near the hotel, from the friendliest man i’ve met on the trip. -even plain cheese “pie” is so good.

…i’m already planning when we can go back. its a beautiful city. new york is probably the only place in the world where “downtown,” “midtown,” and “uptown” is exactly what it means. i know understand what blackstar was talking about in “respiration.” i know why “sex and the city” includes the “…and the city.” damn, its just a great place in general.

i can’t stop thinking about the food. the food. ohhh the food. most definitely my yelp page is going to blow up from all my reviews. some places were so good i want to bring all the homies there, just to taste it. stay tuned… i’ll be yelping soon.

ohh i just had to say:

you know the restaurant in “Garden State” where the girl gets pissed cause the “vietnamese restaurant” doesn’t serve bread?
…jeff and i ate there.

you know the place that the movie “Serendipity” made famous, Serendipity?
…jeff and i ate there and only had to wait 25 minutes.

you know the dessert place in “Hitch” where Eva Mendez & her friend ate?
…jeff and i ate there.

…and they were all HELLA good, with a capital H.

jettin.

heading back to the LEFT coast tomorrow. i’m saddened and happily content at the same time, ironic moment. nycity is as dope as it gets. there is so much to take in from this wonderful place. i will miss it, but home is my number one love. northern california is my heart.

still, the big apple can have a piece of it.

farewell nyc, until we meet again. next time, i’m bringing all the homies. =)