when life hands you apples...

make some applesauce. and eat at least one a day to keep the doctor away.

or
just go and visit your best friend and try to conquer the biggest apple of 'em all...





New York City


i hadn't seen Liz in over a year and a half, and so i didn't really have a plan to cram as many sights into my four days, opting to just "go with the flow" and spend as much time w.my girl as possible.

the first night included a guest appearance by Ruth, the uber-talented Singaporean ex-roomie from Liz's Beantown days. I was SO surprised when i first saw ruth, since her appearance had changed drastically, but she still made me laugh, especially her sudden craving for buffalo wings...which forced an impromptu vote for a greasy spoon establishment vs. the posh looking Greek restaurant Liz wanted to patron.

And thus, the love affair with Madison Avenue diner begins...



the menu had TWELVE panels. colour me shocked and confused, but i managed to order an excellent tuna penne salad which hit the spot. the night was an all-around success, as good food was soon followed by insightful conversation (engineered by ms.ling and ms.man) and encouraging prayer.




a failed gene kelly imitation

saturday started with an overwhelming lunch at Patsy's, where liz and i unknowingly ordered a small pizza, which ended up feeding us for the next three meals since it was actually ginormous (yes, that's a word). we then headed off to the Met to get us sum of that culture. the Met is a gorgeous piece of architecture; marble flooring, majestic pillars, beautiful showrooms, airy atriums.. eeee! and the best part? they allow you to take non-flash pictures!!!!!!!!!!! woooooooooooo!!










we then bussed it all the way to 5th avenue, hoping that we could be disappointed by the H&M flagship store. and boy, did H&M pull through. afterwards, being the two grannies we are, we walked back to Liz's on 58th and 2nd (w.a slight detour at the Kenneth Cole store.... Ahoy landlubbers! cute shoes & watch on yonder horizon!), tucked into yummy Patsy's grub, then proceeded to get sucked into the world of Trump. Yes, that's right ladies and gentlemen, I am officially on The Apprentice bandwagon. The business world is just so cutthroat... and dishy! Goooo Stacey J.! To even out sudden impulses to buybuybuy!! foreign stock and fire the doorman, we watched Love Actually, which i had been wanting to see for a while. It was allright I guess... i was just really upset that they referred to the PM's assistant as "chunky" and the video guy was v.creepy.

Sunday was church on 77th. The message was quite excellent and timely (well, for me). Good job Southern boys! After service, liz, john and i hightailed it to Good Enough to Eat, which was apparently the best brunch place in the whole universe.



mine




hers


so good.


after having such an awesome meal, i think we were both delirious. i mean, how else do you explain the plan to traverse the entire midtown and most of downtown Manhattan...in heels?



Liz just doesn't listen to rationale.



i felt very repressed this weekend.

we went over to central park, and sat down on a bench to take in a nearby baseball game. it was perfect... beautiful sunshiney day, giggly conversation, sweet air, lively setting, and... Mr. Tony Danza.

yes that's right kiddies, the man we all know as Angela's housekeeper, Tupac's friend, and the consummate entertainer, was taking a break from rollerblading, stretching out 7 feet away from us, watching the same baseball game. it's sad, but we were both a little thrilled. Tony! Ey oh, oh ey! I loved Who's The Boss and Taxi. He just looked like a really happy go-lucky guy, sitting under the tree, baseball cap sitting rakishly on his head. Yay!

Then a man w.a lycra t-shirt and too-tight pants who was playing in left field started waving at us and so we ran away.

Running away in heels proved a bit challenging. Luckily, we are both Public Transit Princesses (yes, that's a real title), and our gleaming silver chariots arrived at the brink of collapse.




we emerged from the underground and found ourselves in union square,




steps away from the cutest shoes ever:




agree?
look! those shoes are definite head-turners, i should get them right?



ok, i'm convinced. =)


after an exhausting but wonderful day, we capped the night off at Serendipity, the dessert place that appears in the movie w.the same name. Unfortunately, we overindulged, and it felt like i was going to have a coronary after we ate a sand tart sundae and the (in)famous frozen hot chocolate.



sucking it up and in


oh yeah, meet Larry, the nicest doorman in all of Manhattan:



hi larry! we really are Party Girls. I swear. Late nights and loud music is my motto!


monday was a bit of a blur, running around town to drop off stuff, pick up stuff...but the climax was the fight i had with liz at Bridge Market. !! I've never fought with Liz ever, and it was a very interesting event... like i wasn't totally participating, as half of me was just watching her reaction because i've never seen her so mad with me before. Lots of whining and yelling in front of the salad bar =) over what you may ask? where to have dinner =) because we both have bumpy noses, we are two stubborn grannies. poor isobela was left to fend for herself amidst the numerous salad bar options. in the end liz won, because i was actually a bit intimidated (and was afraid she would kill me in my sleep). but it was a win-win situation (of course) as we hightailed it to Madison, and ate some cheese, beef and bread i.e. cheeseburgers.

Tuesday was goodbye day, but before i left, I met up w.Liz for lunch (lunch? outside? whattaconcept). and we eagerly hunted down an authentic NYC hot dog vendor. We came across this guy in front of Madison Square Garden.



He was quick and efficient, making the most of a streamlined delivery. However, despite his professionalism,

New York City hot dogs SUCK

pitiful. thumbs down. grade Blah. you feel me? good. let's not revisit this experience again.



it was a really chill weekend, just what i had hoped for. i learned a lot about Liz, myself and our friendship this weekend. sounds cheese i know, but i think it's useful. any future blackmail material? of course =) but so amazed she made it in NYC you know? she is so much more stronger than i am; i don't think i could do it, especially if i didn't know anyone in the city. there's just this oppressive intangibility about the NYC that would frustrate me; i just couldn't sense the real NYC..but maybe one day.






bye bye nyc!


wow, i am so tired!