SATC 2

I was eagerly awaiting this movie despite the lukewarm reviews. In short, I was disappointed. I didn't learn anything substantial about the characters. Perhaps due to the poor story line, I paid more attention to the costumes. The Abu Dhabi story line could have been done much better. The big gay wedding was the best part for me. But still, I'm glad I saw it as early as I possibly could. Nelson was such a sport for taking me :)) Love him!

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Settling In

After a week of unpacking and arranging things in place, we were finally beginning to feel at home. This weekend was quite busy for us as I was in NYC on Friday night, spending time with my friend practicing a dance for her upcoming wedding. It was alos my first visit to her new apt on the Upper East side. After some serious dance practice, we headed out for some Indian food at Amma, a little restaurant with great reviews. Though it was a long wait for first our table and then for our food, it was worth it. The food great though a bit too spicy for us. So we cooled off with some Pinkberry on the way. Next morning, I was heading out of Grand central when I noticed a Magnolia's opened at the dining concourse. I dashed over and got a cupcake for my train ride back. It was great not having to wait in line and I simply loved their butter cream frosting but found the cake a little too dry.

On Saturday evening, we welcomed our first house guests. My in-laws came for a visit from MA. Late evening, we all headed out to dinner. Our first stop was at the Boathouse in Ossining, but the wait was too long. So we decided on Amalfi, an Italian restaurant in Briarcliff. It offered typical Italian pasta and meat dishes, a little pricey at about $20-25 per plate. The restaurant was specious and not too crowded. We had a leisurely meal and enjoyed the food. The clams in my mother -in-laws dish may have been undercooked as she was feeling quite sick on the following day :(

On Sunday, we did more shopping for houseware and had our first BBQ to kick of the summer. Despite predictions of rain, the weather cooporated.

Moving Day(s)

This weekend was our official moving into the new place. We are excited & exhausted. Packing & unpacking was our entire to-do list along with visits to Bed, Bath & Beyond. Even though we moved a few blocks it seems like a whole different atmosphere in the condo community. Looking forward to having our home setup soon and entertaining family & friends :))

In Preparation

Last Friday we were celebrating the issuing of Nelson's first patent for IBM! Even though we had known about it for a while, it was exciting to see the framed certificate along with the prize money. So Nelson took me to a nice Italian eatery, Mediterraneo in Pleasantville to celebrate. The service was great and we were offered a complimentary bread basket that was really fresh. This seemed to be a family run restaurant with the owners coming up to greet many of their regular guests. Towards the middle of our meal, the restaurant was bustling with the city crowd coming in after work. We had two plates of antipasti to start with and ordered a pizza to share. The food and the atmosphere were great so we didn't mind the particularly long wait for our pizza.

On Saturday, the weather was gloomy with strong winds and thunder storms. After my literacy volunteer training in Mount Vernon, we headed to White Plains to do some shopping for house ware. We shopped at Bed, Bath & Beyond & The Container Store. It was hard buying things for our house since I didn't remember the details of the place. I was craving for some bubble tea later on, when we discovered that Juicy Sushi, a small sushi & bubble tea place that opened in White Plains last year was already closed. So we settled on getting some Indian takeout from Ambadi's and yummy cookies from Iron Tomato as we went home to pack.

Finding Good Food

This was an busy weekend for us. On Saturday, I had training in Mount Vernon for a literacy volunteer program that I'm interested pursuing. Afterwards, we stopped by the Yonkers Cross County Center for a respite of retail therapy before furniture shopping. We starting in Yonkers and then headed over the Tappan Zee Bridge to Spring Valley. Our venture was definitely successful as we found the items that were in line with our taste and vision. Tired from a busy day, we decided to take advantage of being in Indian neighborhood by ordering some take out from Ponmony Indian Cuisine, a small restaurant adjoining the Maveli Cinema. The menu offered a range of Kerala cuisine at very affordable prices. The service was great and our food was ready within 30mins. Though I'm new to Kerala dishes, they turned out to be quite similar to Sri Lankan rice & curry and I throughly enjoyed the meal.

On Sunday afternoon, we headed to East Brunswick, NJ to visit a friend, who just moved into her first home. It was about a 1.5 hr drive each way but we had a great time catching up. They treated us to authentic Sichuan Chinese food at a restaurant in Highland Park, a neighborhood close by. We enjoyed the opportunity to be introduced to food that is considered good by Chinese natives. The fish and the string green beans were my favorites out of the several hot and cold dishes we consumed.

Our Getaways: Part 1

As we’re trying to figure out where to go for Memorial Day weekend, I was thinking of all the fun vacations we’ve had in the past few years. Here are some of the cool weekend getaways I have really enjoyed. We visited these places while we were grad students or amidst planning a wedding, so we always found a good balance between cheap accommodations, good restaurants and lots of things to see and do that were within our modest budget:

Cooperstown, NY (June 2005)

If Nelson hadn’t taken me there for our very first getaway, I would never have heard of this town famous for being the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. With charming B&Bs and great views of the Lake Otsego we had unforgettable experience.



Boston (September 2006)

We have been to Boston more than a few occasions to visit friends. But a few ago, we actually did tourist activities such as Walking to through the Boston Commons, Prudential Center, Chinatown, Harvard Square, Freedom Trail & Little Italy. It was also our first visit to Fenway park for a RedSox game.


Chicago (June 2008)


This really is "the city" to visit in the summer. We stayed downtown and did a lot of walking from the Millennium Park, through the Magnificent Mile to the Navy Pier. We really enjoyed the architecture boat tour. The Chicago Art Museum was also a good way to spend a few hours, even for people like us who are not avid art lovers. The Sears Tower or the John Hancock Towers undoubtedly offered wonderful views of the great city.


Newport, RI (Fourth of July wknd, 2008)

The Newport Mansions Expereince tour, which allows you to visit any five houses, was a facinating expereince. Newport also has a vibrant downtown and scenic beach area. We also had dinner in Providence and drove by Brown University.


Washington D.C. (Easter weekend, April 2009)

We stayed in the suburbs and took the metro into the city. Saw the noted national monuments as the Lincoln Memorial, The White House, The World War 2 Memorial, The Washington Monument & Iwo Jima Memorial. We also decided to visit the Holocaust Museum which didn’t offer much in terms of exhibits. But the Air & Space Museum and the National Zoo are definitely recommended.




Cape Cod & Martha’s Vineyard (Memorial Day Wknd, 2009)

We stayed in Hyannis which had an lively downtown. The next morning we took the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard for the day. On our way back, we stopped by Falmouth, another beach town with a great choice of restaurants. We spent another day in Provincetown, the colorful tip of the Cape known for being a gay village. Due to the rain we couldn't spend any time at the beach but we did drive along the National Sea Shore.



Jersey Shore (Fourth of July wknd, 2009)

We stayed in Atlantic City, which didn’t hold a candle to Vegas. But it was a fun place to be nonetheless; with outlet shopping, lots of restaurants, the boardwalk and the beach. We visited Cape May a historic beach town, walked the endless boardwalk in Wildwood and stopped by Belmar, a family beach area for lunch. By driving down the shore you can sample different types of ambience and activities at each town depending on your personal preference.

In Recovery

I was really craving sushi for dinner on Friday night. After completing a few errands in the Mohegan Lake area, we drove to Hanko Sushi at Yorktown Heights, the closest sushi restaurant according to Google maps. Though located in a strip mall, this restaurant was trying to be upscale with its service and presentation. The menu offered a variety of rolls at about $10/roll. The sushi was good and certainly satisfied my craving.

Throughout the weekend I was in somber mood after my trip to the dentist. I was getting used to the new cavity fillings and not feeling quite like myself. We had previously scheduled dinner plans at a friend's house on the upper west side on Saturday night. On Sunday, we spent most of the day indoors except for running some necessary errands. It was drizzling through out the day, so it was a good chance to cozy up on the couch and catch up on my tivo recordings.