Chinatown & Cheap Eats

A few months ago I discovered Hong Kong Supermarket in Chinatown.  This grocery store is not only HUGE by New York City standards, but also has the some of the best deals I've found in the area.  Once every week or so I'll jog to Hong Kong Supermarket, buy groceries, and then walk home.  It's a wonderful outing and a great way to have a little escape.  I've grown so fond of my trip to Chinatown that I've invited John along on a couple evening outings.We've had a wonderful time poking around Chinatown.  Here are some photographs from our recent trips.

I love the produce department at Hong Kong Supermarket.  It's large and you can find just about anything you want!

One of our other favorite spots in Chinatown is Prosperity Dumpling.  From the exterior, Prosperity Dumpling doesn't look like much.  There's barely room to stand in the store when you place your order.  Everything on the menu is less than $2.00!  We ate dinner there the other night.  We ordered 10 dumplings, a sesame  beef pancake sandwich, and an order of noodles.  Grand Total =$6!  We couldn't even finish all our food. How I love cheap entertainment!

A visit to Chinatown is not complete without a trip to Taipan Bakery.  Taipan Bakery is a very shiny establishment with light pink accents.  Unfortunately, the bakery ladies wouldn't let me take a photo of the store.  Like many places in Chinatown, pretty much everything at Taipan Bakery is 99 cents.  Here's a coconut creme bun (my personal favorite) and a chocolate mousse (John's favorite).

Taipan Bakery also has great fruit milkshakes with tapioca pearls (much like bubble tea).  You can see the pearls ("sago") in this photo.

Trip to New Haven, CT

On Saturday, John and I took a day trip to New Haven, Connecticut, home of Yale University.  The purpose of our trip was to visit one of John's friends from college who is currently studying at Yale Divinity School.  Since arriving in New York, I have spent very little time out of the city.

We purchased tickets for the 3:07pm train from Grand Central to New Haven.

Grand Central was very busy last Saturday.  While waiting for John, I enjoyed people watching...

And looking at the beautiful windows...

And the ceiling!  I had never noticed that the ceiling is such a lovely shade of green.

John arrived with a little treat for us to share on the train...  A Frosty!  He certainly knows the way to a woman's heart.

After two hours on the train (John studying, I looking out the window), we arrived in New Haven.  John's friend met us at the station and took us on a tour around town. 

We saw this famous church...

And this very dark building which once housed Jonathan Edwards' office...

We also saw the library where Bill and Hillary Clinton's romance blossomed... But I neglected to take a photo of that.

We finished off our tour of New Haven with dinner at "BAR," a very trendy coal-fired pizza place.  Our seats had a perfect view of the pizza oven.

After dinner, we headed back on the train to New York City.  It was a brief trip, but a wonderful memory.

Journey To Roosevelt Island

On Sunday afternoon, we journeyed to Roosevelt Island to have lunch with some friends from our church.  Roosevelt Island is a narrow island to the east of Manhattan.  Its length is the equivalent of 40 city blocks, from Manhattan's 46th to 85th streets.  Once home to a prison, an insane asylum, and a small pox hospital, Roosevelt island has a very interesting history.  Now, Roosevelt Island is mostly residential.

To get to Roosevelt Island from Manhattan, commuters can take the F train (boring!) or this exciting ride:

Looks mysterious, doesn't it?  This is the Roosevelt Island Tramway. The tram moves about 16 mph, dangling riders up to 250 feet above the East River.

On our return trip from Roosevelt Island, I had my first New York City "celebrity" sighting.  Among our fellow passengers was a fairly normal looking man, talking on his blackberry.

It was Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church!

Apparently, he lives on Roosevelt Island and takes the tram every day.

Funny Conversation

In our three months of marriage, John and I have had several misunderstandings and mis-hearings that have resulted in hilarity.


This conversation took place last night.


John: Brrrr! It's cold in the bathroom.
Christina: Yah, that's because there's no heat in there.
John: Do you think we should buy a small heater for the bathroom?
Christina: There's not much room in there...
John: Never mind, having a heater in the bathroom will make you go soft.
Christina: Soft?  You're worried that a bathroom heater will make your wife go soft?  We live in Manhattan!  I'm already soft! 
John:  (Laughter) No.  I was talking about me!  I was worried that I might go soft...
Christina:  Oh.  (Laughter)


Yes, we're roughing it in NYC without bathroom heat.  That's how we roll.  


This misunderstanding ranks up there with the conversation where I thought we were talking about John's vitamins, but John thought we were talking about his pajamas.  It took us ten minutes to figure out we were talking about different things.

Winter in NYC

I have been very surprised by the nice winter weather we've had in New York.  Yes, it's bone chillingly cold; sometimes the wind is so fierce that it's hard to breathe, but most importantly... it has been very sunny!

Here are a few photos I took while walking along the Hudson River a few days ago.

We feel so blessed to have an apartment with southern exposure.  Our apartment is filled with light.

Good Housekeeping Tip

Like most engaged couples, John and I registered for wedding gifts.  Given that we live in Manhattan and have limited storage space, I spent a great deal of time analyzing, editing, and optimizing our registry to make sure we didn't end up trapped in our apartment, buried under corningware, pyrex, and cookie sheets.

At the time we made our registry, I decided that one set of bakeware would be enough.  I recently made home made bread and found myself in a quandary:  2 loaves worth of dough and 1 loaf pan.  What's a girl to do?

Here's a quick fix if you find yourself in the same situation:

1 loaf pan placed down the center of a 9x13" pan magically creates 2 loaf pans!