trnscontinental

The Nation’s Capital

January 2, 2014 by trnscontinental, posted in Uncategorized

Dec 31, 2013
Washington, DC

We left Liam & Gisela’s in Germantown to catch the metro to DC. We opted for the day pass at $14, which seemed like a decent deal. We disembarked right in The Mall, at the Smithsonian stop, then walked to the Washington Monument, and past the reflecting pool to see Abe at the Lincoln Memorial. We then set off in search of coffee where we got a snack and Gill enjoyed a pickle-to-go. Note: we have discovered that the “Find me coffee” app is NOT anywhere as helpful as one might hope. We have deleted this and will now be using Yelp. We also discovered (in NYC) that urbanspoon is not reliable for restaurant hours or…. existence so we have deleted that as well!

With our hunger suppressed and caffeine addictions temporarily satisfied, we strolled onward to the White House in search of the Obamas or at least Fitz & Mellie from Scandal but no luck (no Olivia Pope sightings either)! I (Leah) assume the Obamas were on their way to Oprah’s NYE party or something.

We then strolled to the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian) where we saw the Hope diamond, some amazing fossils, mummies, dinosaurs, a genetics exhibit, and an adorable entomologist. We were surprised to see that there were many street vendors around the entrance we went into and Gillian was looking forward to a snack on the way out through The Mall only to find that there were zero vendors on the opposite side of the museum (no street vendors allowed within the mall – constitution and independence aves). We wandered through The Mall on our way to another Smithsonian museum, the National Air & Space Museum, and saw the National Archives, the National Gallery and The Capitol. The Air & Space Museum was packed with planes, command modules, other objects that have been to and from space and a lot of Korean children. I (both of us in fact) learned that I’m too tall and weigh too much to have been a stewardess in the 50’s…. Our nursing degrees would have worked in our favour though as they prefer that you be a registered nurse… Perhaps due to all nurses’ sunny dispositions?

After the Smithsonian we jumped back on the Metro in search of NYE dinner which we found at a delicious Ethiopian restaurant called Kenebech Injera, just off Florida Ave at T-ish St (off yellow/green lines). It was my (Leah) first time having Ethiopian and it was just as delicious as I’d hoped! It was about $28 total including tip, which was the cheapest dinner we’ve had so far. With our bellies full we moseyed back to the Metro station, stopped off at a liquor store for NYE refreshments and headed back to Liam and Gisela’s to celebrate with them.

Overall, we’d give DC an 8.5/10. It was beautiful, clean, well sign-posted for navigation, had free museums, the metro was easy to use, and we found good food for cheap. The drawbacks were the annoyingly pokey little paving stones that line the mall, the scaffolding/cranes around the monuments and city, and just the lack of unique vibe that NYC gives off. We liked it a lot though!!

Happy New Year all!

Philly, Baltimore, and cousins reunion!

December 31, 2013January 2, 2014 by trnscontinental, posted in Uncategorized

Disclaimer! This is the bare bones of today because we’ve been reunion-ing with my cousin in DC. More tomorrow!

Today we had to face the cold hard truth: leaving NYC day! 😦 After a rather stressful experience trying to figure out how to secure the roof rack to the car and about 6 people stopping as we were packing trying to shark our spot, we reluctantly departed NYC.

We were excited to enter North New Jersey, as it was announced by a sign to be the “embroidery capital of the world since 1872”. Yippee! Was not exciting as it sounds, let me tell you…

Philly
Walked down market street to city hall and the love sign.

Popped into Reading Terminal Market – loved it! Leah had a “famous” roast beef sandwich (no, no Philly cheesesteak – this sandwich called her name!) with roast beef, coleslaw and some kind of special sauce! Gillian had a delicious falafel and carrot, ginger & pineapple juice. We picked up some baked goods, pie for dessert and sandwiches for our drive to Baltimore later. Definitely the highlight of Philly for us both! We walked back for a tour of Independence Hall and walked by where the lib bell is (luckily you can see it through the window because the line was HUGE! And, for the record, it’s much smaller than expected!).

We got the car and drove to the Singing Fountain only to find that it had been covered over with a Christmas tree and there was no singing or music of any kind…. Moving along we sat in traffic for a while to get to the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art aka the Rocky steps. We parked, took in the steps and the rocky statue and drove across the river to Drexel Park which has a nice view of the city skyline. A few jumping pictures later we were back on the road to Baltimore! We split our delicious sandwiches en route, first a salmon, cucumber and lettuce wrap with a spicy lemon mayo (delicious!) then a sandwich with artichokes, mozzarella, spinach and tomato! So good!

Baltimore:

-lots, nay excessive amount

s, of honking

-fireworks to welcome us

-closed monuments

-nice Starbucks employees

-city nightview

Rain, rain, GO AWAY!!!!

December 30, 2013 by trnscontinental, posted in Uncategorized

Ok, I’m ashamed to admit it as a born and bred Vancouverite, but I hate the rain. As much as I hate cold, I’d rather a beautiful dusting of snow gently falling, than rain any day. So today’s weather, rain, heavier rain, slight droplets, followed by downpour, was most unpleasant to go exploring in. We knew it wasn’t going to be nice today, so we had planned to do the museums via a brief walk through Central Park from the apartment on W. 92nd to the museums on E. 80-88ish. After yesterday’s shenanigans, we ended up sleeping in quite late anyhow, so by the time we set off it was about 1230.

Probably not so shockingly, there were a number of crazies in varying degrees of dress out running around the park as we beelined our way through. I personally prefer to save my running in the rain for those very angsty type days.

We decided to hit up the Guggenheim (or Guggyheiny, if you’re Leah, or that kid from Nanny Diaries), first of all. The line was around the block, but we stuck it out and after about a half hour, made our way in. This building is absolutely beautiful on the inside. Up close, not so much, but the general design and architecture make it so. There was an exhibit of Christopher Wool‘s work on the walls of the main rotunda, plus the usual collections of people such as Picasso and Degas, and other sculptures and art. There was quite a cool shroud by Doris Salcedo, which consisted of rose petals sutured together, named ‘A Flor de Piel‘. Overall, it was a great experience.

To feed our starving bellies, we ended up at Tandoor Oven, on 83rd, just before 3rd Ave. We had originally intended on going to another place over on 2nd, but were feeling rather drowned rat-ish, that we just slipped into this place. I wouldn’t say that it was the BEST Indian food I have ever had, but it was certainly palatable. The bathroom situation was somewhat sketchy however, as when I went back there to use the ladies, I pushed open the unlocked door to find our waiter on the pot. HA! I ended up using the men’s, which seemingly had just as sketchy a locking device, but made out ok in the end, with no unannounced visitors popping in on me.

After lunch, we decided our walk back to the apartment could not happen without coffee, so quickly scooted over to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on the corner of 83rd and 3rd. Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf reminds me a lot of Korea and was my favourite coffee chain store there. It was almost as good as in Korea. We decided to forgo the Met this time around as time was becoming of the essence and we we a) cold and b) tired, so made our way back through Central Park to the apartment to warm up.

Tonight we plan on hitting up some sort of dessert place and then packing for our sojourn through Philly and Baltimore to Germantown, MD.

And we checked the forecast….hopefully no rain!

Bailout, adult milkshakes, in search of sushi…

December 29, 2013December 30, 2013 by trnscontinental, posted in Uncategorized

The theme of this trip so far is walking….lots of walking…. both Leah and I are starting to feel it realllll good. My “lower frontal calves” (also known as shins…I couldn’t think of the word earlier today when I was describing the area to Leah, so I just accurately described it as best I could!) and Leah’s hip are letting us know we probably should’ve trained for this trip.

We began our day with more leftover Christmas treats (thanks Susan!). They saw us full til about 3pm yesterday, so we figured they might do the same today. Plus we’re on vacation. That means we can eat whatever we want without gaining weight. Fact. After catching ye ol subway down to the Financial District-ish, we found ourselves just by the 9/11 memorial. It’s amazing seeing the rebuilding effort going on, but also haunting knowing what happened there. Sidenote, purchasing a pretzel in that area either requires the skill of a conman or the presence of mind to look as un-touristy as possible to avoid being overcharged. I mean, $5/pretzel…gimme a break!

So this time, we went to the TKTS at the South Seaport Market location. Heads up – the line is significantly shorter than at Times Square however, they don’t have all the shows nor do they have same day matinees. We queued up by 10:30 and had the pleasure of the kind gentleman in front of us striking up a conversation. He was both interesting to talk with, a former Montrealer we found out, and great at giving some recommendations about the city. We hope he and his family enjoyed the show they saw this evening! We decided to go with First Date, after much debate. There is just so much selection and tonnes of excellent choices.

The Brooklyn Bridge was next graced with our presence. Let’s just say I’ve developed a deep dislike for strollers and strongly believe that NYC should probably figure out some sort of bridge walkway widening solution. I feel bad for those people trying to bike and run over the bridge amoungst the tourists. I was pretty stoked to find some locks of love there too! They are popping up all over the world, which makes me so happy. We did a halfway walk then hot-footed it back for a coffee, which we found at the juncture of Fulton and Gold at a place called R & R coffee. Awesome small business, locally owned, and FAB coffee. Highly recommend! Coffee in hand, we strolled along the seashore, where we got some pics of the cityscape and the bridge in the background. Sidenote, if we ask you to take a picture of us in front of some scenery, it means we actually want the scenery in it! We zigzagged up through the financial district to see the stock exchange and the bull, and then down to Battery Park to view the Statue of Liberty. It was such nice weather out, we were sweating in our jackets and had to de-layer significantly. Sayonara Canadian winter!

SuteiShi was intended to be our lunching location, and we hightailed it all the way back from Battery Park to S. St Seaport and according to urbanspoon it was open, however, upon arriving there, it was most certainly closed til 3. We tried Urbanspoon’s second choice, which wasn’t even a real place! Sad face. Instead, we ended up gettting empanadas at Ruben’s Empanadas, on Fulton just down from Gold St., which were amazing. It was really affordable for NYC too; just over 11 bones for a drink and 2 empanadas.

Since we’d done so much walking that morning, we concluded we deserved to subway back up to Times Square area in preparation for dinner and the show. Leah was thinking about going up Top of the Rock, but once she found out the next available elevator time wasn’t til after 7pm, she scrapped that idea. Instead, we took a peek around Sephora and Anthropologie. So many people seem to think that New Yorkers have a bad rep for being unfriendly, but honestly, I have found everyone we’ve encountered to be amazing, both this time and last time I was here. The people in Sephora were even trying to find me a hairdresser! To avoid another sushi fiasco, we downloaded the Sephora employees recommendation of Yelp and went to Monster sushi (W 46th St between 5th and 6th), which had also been recommended to us by our hosts roommate. It was pretty darn delicious and not too overpriced. I ordered the “Unbelievable Roll” which was delish, and the “Philadelphia Roll”. SO GOOD!

We were ready to hit the theatre by this point. We had a quick drink at the bar just down from the Longacre Theatre then headed in for the show. The show was TERRIFIC. Great comedy, great singing, overall entertaining time! It runs 1h30m with no intermission, but the time flies by. The singing was excellent and the actors were all very talented in their roles. There was an AWESOME song, called Bailout, which we will now just hum to each other and break out into laughter. You can dl is from the First Date website.

After the show, we decided to stay for the actors leaving by the stage door, which I had never done before (apparently most theatres do this). We got our playbill signed by the entire cast and pictures with and/or of them. Can I just take a minute and say to the entire cast, how impressed I was at how friendly and interesting you all were. Thanks for making it an even more enjoyable experience for us. 🙂 May I also take a minute to emphasize just how handsome Mr. Zac Levi is…. he came out of the stage door with a mini boom box pumping some awesome tunes and set it down on the fire hydrant and was like, let’s do this! Such a cool experience. We especially enjoyed the older dude standing by us with the bright orange hunters hat and like 800 things for the actors to sign….so cute!

We were also fortunate enough to meet an awesome girl by the name of Edmarie in the crowd. Funny as all get out and studying to become and actor – we wish you the best, girl!! Looking forward to watching your E!True Hollywood Story one day 😉

Finally, we took up the recommendation of our TKTS line buddy and headed over to the Stardust Diner. We had NO wait to get in, however, this is probably owing to the fact that our show was shorter than some of the others and with no intermission. The previous night we saw quite the line-up to get in. Our waiter was called Fritzy Fresh and was very kind (also good at singing). I received a trick straw (one end was sealed) which I thought may mean I won a prize, but according to Fritzy, all I won was a new straw. 😦

We had adult milkshakes aka alcoholic, (mine was DELICIOUS, kind of like a grasshopper pie with creme de menthe and creme de cacao) and some salted caramel cheesecake. So, the unique and wonderful thing about the Stardust Diner, other than its 1950’s diner charm, is that the waitstaff are all actors and sing and dance as you enjoy your meal. They are all over the restaurant, on tables, on chairs, and generally having a good time. They are all aspiring Broadway performers and many people who have worked at the diner have gone on to Broadway. This diner is what the diner in Glee that Rachel, Kurt, and Santana work at is based on. It is so much fun to watch them zip around the resto performing and serving. In fact, you are encourage to join in (the singing, not so much the serving)! It was a totally unreal and fun experience. AND, we saw our ticket line friend and his family coming in the door. Hi, again!

We finally made it home around 1230. NOTE: the C train becomes the A train going uptown at night…so don’t wait around for a C that will never arrive!

Night!

xoxo G

Day 2: Manhattan, also known as Manhaten.

December 28, 2013 by trnscontinental, posted in Uncategorized

Today consisted of A LOT of walking. After getting a good nights sleep, starting our day with some Contemporary Dancing and Wrecking Ball, receiving the help of a kindly doorman at the building two doors down, and playing the dances with street cleaner and parking restrictions game, we secured a spot right across from our friend’s apartment where we can leave our car until we leave on Monday morning. YAY!

Our most important next destination was coffee. We tried a place that our friend suggested to us, called Joe, on Columbus at 85th. The coffee was great, the people were friendly, and we were happy to continue in the cold streets of Manhattan. After that, we paid a quick visit to Lululemon by Lincoln Centre so Gillian could use up a gift card. Despite the cute items (really nice pair of gloves was purchased!) and no sales tax, Lulu did not win any more favours from us, due to the sassy sales dude. NO sir, these pants are NOT too tight….they’re yoga pants you fool!

We continued on with the mission of obtaining some long awaited Korean food for lunch. This took us by Trump Tower, the Globe statue, and some random giant snails (DO NOT TOUCH!) where we met some pretty cute strangers who got us to take their picture. We handed them our name card, and told them we’d post their photo up here, so HEY! if you guys are reading our blog! 🙂

Leah was soon introduced to the madness that is Times Square and once we had waded our way through that mess, we had arrived in Koreatown. What an amazing place! We felt like we were back at home in Korea. We had bibimbap, kimchi jjigae, and the usual assortment of side dishes for lunch at Kum Gang San (coincidence that that is the name of the little brother in Boys Over Flowers? I think not.), then hit up The Face Shop and a bookstore. It felt so great to be in Korea again!

Since we were so close to the Flatiron District and I was hoping for some fig focaccia from Eataly, we dragged our fairly full bellies down that way. Leah picked up some excellent focaccia with fresh tomato and mozzarella and we both tried some grapefruit San Pellegrino, which the checkout girl noted to be very good as margarita mix!

Our last stop of the day was to Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Centre. We watched the Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes at Radio City. It was incredible! The dancing, the sets, the costuming….there were even live camels, donkeys, and sheep. It also had 3-D components and skating, might I add… DEFINITELY dazzling!

We ended our evening with a visit to the skating rink and tree at Rockefeller Centre. Packed, as always, but beautiful!