The Most Bizarre Sunday Ever

So, today was the New York Paella Parade! All-you-can-eat Paella samplings from the top Spanish restaurants throughout the city, and unlimited Spanish wine to wash it down. To help build up my appetite, I headed to the gym first thing in the morning for a nice workout and a run.


On the way to the gym, I noticed that they were setting up for some event on my street in Jackson Heights. I had no clue what was going on, but I figured it was just some street fair or something, or some small community parade.

Port-a-Potties-a-Plenty!

Setting up for a parade?

In other awesome news, the Jackson Heights Sunday Greenmarket started up again! I stopped by on my way back from the gym:

Strawberries are in season, but they don't taste nearly as good as the California ones. I bought some delicious sugar snow snap peas though.

And of course, the delicious Paella Parade! It took place downtown at South Street Seaport. There were ten restaurants featuring delicious Spanish bliss. The ingredients were fresh, the seafood well-seasoned, and the plastic wine glasses ubiquitous. Take a look:

This one was my favorite. It's from Xicala Wine and Tapas Bar in the Village. The woman pictured is the head chef. Her daughter told me that it was an old family recipe that her mother brought over from Spain. It was seasoned so well, and the seafood was soooo fresh. It had perfectly cooked mussels in it, too. One of my faves....

Sooooo good....

The delicious Spanish wines being served. The white was lame, the rose decent, and the reds were sublime. Maybe the best wine I've ever consumed from a small plastic cup.

Also plenty of cheese and bread to go along with it.

A beautiful day in New York, and a beautiful view across from the Brooklyn Bridge. Yay for fake beaches!

With a full stomach and Latin music stuck in my head, I returned home to Jackson Heights. As I stepped off of the subway, I noticed that the streets were packed. It seemed that there was some kind of event going on. It didn't take too long before I figured out what it was. Welcome to the 2009 Jackson Heights Pride Festival!

Yeah, uhhh....yeah....

Wow, what a day! Only in this city. Nothing beats Sundays in New York (when it's nice out). Check out my sample cards from each of the Spanish restaurants. They also gave me a keychain and Paella spoon! Que bueno!

The Founders

On a random whim, I decided to take a weekend trip to Philadelphia. With Megabus, the round trip cost was only about $30! On top of that, most of the sightseeing in Philadelphia can be done for free. It was a great refresher lesson about our country's history and its brilliant founders. It was also my chance to visit my friend, Thomas, my former section leader from the Michigan Marching Band and a 2L at Temple Law School.

It was also "Beer Week" in Philadelphia, so Thomas and I went to a couple of bars to participate in some of the events, which included meeting the owners of Grand Rapids-based Founders Brewery and try their beer specials. Factor in an awesome farmers' market and some cheesesteaks, and it all adds up to a tasty AND educational weekend!

Independence Hall

The inside of Independence Hall. Thomas Jefferson sat here!

More Independence Hall...This was a sort of courtroom.

The Senate's Chamber was much nicer than that of the representatives. Do you think our founders came to this building, and then walked to the bar and drank Founders Beer? Because that's what I did.

This was a nice surprise! There was a choral class visiting Independence Hall, and they sang for us! And my camerawork rocks!

House of Representatives.

The Liberty Bell. Too bad it's broken. Thomas was telling me about how the site for the Liberty Bell Museum was built on top of what used to be a cemetery for slaves. Pretty ironic, considering that it's supposed to be a symbol of, well, liberty and freedom. I guess we should just blithely ignore the hypocrisy. Tra la la.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Okay, so Philly has a huge indoor market called the Reading Terminal Market. They have TONS of different types of food there from many different backgrounds. Here's the "Pennsylvania Dutch Chocolate".

Butter Almond Bliss. Google needs to figure out some sort of gadget to incorporate actual scents into Blogger.

Apparently, there is a big cheesesteak Rivalry between Geno's Steaks and Pat's Steaks. The buildings face each other in a busy intersection. Geno's has the extravagant bright lights, but I've heard Pat's has the better steaks, so I went with Pat's.

Philly Cheesesteaks, the reason Philadelphia is one of the most obese cities in the world.

And, of course, words simply cannot convey how awesome Thomas is. Thanks for taking me around town, Thomas! Here we are with our cheesesteaks. I admit that it was tasty, but I felt pretty disgusting for about 24 hours after eating it. I'm guessing Philly Cheesesteaks became popular well after 1800, because I don't think our founding fathers could have created a government while suffering from extreme indigestion.

The Kisho in Times Square

Sorry, Kisho. Your hair is not quite long enough to block Times Square out of this photo.

Ashton, aka "The Kisho", took his turn visiting me in New York City this time. Much like when Nicky visited me, we basically spent a lot of each day eating food. However, unlike when Nicky visited me, we spent a lot of each day....well....making fun of Nicky. Interesting how that works.

The highlights included: Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, Jackson Hole Diner, Wicked on Broadway, The Nintendo Store, Chopped Liver and Matzo Ball Soup at Carnegie Deli, Sprinting through Times Square, Ground Zero, Chinatown for Chinese New Year, Spicy Food and Sushi in Koreatown, Rockefellar Plaza, Zabar's, and Restaurant Week Lunch at Alfama Portuguese Restaurant. Oh, I also made Ashton come to work with me and remove staples from some of our files. Child labor laws don't apply to New York City.

We found a lot of cheap junk in Chinatown, which happened to go surprisingly well with the rest of The Kisho's wardrobe.

I thought this sign was really amusing. Apparently, the act of merely looking at the Chinatown clothes causes them to actually increase in value. Don't unfold the clothes, or else the Communists will get you!

Ashton, way under-dressed, at 30 Rock.

Ashton and all of the crazy people willing to pay $45 each to go ice skating in Rockefeller Plaza.

Taking Columbus Circle by force! Look at how fierce that stance is.

NintendoWorld!!! I was way more excited to meet Mario than Ashton was. This was before he took us into the back room and offered us some of his 'shrooms. Then I hijacked his Yoshi while Ashton strangled that Pikachu with the WiiMote nunchucks.

Ashton walking to see Wicked on Broadway by himself because we could only afford one ticket, and me creepily following and taking pictures of him.

We took this picture in honor of The Prapo. Any trip is a success if you can slaughter both a lamb and a Pikachu in one day.

We scarfed down a delicious meal at Jackson Hole in the Upper West Side and then sprinted to Gershwin Theatre. There were at least 100 burgers on the menu. Ashton had a massive cheeseburger and some O-rings.

And my delicious mushroom-chicken burger. Mmmmm delicious fungus.

Alfama - Portuguese cuisine in the West Village

This mosaic actually did look a lot like Portugal.

Appetizers! The bread and olives were particular delish.

Ashton's first course were ginger-shrimp meatballs and a ginger sauce. Yeah, we thought it sounded Asian, too. Whatevs.

Caldo Verde soup. Made with kale, linguica, and potatoes. This was more traditionally Portuguese, but Grandma's and Aunt Angelina's are both better.

Ashton's main course was a beef steak with egg and some fries. Yeah, we thought it sounded like typical French steak frites, too. Whatevs.

My main course was cubed pork with peppers, onions, and mussels. Sort of like an extravagant version of dog food.

Ashton's dessert was creme caramel with a graham cracker topping. Once again, very un-Portuguese. Whatevs.

My dessert was bizzarrely awesome. It was an almond/walnut cake with a coconut topping. It almost made up for the awkward waiter we had. And the overpriced food. And the fact that we managed to discover the only authentic Portuguese restaurant that serves absolutely no Portuguese food. Huzzah!