Keep Calm and Carry On: The Diary of Foodie and Gourmet

So, I don't know if any of you recall, but I have made it a priority to get healthier this year. I am trying to lose weight and become a healthier me. Sure, it's a cliche, but it's my cliche and I am really hoping that it works out for me in the end. Nowadays, have you noticed how the news has become very health and image conscious? I think that it is great that there is shift to really emphasize unhealthy habits and to tackle the issue of growing obesity trends in the United States....I DO NOT however, condone the media's emphasis that beauty is a size zero. It breaks my heart to learn of individuals, usually women, who go to such drastic and potentially harmful means to stay thin. I hate that we live in a society where fat is equated with ugly and skinny is equated with beauty. What message does this send? We're not all perfect, it doesn't mean that some of us should be loved or looked at less! Please don't misunderstand me. As much as I disapprove of ...

This past Saturday, I accompanied my mother to the opera. Actually, my dad was supposed to go, but he had to see patients, so I was a last minute stand in. No matter. Mom and I has a marvelous afternoon of being super classy at the opera. What did we see? One of Giueseppe Verdi's masterpieces: La Traviata.  and the crowds start to fill in Since the Met's budget has been cut, their productions have become less elabroate. Gone are the days where Franco Zeffirelli wowed audiences with his over the top and glamorous sets. Zeffierelli's sets were magical in that he transported the audience to wherever the opera was set. Bohemian Paris? Imperial China? Zeffirelli is a true visionary. I have to say...I really miss those days... Nowadays, the Met is trying to save money by creating less elaborate sets, yet still trying to remain creative. Instead of setting plots in their actual time frames, recently, the Met has been setting operas in more contemporary times. I don...

This past Friday night, it was just me and mom. My dad had to return home, since he had surgery --- he was the surgeon --- and then he had jam packed Saturday morning schedule filled with lots of new patients. When it came time for dinner, we knew that it would be Japanese food, the question was just: where? We have our usual haunts, but we thought we'd go somewhere different, or rather, visit a restaurant we hadn't been to in a long while. After some deliberation, we decided to have dinner at "Soba Totto", located around the corner from Grand Central Terminal. Soba Totto, whose sister restaurant is called "Yakitori Totto", is a delicious restaurant with quite a vast selection of food. They have noodles, salads, sushi, yakitori, and much much more! Essentially, Soba Totto has food that will appeal to everyone! We hopped on the subway, got off at 42nd Street, ran to the shuttle, took the shuttle to Grand Central, then walked to the restaurant. A very qu...

After Brooklyn, my mother and I visited a very trendy bakery located on SoHo's Spring Street called, The Dominique Ansel Bakery. The pastry chef in charge, Dominique Ansel, has quite an impressive resume! "Dominique Ansel rose to fame in New York City, where he served as the Executive Pastry Chef for Restaurant Daniel under celebrity chef Daniel Boulud. During his six year tenure at Daniel, the restaurant won its first 3-star Michelin rating, a 4-star New York Times review, and James Beard’s Outstanding Restaurant of the Year Award in 2010. In 2013, Chef Ansel received his own James Beard Award nomination as a finalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef at his eponymous bakery.
 It’s a long way from home for the chef, who grew up near the north of Paris as the youngest of four children. It was his father, Dominique Ansel (Senior), who first sparked his interest in cooking. At 16 years old, Dominique (Junior) began his formal culinary training, taking a break for com...

This past Friday, my mother and I ventured out to Brooklyn for a bit of an adventure. My mom hasn't really been to Brooklyn, so I was excited to experience this with her. Since Brooklyn is so big, we limited ourselves to the Downtown area, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights, and Carroll Gardens neighborhood.  Our first stop was Cobble Hill. The only reason why I know this neighborhood is because my best friend "E" lives here, although she is currently studying abroad in London. Cobble Hill was settled by the Dutch in the 1640s, and it was used by George Washington as an outpost during the Revolutionary War. It's also a quaint little area filled with boutiques and restaurants! Mom and I had a lot of fun walking around. Interesting signs on a door How old school! What a fun book I came across!  The local Trader Joe's is built in a former post office From Cobble Hill, mom and I wandered the back streets of Brooklyn Heights and made our way to th...

A few weeks ago, I visited the American Museum of Natural History. I love this museum and I have been here frequently. My dad loves this museum, so I grew up visiting often. What brought me to the museum on this occasion? A biology project. This semester, biology opened wit taxonomy. We learned about how organisms are grouped and the characteristics of those organisms, basically. To get us "out there" and applying what we learned, the biology department set up a project based on the vertebrate hall. Basically, it was like a not-fun scavenger hunt in the sense that we had to run around the vertebrate hall and answer a bunch of questions. Getting off the subway And I am here!  Dinosaurs in the entrance hall As soon as I bought my admission ticket, I made my way to the hall of vertebrates, located on the four floor of the museum.  Before beginning my assignment, I visited the Orientation Hall, as instructed by the assignment, to watch a video about taxonomy...