China Fun - a restaurant review

So after a day of ice skating and museum wandering me and my beau were starving and looking to eat dinner.  Being on the West side we wound up hitting China Fun http://www.chinafun-ny.com/

And honestly didn’t know much more about other than it received an “A” from the Board of Health, as per the new law that each restaurant must post the rating in plain sight.  Not that an “A” rating is insurance the food is any good, but it was a good a place to start as any.  Hell it was the Chinese New Year this week right? (See Dragon above. )

Seated too close to the door and even with their double door system, a steady draft continued in throughout our meal.  We both ordered soup.  I order Hot and Sour Seafood Soup which contained NO SEAFOOD.  And Mike ordered Roast Duck Noodle Soup which he stated was a meal in itself.

For my main dish I ordered a small order of short ribs (yum) as good as any Chinese ribs usually are.  I also ordered a sushi roll of “Spicy Girl”  and spicy it was!  Mike kept asking why I wasn’t adding any wasabi and with Spicy Girl roll none was necessary.

Mike ordered a chicken dish, and the name escapes me.  It was supposed to be sweet but Mike said it lacked any flavor at all.  All in all China Fun (both on the East and West side) are a “safe” decent source of Chinese and Japanese fare.

Oh yeah and did I mention they have a delivery guy who is famous for singing Chinese opera?  Check him out:   http://chinafun-ny.com/YangYuBao.html

Ice Skating & other NY things

So over the weekend me and my beau went into the city to see and try something new.  Well, new to us really. 

First up was the Wollman Rink, located in Central Park.  http://www.wollmanskatingrink.com/main_wollman.htm

Not as crowded as I thought it would be, and there was no wait and that’s a GOOD thing.  While the only two places I’ve ever fantasized about skating were @ the Wollman Rink and at Rockefeller Center.  Though with Rockefeller Center there’s something about waiting any time more than  20 minutes that totally kills any enthusiasm for my doing it at all.

With the city as the backdrop and it being a bright sunny Sunday afternoon I can’t imagine a better way to spend it.  The weird part was when we stepped onto the ice the skaters were moving clockwise, weird, and halfway through though, they changed direction.  What’s up with that?  No idea, first time I’ve ever seen that happen anywhere, ever. 

To save on the expense, bring your own skates and a lock for yr locker.  Its not a tremendous saving because lets face it, New York is New York. 

Afterwards we went to our second destination.  The New York Historical Society https://www.nyhistory.org/

I have this book on museums in New York and this was one I’d always been meaning to visit, since New York City is one of my favorite places to be.  I’d also recently seen a documentary on James Audubon and in the documentary they mention the museum as housing of his many bird lithographs etc.  This was all a very big tease and disappointment.  They had like 5 of his prints and barely anything I could describe as an EXHIBITION of his work. 

They did have us watch a brief film (18 minutes long) which I found slightly information and definitely entertaining.  Probably something more appealing to tourists. https://www.nyhistory.org/visit/destination-film.  I enjoyed the way it was displayed.  It kept your eyes moving, as 6 screens moved throughout the viewing.

And of course any exhibition regarding New York seems to be obligated to include items of 9-11 etc.  All in all I was glad we went.  How could I call myself a lover of all things New York and not go?

THE DESCENDANTS - A MOVIE REVIEW

So after the hub bub, after the Golden Globe nominations and awards I finally got to see The Descendants. 

Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings this is a story of a native Hawaiian, Matthew King (George Clooney)  who is faced with a fortune (a land deal worth millions) and a misfortune (the decline of his comatose wife) at the same time.  He also uncovers a secret of his wife’s betrayal, before her accident.

This was a family movie.  Well maybe not a DISNEY family movie and as a grownup may I just say “THANK GOD”.  George Clooney kicked ass and made me laugh and cry during this flick.  I don’t know if he’s taking home an Oscar or anything but still good performance well worth seeing.

And if afterward you are itching for another good George Clooney flick catch him in “Michael Clayton”.  Yep, in my wholehearted opinion his BEST film to date.  An amazing movie I can find myself watching over and over, its just THAT good.

Lovely, Still - a DVD Review

Lovely, Still

A gem of a movie I discovered through Netflix is Lovely, Still. A love story between an elderly man (played by Martin Landau) and an elderly woman (played by the timelessly beautiful Ellen Burstyn).  I won’t spoil it with all the details.  All I can say is its heartbreakingly beautiful.   Not to be missed. 

LA RIOJA - A Restaurant Review

So tonight me and my honey dined @ La Rioja @ 4409 Austin Blvd. 
Island Park, NY.

Having driven by this restaurant more times than I can remember I was definitely intrigued.  The atmosphere dark and cozy with a feel as if you were meeting someone in secret or something.

First a house salad which lacked anything resembling a salad, (our waiter dropped the one slice of tomato on its surface, lol.

The appetizers we tried were mushrooms stuffed with crabmeat, and as well as mussels in green sauce (yumm!)  Having always been a mussels marinara fan its was lovely to discover there is an equally delicious substitute.

As our main coursewe both ordered Paella Valenciana, which included rice peas, Chirizo, shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels & chicken.  More than enough for one person to eat and I was happy to take home half as leftovers.

This restaurant IS abit on the pricey side as most dishes were listed above $28 and up (to start).  All in all with my honey, every meal is a treat.

 http://lariojali.com/contact-la-rioja-long-island-ny.htm

Cedar Rapid - a DVD Review

Cedar Rapids.  This is pretty much a fish out of water story about Tim Libby (Ed Helms), an insurance salesman who (after the untimely bizarre death of a top co-worker) gets to take his place and go to the Insurance Convention in, you guessed it, Cedar Rapid, IOWA. 

While on his trip he meets and befriends, John C. Reilly (cuz I guess Will Ferrel wasn't available, lol) who get him in all kinds of trouble and later save his ass.   This is another movie I watched “for (and with) the boy”. 

This film was so bad that my son kept apologizing the entire time for having made me watch it.

Stinky, stinky, stinky............don't bother.

Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol - a movie review

So departing from my usual habit I saw a movie out on a Saturday night.  With my man we saw Tom Cruise's latest feature in the franchise of Mission Impossible. 

Any of the MI's are totally entertaining and watchable.  Its a formula that seems infalliable.  Take a talented highly recognizable star (Tom Cruise), add decent action sequences, throw in the sexy yet brainy female costar add to that the up and coming star (Jeremy Renner, the Hurt Locker, The Town) and you've got yourself a winner.

Great action scenes that were surprisingly realistic, with suspense (even though you secretly know how everything will end).  It was a good night at the movies.  Worth watching if you're itchin' for an action flick.

No dough?  Rent any of the first three MI's.

CYRUS - A DVD REVIEW

Cyrus stars John C. Reilly as John, a middle-aged lonely divorced guy who, as the film opens, gets dragged to a party by his remarried ex-wife (Catherine Keener) -- who remains his best friend. After a few clumsy, drunken passes at a variety of women, John encounters Molly (Marisa Tomei), an attractive single-mom who finds John's social awkwardness appealing. They hit it off, and quickly begin a tender new relationship. Problems soon arise in the form of Cyrus (Jonah Hill), Molly's twentysomething son, who has an disturbingly close relationship to his mom.

So I took one for the team and watched this movie with my son last night.  I thought how bad could it be?  If you are looking for laughs, keep on movin’.  Nothing to see here, for real.  I was expecting a wave of pranks each character played on the other vying for Molly’s attention, but it never happened.  Its one of those movies were everything that is remotely funny in the film is shown in the 30 second advertisement for the movie. 

Come see Joe Fresh

While flipping through my copy of ELLE a skirt caught my eye.  Short metallic funky cute.  The store it came from was called JOE FRESH - http://www.joefresh.com/

Tonight after work with the gift card my baby gave me, I hit the mall.  One of my stops included JOE FRESH.  What a find!  Forget the piles of mess and racks of shit at H & M..  This store was bright, clean and fresh.  And the prices were low, low, low!  Now it didn’t exactly sport clubware etc, but that’s not the type of clothing I was looking for.  I was looking for classic designs, a few trendy pieces and not to break the bank.

I think I did pretty good.  For $150 I got 2 dresses, a skirt, a blouse, a sweater and 4 pairs of tights.  They had men’s clothing and makeup at ridiculously low prices…..

Check out the link.  The location I hit was at the Roosevelt Field Mall.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - a movie review (plus a DVD review)

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I was a big fan of this novel.  I was a big fan of the Swedish version of this book.  I wasn’t impressed by the American movie version of this story.  It didn’t seem to hold closely enough to the images the book conveyed the way the Swedish version did.  I blame poor casting.  This film while flashy enough, never seemed to muster the suspense the way the story was truly meant to have.  This was supposed to be a story of mystery and suspense.  PLUS, they changed the ending!   Did they really think no one would notice?!

Crazy Stupid Love           

For some unknown reason Entertainment weekly put this particular film into their top ten of sorts.  It is is a mindless yet funny film about a marriage unraveling due to infidelity and boredom.  Starring Steve Carrell and Julianne Moore.  It was funnier than I expected and it is highly watchable just due to the stunning (nearly full frontal) scene of Ryan Gosling as a most spectacular specimen of a man if there ever was one, yummy!