Other thoughts on Manhattan...this is definitely a place to visit and not to live. My friend Helen was telling me how after you live here for awhile you start to lose your mind, your patience, your compassion, your humanity...because there are just way too many people everywhere. Everywhere you turn you see a homeless person asking for money, or even just sitting there looking sad. As a visitor it's easy to feel empathy, to give them your change, to ask the old lady making her way down the subway stairs if she needs help with her bags, but everywhere you turn people need help...or money...or something and I can see how you could just become numb to it all after awhile. Which I think is really sad.

Also, there's no space at all in this city. The apartments are cramped and close together. Even in the hotel room I can hear everything going on in the hallway and in the rooms next door. I think it would drive me nuts to not have any sort of sanctuary in such a hectic world. You can't walk down the street without being jostled and bumped, or even smacked by some lady's coat buckle.

So I guess you could say the bloom is off the rose a bit. I'm still enjoying my vacation here, because I mean how could I not enjoy shopping, relaxing and eating? But I'm also kind of feeling ready to get back to life. And my cat. My friend Henry said she's losing weight =( She misses her parents.

To the cowardly anonymous lurker who left this comment...We all know that the left perceives FoxNews as having a HUGE "right-wing bias." The truth is though, that because the mainstream media has for so long been completely left-wing (as is evidenced by the fact that huge majorities of the press has consistently been found to vote Democrat and describe themselves as liberal) you guys are just totally confused by a media outlet that leans SLIGHTLY to the right, but for the most part does allow ALL views onto their programs. But whatever, you just go on wearing that tinfoil hat there buddy.

Oh and who cares if it is a fact that President Bush's poll numbers are at 33%? I wasn't referencing articles discussing his poll numbers. But I guess people like you just assume things when you don't really know. Ask me if I'm surprised.

Just so you know, I think (but am not sure) that from now on I will have to approve your comment before it actually appears on the page. So if it doesn't immediately show up, that's probably why =)

The weather here is still gorgeous, we had a couple days of rain but even they weren't so bad and didn't prevent us from walking all over the place.

I haven't done much sight-seeing, but I don't really feel the need to since I've been to NYC so many times in the last few years. I'm really enjoying just relaxing in the hotel room (pampering myself with a variety of recently purchased H20 products), meeting Paul for lunch and taking a stroll around a selected area of the city before heading back to the hotel room to look up possible dinner spots for the night. It's been incredibly relaxing (except for my feet, which are covered in blisters and ache).

Our hotel provides us with USA Today every morning and so for the first time in a long time I've been reading a daily paper. Had no idea the world was going completely to hell in a handbasket. Let me just say, I'm so glad I have other sources of news at home or I'd probably be a liberal too. So many of their headlines are unabashedly slanted against the President, the Republicans, the war, the economy, etc. I don't know why I'm surprised, but I guess I just didn't expect it to be so blatant. No wonder newspaper subscription numbers are falling everywhere.

Spicy Miso Chips with Tuna or Scallops (2 pieces) 6.00: This first dish consisted of two tiny chips with tuna on top. We each barely got one bite-full and it really wasn't enough to decide whether or not the dish was anything special. Both of us agreed this was the most disappointing dish of the night - but it was also the cheapest so you can afford to order two if you really want to get a taste of what you're eating.

Toro Tartare 30.00: Delicious. Toro (the fatty part of tuna) topped with caviar in a very fresh wasabi sauce. We were tempted to order another.

New Style Sashimi 16.00 (Salmon): We ordered this on the recommendation of the waitress. Seared salmon in a delicious sauce (hints of lime? lemon? I have no idea.) with scallions on top to give it a little extra kick.

And then we were onto the hot dishes...

Rock Shrimp Tempura with Ponzu and Chili Pepper or Creamy Spicy Sauce 18.00: We went with the Creamy Spicy Sauce, which is supposedly the most popular. We were expecting four, maybe six pieces of shrimp but were delighted when the waitress brought us a pretty sizeable portion. It tasted like a very lemon-y version of the Chinese honey shrimp dish. It was delicious and helped fill us up a bit.

Chilean Sea Bass with Black Bean Sauce 18.00: Paul's favorite dish of the night. Maybe mine too. The sea bass was tender and buttery and full of flavor. Not overpriced either considering I've had seabass at Chinese restaurants for $40+.

Broiled Black Cod with Miso 19.00: Apparently this is one of Nobu's signature dishes and it was quite delicious. The miso sauce was perfect with the sweet flavor of the fish.

Bento Box 10.00: A warm Valrhona chocolate souffle cake with shiso syrup, white chocolate sauce and green tea ice cream. In my humble opinion the richness of the chocolate souffle cake completely overpowered the green tea ice cream. I was a little disappointed but if you love rich chocolate you'll definitely love this dessert.

Pineapple Dessert 10.00: This is not what it was called but I can't find it on the website and I can't really remember what was in it, but both Paul and I liked this better than the Bento Box. The flavors of the pineapple and caramel went together perfectly and it was not too sweet either.

And here is my happy and full buddha boy admiring dessert.

During his lunchbreak today Paul and I (and his coworker David) caught a subway down to Union Square and went shopping at Whole Foods for all the pricey soft drinks we're too cheap to buy ourselves when we're at home. It was great being able to meet up for lunch and hop around town on a subway instead of driving but I realized on the walk back that I could never actually live in NYC where I'd have to physically carry home my groceries. Particularly not when the groceries consist of bottled water and six-packs of soda. Everything was fine while Paul was carrying them, but when we split up so he could go back to the office, those three blocks might as well have been three miles. My wrists ache.

The weather here is cooling off and I'm in the mood to just veg out today. Maybe I will just stay in and study the rest of the day. I know, I know, I'm boring, boring, boring =)

1. Traffic? Everywhere. Me? Walking. HAH. Suckers.

2. Large discount pharmacy located every four blocks, guaranteed or your money back! (By the way, in case you were wondering, Duane Reade > all other pharmacies.)

3. Seventy-degree weather, am I dreaming? Of course, it's supposed to start raining this weekend. Good thing we cancelled our Maine trip. Unless of course, it's not going to rain in Maine.

4. Paul walked back to the hotel room at lunchtime and brought me pizza.

5. The maid makes the bed!

6. Nice restaurants everywhere + Paul's meal allowance = YAY!

The Bad:

1. Way, way more serious looking people who walk around in dark suits, on their cell phones, carrying briefcases or laptop cases. They are everywhere, even in Duane Reade's. You don't see many important looking suit people hanging out at Savon's in LA. We keep them locked up in their important offices.

2. This is probably just in my head but I feel quite self-conscious in my sweatpants and UCLA hoodie. Maybe I should wear important people clothes too, since I did bring a bunch (I anticipated being self-conscious).

That's all I have for now, but I will be adding things to the list I'm sure. My mission between now and when Paul gets off work is to find a nice restaurant that offers something "weird" (his coworker is on an "I want to eat weird things like rabbit and wild boar and alligator" kick) in an area where Paul can buy pants. I don't figure it should be too hard. Ahh, I DO love New York =) (Visiting, anyway.)

So here I am in Manhattan on a gorgeous sunny day and what am I doing? Blogging, of course. See how dedicated I am! (Actually I didn't wake up until 12:30pm EST and am feeling timid about venturing outside alone. As many times as I've been in NYC, I've always had a travel buddy with me everywhere I've gone.)

Now I'm waiting for our mini-fridge to arrive. A working ice-machine is nowhere to be found. It's all very disappointing. I even went to another floor for ice and that machine was on the fritz.

Anyway, I'm leaving for the airport in a few and I'm feeling very frazzled and guilty about leaving my cat alone for so long. My buddy Henry has agreed to look in on her, but I still feel bad because she likes being around people and will probably not be happy about 2-3 weeks of an empty apartment. But then, what do I know? Maybe she can't wait to have the WHOLE bed all to herself. Every chair in the apartment will be hers!

I dropped Paul off at the airport at six this morning and now I am home alone and it is scary. I'm not used to this anymore! I don't know how I lived alone for two years. I checked the shower, all the closets and under the bed and made sure both doors were bolted.

I was going to write an Easter-related post (btw, Happy Easter everyone) but I'm feeling too bleh right now. It was going to be good too, but now you'll just have to wait.

This weekend, my mom insisted that I go through all my old pictures and throw out all evidence of boyfriends that came before Paul. Neither of my parents are shy about how much they adore the boy and my mom was adamant that she never wanted Paul to see any of those pictures. The main reason I was saving all those pictures were not for the guys in them but because, man, was I ever insanely skinny. A little too skinny, but it's kind of interesting to see yourself that way.

Before my mom drove me to the airport we watched some old family videos. One from 1991, which was 15 years ago, making me 9. I noticed that if you look at my body in those tapes, I look a bit like one of those starving African children (albeit a very pale one). BUT if you look at my face? I look like a perfectly healthy, even plump little kid. Weird. Of course this means that when I'm not twig skinny my face tends to make me look like a porker and inspire my relatives to make comments about how fat I have gotten. Ahh, Chinese people. Gotta love 'em.

An Alabama employment agency that sent 70 laborers and construction workers to job sites in that state in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina says the men were sent home after just two weeks on the job by employers who told them "the Mexicans had arrived" and were willing to work for less.

Linda Swope, who operates Complete Employment Services Inc. in Mobile, Ala., told The Washington Times last week that the workers -- whom she described as U.S. citizens, residents of Alabama and predominantly black -- had been "urgently requested" by contractors hired to rebuild and clear devastated areas of the state, but were told to leave three job sites when the foreign workers showed up.

...

"We had been told that 270 jobs might be available, and we could have filled every one of them with men from this area, most of whom lost their jobs because of the hurricane," she said. "When we told the guys they would not be needed, they actually cried ... and we cried with them. This is a shame."

- The Washington Times, April 10, 2006

I'm not even sure what I should say about this story because, well, what more needs to be said? ILLEGAL ALIENS are stealing jobs from the poorest Americans and liberals (you know, the people who supposedly care about poor Americans) and spineless RINOS want to sit back and let them.

America IS and always will be the land of "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses" but what about our responsibility to the tired, poor, huddled AMERICANS? What about making sure that THEY have the opportunity to succeed and thrive in their very own country?

(Now before any libs who might be reading this get ahead of themselves, notice that I said the opportunity to succeed - I'm not talking about handing out more welfare checks. I am a firm believer in the old saying, "Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.")

What kind of country have we become that we let those who disregard our laws, STEAL jobs from the neediest of Americans when they are caught in the middle of the biggest national disaster this country has ever faced? Those people screaming about how the response to Katrina was racist and why isn't more being done for those who have been affected...I really hope they read this article and make the connection. If they support open borders and ILLEGAL immigration then THEY are the ones hurting the Katrina victims the most. THEY are the ones pushing the Katrina victims down and taking away any chance victims have of helping themselves.

On a related note, just today, while I was having lunch with my uncle I found out that I have several cousins living in Britain. Why? I asked. They couldn't get their American visas approved. One of them is a doctor.

Anyway, please go read the entire article.

It is so ridiculously cold in my parents' house it's not even funny. I keep losing feeling in my toes and I think that the only thing keeping blood circulating through my fingers is the typing.

This morning I was quite disturbed when I woke up with some mild aching in my elbow, hip and knees. Everytime I come back to the Bay Area things start to hurt and I don't know what it is a reaction to. The Bay Area itself? The cold? The fact that the temperature in my parent's house is always 10 degrees colder than it is outside? The act of traveling? Lack of sleep? What is it?! It bugs me this time in particular because I have been at 100% recently, despite the sometimes rainy and even chilly weather in Los Angeles.

On a happier health note, the sinus headache that kept threatening to make an appearance yesterday appears to have been destroyed by the 11 hours of sleep I got last night.

Anyway, that's enough of that.

Anyway, after making the trek to the test center in Pasadena (23 miles but the traffic? Sucked. My friend George did a "day in the life of" photo essay and most of it consisted of pictures of traffic...and car accidents. I probably don't need to tell you that he lives in good ol' LA.)...I was fingerprinted, photographed and then fingerprinted again before being allowed to enter the room I would call home for the next three hours. I got a 680. I'm not sure if this is good or bad because I never thought I'd be taking the GMAT and so I never really bothered to research what I would need to get in order to have a shot at certain schools. I was hoping to get a 700 but I'm told this was a little but unrealistic considering I put in about two or three solid weeks worth of studying for this test.

After the test I went back to my car which I thought was parked legally since I put my three dollars into that little box that supposedly keeps track of which parking spots are paid for and which aren't, but then it turned out that there was no parking for non-tenants between 8-5pm. BIGGER SIGN NEXT TIME PLEASE. Now, in my mind, Pasadena is just as evil as West Los Angeles (well maybe a little less evil since the ticket was for $30 instead of something really ridiculous like $65). I hate parking enforcement.

You know? I needed a good ramble after a week of silence. I'm going to be in the Bay Area from Saturday until Wednesday so if you have some free time, give me a call!

After that I will be in LA for a few days and then I'll be going to Manhattan with Paul on a business trip! Restaurant suggestions welcome, we'll be staying around midtown on the east side =)