Sachin Agarwal: July 2006

Here are pictures from a Stanford Alumni Cruise we went on. It was really great with an open bar, food, and beautiful views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and The Statue of Liberty. Gary and I saw our RA from freshman year, Monica Lai! We're going to plan a Roble reunion.

After the cruise we went to Employees Only in the West Village, a slice of Pizza, and then Odessa in East Village.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. It was around 75 and not at all humid. Best of all, the sky was actually blue! This might not seem very special, but the more I try to photograph New York, the more I realize the sky is usually bright white and hard to photograph.

So I took advantage of the day and spent it outdoors. After a bit of time in Soho, I went to Central Park and walked around for a couple hours. After that I headed home, spent some time at Zaiya Cafe reading, and then went to the Astor Place cube and sat there for a while. It's a cool place to sit because there's all sorts of random stuff going on around you.

Here are pictures from yesterday.

Last weekend I was able to knock off two museums from my to-do list.

The New York Transmit Museum was great. It only takes a couple hours to see this museum in Brooklyn. You learn all about how the subway systems were built and how they have changed over the past 100 years. There are lots of old photographs, turnstiles, models, and stories to read. The entire museum is itself an old subway station. You can go down to where the tracks are and see old trains parked on them. Very well done.

Click here for all the pictures


I also went to the American Museum of Natural History mostly to see this special exhibit on Darwin. The exhibit was good and very interesting, I knew most of the information already. More interesting than the theory and evidence of evolution was learning about Darwin himself and his travels.

A few pictures from the museum

I went to Dinosaur BBQ last night with a couple of Phi Psis who just graduated and moved to New York. The food was delicious and everyone there was really nice. The restaurant is in Harlem, close to the 1 train and near the highway. Make reservations before you go, it's packed!

A few notes:

1. Nick (Phi Psi) grew up in UES and is living with his parents temporarily. He borrowed their BMW 5 series and drove us all to the restaurant. I haven't been in a car that nice in over 6 months. Even when I'm back in the Bay area I drive my Miata, not my BMW. That car is gorgeous. The ride is incredible, even on bad NY roads, the interior is luxurious, overall an incredibly well designed car. There are so many little details that make that car awesome. I miss driving.

2. When you get far north on the west side, you really don't feel like you're in Manhattan anymore. It gets really woody, with trees lining both sides of the highway. It's really nice.

3. We drove past the Intrepid Museum which is an aircraft carrier with a bunch of planes on it. There's also a submarine and a Concorde you can go inside. Very cool. Definitely need to check this out.

4. Across from Dinosaur BBQ was Fairway Market, probably the largest, coolest grocery stores I have ever seen. Their vegetable selection was huge, they had an olive bar, huge cheese selection, big coffee selection, deli, and much more. And it's cheap. This is the first place I've found Cote d Or chocolate in the US. I ended up buying some of that, and some coffee. I was tempted to buy so much stuff. They had all the best cookies, crisps and other snacks imported from Europe.

On Thursday evening I was at the Union Square subway station waiting for the Q train to get to Prospect Park in Brooklyn. I had just missed a Q so I was waiting for about 10 minutes. 5 minutes into that wait an N train showed up on the same track. It stopped, the doors opened, and standing right in front of me was Jason Ahmad!

What the chances of that? He wasn't getting off there, and I wasn't getting on that train, so we just waved to each other, smiled, and then his train took off. So bizarre. Weird thing is, this isn't the first time I've randomly run into Jason at a train station. How does that even happen?

Delmonico's
Delmonico's is a steak house in the financial district, way downtown. From what i can tell, they cater to the Wall Street crowd for business lunches, and after work drinks. No one else would travel that far south for this place. For the appetizer I got salmon tartar. It was ok, but the whole time I was thinking about the tuna tartar at Payard. Main course was two types of steak, both were very good, over some great veggies. Good, but not enough food. For dessert I got some chocolate cake which sucked! Others got an Apple Betty, which was good, but seemed like it came straight from costco.

Price paid: $35
Regular price: $50
Would pay: $25

Cafe Boulud
Their website says Daniel created Cafe Boulud to be a casual cafe like the type his parents and grandparents had in France. Haha. This has to be the most expensive and fancy cafe ever. First of all, I have to say this place had the *best service* ever. Hands down. Basically I can sum it up in one word, it was invisible. Everything was done without interrupting you in any way. Every time I turned around, my coffee had somehow been refilled. It was incredible. Places like Gramercy have service that's on the ball, but seems to interrupt you every few minutes. Anyway, appetizer was duck pate, which was ok. Main course was veal cooked 2 ways, very good. Dessert was a chocolate hazelnut pastry.

Price paid: $24
Regular price: $65
Would pay: $24

Butter
One of my best meals in New York. Great food and service from start to finish. The restaurant is super hip and trendy, with lots of celebrities, but luckily that doesn't mean they screw you with bad food or drinks. For appetizer I got scallops and shrimp, awesome. Main course was pork tenderloin with lots of garlic, spinach, and roasted potatoes, awesome. Dessert was cococut panna cotta with grilled pineapple on the side, awesome. The Butter Martini was good too :). A great dining experience, and only 2 blocks from my apartment. I will be back.

Price paid: $35
Regular price: $55
Would pay: $45

Roy's New York
I went to Roy's in San Francisco about 6 years ago and I think that's still the most expensive meal i've ever had. I remember we were a bunch of college kids surrounded by people in suits, drinking wine and eating fancy food. Roy's NY is great. It's also in the financial district which makes it hard to get to, but it's worth going. Service was not just good, but very friendly. Appetizer was a Mongolian Barbecue Chicken Salad, great. Main course was short ribs with vegetables and potatoes, very good. Dessert was chocolate souffle with ice cream, great. Overall a cool restaurant with delicious food. Recommended.

Price paid: $35
Regular price: $47
Would pay: $35

That's it! Restaurant week is over. It looks like the secret to having a good restaurant week experience is finding restaurants who serve you the food off their regular menus. Some restaurants prepare special restaurant week menus which have smaller and cheaper dishes. Next time i'll probably call ahead to see what the menus are. Top pics are davidburke, Gramercy Tavern, and Butter. Now it's back to eating cereal and subway sandwiches.

Gramercy Tavern
It shouldn't be a surprise that one of the Best Restaurants in the World was a clear winner during restaurant week. It was another lunch meal (as most of the best restaurant week options are lunch only) and it was fabulous. The service was perfect from start to finish. They offered us pretty much the entire menu. First course I got some duck with a flaky pastry thing. I can't even describe what it was, but it was delicious. Second course was sliced chicken breast with mushrooms and veggies. This was the softest chicken I have ever had. And for dessert I got a pistachio cake with creme fresh and fresh strawberries. One of the best desserts I have ever had. This place takes reservations 28 days in advance, and fills up 28 days in advance. I now see why. I definitely need to go back for dinner.

Price paid: $24
Regular price: $36
Would pay: $36

English is Italian
Beautiful restaurant in Midtown East. Great service, but not just that they were fast and attentive, but also very friendly. Bottles of wine as low as $25. Cool bathrooms. Once we got there we were offered some great bread and a variety of spreads. Gary and I decided to skip the restaurant week menu and go for their standard 3 course dinner for $39. It was $4 more than restaurant week but instead of dessert, the third course was more food. They brought out 3 appetizers which included some salad stuff, and an awesome lamb dish. Then 4 pastas which included some great risotto and ravioli. And the final course was some chicken, fish, and an awesome beef entree. There was garlic bread on the side. They bring you more than enough food, but also say it's "all you can eat" so feel free to request more of your favorites.

Price paid: $39
Regular price: $39
Would pay: $39

And a couple non restaurant week tidbits:

Nina Argentinian Pizzeria in UES with Roy. Great pizza.
East Side Company Bar. Super secret location. Very cool place. But drinks are fruity and watery.
Cafe Zaiya. I walk into this place every couple weeks for coffee and I'm impressed every time I do. The coffee (mocha's etc) are *much* better than starbucks. And they have lots of great little snacks and pastries. The desserts are only slightly sweet, not super sugary, really perfect!

davidburke & donatella
Kicked off restaurant week with a Monday lunch. Great restaurant in the Upper East Side. Really cool red and black decor, great service. Started us out with good bread and butter, and some watermelon with lemon juice - very good. Appetizer was Lobster Bisque & Crispy Lobster Roll - awesome. Main course was Salmon over mashed potatoes and spinach. Dessert was Butterscotch Panna Cotta - awesome. Huge meal. I was totally stuffed. The restaurant week menu had the same items from their regular menu.

Price paid: $24
Regular price: $55
Would pay: $50 (but I would go for dinner)

Il Cantinori
Cute Italian place in the East Village. Some nice outdoor seating, indoor banquet room, full bar. AC was broken! Ouch. Appetizer was Misto di Terra (combination of vegetables) - surprisingly tasty. Entree was breaded chicken with salad. Dessert was tiramisu. Food was good but nothing special. There are too many great Italian places in the East Village where you can eat for much less to ever go back to this place.

Price paid: $35
Regular price: $55
Would pay: $25

Payard
Beautiful restaurant in the Upper East Side. Great service. Known for their pastries. Appetizer was Tuna Tartar - awesome! Entree was Chicken breast stuffed with mushrooms - good. Dessert was any select from their pastry area, got some chocolate raspberry cake thing - good. Overall a nice meal and great atmosphere.

Price paid: $35
Regular price: $51
Would pay: $40

Overall a great start. One exceeded my expectations, one fell short, and one was right on the money.

Added more pictures to the "other NY photos" page.



BBQ in SLO. And my cousin's son (my nephew?) Vineet.



My visit to the Bay Area, including BJs, BBQ at Apple, and the tiny Long Beach airport.



July 4 at Coney Island, Brighton Beach, and South Street Seaport.

New additions...

done:
coney island
macys fireworks
museum of the moving image
Central Park (ok, not "done")
running along the hudson
craftbar
amy ruth's
Park
ido sushi
gatsbys
red sky rooftop
Nice Matin
East River Bar
Fornino Pizza

to do:
mustang margaritas
burp castle
us open - tix for september!
movie in bryant park
Khyber Pass
Rooftop bars
Outdoor eating

Click here to see it all

The fourth of July was a pretty long, ridiculous day. It started at 10am when I walked out of my apartment to meet Gary, but Gary wouldn't answer his phone because his ass got wasted the night before. Somehow he did wake up by 10:30 and we got on the train to Coney Island! I also got in touch with Tim Kane that morning, who's in NY for the summer. We met him at Coney Island.

We got to Coney Island and saw Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, an annual 4th of July event. It was won by Takeru Kobayashi for the fifth year in a row. He set a new world record by eating 53 3/4 HDB (hot dogs and buns?). Before the contest started, the MC entertained everyone for an hour and was quite entertaining. He was full of energy and really funny.

The problem was, people were standing outside in 90 degree weather and 90% humidity. At 12:15 people were getting pissed off. Whenever the guy started saying something, people started booing at him :). At one point he compared HDBs with BTUs and people seemed like they would tackle him if they could. One guy yelled "start the eating now or we're all going to Popeye's!"

After the contest we actually ate at Nathan's. I'm not a hot dog eater (what is all that processed meat!) but I had some for the special occasion. I didn't find them to be any different from any other hot dog.

We went to Brighton Beach to find a bar and watch the World Cup game. We walked into a random nightclub and got a recommendation for a place. "it has beer, and TV screens." Sounds great. We walked over to this bar and saw a picture of a soccer ball outside. Perfect.

We walked onto a pirate ship! Well, not really, but it was a bar with a ship/pirate theme! It was hilarous. The staff were dressed as sailors, the bar was a ship (a ship within a ship?), and they had sea related decorations. In addition to the Russian Food (Brighton Beach is the Little Russian by the Sea) the bar had a Japanese Sushi Chef behind the bar.

The game was good, with an exciting finish. After the game we went back to Coney Island and walked around. That place is bizarre. It's sorta dirty and rundown. It has all these old style games and attractions. There actually isn't anything interesting or cool to see there, except to see how bizarre the overall place is. I later commented that it's not a place I would ever take my kids. Maybe I would have liked it better if we had seen a freak show or something :)

I slept on the train back to Manhattan, just a little rest before we had to head out to watch the fireworks. We saw the Macys Fourth of July Fireworks from South Street Seaport. It was a good show, as always. Next year I want to check out the main show by Midtown, where the fireworks are launched off 3 barges.

The night wasn't over yet as we headed to Zen Noodle in East Village to get noodles, cheap sushi, and $6 pitchers of beer!

Pictures coming soon.

It took just a couple of days in California to remember exactly why I left, and I wonder if I can really move back after just two years in New York, as originally planned.

I once again found California to be extremely quiet and boring, and people didn't seem interested in going out and having fun. On the flip side, I got several emails from Gary and others in NY about going to restaurants and bars, a cool Bollywood event next week, and major July 4 plans.

In New York my life is fun and stress free. I work, and then I'm free to do anything else I want to do. And there are people who want to join me (or want me to join them). My life in California seems to be full of trouble. It was a stressful and often depressing week.

Upon arriving in New York at midnight on July 3, I called up my nyc peeps, and of course they were out partying. At 1 am I got a shwarma at my favorite falafel place, and then met up with Gary and Leslie for dessert.

Stepping into my apartment I felt more "at home" than I've felt since I lived with my parents in Torrance.

I love nyc.

After we left the casino last week, I taught my dad everything I know about card counting, and details on the specific technique I was using. He's been back to the casino 3 times already and looks like he's made his first grand. Given that he is retired, an hour from the casinos, and loves to gamble, he'll probably be there all the time.

From my cousin, on IM: Just got back from casino with your dad. We won $600 combined in blackjack using the system. it seems to work

Now I'm *really* itching to go to Atlantic City.

I absolutely love TiVo. I think it's one of the most life changing inventions of my time, probably second only to the cell phone. For people who watch a lot of TV (and I did until I went to college, and then did again for a couple years after graduating from college), it completely changes your life. You are no longer dependent on a TV schedule, you don't watch commercials, you don't channel surf, you watch more content, and better content.

The problem is, TiVo has taken a long time to catch on. People just don't get it until they use it. I loved TiVo when I had a Directv Tivo combination box. The single receiver did it all and it worked very well.

When my dad was getting his cable setup, I pushed him to get an HD TiVo with Directv. Unfortunately he went with Dish Network because of more Indian channels and cricket content. He got an HD DVR made by Dish but it was absolute crap. I played with it for 20 minutes and couldn't figure out how to do a season pass, or how to delete recorded shows. We sent it back!

Last week I bought him a standalone TiVo box, which means the video signal from the Dish receiver would pass through the tivo, and the tivo would control the Dish Network receiver with an IR transmitter. Unfortunately, it didn't work well at all. The two receivers would get out of sync, and sometimes the TiVo would get locked out of the Dish system.

When I got to my mom's place, I was surprised to see she had a Time Warner HD DVR (but no HD TV or HD content, but that's ok). I used the DVR a bit and was surprised. After about 20 minutes of messing with all the functions, I have to say it's actually *better* than a TiVo. Wow. I can't believe it. Every one of these systems is just a knock off of the original TiVo, but Scientific Atlanta, the makers of this box, actually improved on TiVo's interface. Handling season passes, two tuners, and the scheduling guide were even easier to use than the TiVo.

My mom had this receiver for a couple months and never touched the DVR capabilities. Within a few minutes of me showing her how to use it, she had the basics down.

I was very happy when TiVo won their lawsuit against Dish Network, and I hope they can get royalties and/or licensing deals with all the DVR copycats out there. But seeing this Time Warner DVR definitely changes things. I can no longer say "people don't like DVRs because they have crappy TiVo knockoffs." I never expected someone to be able to out-do TiVo so soon. But I guess TiVo hasn't really done much in the past couple of years.

My recommendation now? Get a Time Warner HD DVR, and I hope Time Warner has to pay TiVo a cut on the side.