El Aguila keeps soarin' high!!!

Under food:

El Aguila

Happy Three Kings Day! We headed back to El Aguila in Passaic last weekend for some hearty fare. The place is busy as ever, and we noticed a lot of newbies like us checking out the place.

Creche close-up. The whole display was actually more than six feet tall, and stylized to look like it was the side of a mountain.

We wanted to make it for breakfast to try their specials (churros y chocolate), but woke up late. No worries, though, because the hot entrees were good to go. It appeared that they have a rotating selection of dishes, because they had different foods on display.

Hot dishes. The reflection on the glass camouflages the guy chopping meats for carnitas---you can see his hand on the far right, behind the counter.

The bakery was hoppin' that day in preparation for Three Kings Day, a major religious holiday in Mexican tradition. It celebrates the time when the three wise men, after following the star of Bethlehem, found the baby Jesus. If I remember my religion classes correctly, they gave gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. More importantly, I think this is the time that kiddies get presents.

Patty cake, patty cake, baker man. Make me a cake as fast as you can!

Trays of rosca de reyes (bread ring for kings). Traditionally, a coin or a little baby figure is baked inside the bread; whoever finds it is supposed to have good luck the whole year.

I ordered a cubano torta (cuban pressed sandwich), with no ham. DJKung got the carnitas burrito (same as last time), and a carnitas taco for his dad. We also got a pina drink and a pina colada drink.

The jolly torta man here prepared my sandwich.




Hot skillet for torta. See how the torta man grilled both pieces of bread, and even the cheese. He also cut fresh slices of avocado and used some tomato and lettuce. The sandwich was not really pressed like a real cubano, but it was still hot, crusty and dang good.

Top picture: torta cubano, sans cheese. Bottom picture: cross-section of same. The tomato was a bit anemic, which is why it looks yellow in the picture.

Taco carnita.

As for the drinks, the pina drink was very fresh and delightfully unsweetened. I ordered the pina colada because it was white in color and looked unusual. It was very sweet, with an artificial taste, no coconut flavor... at least now I know what it is. Can't wait to try their other juices.

El Aguila now has printed menus too. DJKung got the scanner up and running so you can check out their awesome menu. FYI, barbacoa is goat meat.

Brookdale Park Dog Run

Under furs:

Brookdale Dog Run
Bloomfield & Montclair, NJ

Whew! Lenape Trail just gets so packed at times, we can't find any parking! Today we headed to the doggie run at Brookdale Park.

Brookdale Park is a pretty big park in the Bloomfield and Montclair Townships. It always has a lot going on, from soccer and archery practice, to kiddie playgrounds and free summer concerts. The doggie run opened sometime around 2007 with great hoopla, as doggie parks in the North Jersey area are very rare (because everybody has a backyard?). Every time we go here, it tends to be crowded.

Doggies this way!

The doggie run has a big dawg (right) and a little dawg (left) area.

Bad dawgs go here for time out.

Brookdale Dog Park gets points for their doggie fountains, on-site pick-up baggies and their little training courses.

Chibby says: "I'm not sure why everybody's following me!"

Doggie pipe.

Doggie hurdle. This is for the birds... look how low it is!

I don't know why Chibby and Babams just get into the pack mentality and start harassing other dawgs. Specially the younger ones. No biting, of course, but they just go bark-bark-bark like it's a full-on brawl goin' on. So we get dirty looks from the good people of Montclair/Bloomfield about this (thanks a lot, furs). But hey, they're just doing what doggies do.

We next headed off to the meadow outside for more running around.

Brookdale Dog Park never made it to our rotation ever, mainly because we find it too crowded. Personally, we find the doggie owners here are not as laid back as those from the other spots we frequent. If you have a very docile low-energy dawg, this might be the place for you.

Get the royal treatment at King Spa

Under fun

King Spa Sauna

321 Commercial Avenue

Palisades Park, NJ 07650

(201) 947-9955/7665/7666

http://www.ekingsauna.com/

Happy new year! Nothing quite like a good scrubbin' to wash away last year's grit and grime, and to beat the winter cold! King Spa is a bath emporium in the industrial section of Palisades Park. It caters mainly to Koreans, who are very fond of their baths.

King Spa at night.

As you walk in, you'll notice that the lobby is quite small. The basic entrance fee is about $40, but with a coupon (available in Korean establishments in the Bergen county area), you get a $15 discount. King Spa requires that they hold on to your picture id while in the premises. You'll get a numbered key with a barcode that you can wear on your wrist or ankle.

The men's section (the baths are separate) is upstairs, on the third floor. The women's section is on the ground level, to the right. You grab a towel and shirt/shorts (pink for women, blue for men) before you walk in. There are shelves for shoes, which you are required to take off (in typical Korean/Japanese bath house fashion). Your key opens your locker, where you can stash your clothes and personal effects. For the women's section, there is a numbered cubby right outside the wet spa area where you can stash your toiletries and towel/shirt/shorts.

Taking a camera inside would not be prudent given that everybody's nekkid for the most part, so I've taken some pictures from their website.

Women's wet spa. It includes shower stalls and sitting showers. You take a basin and a stool so you can squat down and scrub yourself good. Soap, shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes and toothpaste are available. Should you need the exfoliating pads, you can ask the attendant, who will scan your key. There is a hot pool, a lukewarm pool (with herbs) and a cold green pool, as well as a clear cold pool with a powerful shower (make sure you shower first!). Their herbal sauna is nice and hot-hot-hot!

You can get the full body (and I mean full body) scrub and an oil massage at the wet spa area, available at extra charge. No new age-y relaxation here. They treat you like a slab of tuna and will scrub you to an inch of your life. The massage is more soothing, and they do try to stretch your joints. Afterwards, you can definitely feel that your skin is softer and smoother.

DJKung says that the men's side is pretty much set up the same. They do not have the little cubbys for towels that the women's side does. The men's side also does not have the big ice-cold pool.

You can then get dressed and check out the co-ed saunas on the second and third floors. King Spa has a very nice array of rooms and saunas for a variety of ailments. I prefer the hotter saunas. It is nice just to just close your eyes and relaaax.

This is my current favorite igloo---Bul Hanzung Mok (for women only). It is pretty warm inside and you will start sweating almost immediately. It smells like dried herbs and wood inside. I think this is supposed to be good for your reproductive organs.

Bulgama room (co-ed). This one is supposed to have infrared rays and ions. It is not as hot as the Bul Hanzung Mok. Muzak is usually playing, and it is easy to fall asleep here.

There are a few more igloos and rooms that you can check out. Basic rules apply: don't bring any reading material (although some do), keep quiet, and try to respect other people's space.

There are also private massage rooms. I have never gotten a dry massage here. DJKung had the thirty-minute foot massage before, and he said it was worth it. He described it as a deep tissue massage, with special focus on the joints.

Afterwards, when you are feeling squeaky clean and pleasantly drained, you can hang out by the restaurant and get some food. This is the meeting spot for friends and family that come to King Spa together. After you place your order, they will scan your key and call your number when your food is ready. The food is pretty good and reasonably priced. We like the rice drink, an iced drink with rice and beans served in a big glass bowl. It is so refreshing after a nice long sweat.

Restaurant section. I love the rocco furniture with the stone sculptures. The restaurant section is usually lively and full of shiny-faced, freshly bathed patrons wearing their King Spa shirts and shorts.

There is also a lounge section where you can read Korean newspapers, watch tv, play go, or fall asleep on their leather recliners. It is not uncommon to see people snoring away. Relaxing is really hard work!