Bowling City

Bowling City

Hackensack, NJ

We were here one evening for a bowling birthday get-together for one of DJKung's coworkers.  For your money, Bowling City is an above-average bowling joint. 

But first, the food.  There is a little diner-style restaurant within the building (which I thought was pretty cool) that served your usual burgers and fries.  Of course, you can bring your food out to the bowling area as well, so the place was humming with a lot of kids having their pizza with their bowling.

Hearty minestrone soup for a cold winter night.

DJKung got a cheeseburger with fries, which he said was adequate.  We also had some nachos later on, but they were uneventful chips covered in yellow cheese.

Apart from the diner and the bowling area, there was also an enclosed bar with a couple of small pool tables, and an arcade area which was surprisingly busy with young kids.  I guess bowling can be too low-tech for the younger generation?  But no, the bowling alleys were also full of youngsters showing their skills.

The bowling itself was quite nice... the lanes were very smooth and even.  After you enter everybody's names on the scoreboard, their computers take care of the scoring and all that.  This was nice because not everybody knows the special rules that apply with strikes, and how you get that extra bonus throw with the last set. 

Let's go bowling!

DJKung and his winning leftward-curve throw.  He was the high scorer of the group that night.  Go DJKung!

At a certain time, Bowling City has disco bowling, where the lights go down and the music goes up a bit.  What's exciting about this is that you get a chance to win one free game redeemable at any time.  So say you go bowling once a year and you score and get lucky, you can show up next year and claim your free game!  All you have to do is throw a strike when the magic red pin shows up in your lane. 

This, unfortunately, was not as easy as the anouncement made it sound like.  One of the little rules was that the magic red pin had to be the lead pin, i.e., the pin closest to you.  So it did not happen all that often.  Further, before you throw that winning ball, you had to get one of the staff to personally observe you.  Which was a bit of a pain given that there were quite a lot of lanes and it was very noisy and fired up with everybody waiting for that special pin.  So alas, we missed a few chances at getting that free game, but everybody had a swell time. 

Get 'em "All the way!!!" at Hot Grill

The Hot Grill

669 Lexington Avenue

Clifton, NJ 07011

http://www.thehotgrill.com/

New Jersey is super serious about their hot dogs.  The Star Ledger, the Newark, NJ-based paper, has the weinermobile, which goes around and tries different hot dog places in the state (besides other joints).  Here in Awesome Clifton, NJ, we boast not one, but two famous hot dog joints.  We're extremely fortunate to be within barking distance of the famous Hot Grill. 

Hot Grill has been around for quite a few decades, and you can tell by the decor, which looks like it hasn't been changed since they opened.  They're known for its Texas weiners "all the way," with the hot dogs smothered in their special chili, mustard and onions.  It's cheap, tasty, and down-home gooood. 

Two dogs, all the way!

We also got fries with melted cheese.  Yum!

Hot Grill is running a special promo, where you get two dogs FREE with every purchase of two dogs.  The furs, who stayed in the car, got to have one dog each!!  Lucky dawgs!

Creative video of some furs

This is a really creative video shooting at 1000fps then slowed down of dogs eating a doggie treat. Hope you enjoy.

This is not a plug for the dog food brand nor do our dogs eat this.

djkung

2010 NYC Food Crawl VIDEO

We are trying something new.  I just picked up a Kodak zi8 digital camcorder and during our food crawl we recorded the whole evening with it. I hope you enjoy it. What better way to cure our cabin fever from being snowed in than to have an nyc food crawl (mainly around the vicinity of 3rd ave and 9th st). Any comments or feedback is appreciated.

Thanks,
djkung

mmm Mamoun's Falafel

Mamoun's Falafel

119 Macdougal Street

New York, NY 10012

http://mamouns.com/

Fast, cheap and good.  Especially when you're drunk or have the munchies.  Mamoun's is a mainstay of the NYU college scene and serves excellent falafel and shwarma.  It is in a tiny hole-in-the wall place in the Village.  Basically, just look for the line outside.

We ducked into Mamoun's during the Winter Jazz Fest last month for a quick bite.

Mamoun's counter.  There are a couple of tables, if you are lucky to snag them.  Personally, the best way to eat your falfel/shwarma is standing up, while trying not to get the yummy bits on your clothes.

Lamb shwarma.  This is what DJKung always gets.  It's flavorful and always hits the spot. 

I always get the falafel sandwich.  You get crispy falafel, crunchy veggies and smoky tahini sauce, all in a nfresh pita pocket.   The veggies more often than not are quite bland, but it's still very refreshing. 

Warm up with some hot jazz at the Winter Jazz Fest

NYC Winter Jazz Fest
(January 9-10)

I know, I know.  We've fallen quite behind with our posts.  What can we say. . . we've been cooped up at home since the new year.  One of the rare times we've been out was at the 2010 NYC Winter Jazz Fest, a two-day smorgasboard of upcoming and established jazz musicians playing at five venues in the Village (Le Poisson Rouge, Bitter End, Sullivan Hall, Zinc Bar and Kenny's Castaways).  This was a really great deal; for $30 bucks, you get see a wide variety of bands.  Don't like what you see?  Move on to the next spot. 

On our first night, we did hit a snag with our plan to go venue-hoppin.'  We had quite a late start, I think around 7 or 8pm.   We assumed that having bought our tickets online, it would be a breeze entering the venues.  We found out that we had to "check in," get id'd and have our special wristbands at Le Poisson Rouge, before we could get into any of the places.  

Only Poisson, Kenny's and Zinc were open that Friday.  We weren't feelin the first two joints, and it seemed that everybody just went to Zinc Bar.  Now Zinc Bar was really quite small, and it was reaally cold that night.  We decided to pop by a bar around the corner for some drinks, and wait for the next band coming on at 9pm.

DJKung's really happy to be out!  Kenny's wasn't that crowded, though.  Everybody seemed to be at Zinc Bar.
Afterwards, we trooped back to Zinc and still had to wait a bit in line.  The 9pm act was the Jaleel Shaw Quartet.  They had a mellow and trippy set.

Ya, this was the only shot I could take, the place was so crowded.  How is it that I feel shorter than average everytime I go to any live shows?

That Saturday went so much better, with all the five venues open.  We went to get our entry badges at Le Poisson and were able to check out the first act at 6pm, Carmen Cansoli.  Cansoli hails from Italy and was playing out soulful Sicilian songs.

We then went across the street to Bitter End and saw Baptise Trotington.  Trotington is a French pianist who was accompanied by a drummer and bassist.  The piano was meditative and delicate, it was easy to get lost in it.  The drummer was really skilllful too, super-tight and very inventive.  

Trotington and his drummer had very good chemistry together. 

The Bitter End had a very nice layout out of all the five venues.  You get a very good view of the stage pretty much anywhere you sit.

Afterwards was Amanda Monaco's Deathblow.  This one we did not feel too much. 

ZInc Bar had Ibrahim Maalouf, from Lebanon performing.  It was supposed to be a quintet, I belive, but only the main guy was given visas to travel here.  The crowd was very sympathetic.  Maalouf gamely performed a haunting, layered piece using a samples that he made live with his trumpet.  It sounded a lot like morning prayers that you hear in Istanbul, with a lot of ululating patterns.

I was dead set on making it to Sullivan Hall for the 9pm show, so we made it there extra-early to avoid the last-minute rush as the other venues exhaled their crowds (the shows were staggered roughly on the hour or half-hour).  We saw Sachal Vasandani, a Frank Sinatra-style vocalist.

The 9pm show was Dr. Lonnie Smith.  The vibe was really electric for this one, and he did not disappoint.  Him and his vibes just brought the house down.

See, even though we arrived an hour early, this was the best vantage point that we could get. 

Dr. Lonnie Smith!!!

We are looking forward to the next jazz fest!

The Front Cover of This Book Says it All

"Cake Wrecks. When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong"
by Jen Yates

This book had Superfatty and I laughing from cover to cover. Packed with pictures of odd cakes like this one along with some colorful comments by the author had us rolling on the floor.

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

Sagrada Familia

Barcelona

Sagrada Familia is Gaudi's unfinished majestic masterpiece.  It's very difficult to describe this massive work besides jaw-dropping.  We got neck cramps from just looking up.  The church is as big as a city block and just towers over everything in the area. 

Note the art deco-y religious reliefs. 

As you can see from the scaffolding, work is still ongoing to this day.  (Wikipedia says that work begun in 1882!)

Xamfra Gaudi, Barcelona

Xamfra Gaudi

C/ Valencia, 443

Barcelona

We were quite hungry after our jaunt at Montjuic.  However, we decided on one more spot to visit, the famed Sagrada Familia.  Xamfra Gaudi was luckily just a few blocks away, and we enjoyed a few tapas with our beer.  This cafeteria/cerveseria/tapes/torrades joint was quite bustling that day and everything on display looked really good.

Potatoes with pimiento peppers in tomato sauce.

We sat at the bar and essentially pointed at a couple of things that we liked.

Anchoas (I love anchovies!).  Foreground is  bread with tomato sauce.

Patatas bravas, or fried potatoes topped with ketchup and mayo.

Pulpo.  The guy behind the counter actually just gave this to us gratis, when one of our orders took too long to heat up.  The pulpo was tender and tasty.

Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona

Fundacio Joan Miro

Centro d'Estudis d' Art Contemporani

Parc de Montjuic

08038 Barcelona

http://fundaciomiro-bcn.org/

Joan Miro (1893-1983) is DJKung's favorite artist.  There are a couple of his works in the permanent collection in MOMA that are hung prominently.  I confess that I never really had a deep understanding of his work.  I merely saw bold, childlike lines, elementary shapes and deep colors --- without really picking up what he was about. 

Fundacio Joan Miro is a museum/library dedicated to his work.  It is situated on Montjuic (quite close to where our apartment was, actually) and has, in essence, an encyclopedic collection of this work: paintings, tapestries, sculpture, ceramics, mobiles (he was good friends with Calder, the mobile dude). The museum is housed in a gorgeous all-white mid-century building.  The roof and the grounds have some sculptures about.  There are two floors, with a part of the first floor devoted to special exhibits.  The museum is not too big and not too small, and you can cover everything in about two-three hours.  Definitely take the audio tour.

Miro, like his contemporaries, really believed in the modernist movement.  But I think he was unsatisfied in the way that it was too cold and abstract, and so struck out on his own to find his own voice. You can tell that his work is unlike other modern pieces.  His is funny and playful, with birds and stars and suns.  His sculptures have a very warm and organic feel to them.  I think that's what good art is, developing your own identify.

This one looks like a woman with her arms outstretched.

Here's Superfatty next to the boy sculpture outside.  I love how he captured the wide eyes and waddling gait that toddlers have!

It is too bad that we could not take pictures inside.  There were quite a few massive and jaw-droppping works (there is a two-storey tapestry hanging by the entrance) that I do not think get to travel around to other museums. 

The special exhibit that they had at the time was an expertly-curated collection of Frantisek Kupka (1871-1957).  This was a loaner from Centre Pompidou, Paris.  DJKung and I were blown away by this awesome exhibit.  You've probably seen his work in museums elsewhere, but taken together, you get a real sense that he studied and grappled with his convictions as to what modern art should be about.  He was one of the pioneers of the abstract movement, but later broke off to explore his own styles. 

So this exhibit traces his roots as a fresh newbie from Bohemia who moved to Paris to be an artist.  At the time, Fauvism was popular, so you see that in his work.  It seems that he was a very curious, perhaps even obsessive, painter.  Over almost six decades, he developed distinct lines of study, I think there were about eight--- movement in space, biophysics, and sound among them.  Towards the end of life, he tried to unify all these theories.  This exhibit has fantastic examples of all of his different periods. 

Bicing Barcelona

Bicing

(Bike rentals in Barcelona)

Barcelona is a great biking city and has a lot of designated bike lanes. We saw a lot of these rental bikes.   I think because of it was winter, not many were in use. 

It looks like you get a prepaid card which allows you to use the bikes.  You tap your card on the screens and one of the numbered bikes gets unlocked.  The are many pick-up and drop-off locations on the street, so it is pretty convenient.  Some areas are more popular than others, so once in a while, Bicing vans pick up surplus bikes to deliver to bike-less areas.

Parc Guell, Barcelona

Parc Guell

Barcelona

Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926) is, I believe, Barcelona's favorite native son.  According to Wikipedia, he's part of the Modernist/Art Nouveau style.  I guess the best way to appreciate his work is to consider that for his time, his work was really revolutionary and quite "out there."   Another way to look at it is the fact that his designs were rather advanced for the technology they had back then (i.e., no design software, no computers).

Gaudi has other works scattered about town and you can easily spend a day or two visiting his work.

Parc Guell was initially designed as the rich crowd's pleasure park.   It is situated quite a ways from the downtown area and is on top of a hill, which gives it a great vantage point from which to view the city.  Nowadays, it is open to all and admission is free. 

His work is really either-you-like-him-or-you-don't...  What we saw here at Parc Guell was at turns whimsical, visionary,idiosyncratic, impractical, nightmarish, trippy, bizarre and elegant.  We'll leave it up to you to decide.

Detail of the three-dimensional cross.  Note the mosaic surface.

Roof detail.  See how wavy the crenellations and the roof surfaces are.  I like the crinkly appearance on the left.

Does this not look like a gingerbread house?

This vaguely reminds me of an underwater castle, something Neptune would have had.  I think the wavy lines and the trickling fountain in the center brought this image to mind.

The cut-off lizard to the right is Gaudi's mascot here.  You see this mosiac lizard in magnets and tchotchkes in the tourist shops downtown.

Going up the steps.

Inside the "temple" are a whole bunch of columns.  There is a cool illusion that makes the outside columns look like they are standing at an angle.

Where I am standing is the roof of the temple.  It is actually a large plaza with a sandy floor and plenty of mosaiced benches to sit on.

This structure is very cool, and appears to be solely made up of rocks mortared togather.  IT has a very scary effect.

This is the roof part.  The rock columns support planters of cacti, which adds to a primitive/paleolithic effect.

Parc Guell is massive and we were only table to take in a very small portion of it.  This looks like a lovely place for a picnic or a date when the weather is nice.  Despite the chilly weather, there were loads of tourists about.

Around Barrio Gotic (Barcelona)

Taverna del Bisbe


Sagardi
Argentina, 62
08003 Barcelona

+34-933-199-993


Barcelona, and the rest of Spain in general, is thought of as a summer destination. From the way the city is set up, it looks like it gets flooded with visitors seeking sun, fun and shopping.  


Christmastime is also a fun time to visit.  I think that you get a more intimate experience this time of the year. The city gets really involved for the holidays, and you can tell that they do it not just for the tourists, but also because they have a long tradition of sponsoring arts and cultural events.  And because it's Christmas!  There are a lot of outdoor stages with scheduled performances (the schedules and venues are well-advertised), not just in the touristy areas, but in the local shopping areas too. 


By the Sants area, we strolled around Christmas stalls and watched live belly dancing (out in the cold, no less).  The Ramblas/Barrio Gotic area, which is the historic section, gets decked out in pretty lights and has tons of craft shops, food shops and shows as well, so it was great walking around and taking in the festive atmosphere.  There were loads of tourists, and loads of locals doing their Christmas shopping.


After walking a bit, we stepped into Taverna del Bisbe for a quick beer and a light snack. 

DJKung ordered the bacalao, cod on a bed of tomatoes and olive oil.  

Window shopping is a lot of work!  After browsing at chess pieces, shoes at Tascon and candy-like jewelry at Majoral, we were ready for refueling.

Sagardi is a very cute place that serves tapas, hors d'oeuvres style.  The term they use is "pintxos donostiarras" and I was unable to come up with a good translation of this. 

After employing our rusty Spanish (Catalan is spoken here in Barcelona) and a few pantomined gestures, we figured out that you just help yourself from the plates in front of you. In the end, they count the number of toothpicks on your plate. 

Here's one of the selections.  It looks like crabmeat topped with a cherry tomato and a pickled pepper.

The entire bar had plates of these tapas and the lighting was simply gorgeous.  The top one looked like mozarella cheese and roasted pepper; the bottom one looked like tuna topped with a blade of chive.

Here's a trio that we got: pickled fish topped with lemon zest; jamon; chorizo.  Despite the bite-sized portions, they were remarkably filling washed down with some beer. 

I think DJKung is enjoying this too much.

After this light repast, we continued to stoll about and made it as far as Barcelonetta, which is the area close to the water.  It was a bit chilly out so we ducked into one of the old churches in the area, Catedral de Sta. Maria de Seu.  This is an old gothic-style church (circa 15th century, I think) with soaring pillars and stunning arches.  This church was just spectacular, and according to the guidebooks, the best church here in Barcelona, architecturally speaking. 

Not only did we get to warm ourselves in the church, but we also lucked out and got to see part of a live choir, with full-on orchestral music accompaniment.  It seemed that this was a really special performance because the church was packed and the event was being filmed for the evening news.  

Afterwards, we ducked into a small nondescript bar for dinner.  The food here was surprisingly good too. 

Squid legs in tomato sauce.  Very full of flavor, and I this this was canned squid too.

Fried little fishies.

Patatas fritas. 

Superfatty havin'a drink.  Yum!