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Movie Review: Amelia

Historical, but no Titanic

Watching this movie is probably better than watching a documentary on Amelia Earhart, but not by much. It covers all the flights (from her first to her last) that she made as an aviator, and discuss how she and her husband pays for it. However, I never felt really drawn to the movie, with maybe an exception to the ending.

The acting is competent by Swank (Earhart) and Gere (Earhart's husband), but McGregor steals the show as Gene Vidal. Simply put, my gf thought he is sexy. I'm sure he summoned up the charm from Moulin Rouge and not from Star Wars.

At a tad under 2 hours, this movie still felt a bit rushed to me. Perhaps it was the uneven pacing, as my gf fell asleep during parts of it (I'm sure it wasn't the part with Ewan in it).

It is history after all, which means they can't do much to dramatize it. But then again, Titanic was history too, and they made over a billion with that movie.

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Date viewed: 10/24/2009

Hakata Ton Ton

$38+5 tasting menu is so worth it. Ton of food, can't go wrong if you are hungry.

Entering this restaurants felt like I was transported to Japan, not because of the decor or the wait staff, but the size of the table and spacing. We sat right next to their closet (at least that made easier to get our jackets when we left). 

We started out  with small pieces (salmon carpaccio, tonsoku, and gyoza) that we devoured in matter of seconds. Love the Tonsoku, and the gyoza was pretty good. The salmon was "meh". I was worry that there might not be enough food as we flew though the first few courses. But the hot pot stopped my hunger like it was a car that stopped at the edge of a cliff.  The collagen broth was so delicious (and so tongue burning hot). After we devoured everything from the hotpot, they offer to cook rice in the broth. So unbelievably delicious, I finished every grain of rice, and I mean EVERY GRAIN.

I was so full I barely ate the dessert, which was really good too, but even if it was the best dessert on earth, I don't think I could have finished it. Fortunately it wasn't. But it was up there.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Date Visited: March 2009

Hakata Ton Ton

61 Grove St

New York, NY 10014

Panera Bread

Sandwich a bit too spicy for me, the free WiFi feels priced into the sandwich

$7+ dollars for a sandwich in Astoria? The sandwich was okay, but the place felt like a mix between Starbucks and McDonalds. It serves food that is obviously better than McDees, but at Starbucks prices. But I do like the chill and relaxing decor. The only down side is even though it didn't feel very loud, my gf had a hard time hearing me when I was on the phone w/ her. Maybe that's a good thing, especially when you want to avoid hearing those loud ppl that like to "share" their phone conversations.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Date Visited: N/A

Panera Bread

3801 35th Ave

LIC, NY 11101

Del Frisco Steakhouse

Steaks were really tender. Glass windows were so clear, birds might run into them like in the Windex commercial.

I went to Del Frisco twice (once for lunch, once for dinner), but its almost a year ago for both times. Why did it take me so long? Maybe I just went to too many steakhouses over the past year and forgot about this one.

But this place isn't  forgettable. It has nice decor, high ceilings, spacious dining room that is far enough from the bar area that you don't hear much noise from the bar.

The steaks matched the quality of the decor. It was so tender and flavorful. Just writing about it makes me think when to setup a meetup with the Meetup group for dinner at this place (so I can write a more detailed review on the food).

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Date visited: N/A

Del Frisco Steakhouse

1221 Ave of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

Noodle Pudding

Everything is delicious, just make sure you carry cash...

Been here twice now. Excellent both times. Don't bother coming if you didn't make a reservation, it can be super crowded and wait interminable (tried going here for my b-day on '07). The portions are just right, as is the price. But why don't they take credit cards, I will never know.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Noodle Pudding

38 Henry St

Brooklyn, NY 11201

Bulgogi & Kimchi Street Cart

They use to suck in food, now they just suck in price...

Went here early in the year when I first heard about them on Midtown Lunch. The Bulgogi at that time was pretty bad. Its softly mashed meat (probably the cheapest cuts) marinated enough to cover the poor quality. But at least it was only $6.

If midtown have more options for Korean food, I wouldn't have to go back, but I did (a few months later). This time the prices have changed. They upped the price by a dollar and you can pay $2 more for extra meat. Well, the meat is much better (grilled sirloin cuts, probably), but it was a bit too charred. The $2 extra that I paid felt lacking as the meat to rice ratio is about 1:1. I wonder how much meat would they give w/o the extra $2.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Bulgogi & Kimchi Street Cart

49th St bet. 6th and 7th Ave

New York, NY 10019

Products & Movies review

Since I'm putting my Yelp reviews up here, I might as well start putting other reviews up here. I will be putting up my movie reviews from IMDB and product reviews from Amazon soon. Watch out for them some time this week.

Wafels and Dinges Truck

Dangerously delicious...

A Liege Wafel + Dinges (strawberry, Belgian Fudge, Spekuloos) = unbelievably delcious!

The waffle was perfect in every way, soft inside, crispy on the outside. I was so craving another one after I finished the first. I'm sure I can easily eat 3 of these. But then I probably wouldn't feel well afterwards.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Wafel & Dinges Truck

Various locations in NYC (Check their site for details)

www.wafelsanddinges.com

Posting my Yelp reviews here

Haven't updated my blog for ages (sure I haven't said that b4 ;-) ). So I'm just going to start posting my Yelp reviews in here. I haven't written anything recently, so that can be a problem as well. But let's hope I can get somethings posted up here soon.