Choza Taqueria

This is probably the best taco joint we've been to in New York so far. The corn tortillas were fresh and sweet. Each filling had their own unique taste from their distinct combination of meat and other ingredients. We mix and matched 3 different fillings and all of the were great! I also forgot to mention the horchata was an excellent complement to the spicy tacos.

Our ranking of the flavors go as below:
Barbacoa: This was their special made from  lamb shoulder
Choriza: Mexican pork sausage seasoned with spices & chiles, topped with queso fresco & Valentina’s.

Choza Taqueria
Yelp

Din Tai Fung Dumpling House - 鼎泰豐

Official website

Taipei 101 85th FL Restaurant - 隨意鳥地方85樓景觀餐廳

Taipei 101 is the tallest building in Taiwan and once the tallest building in the world. We had a first meal at the restaurant with the best view in Taipei. On the 85th floor, it has a panoramic view of Taipei from north of south. It is suppose to serve "authentic Italian" food. However, it really serves "authentic Taiwanese Italian" food at best. In any case, most people dine there for the ambiance and most definitely for the view. The first thing all patrons do is to walk straight to the windows and enjoy the view even before sitting down. And of course, take a few pictures of the spectacular view.

Restaurant website
A nice blog in Chinese about it

Village 44 (Xingyi Assembly Hall) - 四四南村

 As Taipei rushes to become a modernized city, many old parts of the city are torn down and are replaced by new and shiny office buildings or shopping malls. As the old part of the city is removed, some of the history is lost along the way. These "Nationalist relocation villages" are part of this disappearing history that will only exist in memory.

Original village

The Village 44 preservation is a great project that keeps part of this history alive and gives people an idea of what it was like.


Too bad it was closed the day we visited it. Nice blog with photos

English travel website introduction
Of course, the Chinese wiki site

Estela

It took me a minute to locate the restaurant. The restaurant entrance is hidden up a flight of stairs on the "first floor" level (in terms of brownstones). The layout of the place was long and narrow with an isle down the middle. The bar was jam packed already at 7:40pm on a Thursday evening and the all the tables were reserved already. We just grabbed the first 2 bar seats that opened up.





I ordered a citricy egg-white cocktail - Governer's fizz and N had a Sherry. A deviation from the regular beer or red wine we usually order maybe because the restaurant had a yuppie feel to it. I wasn't wow'ed by the drinks but it was a interesting solid choice.


Overall rating was 6 / 10

New York Times Review

New York Mag

NYRR Five-Borough Series: NYC Half

This is the second time I won the lottery to run this race but it's the first time I was able to run in it! My lower back was in a bad condition 4 years ago when I first tried to run in it. And this time my left ankle was still recovering from a bad sprain that happened 6 months ago. I wasn't sure if my ankle was health enough for me to run 13.1 miles so I was giving my spot to my friend, Wilson. Due to fate, Wilson decided not to run it and I didn't want the spot to go to waste so I decided to go for a try.

Following the recovery of my ankle, I've only been picking up running again slowly. The longest distance I've done post-injury was ~6 miles with around 10min/mile pace but I finished relatively comfortable. I decided that I will run only at a comfortable or slightly slower than comfortable pace and that's what I did. 

On race day, it was felt pretty crazy. I think it was some 20,000 runners signed up for the race. All flooded into central park where the starting line was. They had a full airport TSA grade security check point but the number of runners was probably overwhelming that they had to abandon the security check for people to start the race on time.

We started off running a loop of central park which is 6 miles and went down 7 avenue passing Time Square. Running thru Time Square was the most amazing stretch of the race. We ran down the traffic free streets with all the spectators cheering on the side, the bright lights on the buildings beaming, energetic bands blasting music. It's just a very different Time Square from the traffic jammed and tourist packed block.

I kept a pretty stable 10min/mile pace thru out mile 11. Then my energy level must started to plummet. The last 2 miles was the toughest 2 miles I've ever ran in my life. However, after coming out of the Battery Park underpass with the sunlight hitting your face and the cheering crowd roaring. I was able to sustain myself for 3 more minutes to pass the finish line!!

This is one of the best experiences in New York and I highly recommend everyone in New York to do it at least once. Overall experience: 10/10

Another thing worth mentioning is that the app for the race was pretty amazing! N was able to track my progress in the comfort of home on her iPad :)

NYC half 2014 Official website

Flamenco Festival 2014

Friday: Gala Flamenca: Antonio Canales, Carlos Rodríguez, Karime Amaya, Jesús Carmona

One of the greatest flamenco masters, Antonio Canales, will be joined by Carlos Rodríguez, known for his bold mix of contemporary dance and traditional flamenco; the riveting Karime Amaya, who has earned praise following in the footsteps of her great-aunt, the legendary Carmen Amaya; and the young sensation hailed as the future of flamenco, Jesús Carmona.

Saturday: Ballet Flamenco Eva Yerbabuena: 'AY!' and 'Lluvia'

Enthralling audiences with her explosive footwork, graceful movement, and innovative choreography for more than 15 years, but mostly appreciated for her duende, the soulfulness and emotional depth that is the hallmark of great flamenco dancers.

The Flamenco Festival is a series of flamenco or flamenco influenced performances including dancing, instrumental performance, and singing. This is the 16th year of the festival (if memory serves me correct) and this year in New York the series goes on for around two weeks.  We went to two performances at New York City Center on Friday and Saturday evening.

A little background on flamenco: This is type of folk performance art that originated from southern Spain with traditional Gypsy roots. It is a combination of dancing, singing, guitar playing, and handclapping.

The Friday performance was more what I expected - fancy and mind blowing footwork. They also had a improv jam session at the end which was very original and energetic. The Saturday performance gave me the impression that it was interpretive modern dance (whatever that means) incorporating flashes of flamenco footwork and accompanied by flamenco guitar and singing.

Reference: http://www.spainculture.us/city/new-york/flamenco-festival-2014/

West Village wine tour

Kinky Boots

It's been a while since I went to a Broadway show. I've been to more plays than shows in the past few years. I still remember the good old Wicked, Rent, Les Misérables etc. All the music, singing, and the elaborate stage setup made the Broadway show experience very unique and spectacular. I've been wanting to go to The Book of Mormon for the past 2 years but of course the tickets cost a million dollars and you can't get a ticket for at least 2 months out.

The award winning Kinky Boots hit all the points of a successful Broadway show. The story was good, the acting was solid, the singing was amazing, the music was on point, and the energy was very high. Overall it was a very good experience.

New York Times review

American Hustle

New York Times

Gagosian Gallery - Richard Serra - Inside out

Gallery info

FISHTAG

Website

Yelp

Waiting for Godot

New York Times Review

Le Philosophe

Le Philosophe

Yelp

NY Mag