open house
wed: chelsea stories
dinner at pongal with rocky and dd: spicy south indian on lexington. rocky was totally funny. apparently there's this new gym in chelsea that all the muscle boys have flocked to. it's got dim lighting, pounding house beats, and (get this!) a live dj who spins at a deck. so it's totally like going to a club. awesome? for some maybe. anyway there's more to this, cos apparently the steam room is all bisazza, steam, spotlights beaming from the floor, and moaning sounds. totally hilarious. and rocky claims he came out in less than a minute. yeah right. btw the curries were really great, except papadums were US$1 apiece(!)
fri
dinner at home on cornelia street. talk shop with 32pencils and mimi about the media industry. ack. looks like all big firms get away with paying underlings barely minimum wage. and since everyone here is basically waiting for the next big break, they just hang on and stand for the shit. incredible. great heirloom tomatoes and fried oysters, though they messed up my pork (which was brought to me half-cooked).
sat: openhousenewyork
this must be a voyeur's dream come true. an architectural event that lets you into people's homes, and private spaces of public buildings, just for the weekend. so, despite the pouring rain, we donned on our raincoats, grabbed our umbrellas and attacked the city. need to start something like this in sg.
some places were awesome. the secret innards of the grand mason's lodge of new york, where you have themed temple rooms where members are initiated; ps260: a film editing studio with a skylight throwing you right at the empire state building; paul rudolph's modulightor building: a jewel box of layered spaces; and the kushner residence, memorable for its use of plexiglass and see-through baths (you can see the ass of the bather from the floor below, er, if you are into that kind of thing). my see-through bathroom in sg is nothing compared to this.
dinner at rub with zee and hang. it was like the chelsea version of good old south american barbeque restaurant: you are greeted by the most flouncy asian waiter, who shows you to your table, and then are presented with the cutest wait-staff with aprons emblazoned with 'rub' across their you-know-where. btw r.u.b. stands for righteous urban barbeque. kinda tongue-in-cheek i guess. anyway, food was so-so. the belgian beer was yummy though.
sun: moustache
brunch at moustache a brilliant middle eastern eatery on bedford street. the ouzi and babaganoush were fantastic. more rain expected tonight.