Me like ramen

Friday saw me going to a house party for the first time in four years. Bring on the beer, wine, vodka and tequila. Woohoo! I'm such a wild child.

I have a pretty high tolerance for alcohol, mostly due to the fact that it takes a significant amount of alcohol to intoxicate a large body of mass not unlike a baby elephant, and slightly because of all the booze I've imbibed during the period in my life that I refer to as my Dark Ages. Now that would be an interesting blog entry.

Trust me when I say that it is never a good idea to drink on an empty stomach.

Since I get off work at 4:30, Hayden and I decided to grab a bite before heading off to Peter's for the party. I was craving for ramen after seeing reruns of Naruto so we went to Ippudo NY.

It was a good thing that we went early, around 6:00, because by the time we left, the lobby was packed and the line stretched out the door. People are standing in line in 20 degree weather freezing their butts off just to dine at Ippudo. That should give you an idea of how good their ramen is.

I apologize for not having pictures of the restaurant itself and for the poor quality of the photos. I only had my phone camera and the place has very dim lighting. So anyway, I had the Shiromaru Moto-aji which is your basic pork ramen with seaweed, cabbage, egg, scallions, some kind of veggie that reminded me of bamboo shoots but tasted like ginger and the naruto, which is the white round thing with the pink swirl on it.

I think what makes ramen good is the soup. It has to have a slightly thick texture to it and it has to taste like it has been simmering in the pot for hours, infusing the broth with a symphony of flavor from the pork and whatever secret ingredient they use. Yums!

A bowl starts from $12 which I think is a fair price for such a delicious meal perfect for a cold winter night. I wouldn't recommend ordering a bowl for yourself though unless you're really starving (their serving is big enough for two to share) or if you have a guy's appetite.

We wanted to get dessert but decided against it as we were too full from the edamame and the ramen. We still have to have room for alcohol yes?

Afterwards, we went to Peter's where I had half a cup of red wine and mingled for about two hours with past acquaintances. Most were my co-workers from the company who had the nerve to fire me. Me? Did they even realize how great I am? Their loss really. My previous co-workers told me they laid-off about 99% of their workforce and are almost non-existent. Payback's a bitch no? Harhar.

I felt a little awkward at first since it seems that everybody was tight with everybody else but I forced myself to go out there and talk to people and I actually had a good time. I had a lot of laughs and made new friends. I don't have pics of the party but I will grab some from Peter once he's posted the staged photos. :-)

Also, somebody told me that I was so Asian because I was taking photos at Ippudo. Like that's a bad thing? Whatever. You're just jealous that you're not from Southeast Asia. *death stare at Hayden*

I miss my drinking sessions with the peeps back home. All the sexy photo shoots, the comedy, the drama and the action. We should get together soon. I promise, no more Pier One episodes. ;-p