As I type this, the people of my home country are angry. Angry because they are treated with injustice. Angry because of the falsities pulled off by politicians who are supposed to defend the people. Angry because they are labeled as frauds, who were trying to create social unrest by rallying for clean elections. I feel incredibly bad because I feel very little for the situation. Perhaps, I am not involved enough. Knowing this, and saying that "I am not involved enough" frustrated me even more because of the degree of awareness I had in regards to my passivity of the situation.
More so, I just had a discussion with Alec Ross, one of most inspiring people I met in my life. Alec works alongside Hillary Clinton (all of you should shoot yourselves if you do not know who Hillary is). He spoke about being innovative, being creative and being a pioneer. This inspired to me participate Teach for Malaysia but as I looked at the application forms, I realized how little I have done in the past 20 years of my life. I have worked part time and volunteered for three months but they were JUST NOT ENOUGH. I needed to be in a position where I played leader. The last time I played leader was being a prefect in high school. Sucks to be me.
Therefore, I aim to participate in some form of volunteering during the summer break. This may help me fill up my resume nicely and do myself some good. :D
Anyway, another sad thing is, I have not been blogging consistently. I sincerely apologize but the lack of sleep in New York and Washington's hot weather killed me. The heat robbed my health. Recently, I had been feeling really dizzy and sleepy. I do not even feel like eating. I've been living off Kosher biscottis, which are 20 calories per piece, raw vegetables or cut fruit. I think I'm going crazy. Either that, or Washington is just far away from civilization. For me to get to the nearest subway requires 15 minutes of bus ride. Imagine that. Therefore, the lack of blogging.
There are just too many backlog! s. I do not know whether to blog about Boston or New York. Since I ate so many good food in New York and everything went too fast, I had this strong feeling that I should blog about New York first and then, move backwards to babble about Boston . There were times where I ate out at two fine establishments in New York. It may sound like I was overindulging but I was just so hungry when I was at New York, thanks to the long walks and free subway sauna. Plus, time is like gold and I seriously do not know when I would get my arse back to New York. The flight is just too long. Might as well I make the most of everything.
If you have the leisure to get your arse to New York, one of the restaurants you should dine in is Nougatine. It is basically located in Jean Georges, which is a three Michelin star restaurant and one of the top 40 restaurant as rated by Gayot. However, Nougatine is casual dining. Jean Georges, on the other hand, is the real deal. Since I cannot snag a table at Jean Georges (reservations are recommended!), I decided to do a walk-in, and managed to obtain a seat for myself at Nougatine. I was told that I MUST do Nougatine because they offer a three course meal for 28 USD, which is a steal, considering that it is in Jean Georges. I can tell you, the three course meal IS INDEED a steal. Portions are reasonably huge. The food, on the whole, does not blow your mind off but it is decent.
Busy serviceService at Nougatine was alright. It wasn't as impressive as Per Se's
heavenly service (My gosh, I cannot stop raving about it!) but it was good because the waiter actually helped kept me off this weird old guy who tried to strike weird conversations wi! th me (n ot good!). I suddenly wished that I had a dining companion like everyone else! Having said that, the waiter did a good job in protecting yours truly, who is only 20 years old.
Sad bread, wished it could taste betterThe service was quick and efficient. I requested that my meal be ended in an hours time and they did it. :)
The bread was not too impressive. It was good but not great. I have a problem with the bread in restaurants like these. I am curious to why they do not serve it warm.
Tuna tartare with ginger jus - I loved this light entreeIn the menu, one gets to choose several options in a course. For appetizers, I picked the tuna tartare because I had not had fish for what seemed like ages. When the dish arrived, I was surprised by the portions and more surprised by the flavors. It was really light and the ginger jus stimulated my appetite. The avocado and radish were well paired with the fresh, minced tuna.
Roasted chicken breast with light dressing - Wished the skin was crispier thoughThe roasted chicken breast was pleasant. Like the tartare, I could taste Asian flavors in this dish and having to grow up with authentic (and not bastardized) Asian food, I was glad that the kitchen got the flavors right. I loved the balance between the prot! ein and greens offered by the dish. Moreover, the chicken was really tender. My only complaint was the rather poor presentation. The puree, and the soggy looking skin, as you can see, was a potential turn off. The taste of this dish was the saving grace.
Chocolate mud cake - The best ever! Not too sweet and very chocolatey.Jean George's chocolate mud cake is to die for. Like literally. It was chocolatey without being too sweet and cloying. And I feel that my words will never do any justice to this dessert. Therefore, I shall present you with the picture below, just to let you know how I felt when I saw the following:
Pornography.
Doesn't this picture make you go "Oh my gaaaaaaaaaawd?"
When I saw the pool of gooey chocolate gushing out from the moist but light, chocolate cake, my heart stopped a beat. Like it stopped. Man. All chocolate lovers who are heading to New York MUST HAVE THIS CAKE.
Overall, I had a good dining experience at Nougatine. I did not expect much because it was 28 USD. Having said that, I felt that it was a really good meal. Think about it. You're paying only 28 USD for a slice of the Jean Georges dream.
Little things:-Cuisine: International, Casual dining, American
-Ambience: Not too posh. Comfortable. Noisy during busy times. Not sure about night though...
-Portions: Quite large. But I am happy with it.
-Service: Good. Efficient. Quick.
-Budget: Damage done was 28 USD excluding tips. :D
-Reservations are ne! cessary< br>
-More information:
Pictures of Statue of Liberty and the view from the Empire State Building.....
New York is the prettiest place to be when one is on top of the Empire State Building. There is a serene quality of just standing there, soaking in the night of the city where dreams are constantly made...
Thick and luscious 3 layered pork ribs-in a clear herbal soup filled with fresh coriander leaves-tasted a bit dry-Rm15/ 
Clay pot chicken with sliced ginger/coriander leaves-well marinated with a gooey dark soy sauce gravy-too much ginger-Rm12.50/ 
Blanched Lettuce-garnished with soy/deep fried shallots- crunchy and fresh-Rm7/ 
