Somedays all we want to do is just shout out. The weekends I feel a little redundant as there is not much I feel I can do. The weather’s been quite warm lately, so not too keen to go out and bake. Waiting at subway stations can get a little hot as there is no air conditioning in the stations themselves, and it feels like an oven.

Went to watch Ratatouille yesterday. It’s a Pixar animated film and it talks about a rat named Remy who has a keen sense of smell and love of food. He stumbles upon Linguini, a young guy who has no cooking skills but the combo pair up and start cooking dishes that gets the critics raving. Heh, you’d think that rats and food don’t seem very savoury together, but it’s a good film that has managed to stand out against all the other movies I’ve watched so far. Animation is stellar as usual and there is an organic feel to the food being drawn on screen. The story was really meshed out well and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone, although kids will have a tougher time understanding the film.

Heh, really feel like cooking after watching the movie.

* * *

Today I went to Chinatown again, just to hunt for a little shop that is renowned for its dumplings. Heh, being a little more familiar with the streets now, I decided I didn’t need to bring my map along. Ventured further along through Chinatown and managed to find some Asian grocery shops. It doesn’t sell as much variety as the ones I find in Melbourne but all that is made up by the fact that many other shops sell various other things like meat and vegetables that you don’t really need a one stop shop. The meat/vegetable/dry goods shops are reminiscent of what I’d find in KL, with the smells and sights distinctly familiar.

Anyway, found my store and walked in. It was basically called Dumpling House.

The shop was as described, with just one counter to serve the food over and you can see some old Chinese ladies and a guy preparing dumplings and various food stuff. Heh, the cooking methods are quite unique as I saw them put an entire dough (like a pizza) into some boiling water or oil and covered it. It should be oil as it came out crusty and was flipped twice before being taken out and chopped into equal slices. That was a form of sesame bread.

Saw all this while I waited for my boiled pork and chive dumplings. $1 for 5, so I ordered 10. Had that with vinegar and chilli sauce. Heh, not much to describe dumplings other than them tasting nice. After that I downed it with a bottle of soy bean milk. Heh, total food bill was $3 and I felt really satisfied.

They served various other things and the most expensive item on the menu was some noodles at $3.50 a bowl. It’s simple food, mainly flour for noodles and dumpling skin plus some chinese vegetables, minced meat and seasoning, but I like simple food.

* * *

Just missing home at the moment. NYC is big and everyone can be busy with their own things, so it feels quite impersonal at times. Not that I don’t want to mingle, but I feel al little lost talking about baseball or any other American sport. Heh, still missing familiar company. As good as the experience is, I’d like to be able to finish this assignment soon and return to more familiar surroundings. Still a fair way to go.