Him: I’m so excited to come home! Me: Not as much as I am, kiddo!
I picked up my kid from my in-laws the other day along with the Firecracker.
We stayed for a dinner of pizza and other delicious things.
Didn’t remember to take pics until after we ate almost everything but here’s a pic of some watermelon.
The Firecracker also got her kid as well, but – before we got them – she took the day off work so we could have one last night to ourselves, so we started the night early around the way.
Because it was so early, we were the first people in the bar, so she did some stupid human tricks – as in the main pic of this entry – which I enjoyed.
In another bar, I asked the bartender about the pea green drink they had.
Her: That? It’s a frozen pickleback. The people that like it are just awful. Do you wanna try some? Me: How could I say no? Her: (later) What did you think? Me: It’s admittedly pretty awful…but I couldn’t stop drinking it. Her: (nodding) Yeah…
She liked us enough to comp us some more shots…
…and we rounded things out with more drinks.
The kids are now back and we’re now back in parenting mode, which we both happy about.
Still, it was nice to be carefree if only for a few weeks.
Location: Governors Island, with my favourite tiny human and some of my fave normal-sized humans as well.
Mood: fatty-fat-fat
Music: Oh, I’ve finally decided my future lies beyond (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
The Firecracker and I wanted to get outta New York City but we also didn’t wanna spend a ton of time traveling so we decided to just hit up Jersey City for the weekend.
So, bright and early on a Sunday, we headed out 40 minutes or so to the Grove Street PATH Station…
We didn’t get far because she wanted a snack and I wanted some more iced green tea.
But we got to exploring and found, amongst other things, a combination wine store and pharmacy.
Her: This is so weird. Me: There’s a joke here somewhere, I just can’t think of it.
In fact, we hit up a number of wine shops because I’ve been on the hunt for some mead lately.
Him: What is that? Me: It’s kinda like wine made from honey. Him: (laughs) Nah, we got nuthin like that.
We ended up walking into a gorgeous apartment that had an open house.
The Firecracker and I have been chatting about next steps in our relationship but that’s an entry – or three – for another time.
Her: Think of what you could cook in this thing! Me: It’s pretty cool, I gotta say.
Afterward, we went to Barcade for a bit to read and relax a bit.
But it was super loud, and we were both getting hungry and Barcade’s kitchen was on the fritz.
So, I ordered her a slice of pizza and then we walked over to Zepplin Hall, a beergarden, to meet up with my SIL.
It was pretty empty when we got there, which suited us just fine.
We ordered some food and then my SIL came.
It was only 5PM so I figured we’d be done by 7PM.
I was very wrong.
We ended up ordering FIVE pitchers of alcohol along with several individual glasses…
…plus even more carbs…
…but we did also order a salad? So, yeah.
The ladies chatted for a bit…
…while I went out to get a bit of fresh air.
It was after 10PM by the time we stumbled outta there, we’d been there for five hours.
Shockingly, it only took us about 45 minutes to make it home.
Me: Did you have a fun night? Her: (half-asleep) Yeah, you? Me: I was with you and family. How could it be bad? Her: (snores) Me: (laughs)
Location: Governors Island, with my favourite tiny human and some of my fave normal-sized humans as well.
Mood: fatty-fat-fat
Music: She said ohh, hold on, hold on, hold on (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
The first thing that I do every morning is down two cups of cold green tea to (a) fight cancer and (b) hydrate so I don’t have another gout attack.
Interestingly, since I’ve done this at the suggestion of my buddy Thor, I’ve not gotten a second gout attack since the first one back in March of 2021, which I’m hoping was just a one-off fluke.
In any case, while I was groggy since I just woke up, I heard a super loud POP, almost like gunshot and I swore it came from my fridge, but I didn’t see anything.
But then I looked closely a few days later and saw this in the back of my fridge.
Evidently, my fridge is too cold, and a can of soda exploded when the soda inside froze.
I’m just glad it happened while the kid was away since he’s a lot smaller than me so any potential injury woulda been lined up with his face.
Her: Do not get injured again! I wanna go out this weekend. Me: I promise nuthin.
Speaking of injuries, the past few weeks has been a series of annoying ones.
Whenever I get injured, it’s usually a white belt that has no idea what he’s doing, and I get injured.
My last injury was when a 200-pound 30-year-old former wrassler fell on me and torqued my shoulder.
Well, that was until last week, when a purple belt (essentially a level-three grappler) caught my ankle and did a belly-down ankle lock, which is one of the more dangerous ankle locks.
Then he twisted it like a nutcase within two seconds of grabbing it.
Me: Jesus! (after 10 seconds of just lying on my back trying to eat the pain) Duuuude… Him: Sorry about that. Me: You’re a purple belt? Him: Uh, yeah. Me: Dude…that was not cool.
So, I hobbled off the mat and ended up taking five days off.
But I’d promised the Firecracker we’d do something fun for the past weekend and I felt bad I kept cancelling on her.
So, I rested at home all week, icing and compressing my ankle until I felt I was good enough to head out with her over the weekend.
Him: You seem like a somewhat trustworthy person. Would you mind if I drop off a set of house keys for you to mind while we’re in Australia? Not for any specific purpose, just a precaution. Me: Sure. Completely unrelated, but where do you keep your valuables and large bills? Him: [The wife] would say the cats. Me: What are their resale value? Again, just making conversation here. Him: I am having second thoughts. Me: Fair. I can’t fault you there.
My buddy and his family went off to a place called “Australia” – which is a real place, evidently – for the summer and asked me to hold onto a set of keys for him JIC.
The below is what he tossed over my gate.
The joke’s on him when he realizes that I’ve rented his apartment out to a lovely Asian family for half of what he’s currently paying.
(It’s me. I’m the lovely Asian family)
On a different matter entirely, the Firecracker and I’ve been staying local for the most part but since the kids are both away, we’ve been just streaming films and eating at local bars.
The beauty of day-drinking is that we can both kinda work so long as we have an internet connection.
Although the use of the term, “work,” is loose, at best.
Another thing we have in common is that neither of us cook a lot during the summer as it’s so damn hot.
So, we just eat a lotta prepared food or food that we just need to assemble, like sandwiches or this killer caprese I made the other day.
We’re both pretty simple people that like simple things.
Case-in-point:
Me: I don’t think I’ve ever had a key lime pie. Her: Really!? We have to get you one, then. Me: Won’t argue with you there.
That pretty much says it all; evidently, if a wife gets cancer a husband is six times more likely to leave than the other way around.
Put another way, if a husband gets sick, the wife is six times more likely to stay and help while the husband is six times more likely to peace out if the wife gets sick.
What. The. Fuck.
That made me so mad that I couldn’t sleep. The inequity of it all.
I stayed for one reason alone, which was that she was my wife. We were a team. Sickness and in health and all that shit. That was the deal. And I knew, in my heart-of-hearts, that she would have done the exact same for me.
She would never have left me.
And it never once occurred to me to leave her. How could I? She needed me. Plus, she was my wife, and I loved her.
Full stop.
I’ve seen this firsthand.
Have a scumbag relative that cheated on his wife and divorced her while she had cancer.
I have zero to do with him and plan on having zero to do with him ever again.
And Newt Gingrich divorced his first wife Jackie when she had uterine cancer and his third wife Callista after she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
All this to say nuthin of Trump and his multiple marriages, rapes, and affairs.
Party of family values, folks.
What a fucking joke.
Think the reason this whole thing bothered me so much is that I knew how much Alison suffered with her cancer and the thought that someone out there in Alison’s situation has to deal with her same horror AND also have to deal with the pain of being tossed like a piece of garbage by the person she pledged her life to makes my blood boil.
Yet another reason why I think the less I have to do with people, the better.
I didn’t know Shannon at all but, man, no one deserves having to deal with the hassle and heartbreak of a divorce while facing death.
After we ate our fill, it was time for dessert and the Frenchman’s daughter was in the mood for some shave ice.
So, we walked over to a joint called Flower and Dessert and got something there.
I told the ladies that they should probably just order one single one because I knew it was gonna be HUGE but they ended up ordering two because everything looked so good.
Can’t really blame them AND I also got to have some so it was really win-win.
Still, even with the five of us, there was still a ton left from the two dishes we got.
While they were delicious, I gotta say, I was a tad disappointed that it was really just shaved ice cream and not the classic shave ice that I grew up eating while in Asia.
By this point, we were all pretty beat – after all, we’d been eating for close to three hours straight.
But the Frenchman’s wife wanted to stop by Soy Bean Chan for some sweet dessert tofu to take home.
Of course, I had to have some as well.
Shoulda taken a pic of Soy Bean Chan’s place, which is a small tofu stall and then also a florist shop. It’s essentially about 100 feet from that woman holding the tray below.
We went back to the mall where we parked the car and the ladies all went shopping while the Frenchman and I went to Gong Cha and had a lightly sweetened peach green tea.
Me: You want something? Him: No thanks, I’m totally sugared out. Me: Even if it’s lightly sweetened? Him: Nope. Completely sugared out.
I get it.
I don’t usually consume anywhere close the amount of carbs I consumed that day.
After alla that, he and I went to the ridonk huge Skyfoods Asian supermarket at the mall – the ladies took over where we were at the tea shop – and I stocked up on a buncha things like fresh lychee and tofu.
Although I did skip getting any frog legs.
Afterward, we piled into the car and drove past Willets Point to head home.
Me: If you came here 10 years ago, you’d see what it was like in Queens/NYC 100 years ago, because it was the last place in the five boroughs that didn’t have paved roads or a sewer system. Her: How come? Me: This was all salt-of-the-earth Queens people that ran automobile shops and junkyards here. The soil was super contaminated so they didn’t bother to develop it for years.
They only started developing it in earnest in 2018.
In any case, the Frenchman was nice enough to drive us alla way back to our pad, which was totally in the opposite direction of where he needed to be.
Me: That was super cool of him – door-to-door service! Her: Absolutely, they’re great. (pause) It’s barely 5PM but I just wanna go to bed. Me: But…we still gotta eat dinner, though…
Location: Dive 75 with a pretty lady
Mood: more injured and annoyed
Music: We can make it if we try (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
The Frenchman and I were chatting the other day about maybe heading to Flushing for some food.
Him: Sunday? Interestingly, I will have a car from the previous day’s rental. Me: What I’m reading is that you’re offering us a ride. We accept. Thank you. Him: If you come to us first! But sure. Me: I was mostly joking but…heck yeah.
So, early on Sunday morning, the Firecracker and I found ourselves on the Upper East Side, where the Frenchman and his family gave us a lift to my childhood stomping grounds.
It was mainly a food tour and, honestly, no Flushing Food Tour worth its salt doesn’t have White Bear as part of it.
So, that’s where we started.
We got the classic Number 6, which looks spicy but isn’t really at all.
Unlike other dumpling spots that pan-fry, these guys use super thin dough and boil them so they’re much more delicate.
After that, the Frenchman’s kid wanted something to drink, as did the Firecracker, so we went to TenRen Tea for that.
Me: When I was a kid, this place was mainly known as a traditional Chinese medicine shop but now it’s known more by the kids for their bubble tea. Her: Oh, I want a Thai Iced Tea then.
After that, we went to the World Mall Food Court where everyone got something different.
The Firecracker wanted Taiwanese food, while I went with a teriyaki chix dish…
…while the Frenchman and his family got noodles and more dumplings.
Now, I’d been meaning to upgrade my scanner for a while and my brother told me that he gave my mom a high-end Epson FF-640 that she wasn’t using so my mom swung by to drop that off with me.
Wish I took a picture with her, but I forgot.
Her: I put it in this red roller for you. Make sure you don’t forget it! Me: I promise I won’t! Her: (later) Did you forget it? Me: (laughing) I’m 51! I didn’t forget it!
Me: Did you grow up with a Good Humor or Mr. Softie? Her: Neither. Just some guy in truck selling ice cream. Me: That sounds like a child abduction plot. Her: (rolling eyes) It was just a guy in a white truck. Me: You’re kinda proving my point here.
It’s been so hot around here lately that I don’t want to really do anything but that’s not fair for the Firecracker, who’s young and wants to actually go out and enjoy life.
Me? I’m loathe to leave the pad unless strictly required.
We were gonna go on another cruise, or even head to Taiwan for the summer but stuff happened to change our plans, which is a post for another time.
So, like I said in my last entry, we compromise by just getting drinks and food around the way.
Ergo, we’ve been hitting up different bars in the hood, including our usual place for frozen drinks with umbrellas…
…local Chinese joint with awesome happy hours…
…and fried carbs.
Plus, a bar with great burgers and games.
All-in-all, it’s not a bad way to spend a summer – hot chick, great air conditioning, and greasy bar food.
Her: Burgers aren’t really my thing. Me: God, the kid and I love burgers. I could eat them every day. Well, I supposed I’d have to balance it out with a salad every other day. Her: I’m glad you recognize that. Me: Yeah. I’m the healthiest unhealthy person you know.
Location: My childhood neighborhood with the Firecracker and the Frenchman and his family
Mood: injured
Music: don’t know why sometimes we seem so apart (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
The kid’s been away for a little while and I miss him terribly.
But it does mean that I have time to do things that are generally too low-priority to actually do – like really check out the new H-Mart that opened a few blocks from my pad.
This is the exciting middle-aged life I live.
Her: I have to give it to Asians for creating a better soup spoon. Me: I’ve always felt that – glad you agree.
Although not everything was a winner.
Her: OK, explain that to me? Me: Not sure if I can. It looks like it’s a fish cake, that states like hot/spicy chicken, in the shape of a hot dog, packaged in a plastic cylinder. Her: Yep, that’s what I got as well.
And the Firecracker and I got to do things around the hood, like have beer and wings over by my local dive bar.
Me: I think I was 24 years old when I first came here. The wings got a lot more expensive but it’s also a lot nicer now. Her: That’s cool, that you have places that you regularly go to after all these years.
Oh, and also check out things like concerts – I found another video that I forgot to put up last week from the Matchbox 20 concert.
Of course, I’m still counting the days until the kid comes back.
Me: So, what did you do today? Him: I went swimming in the creek! And do you know what I saw? Me: No, what? Him: Crawdads! They’re like little lobsters. Me: (laughing) I’m not unaware. Don’t let them pinch you. Him: (seriously) Oh, definitely.
Location: shooting more videos for Scenic Fights
Mood: tired
Music: Maybe it’s time to come home (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
Me: When I was a kid, ice cream was like two dollars. Her: That was like 50 years ago! Me: I wasn’t getting ice cream when I was one year old! Her: Fine, that was 40 years ago. Me: Still, 40 years in a long time. Her: Yeah – 40 years ago, you were your dad’s remote control.
The Firecracker wanted to see the fireworks display – she’s really into stuff like that – and it was back on the west side of Manhattan for the first time in a decade, so she convinced me to go with her.
I don’t like crowds and the last time I saw the fireworks near my pad was 12 years ago.
Me: You really wanna see this? Her: Cm’on – fireworks for the Firecracker! Me: Fiiinne.
We ended up sitting next to the nice couple from San Diego visiting their Ph.d candidate son at Columbia.
Originally, we didn’t think we’d have a good view, but it ended up being pretty good after all.
Her: Thanks for coming, I know it wasn’t your thing. Me: That’s fine, you wanted to see them. Her: Did you enjoy it? Me: It was fine. I just came for the company. Her: Aww, thanks Logan Lo. Me: Anytime. (thinking) Maybe we’ll skip next year? Her: We’ll see.
