Happenings in Hoboken

[vovat]

Yesterday was pretty cool. bethje and I went up to Hoboken to visit friends, including not_glimmer, who had flown in from Oregon. We met her at Gina and therealtavie's apartment, along with its two residents. Stephanie M. was also there for a brief time, along with Stephanie P. and Jen, both of whom I met for the first time. The three of them were going to a Nine Inch Nails concert with Gina, while Tavie was going to a wedding with yet another Stephanie. (I guess people of that name gravitate toward her. {g}) So, for those of you not keeping score, that left Erin, Beth, and me to hang out for a few hours, and go out to eat at a Middle Eastern restaurant called Ali Ba Ba's. Perhaps surprisingly, I quite enjoyed my chicken kebab pita sandwich with cucumber yogurt sauce. Despite my pedestrian taste that would usually prefer a cheese sandwich to something exotic, I've actually liked Middle Eastern food both times I had it. Then again, I've never gotten any of the spicy stuff. After dinner, we did a little research into Japanese panty vending machines. So much I've heard about the Japanese suggests that they're a nation of perverts, but they probably think the same about Americans. Anyway, it was past 11:30 when we got back on the road, and Beth and I were totally exhausted by the time we got home. Yet somehow, I'm awake now. (EDIT: It was about 10 AM when I wrote this, but I waited to get the pictures uploaded before posting it.) Oh, well. It's only twelve hours before I have to go back to bed so I can get up for work tomorrow, so I should take advantage of this time. Trying to catch up on my LiveJournal friends page counts as taking advantage of the time, right? {g}

In case you're interested, here are pictures from yesterday.

Comments

[dragonxbait.livejournal.com]

(was looking at your pictures) I know there is at least one other soup man restaurant somewhere near Tom's home in NJ (Metuchen). We are there once and I remember it having decent soup and bread for really ridiculous prices.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, that's the price you pay to get the ORIGINAL! :P

[suegypt.livejournal.com]

Middle Eastern food isn't, at least in my experience, about hot, it's about well-spiced food. I think our palates here in USA tend to get rutted in sweet and salt. I've lately gone crazy for a spice blend called ras el hanout. That's kinda like saying "I love curry spice," when every blend of "curry" is custom and a little different. This stuff i got (from World Market) is, like most claim to be, a blend of peppers, cumin and turmeric, but shaded with healthy heaps of cinnamon, cardamon and cloves, which adds a depth way beyond salt and pepper. I cook with it all the time now.

Ras al hanout with a little olive oil, cous cous and chick peas = heaven.

info

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Middle Eastern food isn't, at least in my experience, about hot, it's about well-spiced food.

It's weird, because when I hear that something is "spicy," my mind immediately thinks "hot," even though not all spices are hot. But then, when a fast food restaurant has a spicy chicken sandwich, that usually DOES mean it's hot.

Salt is definitely overused in American food. Don't get me wrong, I like salty snacks, but that doesn't mean I want salt in EVERYTHING.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

You're absolutely right: I've corresponded with several Japanese people, and they do tend to think we're a nation of perverts!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

So who's right? There needs to be an international perversion survey to let us know!

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Why, I guess first you have to define "perversion". I would definite it as "the stuff the person defining it doesn't do". Then you'd have to find out how many people do stuff that someone else somewhere wouldn't do. The conclusion:

We're all perverts, in every country. :-)