The Mighty Quynh

Eric, Rich, and I braved the cold Saturday evening to see the Red Bulls’ first MLS game at the brand new Red Bull Arena against the Fire. It’s a nice stadium, but my major gripes are that the concession stand type people were slow as all hell in every possible way, and there was a two beer limit per person, which exacerbated the slow concession stand problem because you can’t just grab beers for everyone in your group, a bunch of you have to go up, making the line bigger. We wasted 20 minutes of the game waiting to order beer. Overall, though, I had a pretty good time and will certainly be returning. Just load up on beer at the start of the game.

At least his music. Could’ve put any guy under the head.

They milked him for as many songs as they could, didn’t they?

I swear I just saw a glimpse of Deadmau5 (his mouse head, anyway) on the commercial for the next Gossip Girl following tonight’s episode. What.

I mean… Not that I watch the show or anything.

Weeks of binge drinking and no sleep hit me like a ton of bricks this weekend. This wasn’t a hangover—this was my body sending me a big middle finger for all the abuse I’d been putting on it, especially the last week. I wasn’t throwing up or anything, I just ended up sleeping the entire weekend away, and the few moments I was awake, felt totally messed up and barely able to walk. All the Vitamin Water Revive in the world couldn’t have brought me back from the brink. I ended up missing Cosmic Gate Saturday night, but at least I saw a great show by ATB on Friday.

The lesson here is pace yourself and give yourself a break. My tolerance may be pretty high, but even a seasoned veteran like myself gets down for the count from time to time.

Also, this is why I can’t get addicted to anything. My body usually screams bloody murder when I do too much of a good thing. She’s no fool, this body of mine.

Upon seeing ads in the PATH station, I investigated further and found out that not only is there an actual soccer stadium for the Red Bulls now (rather than using Giants stadium), it is 4 blocks from the Harrison PATH station, making it really easy to get to. AND the grand opening game is tomorrow, against FC Santos. Sold out, sadly, but I had other plans anyway.

Considering all the WMC stuff going on in Miami next weekend, leaving us DJ-less and bored here in NYC, I am tempted to go catch the game against Chicago Fire on the 27th. I’ve never been to an actual sporting event in person (high school games attended solely because of marching band don’t count) and I think this would be a good way to start. I wonder if I should sit near the Red Bulls supporters section or stay far away.

Edit: And they are bought. See, no hate for the US teams!

Edit 2: How could I forget, I went to the US Open in 2008. So I guess that would be my first pro sporting event.

At Bia Garden in the LES. Granted, I knew what I was getting into. The menu didn’t have a lick of Vietnamese on it, it’s obviously about the beer (Bia = Beer), and it’s, well, the LES. But never did I expect it to be that bad. I asked for sriracha and hoisin sauce and the waitress didn’t know what hoisin sauce was. She brought out peanut sauce. I had to dump in all the sriracha she gave me to give the pho some flavor beyond the atrocious BEEF BULLION broth. The beef slices were from the wrong cut, and sliced so thick you had to chew 30 times to get it down (good pho = fine slices of beef). Not to mention it was $10. I only ordered it because I have to see how all the pho in the city stacks up against one another, and because only maybe one other item on the menu sounded remotely like anything I’ve ever had at home or from a real Viet joint.

That said, the atmosphere was nice and I liked that I could get Vietnamese beers, which are so easy to get down I seriously assumed they were like 3% alcohol when I first had them in Vietnam. Turns out they are 4.9%, which is on par with your average mass-made beer.

The bad thing about living in the city is the more I eat the pho around town, the more I forget what real pho tastes like. It’s slipping away and becoming a distant memory. I need to hit up Philly sometime before it’s all lost on me.

MORE LIKE VAN DER FART LOLOLOLOL

YOU AND YOUR SUPERMODEL WIFE HAHAHA

Haha. Ha.

…

NEDERLAND SOUTH AFRICA 2010!

n. A DJ who changes tracks approximately every 30 seconds.

WHAT IS WITH THAT? They give you just enough of the song to start getting into it and then BAM, just before or right in the middle of the very essence of the song, they throw your groove off by switching to another song and starting all over again. Half the time it’s barely even mixed, they just match the beat (sometimes not even that if they’re really bad) and switch the song over, creating a very jarring effect that you would notice provided you aren’t completely blitzed. You’d think they get paid by the song or something.

That’s what the guy (I think his name is Marcus) behind the counter at my local game store said when I asked him why he was so excited as he was ringing up my copy of Final Fantasy XIII.

Did I mention there’s a local game store a few doors down from my apartment? And they seem to know a lot of their regulars? Neighborhood places DO exist!

Anyway, after I had my game in hand, I opened the door to leave the store and just about stepped on one of these little guys standing right in front of the door.

Hi, Stinky!

_

A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, or in Quynh Lingo, a Jamesie (as in King James, because when I was first learning about this dog I could never remember the full name). My latest most favouritest of the Canis lupus familiaris species.

Indeed, it was a good day. Provided your day starts after you get out of work.