Saturday, October 20, 2007 Tulabut: A bite at the Big Apple By Noel G. Tulabut My Palm Notes
NEW YORK (Via SMART) -- The Big Apple… or so they call this marvelous city.
There are several historical backgrounds behind the moniker. But for whatever its true worth, I just love this city that does not sleep.
Living in New York may not be that easy. Visiting and touring could be. I am here for both work and pleasure, admittedly. Who should not maximize doing that? After all, not too many local journalists are given the opportunity.
I would say I am one of the few who are blessed to be covering the United Nations and the Philippine Mission to the UN. It's my third straight year here. I am also here to somehow help promote Clark Freeport in the littlest way that I can. I could only thank friends and sponsors who help me fulfill this personal avocation – Consul Elmer Cato and wife Melanie, Tatang Emer and Mama Lou Cato top the list.
With my coverage about to wrap up, I would just like to share some experiences and sidelights of my coverage here as previously suggested by column writing mentor Tata Ram Mercado.
Heeding his request, I would like to share first how to go about having lunch or dinner here, especially at the fabulous Manhattan district. If I may give you an idea, this is the place you see teeming with fashionable people on the streets in the Sex and the City fame.
If you do not want to gamble on taste (and price), one may opt for the popular -- either McDonalds hamburgers or other street food like hotdogs and pretzels that one can buy in any corner of Manhattan. A Big Mac meal can cost up to US$7 or US$8, depending on whether you want your fries to go large. But I tell you, the regular fries here is already the size of large fries back home. If you are a bit thrifty, your US$5 would already give you either a hotdog sandwich or a shawarma that already comes with a bottle of Snapple or water. Mind you, a 500 ml bottle of mineral water can be had for not less than a dollar in Manhattan.
If you are the meat-hungry, of course a New York steak will always pull you in to a nice, warm resto that would cost you anywhere from US$30 to as much as US$80. As for me, a guy with small physique and with discriminative taste buds, I can go for just-like-home cooking in a Chinese resto. I can either go inside a not-so-fancy one that would cost me around US$17 for a buffet or wait until past 2 p.m. where the buffet would be half the price, but on a per pound basis. Since, I make the dough stretch some more, I tried the latter and it only cost me US$6 to include a bottle of soda.
Well, there's a variety of other food outlets here in New York, from the gourmet food shops to exotics. Former CDC lawyer Marnie Yap treated me to a highly patronized Thai Resto in Queens which had great food (except that I did not like the cilantro). Consul Cato and wife treated me too to a cozy Asian buffet where Elmer's predisposition to class and elegance showed as the resto we went to had a Rolls Royce car right in front.
The coffee drinker in me also had a satisfying treat from Starbucks and Seattle's Best.
Right across the Philippine Center along Fifth Avenue here is Starbucks coffee shop that is right inside a Barnes and Noble bookstore. It is quite hard to find a seat in there, but once you do, it would be worth it as you can read any book you want from the bookstore.
Same is true with Borders bookstore at the Atlas Park (a shopping mall, also in Queens) where it was my turn to treat Dr. Melanie Cato for a coffee drink at Seatle's Best inside the shop after she escorted me for a workout at New York Sports Clubs at the mall. The good doctor is now a regular habitué of that gym. No wonder why she sports a nice figure these days.
Oh by the way, coffee at these shops would cost anywhere from US$5 to US$10, depending on the size and flavors. As to cookies? A US$5 indulgence would satisfy the craving for either a moist brownie, a raisin-oatmeal, a blueberry, double chocolate chip and more.
