Century Diner Buffet

Location: 220-18 Hillside Ave., Queens Village, NY
Cuisine: Chinese, Buffet
Phone: (718) 468-8757
Prices: $8 (for lunch buffet)
Credit Cards: All major

Food:
Chinese: 7
Japanese: 7
Italian: 3
Desserts: 5
Drinks: 5

Service: 9
Value: 9
Environment: 8

Frequency: Frequent

I just had a New Year's lunch with my parents and a couple of family friends, but I come here a lot on special occasions. My parents and other friends who live in Queens are big fans. It's one of the better buffets in Queens. The popular East chain is overrated.

The Chinese food is pretty good here with a variety of fried and unfried items. The dim sum is OK. It's less flavorful as dim sum places, but better than most buffets. For Japanese, the sushi lacks variety and quantity. I try to get sushi during my first round, but they didn't have it ready until my meal was done. The chicken teriyaki was great though. It had the right amount of sauce and they used the dark meat of the chicken. Generally, the Italian food is lacking at these buffets, but Century offers a little less than its competitors. Desserts were just OK... mostly packaged cookies, generic ice cream and fruits. Drinks were also generic... soda, coffee and tea... nothing special.

The service was excellent. There was a waiter/waitress stationed at certain strategic locations so that they could clear used plates immediately. The value is what got my parents going there a lot recently. It's an amazing amount of food for $8. The soda is included. That's not usually the case, even with more expensive buffets. The environment was clean and well-laidout. Most buffets aren't as spacious as Century.

Life in the Matrix

A Quick Look @ Facebook

I have my own place that I share with two pet dragons. They have completely different personalities, but get a along just fine. The small green dragon just likes to eat junk food and compete in races. He has a group of various small creatures that he hangs out with, but mostly practices with a kangaroo. The large blue dragon likes to practice fighting and hunt for treasure. He befriended another dragon of the same species owned by L.Y. The three of us usually have breakfast together and hang out in the morning. They're more like roommates than pets because they sort of take care of themselves in many ways. I don't really have to worry about them too much.

Many of my close friends and family live in my neighborhood too. They're literally within poking distance, so I never feel lonely. We do spur-of-the-moment things together all the time like a quick snack at Yum Cha Restaurant, watching movies and cheering on the Yankees.

I spend some time each afternoon with a racing team I put together. L.Y. & F.H. Wing have Mustang GTs. D.L. & J.L. are working on Mini Coopers. I'm currently powering up a BMW M3. The bolt-ons are as easy to install as plug-and-play. It just takes some work to raise money for parts.

At night, I usually meet up with W.S. and J.L. for Sith training which consists of a lot of studying in the archives, practicing lightsaber moves and building up force techniques. After that, I often see B.B. and we just share with each other what we've done throughout the day.

I could get used to this. Life in the Matrix is heaven. Thanks to Downtown A.B. for giving me the red pill! Thanks to F.H. Wing, B.B. and Bongie for helping me settle in!

Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas!

Despite missing out on Black Friday and having 2-week handicap (vacation), I was able to get all of my Christmas shopping done. It took all the way up to the 24th though! Every year I try to find a good match for each recipient... based on something I pick up over the course of the year during conversations or get-togethers. Some people think that I put too much effort into every little gift, but I work hard to avoid giving out "regiftables." I made the kids' presents (5 total) the first priority when I first though that I wasn't going to complete my shopping in time. Those were mostly based on interests and for the ones I'm less familiar with, I try to find something fun and educational. For the adults' presents this year, I was glad to be able to support a couple of my friend's Online stores while fulfilling gifts for other friends. Another theme to some of my gifts was natural health since I became a follower earlier in the year.



As far as celebration, it was simple and sweet this year. I made my "Santa Claus" run from the 21st to the 23rd. That consisted of one last minute snail mail (which made it on time!), a couple of online purchases and drop offs at 2 friends' houses. I spent some time catching up with friends on the 23rd. On Christmas Eve, sister EM, my cousin's family and I met up at my parents' house for dinner, while watching some recent family DVD home videos. It wasn't as festive as years in the past, but still very fun because of the newest member of the family, Wesley, who was born in August of this year. Whenever there's a baby, all the attention is on him/her no matter what holiday it is! Most of Christmas Day was spent reorganizing and cleaning up... much like a Sunday. My sister and I met up at my parents' again for a left-overs dinner, a few NBA games and a movie.

Now it's back to work for a few days and looking forward to an upcoming New Year's weekend!

Mr. Hobbs' Beowulf

Original Date: Fall 1992

I received my Beowulf soundtrack in the mail a few days ago and have been listening to it every day. The composer, Alan Silvestri did his homework because the beats of the tracks evoke the same feeling as drum beats of how the original epic poem was performed. How do I know this? Well... listening to the music took me back into the 12th grade... Mr. Hobbs' English 12H class to be exact. I sat in the front (either 2nd or 3rd row) on the left side of the room (Mobile 1).

In that class, we really went in depth and dissected every little bit of this poem. Here's a list of 10 Beowulf notes/theories from Mr. Hobbs in 1992:

• Didactic poetry... meant to instruct.
• Life & death theme; a cycle of kings.
• Beowulf's tragic flaw is hubris, the sin of pride.
• Grendel was a descendant of Cain.
• The swimming race with Brecca foreshadowed the underwater battle with Grendel's mother.
• Grendel's mother's lake represented the mouth of Hell.
• The dragon symbolized punishment for the sin of pride.
• The 3 battles were an allegory to Beowulf's 3 stages of life.
• Hygelac, Beowulf's King was an actual historic figure who died in 521ad
• Christian allegory of the coming of Christ, resurrection and eternal salvation for the 3 battles.

Mr. Hobbs taught the most interesting literature lessons. Before having him as a teacher, it was one of my weaker subjects (B-A range). I didn't get straight A's until my interest increased during the 11th grade in Mr. Hobb's 11R class. He then put me in his 12H class the next year where my A streak continued.

Frommer's Xiamen

The Xiamen information on Frommers.com came in handy during my recent trip. Since I didn't need the entire China book, I printed out all of the Xiamen pages from the website. Now that the vacation is over, I added some of my photos to the site to give the little city some more visual appeal.

Whenever I'm on vacation, I make it a point to take some nice destination photos aside from the usual family & friends portraits. These look great on DVD slideshows, desktop wallpapers and Frommers.com, now that we have the slideshow feature up.

Click here to check out my photos on Frommer's Xiamen.

Wonderham's Super Secret Stash

"WONDERHAM is a comic of a rambunctious, cheeky hamster's antics. He survives life in a mundane pet shop with an overactive imagination, rodent acrobatics, gluttony for late night TV and a super hero alter ego."
- James Li

Wonderham's Super Secret Stash is a CafePress store with products featuring James Li's Wonderham. There's a line of products made just for the holiday season, including greeting cards, mouse... err hamster pads, bags and shirts.

Visit Wonderham's Super Secret Stash at www.cafepress.com/wonderham.

Pure Soaps

Pure Soaps is an Online store run by my friend, Jene Wallace. She produces natural soaps, lip balms and scrubs made of vegetable glycerin soap, olive oil soap, shea butter soap, soy soap and goat's milk. They make great holiday gifts. The craftsmanship is neat and each one smell good enough to eat! I just bought a bunch of these myself and am going to arrange them in some custom containers for a couple of special gifts.

Since I'm a follower of natural health, 2 rules I try follow are: 1) If man made it, don't eat it; 2) If you can't eat it, don't put it on your skin! These soaps are good stuff!

Check out Pure Soaps at pure.etsy.com.

Gala Manor Banquet Hall (for Dim Sum)

Location: 37-02 Main St., Flushing, NY
Cuisine: Chinese
Phone: (718) 888-9293
Prices: About $11 per person
Credit Cards: All major

Food: 9
Service: 8
Value: 7
Environment: 8

Frequency: Frequent

I spent the day off in Flushing, so I had Dim Sum with my parents at Gala Manor. Normally, this place is an expensive Chinese Restaurant, but during weekday lunch hours, they have dim sum at budget prices. It was nice to get back to some real dim sum after the fake stuff in the Philippines!

I'll start with my favorite... siu mai. I always get 2-3 orders of this one. There were no special toppings, just a measly kernel of corn. But more importantly, it was nice and meaty (some places mix a lot of dough into the ground pork). Yi chi gau is my parents' favorite. It was also pretty good here. I don't like it in some places because sometimes there's a weird after-taste for me. We pretty much went with our usual routine today. Other dishes we order were pork ribs, beef ribs, turnip cakes and honey tofu. One new dish that I haven't seen before was a bittermelon dumpling. It was a slice of bittermelon surrounding a pork meatball. It was interesting... nice contrast of tastes. If you haven't had bittermelon before, it's an acquired taste.

Service was pretty good. The carts came by frequently and we didn't have to wait long to get all of the dishes we wanted. The staff was prompt in clearing out finished dishes and filling up our tea kettle. The space is extravagant (well, it's a banquet hall) and very clean.

It's amazing how versatile large Chinese restaurants such as Gala Manor are today. They could accommodate a very expensive wedding banquet and have budget lunches in the same place. I didn't get to try this out, but they also have a booth where you can order custom dishes.

Camera's Eye

I'm in the middle of editing the wedding video and it feels like I'm attending the wedding for the first time. When I was shooting on December 1, it didn't feel like I was there at the wedding. I was merely working on auto-pilot as I framed each scene with the camera. This happens all the time when I'm filming. I concentrate so much on getting the shot that I'm not actually absorbing the moment (the event) itself. When I actually take everything in while editing, I'm getting a somewhat superhuman experience because I'm seeing the event through the camera's eye. I get more details than the majority of guests sitting in the church because of the zoomed scenes. I get to hear the dialog without the distraction of ambient sound in the room.

Adjusting to the Flow

The part I hate most about long vacations, particularly ones to Asia is the recovery time upon return. I don't do well with jet lag when I'm back home. It's been over a week since I got back and I still feel its effects. It's more than just the sleep too. My body seems to malfunction in many ways. I usually get sick because my immune system feels weakened. I also get cold in temperatures that I'm normally OK in.

Philippines has its quirks. It's hot, damp and smelly. The hotel I was in was in the process of being built and my schedule was extremely busy. But in the end, I would much rather be hanging out with my extended family than battling through NYC rush hour. Perhaps this adds to why I get jet lag on the way back, but not when I head West.

Unfortunately, the pains and effects of the return trip are what get stuck in my mind when I think of vacations to Asia. And it makes me reluctant to make another trip soon even though it's paradise once I get there.

Pinoy Superstore

Have family in the Philippines? Now there's an easy way to get X-mas gifts to them. Check out Pinoy Superstore, a service run by my cousin, Richard Ng for people who have friends and family in the Philippines...

www.pinoysuperstore.biz

There are a wide variety of store items that include flowers, gift baskets as well as high-end electronics.

6 for 6 in Delays

The return trip on EVA was also plagued with delays. Delays are part of flying, but it's just ridiculous when it happens 100% of the time... 6 out of 6 flights! The flight from Manila to Taipei was delayed for "fleet rotation." Shouldn't things like this be accounted for in the schedule. A fleet rotation should be planned for and accounted for. This was a 3-hour delay! This was followed by 2 30+ minute delays on the next two flights. As good as EVA's flight/safety record is, I have yet to experience a smooth landing. But at least we walked away, right?

Greenhills Élan Hotel Modern BETA

Location: 49 Annapolis St. Greenhills, San Juan, Philippines
Phone: (632) 744-7878
Website: www.greenhillselansuites.com
Price: Standard Room ($50)
Credit Cards: All major

Rooms: 6
Service: 8
Value: 8
Amenities: 7

Length of Stay: 6 nights

Swire Élan Suites is a condominium conveniently located in the heart of Metro Manila, across from the Greenhills Shopping Complex. The lobby and first few floors were recently converted into a hotel, Greenhills Élan Hotel Modern. I labeled this establishment as BETA because portions of the hotel are still under construction.

The rooms were laid out nicely and have a Japanese/modern look to them. Some items weren't complete though. A couple of the lights were missing bulbs and the broadband Internet wasn't "live." The bed was comfortable. The minibar and bathroom were very complete. The AC was efficient and cooled the area quickly.

The hotel is run by some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. Everyone is very polite. Any problems that came up were taken care of right away for the most part. I didn't give it a "10" because there were a few areas of inexperience. Keep in mind that this is still in BETA. In a little while, I'm sure this would become a "10."

The elevator system was a little strange. The doors closed way too quickly and have no sensor to tell you that someone is halfway in. The gym, located on P2 along with the recreation room was in bad shape. The equipment itself was all there, but many of the machines were not completely assembled. This floor could use a full time staff member. Internet service was spotty and overpriced. It was 150 Pesos ($3.50) per hour or $600 Pesos ($14) per day. Internet access at the business center (6th floor) was 60 Pesos ($1.40) per 15 min.

Related: Review of Élan Café, Swire Élan Suites

Gloria Maris Dim Sum

Location: Greenhills Shopping Complex, San Juan, Metro Manila Philippines
Cuisine: Chinese, Dim Sum
Hours: MON-THU (11am-2pm, 6pm-11pm); FRI-SAT (10am-2pm, 5:30pm-12am)
Phone: 722-5508 to 10, 721-3504, 722-5760
Prices: About $10 per person
Credit Cards: All major

Food: 7
Service: 7
Value: 8
Environment: 7

Frequency: Unique (for dim sum)

Gloria Maris has been THE Chinese restaurant in Manila for a while now. They've expanded to be several restaurants within the main restaurant... hot pot, dim sum, etc.

The Dim Sum here was actually pretty good... much better than the fancy Summer Palace. There sui mai was descent. They had something I've never come across before though... shark fin sui mai. It's the usual prok sui mai, but mixed with some shark fin and wrapped in seaweed... almost like hot sushi! We ordered extra bowls of those. They "halo-halo" congee (congee with everything) was pretty good too.

The wait staff was polite, but unskilled. When we got to the table, items were randomly missing. One spot had no plate, two had no chopsticks, etc. The waiter brought back items one-by-one. Also, when we ordered multiple quantities, he would bring them over one-by-one. Soup was served without soup spoons... the waiter used another trip to get the spoon... not efficient at all.

The environment was clean and well-designed. Seating was comfortable.

Related: Map

Christine & Nino

My cousin's wedding... the highlight of the trip to Philippines. Everything went well. The wedding took place at Grace Christian Church, a nice cozy church in Grace Village, Quezon City. The reception was at the Crowne Plaza Galleria Hotel, one of the top hotels in Manila and a common location for wedding receptions. The wedding and reception were both short, sweet and simple. We all had a chance to catch up with family and the newlyweds and didn't have to sit through a parade of events.

The professional video above was done by Ohdy Genilo and Lomel Genilo of Smart Shot Studio. Amazingly, it was edited between the ceremony and reception. The final cut was played for the guests on a large screen during the reception. That's what I call extreme editing!