DVDeals 11/30 - 12/6

DVD Tuesday
I never saw Wanted, but it looks like a great special fx movie... one where the fx could save a bad story. It's the same price at Circuit City and Best Buy... $15.99 for the regular edition and $22.99 for the 2-disc special edition w/ digital copy. Prince Caspian will also be released this Tuesday and Circuit City wins the price war for the regular edition... $14.99. The special 3-disc edition is the cheapest by far at Amazon for $22.99.

Best Buy Deals
- Clone Wars for $13.99
- Forbidden Kingdom for $13.99
- Stargate: Continuum for $13.99

Circuit City Deals
- Unleashed for $6.99
- 2 Fast 2 Furious for $6.99
- Superman II for $6.99
- Troy for $6.99
- Bourne Identity for $6.99
- Bourne Supremacy for $6.99
- Jurassic Park for $6.99
- Van Helsing for $6.99
- Pan's Labyrinth for $6.99
- Rundown for $6.99
- Fast & Furious for $6.99
- Family Guy: Blue Harvest for $6.99

Thanksgiving

I was looking forward to Thanksgiving more this year than any other since we missed it last year. When I think back, that may have been the only year we didn't celebrate Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

DVDeals for Black Friday

Because of the economy, we're seeing some Black Friday prices all week long in an attempt to get people shopping. Even some of the DVD prices for Friday aren't spectacular, but still good. Here's what I was able to gather from my usual stores:

Best Buy Deals
- 300 for $6.99
- Alien vs. Predator for $6.99
- Batman Begins for $4.99
- Beowulf for $4.99
- Doomsday for $9.99
- Family Guy: Seasons 1-5 for $14.99 each
- Fantastic Four for $4.99
- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer for $4.99
- Ghost Rider for $4.99
- Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay for $9.99
- I Am Legend for $6.99
- Live Free Or Die Hard for $6.99
- Night At The Museum for $4.99
- Pan's Labyrinth for $4.99
- Rambo for $6.99
- Seinfeld Season 1 & 2 for $14.99
- Seinfeld Season 3-9 for $14.99 each
- Shrek 2 for $4.99

Circuit City Deals
- Beowulf: Director's Cut for $5.99
- Braveheart: Special Collector's Edition for $5.99
- Charlie's Angels: Unrated for $3.99
- Daredevil for $3.99
- Family Guy: Freakin' Sweet Collection for $2.99
- Family Guy: Seasons 1-5 for $14.99 each
- Fantastic 4: Rise Of The Silver Surfer for $3.99
- I, Robot for $3.99
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith for $5.99
- Riddick for $3.99
- Robots for $3.99
- Rocky IV for $3.99
- South Park: Seasons 1-4 for $9.99 each
- Spiderman 2 for $3.99
- Spiderman for $3.99
- The Happening for $9.99
- Transformers for $5.99
- Van Helsing for $3.99
- Vantage Point for $9.99
- X2 for $3.99
- X3 for $3.99

DVDeals 11/23 - 11/29

DVD Tuesday
Hancock will be coming out this Tuesday in 3 editions... regular, unrated & 2-disc unrated. The single disc editions are cheapest @ Circuit City for $14.99. The 2-disc set is the same price everywhere for $22.99.

Best Buy Deals
- Robots for $3.99
- Underworld for $3.99

Circuit City Deals
- Tomb Raider for $2.99
- Family Guy: Freakin' Sweet Collection for $2.99
- Planet of the Apes for $2.99
- The Saint for $2.99
- Rush Hour for $6.99
- I Am Legend for $6.99
- Ocean's Thirteen for $6.99
- 300 for $6.99
- Golden Compass for $6.99

Gallery Expresso

Original Dates: 1993-1997

I started going to Starbucks to use their wireless connection just for a change of scenery. It's an interesting atmosphere too... one that takes me back to the college days.

I would go to Gallery Expresso all the time to study for an art history class or to work on sketches. I enjoyed that place for the environment. It was an artist's coffee house. The lighting was dim, but enough to read a book. They had wood floors and brick walls. It always reminded me of an Edgar Degas painting... same mood... same colors.

I just looked up the place on Google and 2 addresses came up. The one on 6 E. Liberty St. seems the the right location. I lived on Liberty after my freshman year and went a lot more often. The other address that came up was 234 Bull St. I remember clearly that it wasn't on Bull St., but this owns the URL... www.galleryexpresso.com. So it's also possible that they moved into a larger space. Maybe some day I'll find out if I ever go back!

Jollibee is COMING SOON!

I mentioned last year, during my Philippines visit that Jollibee probably didn't really break into the American market (except California) because of a difference in taste that may not be appealing to the overseas crowd. I was always surprised that there was no New York location though. Every cuisine seems to find it's place in this diverse city. There's a large Filipino community in Woodside and I always thought Jollibee would also match the Latino tastes.

After dinner at SriPraPhai the other night, Emily & I came across a construction site on the way to the 61st St. station. Jollibee posters were plastered all over the wooden boards covering the building being renovated. That's right... Philippines' #1 fast food chain is finally coming to NY! After 33 years in the business, it's finally happening. Better late than never!


I couldn't find an official opening date announced anywhere, but it seems like late 2008. They already posted available positions (above), so it could be any time now.

Aladdin

A True Classic

Every month in church, the priest plans out a Children's lesson. This was a new thing starting last month. He would talk about a popular children's movie and connect the moral of the story to something in life or a Bible teaching. Today's choice was Aladdin and how the title character learned to trust and believe in himself. What actually amazed me was the movie choice and how all of the kids in mass were able to answer the priest's questions about the movie's characters and plot. Why? Aladdin was released in 1992 and was a huge hit. And now, 16 years later, every kid still knows it.

Back in 1992, I was a junior in high school and bought the collector's edition of Aladdin because I was starting to study animation. At the time, it, along with Beauty and the Beast were revolutionary in American animation. They were smooth, multi-layer and made use of computer graphics. I'm glad this classic story and important part of computer art history is living on in the next generation.

DVDeals 11/16 - 11/22

DVD Tuesday
Disney's Wall-E is the only worthy new release this coming Tuesday. The regular edition is $14.99 everywhere. The 3-disc edition is $27.99 @ Circuit City, $2 less than Best Buy. It seems like they're charging a premium for the 3rd disc... a digital copy. Special editions are normally $20-22.

Best Buy Deals
- Matrix Quadruple Feature for $9.99
- Steven Segal Quadruple Feature for $9.99
- Sylvester Stallone Quadruple Feature for $9.99
- Superman Quadruple Feature for $9.99
- Batman Begins for $6.99
- Troy for $6.99
- Spiderman for $6.99
- Underworld Evolution for $6.99
- Family Guy: Stewie the Untold Story for $6.99

Circuit City Deals
- Kung Fu Panda for $14.99
- Iron Man for $14.99
- The Happening for $14.99
- South Park Movie for $6.49
- Team America for $6.49

SriPraPhai

Location: 64-13 39th Ave., Woodside, NY 11377
Cuisine: Thai
Hours: SUN-TUE & THU-SAT (11:30am-9:30pm); WED (closed)
Phone: (718) 899-9599
Prices: about $20/person
Credit Cards: Cash only

Food: 8
Service: 4
Value: 7
Environment: 8

Frequency: Unique

We all met up this month to celebrate Charlotte & Marites' November Birthdays. This time, we went with SriPraPhai, one of the best Thai restaurants in the city. I got there around 7pm to get a table as the place was packed. They handed out numbers that were displayed on an electronic sign when a spot freed up. We got in at about 7:25, which was perfect timing because Jeff & Ben got out of work late. So everyone was there when they called our number.


The food was great. It's definitely up to par with the Thai restaurants on 9th Avenue. I didn't get to compare my "test" dishes because I was reeled in by their soft-shelled crab offerings, but their coconut rice is the best I've had. I'll even put it above Sentosa's.

The service was pretty bad. Initially, they got 3 out of the 8 orders right. I also ordered an iced coffee that was overwritten my the ice tea order that came after me. The bill was also had to decipher. There were a bunch of note papers written in Thai and the receipt didn't have the item listings on it. When thinking back on this, I'm pretty sure they padded the bill.

The value was good. The individual items were fairly cheap, but one look at their menu will have you ordering many things!

The environment was very nice. They just recently expanded to the space next door, doubling their seating capacity. It was surprisingly pleasant to eat there despite the full house. The restroom was clean and very sanitary. They had an electronic toilet seat cover that changed itself by activating an infrared sensor. I think every restaurant should install one of these.

I'm sure I'll be back at this place again. There are many other things to try out and a good chance for them to improve their service rating. Charlotte said that they're not normally as bad as tonight. It was busy and they had a lot of new staff members.

For more comments and descriptions of the gathering, check out the individual photos I uploaded to Picasa.

Gala Manor Banquet Hall

I had lunch with my parents and family friends, Uncle Foo & Auntie Remy. It was an interesting lunchtime. We got there early and my parents were waiting in the car as I walked around. A cop came by and pointed out that the registration was expired, but was nice enough not to give my dad a ticket. So he drove the car back to his office and walked back to the restaurant.


As I waited in the lobby with my Mom, we saw a couple of teachers bring in a class of about 20 kids for a class trip. Lucky kids... my teachers never took me to a dim sum class trip!

For a full review of Gala Manor Banquet Hall, please visit my post from last year. All of the ratings are the same.

Charlotte's Birthday

We got together at East Buffet for the family edition of Charlotte's Birthday. We had 2 tables during lunch time and it wasn't as crowded as it used to be in there, which made it more comfortable to walk around. After a few rounds of good old junk food, we headed over to Uncle Rupert's house to watch Charlotte open her gifts.


For more comments and descriptions of the party, check out the individual photos I uploaded to Picasa.

East Buffet (Main Street)

Location: 42-07 Main St., Flushing, NY 11355
Cuisine: Chinese, Buffet
Phone: (718) 353-6333
Website: www.eastbuffet.us
Prices: about $15/person
Credit Cards: All major

Food:
American: 3
Chinese: 7
Japanese: 6
Italian: 0
Desserts: 4
Drinks: 0

Service: 8
Value: 7
Environment: 9

Frequency: Common

East is the chain that sort of standardized Chinese buffets. I don't think they're the best, but they're one of the better ones and always a safe bet. Their name is the most well-known in this category. The food is good overall. While they don't have the variety of Harvest Buffet or Century Diner Buffet, the Mongolian BBQ bar and Peking Duck stand are unique. The sushi isn't bad, but could use some more variety. American & Italian selections were lacking, but then again, that's not the primary reason people come here. Drink are not included and they don't have any specialties like bubble tea or smoothies.

Service and environment, as expected are great since they've been doing this for a long time and have a good system in place.

DVDeals 11/9 - 11/15

DVD Tuesday
It's a special fx bonanza this week with the releases of Clone Wars, Hellboy II and Kung Fu Panda. Clone Wars is cheapest at Best Buy for $15.99. The 2-disc version is the same everywhere... $22.99. Hellboy II is also a tie... $22.99 for the 3-disc edition. The regular edition was unlisted. Kung Fu Panda is cheapest at Circuit City for $14.99.

Circuit City Deals
- Van Helsing for $6.99
- Jurassic Park for $6.99
- Jurassic Park II for $6.99
- Jurassic Park III for $6.99
- Chronicles of Riddick for $6.99
- Doom for $6.99

Best Buy Deals
- The Mist for $9.99
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith Unrated for $9.99
- i, Robot for $9.99
- Black Hole for $5.99

Into the Seasons

This week has been a lot busier than normal with my election adventure on Tuesday, volunteer tutoring (will likely cover in a future post) on Wednesday and Auntie Kim's Into the Seasons exhibition last night.


The last time Auntie Kim had a show in Manhattan was 2 years ago in the same place, Synagogue for the Arts on White St. I headed there after work with colleague and fellow artist, Richard. It was a different path than I took last time, so we were disoriented after exiting the PATH train to the WTC, but we eventually made the long trek on Church St. after figuring out which way north was! The exhibition had a pretty good turnout. It seemed like there were more people there than when we did it 2 years ago during the TriBeCa Film Festival. Hopefully the right people see it.

Please click on the slideshow for full resolution photos and further comments.

Related: KimEngYeo.com, Synagogue for the Arts

Election Day

I really wanted to vote first thing in the morning just to get it over with, but there was a problem with my registration. I submitted and address change about a month before the deadline. It didn't go through when I checked Online though. I was still in the system, but listed under an old address... 2 addresses ago. So I rushed out of work as soon as we closed and headed to Queens. When I got there, I wasn't listed under that district either! But I was able to fill out a card and hand in my vote.

Yun Tian Lou

Frequency: Common

This is an update to my full review on August 9, 2008. Since then, I've eaten there about 2-3 times. All of the ratings remain the same. The Peking Duck and other dishes still tasted great. One tip though, is to eat here with 6 or more people. The combo for 5 or less people is 1/2 of the duck +4 dishes. For 6+ people, it's the full duck +5 dishes. Honestly though, both plans are just right. I just felt the 1/2 duck looked small since it's their best dish! A new dish we tried today was the ox tail. I thought it was well prepared with tender meat and an original taste. It doesn't beat the Filipino kare kare though.

Today I used their restroom, so I can give that a proper review. It's constructed out of nice materials, but it needs to be better maintained. The floor was wet. The sink and toilet areas were a bit untidy. At the time, they had 3 customers and a lot of staff not doing much. Someone could've been cleaning things up!

DVDeals 11/2 - 11/8

DVD Tuesday
This Tuesday, a bunch of nice boxed sets will be released in preparation for the holiday season. Here's the list from Best Buy:
- Batman: The Animated Series Complete for $74.99
- Star Wars Trilogy (6-disc set) for $34.99
- Star Wars Prequel Trilogy (6-disc set) for $34.99
- Bourne Trilogy for $24.99

Best Buy Deals
- South Park Seasons 1-10 for $19.99 each
- Mind of Mencia Seasons 1-3 for $12.99 each
- Drawn Together Seasons 1-3 for $12.99 each
- Chapelle's Show Seasons 1-2 for $12.99 each
- Superman: Doomsday for $9.99
- Batman: Gotham Knight for $9.99
- Batman Beyond Season 3 for $14.99
- Justice League Season 2 for $22.99

Circuit City Deals
- Bourne Identity for $6.99
- Bourne Supremacy for $6.99

End of Year Preview

I haven't posted for a while, but I'm still here! The last couple of weeks were just slow as far as personal events. Things will be picking up a lot during the next 2 months. There are a bunch of birthday events and gatherings. Here's a brief rundown:

- 11/6 - Into the Seasons Reception [click here for details]
- 11/9 - Charlotte's Birthday
- 11/14 - 3rd Monthly Dinner
- 11/24 - Mom's Birthday
- 11/27 - Thanksgiving
- 11/28 - Black Friday (hopefully I can post some DVD sales beforehand)
- 12/3 - Ben's Birthday
- 12/11 - Emily's Birthday
- 12/24 - X-mas Eve
- 12/25 - X-mas Day
- 12/27 - Chinese Association Holiday Party