Capt. Breen

Original Dates: ~1981-1984?

When I wrote many of the QM2 posts and photo captions, I used some naval terms like "starboard" and "bow." I actually learned these back in elementary school gym class. There were some games Mr. Breen had us play regularly to keep us active. I don't remember the name of this one, but the 4 walls of the gymnasium were named after the 4 sides of a ship. He would call one of them out and we would all have to run to the correct side. I also don't remember how people got eliminated. It was either the last person to reach or there may have been some other team tagging people out.

bow: the forward section

stern: rear section

port: left side (when facing the bow)

starboard: right side (when facing the bow)

It's interesting how something from my childhood like that just stuck. Back then I had no idea it would be educational. Mr. Breen probably didn't think so either!

"It seemed extraneous at the time."
Mike Myers (as Wayne Campbell)
Wayne's World, 1992

DVDeals 6/15 - 6/21

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About Sports

A bunch of friends and family have been following this blog and a few people asked why I don't have any posts about baseball or basketball. That's a fair question because much of my life revolves around the New York Yankees and Chicago Bulls schedules. I watch nearly every game and I love both teams. One reason is because there are already many sports blogs out there. If I write about the game, chances are, someone else already wrote the same thing. The other reason is because I don't want this to be a sports blog. If I started writing about the games, the number of posts would easily overshadow the rest of the content. I would definitely be overcommitted if I wrote about each game. I really only have time to post 2-3 items per week. The concentration of this blog is travel, Queens restaurants, DVDs and stories from the past.

Somewhat related: I also keep reviews of Manhattan restaurants to a minimum because they're already covered in guidebooks and on major sites. I want to promote Queens because it's a center of culture and has some great restaurants that many people don't know about.

Home Select Buffet

Location: 43-02 Ditmars Blvd., Astoria, NY 11105
Cuisine: Chinese, Buffet
Hours: MON-THU (11am-10pm); FRI-SUN (11am-11pm)
Phone: (718) 626-0880
Prices: Weekday Lunch ($8), Weekend Lunch ($10), Weekday Dinner ($14), Weekend Dinner ($16)
Credit Cards: All major

Food:
American: 6
Chinese: 6
Japanese: 3
Italian: 4
Desserts: 5
Drinks: 6

Service: 8
Value: 7
Environment: 6

Frequency: Uncommon

This place used to be called King China Buffet. I haven't been here in years, but came today for Uncle Rupert's surprise 60th Birthday party. This is one of his favorite places. Every time I ate here in the past, it was with his family.


I kind of remember the food being better in the past. They didn't have real sushi... just the California rolls. There were only 2 dim sum items and not a lot of variety with the hot foods. Please check out the photo album for more comments.

The service here was pretty good... friendly waiters/waitresses. They were always around and very patient with parties of 70+! The environment is a bit dirtier than most buffets. Sections of the floor were constantly wet. The restroom was gross. The one good thing about Home Select was the size and layout. It was comfortable eating and walking around the place. They probably have the best party room of any buffet I've been to.

DVDeals 6/8 - 6/14

DVD Tuesday
There's nothing that exciting this week, but if you're into Jumper, Buy.com has the lowest price @ $14.71 if you can qualify for free shipping. Otherwise, Circuit City is the winner @ $13.99. Circuit City also wins the special edition price @ $21.99. Aside from that, a lot of good DVDs are on sale.

Circuit City Deals
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NYC-HFX-BOS TOC

This post is a table of contents of all entries related to my recent family reunion starting from the arrival of the first visitor and ending with the departure of the last. I wrote many of these within the past week, but posted them based on the original dates of occurrence:

- QM2 Cast
- Mother's Day
- QM2 Prologue
- Joe's Shanghai
- 9th Avenue Food Festival
- Circle Line
- Flushing Mall
- Sentosa
- Chen & Chan
- All Aboard
- Cardiobox & Abs
- Secrets of the Sea
- A Day @ Sea
- Halifax
- McKelvie's
- Dress Code
- Enemy Territory
- Paddy O's
- Bermuda Triangle
- Britannia Club
- King's Court
- Queen Mary 2
- Imperial Palace
- Sentosa 2
- New Broadway Seafood Restaurant

Magi of Estonia

Original Dates: Fall 1985 - Summer 1986

At work today, I made a minor fix to one of our Tallinn, Estonia Destination pages. Many people haven't heard of this place before, but I clearly remember learning a bit about it while I was in the 5th grade, sitting by the window in Mr. Magi's class. The 6'4" version of Roger Moore who always wore a vest and bow tie was from Estonia. He mentioned it one day during a lesson about ancestry. I'm pretty sure he only mentioned it once, but it was easy to remember because no one had ever heard of it.

The destination of Estonia came up again during 8th grade social studies with Mr. Davy. He gave us bonus questions based on current events each morning. One day, the answer was Estonia and I was the only student to get it right. Because I wasn't really a good student at the time, I'm sure many classmates thought I cheated on that one and wrote it down after Mr. Davy revealed the answer.

New Broadway Seafood Restaurant

Location: 83-17 Broadway, Elmhurst, NY 11373
Cuisine: Chinese, Seafood
Phone: (718) 699-0688
Prices: About $10 per person
Credit Cards: Cash only

Food: 5
Service: 7
Value: 7
Environment: 6

Frequency: Unique

This was the last full day for I4 & Auntie Remy as they will fly out tomorrow morning. Auntie Remy's good friend, Auntie Mary treated all of us to lunch at a new restaurant by her place in Elmhurst. Please check out the Picasa Web album for my food reviews.


After lunch, I4 & I went shopping and met Emily at the Union Sq. area. We spent most of the time @ H&M because they had the best prices on discount clothing. After that, we got nice cold drinks at Jamba Juice, another stop I4 was looking to check out. We knocked off the last one for dinner... Lucia's Pizza in Flushing. Lucia's to I4 was like Jollibee to me when I was in the Philippines. I was trying to find time to get just one meal there!

Sentosa 2

We made a 2nd trip to Sentosa because I4 & Auntie Remy missed the last one. I4 was here before for his extended stay in NY in 2004, so he wanted to eat here one more time before he leaves. The dishes we ordered this time around were the usuals... ones we order all the time because we enjoy them. Previously, we went for the more exotic stuff because it was Edwin's first time. Please see details in the Picasa Web album.


For my full review of Sentosa, click here.

DVDeals 6/1 - 6/7

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