It was Saturday today, so we were out and about yet again for another food crawl, this time around the Fordham / Arthur Avenue area in the Bronx. Unfortunately for me, I felt especially heavy and slow today, and it seems like during longer walks, my Braxton Hicks contractions keep going a little out of control. Walking up stairs now gets me far more winded than it used to, and so I am definitely a lot slower than even just a few weeks ago. I guess we’re in the home stretch, so I can manage this for just another month or so before totally going nuts.

It may only be in New York where you can get access to authentic Dominican and Puerto Rican cuisine and amazing Italian cuisine within blocks of each other. We made stops at some old staples we found last year, like Cuchifritos for mango juice, chicharron, and alcapurrias, Gino’s Pastry Shop for my favorite NYC cannoli, and also at the Calabria Pork Store for freshly made sausage (this time, I chose sweet Italian with fennel). We also discovered some new spots, like Borgatti’s for fresh pasta (we got fresh tagliatelle egg noodles and ricotta/porcini ravioli), and Casa Della Mozzarella, which had quite the line out its door. They are famous for being on multiple lists for making the very best mozzarella in New York City. Our main sit down meal was at Antonio’s, where we had magherita pizza with some of the best mozzarella on pizza we’d ever had, and Chris actually had a glass of Italian red (“super Tuscan”) that was for once, very fruity, tasty, and satisfying.

During food treks like these, on the way home, I always feel very grateful to live in such a diverse and delicious city. To have access to foods of this quality just a subway ride away is a real privilege and blessing. I hope my little Pookie Bear is able to embrace all of this deliciousness, too, when she arrives.

Tonight, my friend and I went to see the Broadway musical Come from Away, which is set during the week following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and tells the story of what happened when 38 planes were ordered to land unexpectedly in the small town of Gander in Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada due to U.S. airspace being shut down as part of Operation Yellow Ribbon. Those 38 planes consisted of over 7,000 passengers plus 19 animals in cargo, which doubled the population of the small town. That is really mind boggling to think of now.

My memory of what happened and the media reports around September 11, 2001, are quite hazy. It was the beginning of my sophomore year of high school. I understood that a terrorist attack had happened, but I didn’t quite understand the background and all the events that led up to it. I only really started paying attention and reading news regularly that year. But given what others have shared, it sounds like for the most part and based on what I remember, the vast majority of the reporting was on what happened with the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon from the reports to the photographs, and relatively little was highlighted around these planes making emergency landings in Gander. But honestly, I wish I had known more about it then instead of learning about it 20 years later.

The musical showcases how everyday citizens of Gander welcomed these people from all over the world on these planes into their homes for meals, showers, and warmth simply because of the worldwide emergency that had erupted, just because of the kindness of their hearts. And it was just so heart warming to see this musical and see it on full display. And having visited Newfoundland and Labrador, I can definitely attest to the fact that it’s a beautiful Canadian province with warm, kind humans who do seem a bit different from other Canadians in accent and demeanor, but actually seem like better humans than the average American. I’m not really sure what would have happened if planes had diverted and landed somewhere in the U.S. Who knows how that would have ended up. But I think all these people who ended up in Gander were better off there than anywhere in U.S. territory.

I’ve been enjoying my four-day weekend, with my day off I pre-planned on Friday, plus my Wellness Day company wide today. I knew I wanted to accomplish a few things today: I wanted to bake scallion milk bread, and I also wanted to start stocking up on some pre-made items for our freezer for when Pookie Bear arrives. I started the morning with some Bloom Method workouts via the free trial I started with them that focuses on pelvic and core strength. Then I went on to prepare and knead the milk bread dough before getting ready to leave for Flushing. Who knows, I thought, as I left the apartment. This may be the last time I go to Flushing before baby arrives. And most of Flushing’s best food is on the street and not super friendly to a stroller, so I just need to stock up on what I can when I can now.

So I picked up a bunch of things, enjoyed a duck jianbing and a Happy Lemon salted cheese, fresh strawberry, and jasmine tea drink, and went back home to knead and shape my scallion rolls. The bread didn’t brown as much as I wanted on top, but it was still therapeutic to knead and shape the bread. Baking bread is very calming and meditative for me. I hope I will still be able to find the time and energy to do this even after Pookie Bear arrives.

Who knows – maybe she will learn to love the process as much as I do, and then we can do it together!

Chris was especially eager to get out of the house around noon today because as the days progress, and as October ends, this ultimately means that the days are only getting shorter and shorter. Daylight Savings Time will sadly be ending next weekend. So our daylight hours are more limited, and sooner rather than later, it will be 4pm and completely pitch black outside, which is something that makes me feel a little bit depressed every single year, no fail. And while most years before last year, we had a Thanksgiving in Europe and a summer in the Southern Hemisphere to look forward to, currently, we have zero trips planned… other than to the hospital to welcome Pookie Bear into our lives.

We went to Williamsburg and Green Point today, and Chris kept pointing out all the babies, strollers, and little kids running around in the Halloween costumes that their parents dressed them in. We’re at a point now where I can pretty much call out with high accuracy nearly every stroller brand that passes us. Chris does not embrace Halloween or Thanksgiving. He thinks Halloween is only fun when there is a place to go to to show off what you are dressed up in, and he thinks traditional Thanksgiving food is boring and bland (well, that’s why we tend to put our own Asian spins on these “classic” dishes). But in the future, I do hope to introduce Pookie Bear to Halloween costumes and how to carve a pumpkin because I love pumpkin carving (especially with the right tools!). While I don’t really care about dressing up in costume, who could possibly say that babies and kids aren’t adorable in costume? And I want my little baby to know Thanksgiving foods and how her mom likes to change them up, even if it’s just a few of us eating together. Good food should be part of every family gathering. And yes, at the same time, she should also know the terrible history of Thanksgiving, too, not the white-washed version.

Since my own boss once upon a time was on bed rest for her last four weeks of pregnancy and gave birth to her child at 32 weeks, she’s been extremely empathetic in making sure that my transition into motherhood from a work perspective will be smooth. We’ve been talking a little at a time about my transition plan for all my customer accounts for the last six weeks, and right now, the plan is to have all my accounts fully transitioned to a handful of my colleagues by mid-November, or the 35th to 36th week mark. We never know when the baby will choose to come, especially early, so it’s best to be prepared. By mid-November, I will no longer have any active role in my accounts and will only shadow calls and provide guidance if and when needed by my colleagues. It feels really good to have a manager who is supportive, empathetic, and doesn’t want to see me suffer through the transition into motherhood.

I officially get 16 weeks of maternity leave off at my company, but my manager is completely fine with my taking paid time off on top of that whether it’s before the official leave begins or ends. I’m grateful for the time I get off plus the flexibility from my manager, but I cannot help but think that while this is great by U.S. standards, it’s pretty sad by global standards since most developed, rich countries will give an entire year off to new moms. In addition, our own Congress right now is deadlocked trying to roll out a paid family leave plan, and while the Democrats originally wanted 12 weeks, it’s now being slashed to barely four weeks if not less to appease idiotic, short sighted “moderate” Democrats and selfish Republicans who think that lazy Americans shouldn’t be relying on the government for benefits. It is so disgusting to me how little this country values parents and children, and it’s clear from the way we spend money that we truly do not give a shit about the plight of parents, caregivers, and the future generations of the people who will eventually be taking charge of this country. It’s even more disgusting how some people choose to justify the status quo and insist that it shouldn’t be on the government to help and give money to those who “choose” to become parents…. as though society does not benefit from these children, who will eventually become adults and our future.

Since I first moved to New York City in June 2008, it’s clear that Asian food, whether it’s Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese and beyond, has really been taking over neighborhoods one by one throughout Manhattan. Once upon a time, each kind of food kind of had its own area: Chinese food had multiple Chinatowns ranging from Manhattan Chinatown, Brooklyn Chinatown, Elmhurst “Chinatown” along Broadway, Flushing (obviously); Vietnamese food had certain blocks occupied in Manhattan Chinatown. Japanese food had the 40s on the east side of Manhattan with a sprinkling of places throughout the East Village. Korean food had “Korea Way” on 32nd between Broadway and 5th Avenue. Since then, Koreatown has spread so that Korean restaurants have gone all the east along 32nd Street to Madison, and even a little north to 33rd-35th Streets. East Village has become a haven for many Asian cuisines, including a number of ramen and xiao long bao (soup dumpling) spots. Even more high-end, Michelin rated Japanese restaurants are spread throughout the island of Manhattan that I cannot even keep track of them anymore. And Chinese food, well, it has no boundaries whatsoever. You can even find authentic, western Chinese food up in Harlem/Sugar Hill.

Today, we went to the Sugar Hill area of Manhattan up north and of many places, tried The Handpulled Noodle, which has been on my list for over two years. The noodles are a bit flatter and thicker than the traditional and well known Lanzhou, Gansu-style hand-pulled noodle that tends to dominate hand-pulled noodle shops in Chinatowns around the country. Some of the noodles are more like pulled and flattened small rectangles and squares that are quite toothy. We shared a bowl of their stir-fried cumin-beef flat and pounded pull noodles, and according to Chris, I was totally addicted. We nearly inhaled that bowl of noodles; the noodles were super al dente and chewy, totally mesmerizing. The sauce had a good amount of fresh cumin spice, not to mention a hint of heat from the chilies. And the meat was light and shredded. If that place were near our apartment, I’d likely have them on speed dial for takeout on the regular. Unfortunately, they don’t deliver to our area since we’re too far south from them, but maybe that’s actually a good thing for our waist lines.

So much delicious food is out there to explore and try, even in cuisines that we think we are familiar and well-versed in. I’m always discovering new Chinese and Vietnamese food despite them being the cultures I grew up in. It just feels boundless what you can discover and taste.

Tonight, Chris and I went to see the Broadway show Chicken and Biscuits, our first theater show since before the pandemic officially shut down New York City. While we have already been to the Comedy Cellar plus two other comedy shows (Ali Wong and Neal Brennan) in the last few months, but this was our very first theater show. As per the New York City law, proof of vaccination (along with an ID to confirm who you actually are) was required to enter. Each venue has its own rules regarding masks, but at this theater, which was right next to the Wicked theater, they required masks upon entry. The entire theater district was buzzing. There were so many people lining up and getting excited to see shows this evening. It’s like a huge part of what makes New York City New York City is finally back.

Chicken and Biscuits was a really good first return-to-broadway and going to theater again show because it was really funny, is about a seemingly dysfunctional but hilarious family, and had a happy ending. The more I think about how miserable and bleak the world is, the more I realize that I am a sucker for happy endings. It’s hard for me to say that a show or movie or book is a “favorite” unless it has somewhat of a positive ending. Yes, that’s the fairy-tale, unrealistic side of me, but hey, it’s fiction for a reason, right?

In another story of the moving-in-tale-from-hell, I discovered earlier this week that something seemed wrong with the ice dispenser in our freezer. Instead of dispensing ice, the ice maker was leaking a massive amount of water and ice, which would then freeze over and cause none of the ice to be usable, as it would just be a huge ice sheet. As the water continued to leak out of the ice box, it dripped down to create huge icicles around the drawers, which froze the drawers solid, rendering them incapable of being moved in and out. This also resulted in a near inability to even open or close the freezer without a ton of force. I wonder what the baby was thinking in the womb when I was doing these forceful movements so early in the morning this week, just trying to get some ice for the water bottle for my gym session.

The valve ended up being faulty, so our handyman had to have our management call GE to come inspect and ultimately replace the valve. But given the shelves now seem to be malfunctioning and tiny shards of plastic keep flying everywhere every time I open the freezer, this also means our drawers will need to be replaced. And early tomorrow morning, our handyman is going to come out to reinstall drawers taken from another apartment, and to help clean up all the ice collecting on the bottom of the freezer.

I have no idea what would have caused this total freezer madness, but I never before realized how complicated a freezer could be.