whew! today was a day of eating! went to practice in the morning, then me and hil went to christine's house and headed to the city. we went to the hotel nikko. there's a japanese restaurant called anzu. the hotel has really pretty deco and the restaurant was pretty spacious. today was the 2nd grand opening of the "new" union square. to kick it off, 161 different restaurants are having a "dine about town" thingy goin on. certain restaurants have a prix fixe menu. the restaurants participating have promo menus: lunch is 19.95 and dinner 29.95. lunch and dinner are 3 course meals. it's a really good deal. you can check out some the places on line. newayz, it wasn't too crowded. hil and i had a prix fixe meal. she had the pear, walnut, salad, seared ahi, and the chocolate torte for dessert. christine had the dungeness crab and shitake mushroom chowder and this prime fillet atop a bed of spinach and horseradish mashed potatoes. i had dungeness crab and shitake mushroom chowder, seared ahi, and raspberry sorbet. everything was delicious. the soup was excellent. the mushrooms were cooked perfectly; not too rubbery like i was thinkin. the ahi was a lil overcooked, but it wasn't dried out and tough. it had great flavor and it was served atop wasabi mashed potatoes and shredded cabbage salad with a lite vinegarette. the raspberry sorbet was very refreshing and was topped with fresh strawberries. hil's chocolate torte was served with vanilla icecream and was verychoclate-y. christine had the creme brulee and it was served a lil chilled with 3 small pieces of fried dough. like a donut. it was very creamy. one of the best i've ever had. after a pleasant lunch, we walked down to union square. went to fao schwartz. so sad that they're goin outta business! it's like a crime that they won't be there anymore! they're like an institution! so everything was pretty much 20-40% off. i got a patrick the pup! =D the mid sized one. so cute! they ran out of bags so i had to carry him around like i was hugging him. all the kids would walk by on the streets and go, "aww! look at the doggie! mommy, i want one!" i got a few dirty looks for parents...lol. but mostly lots of "awws" and smiles. =D was gonna go to sanrio but didn't realize that they shut down! aww! went to crate and barrel to look around and then headed back to christine's. mom and dad picked me up a lil while later and we headed to lafayette. went to broadway plaza for a bit and saw some old friends. it was great to catch up with them!

around 6:30, headed back to the city with the family and auntie meadine, tamaron, and courtney. we had reservations at crustaceans. it was pretty crowded. kinda noisy, great food, and service. they're known for their crab and garlic noodles. they were also one of hte restaurants participating in the "dine about town." so most everyone had the prix fixe meal. i had the royal tiger prawns with garlic noodles, mom had the roasted crab and everyone else had the prix fixe meal: prawns and garlic noodles. for appetizers, we had shrimp and green mango rolls [think vietnamese spring rolls] with peanut dipping sauce, grilled chicken skewers, shrimp toast and this great papaya calamari salad. at first, i thot it sounded a bit...weird, but it was great. the papaya is julianned very finely with some jicama, lite tangy vinegarette and small calamari. it was very refreshing. everything was delicious. the main courses were soooo good! it was above and beyond what i expected. the crab was so flavorful. it's amazing, it's run by a huge vietnames family, the an family. only THEY know the secret receipe. there's a "secret" kitchen where only they're allowed in and they cook the crab. no other workers are allowed in there; so the receipe stays a secret. the garlic noodles were, oooo, so yummy! it wasn't gritty with bits of garlic everywhere. it was infused, loaded with flavor. highly recommended! the only real drawback to the restaurant was the noise level. it was a bit noisy, but other than that, i highly recommend the restaurant!

*sob* r.i.p maurice gibb. a legend has passed on =(

*yawn* k, off to bed, long day tomorrow. GO NINERS! =D