Off to New York!  I'm checked in for both of my flights today! 

Except I've run into a minor issue - the Niners are playing at 5pm, my flight is at 6pm.  I wonder how much traffic there will be... 

Now, issue number two:  the kindness of a tall stranger to put my luggage in the overhead bin, since I'm just way too short to do it myself.  I know this is on the list of "flight attendant pet peeves" and that I should just check the bag, but damnit, they charge $20 per bag to check it!  Forget that!

I'm back Monday night, and barely conscious on Tuesday.  Let's see how long the jet lag lasts.

My friend insists on bringing five coats to New York.  She wants different ones for each pictures.  Apparently we can't take the coat off and put it back on, but whatever.  She did the same thing in Europe too, and if I recall correctly, she wore the same coat almost the entire time.

If TSA searches her, I'm making a run for it. 

I am stuck on what coats to bring.  Here are my options, ladies.

I took these pics all by myself, too.  I put my camera on it's side in the bathroom, set the timer, and scooted back.  I could see the live view in the reflection in the mirror, so I actually got semi decent shots.  The hubs was looking at me funny as I kept scurrying back and forth from the bathroom.


Option 1:  A dark blue pea coat I got at the Gap last year.  I love that I can move in it, but in the warmth department, it doesn't hold up as well.


Option 2:  A black coat that goes down past my behind and is extremely extremely warm.  It also has a hood.  Also purchased at Gap years ago and I don't think I've ever worn it but just couldn't bring myself to give it away.


Option 3:  A cream colored longer length coat that I got at Costco probably going on five years ago.  It's also very warm, and almost elegant looking.  I just worry I'll look like a blimp if photographed in this coat.

Side note:  I bought options 2 and 3 while living in LA.  I don't recall there ever being a winter even remotely close enough to needing an actual coat.  What was I thinking?!

If I had room, I'd be tempted to bring them all, but I think I'm only going to bring two.  Which coats would you wear?

Normally, I would not choose to go to Ming's.  For Chinese food, they are EXTREMELY overpriced and not good.  I haven't had many good experiences there.

But for our holiday lunch this year at work, we decided to do Chinese because it's easy and cheaper.  Ming's also has a nice atmosphere and we can easily isolate 80 people in one room there.  And it has a huge parking lot, big plus.  So we decided to scope them out and see if it had improved, since someone else told us the food was a shade better.

As we arrived, the host seated us pretty promptly.  From there, we were ignored.  Chinese restaurants may have bad service, but this was even below that.  Definitely, minus one point.  And they were way too quick to get me my bill and have me pay.  Minus another point.  It took them a while to get us menus, and when we asked for a full menu so we could see what was available for large groups, she was pretty rude about it.  I should have removed another buck from the tip.  Hrmph.


So far, not good if the teapot is this gross.

Ming's is in need of a renovation.  The carpet looks very dated, and the walls need a new coat of paint.  There are dings in all the doors from the dim sum carts.

We decide to order from the lunch menu.  My boss orders cashew shrimp and I get general's chicken.

First, it comes with hot and sour soup:


Not bad, but not great.  It's barely passable.  It is thick, and definitely hot and sour but not as flavorful as it could be.  The one at my local chinese restaurant is much better.


The lunch special comes with their chinese chicken salad and vegetarian fried rice.  The salad was pretty good - the chicken was well cooked, and it had a good amount of dressing that wasn't overly heavy.

The fried rice was bland as heck.  I had to use sauce from the general's chicken to give it flavor.

As for the general's chicken itself, it wasn't quite the disaster I was expecting.  The pieces of chicken were fried well, and there was a good of amount of sauce.  Even though the menu said it was spicy, it wasn't spicy at all. 

Overall, probably a 2.5 star place at best.  The outside of the restaurant looks good from afar, but inside it's such a hot mess. The service was bad, and that fried rice really needed something.  PLUS this was EXPENSIVE.  A complete lunch like this is usually 13.75!!!  Are you frickin kidding me?!  It was the special of the day for "only" 11.75.  Good grief.  My boss' cashew shrimp was 14.75.  Rip.  Off.

My local chinese food joint in RWC has lunch specials for 8 bucks.  You get a (crappy) salad, a lot of fried rice, a big and delicious portion of an entree of your choice, and hot and sour soup.  I'd rather go there. 

Oh and to the dim sum chefs at Mings:  invest in covers for your darn food!  I know it's convenient to leave the tops off so that people can see what you have,  but ugh that just seems gross and unsanitary.  Especially if no one picks something off the cart in a while - the tops of the food may get cold.