Writes of Passage

Leipziger Stra

West Germany was one of the first western countries to recognize Mao’s China. They have little in common except, perhaps the love for strong liquors: schnapps – distilled fruit brandies, herbal liqueurs, infusions, and flavored,
and grain distilled drinks, such as Mao Tai, Wu Liang YE and erguotou.

Friedberger Platz 3,
60316 Frankfurt,
Hesse, Germany

This Chinesischer Garten in Bethmann Park (Bethmannpark) in a dense neighborhood was a gift from Huizhou, Anhui province to Frankfurt in 1989. It’s well designed and maintained, on 4,000 sq meters.

How ever, the following day, it got burned down (中文); this is second fire to Asia gardens in Ffm within a month – Korean garden got burned too.

Terminal 4 @ JFK; the beautiful sunset.

A frequent business travel friend complained on WeChat an hour ago: “看来还是要停止抵制美联航。今天飞多伦多，试了一下porter airline。比原定时间推迟俩小时，据说雷阵雨不能按时起飞。更不方便的是脱鞋、解腰带、搜身都来了，看来美联航的Pre换了航空公司就不管用了，呵呵。” but the start of my trip is a breeze. At T4, there is no line. No taking out phone/laptop; empty your pockets. Open your purse. Take off shoes and strip search. Non of the above. Omg. It’s like pre 9/11.

With so much time on hand I shopped. For a pair of very similar sun glasses ray ban sells $160 while Prada $330. Oh well, the power of shopping.

Frankfurt airport has non working escalator like last time, which strikes me a bit unusual. It’s pretty warm too. Again no one wastes energy the way USA does.

From JFK to FRA @ sunset.

59-16 Main St
Flushing, NY 11355

Consistent. Deserves 3.5; it’s one of our go to eateries in Flushing – off downtown – right off the LIE. Street/meter parking. All are good except the texture of their scallion pancake isn’t to my liking – too soft – should be bit chewy. Shredded chill pepper and beef is bit too sweet. Fried meat buns – sheng jian baos are really good. Their juicy dumplings – xiao long bao is pretty good: better than Joe’s Shanghai but a bit less than Nan Xiang.

Driving east from Gold Star beach park is Haleside, on the east side of the Huntington Harbor (wiki).

There is a family of duckies, dad, mom and kids.

Surfside Deli on the corner of W Shore Road and Mill Dam Road (35).

Browns Rd,
Huntington, NY 11743

Browns Road turns into W Shore Road at the top, by the water. Unfortunately, a gorgeous morning turns into heavy cloud in the afternoon. Without sunshine, the beach looks rather unappetizing. But thanks heaven, it didn’t rain on the wedding.

101 Browns Rd,
Huntington, NY 11743

Wiki: this medieval French ch

159 Jericho Turnpike
Mineola, NY 11501

The stories told by Uncle Tony is the best part of the evening, and the drinks too. FYI, owner Tony Lubrano is probably half my age, and we, as far as I know, are not related – rumors stops here -:).

This Italian restaurant sits on the busy Jericho Turnpike. They’ve valet parking. 2-hr street parking, free after 6pm is also an option. The bar by the entrance is pretty big. To the right is their main dining hall and behind the bar, is another hall, good for private functions.

Uncle Tony cooked up a 10-course tasting menu, plus 3 desserts, plus a big selection of wine (Prosecco, Chardonnay, Pinot blanc/noir, Carb, Moscato … oh my). It’s a very generous (on his part) and rowdy (us) evening, 2 hours event ampliated into 3.

0) yummy bread (ciabatta?)
1) Stuffed mushroom
2) Baked Clam
3) Scallop risotto
4) Tortelloni ala vodka
5) Eggplant meatball
6) Chicken napolitano
7) Veal sorrentino
8) Dijon salmon
9) Roasted red pepper ravioli
10) Steak

Desserts: Napoleon, tiramisu and Zabaglione.

The service is great. The decor is average. the 10 courses, the first few are rather bland. Eggplant meatball is super – Uncle Tony’s mom’s invention. Veal sorrentino is good too – I do have a salty tongue. The tiramisu is super yummy. Napoleon is good too. Zabaglione (alcoholic foaming, light…) is refreshing – I ate them all … for someone who doesn’t really like desserts – this is really a big compliment. Thank you Uncle Tony and my great tablemates who made my day -:).