Wednesday, April 30, 2008
eating on the train in chinatown
it's always good going out to new restaurants with a bunch of people, especially when the menu is rather large and it would take you many return visits to try a good selection of the food. this is definitely the case when eating ethnic food (like in chinatown).
last week my college friends decided to meet for dinner at the choo choo restaurant. i've always walked by this place, but have only ever gone in once, a long, long time ago. so to me, this was a new restaurant.
the name of the restaurant is not choo choo restaurant, as you might expect. there is a neon choo choo train in the front window, which is why we (my friends) call it that. the real name of the place is pho xe lua (a viet-thai restaurant).
with nine of us there, we were ready to try everything, and we did.
the salt baked squid was better than the last time i had them at neighboring sang kee, but not as good as the when the dish is spot on there.
the papaya salad with shrimp and pork could, and should have been pre-dressed with the vinegary/not-so-spicy chile garlic sauce, which would have allowed for the green papaya to soak up the vinegar and take on some sort of flavor (raw, as is, this particular papaya was tasteless). [just to mention, i've had the best version of this dish at thai square, in arlington, va: very spicy and highly flavored with shrimp!]
the snails in lemongrass and hot peppers was ok - i'm not a connoisseur of snails, but they taste very similar to mussels, but a bit more firm. i'm guessing they had been cooked a tad bit longer than they should have been, leading to a tougher texture [or maybe i'm wrong, because again, i'm not a snail snob]. we were served a big bowl of them, with a little dish of toothpicks. you are supposed to remove the "foot" part of the snail, which is hard and similar to the shell itself, and then you use the toothpick to pry the snail out of its shell. they were tasty, and i would try the snails with coconut and basil if i were there again with a group willing to give it a try.
we also ordered frog legs in garlic butter, but i just wasn't feeling it. i passed on it, but cavin took a liking to them. i've only every had frog legs once before, many, many years ago, and i remembered them tasting like chicken.
while cavin ordered pho, i just couldn't do it because it was already so hot in the restaurant. so i opted for #305: minced shrimp on sugar cane, grilled pork balls, and bbq pork on vermicelli noodles. it was quite delicious. it was served with a side of the vinegary chile sauce, similar, if not the same, as the sauce used for the papaya salad, and the raw flank steak we ordered. one complaint was that the entire dish was served in one bowl (with lettuce at the bottom of the bowl), so it was difficult to get at the noodles. but that is a tiny negative and i would re-order this dish again any day. (and for $5.50, it's a complete steal!)
i tasted cavin's pho (#114: beef balls rice noodle soup - beef in the shape of balls, not "beef balls"!) and while it was good, i thought the broth was heavy on the star anise and i think i prefer pho 75. but that's just one opinion.
after dinner, we walked a few blocks to zen teahouse to end our meal (not our night, though) with bubble tea. my cold taro bubble tea was pretty good, and since they have hot bubble tea, i might opt for the hot taro the next time i stop by.
when we go to chinatown this friday, we'll probably try another restaurant, but maybe we'll give zen teahouse another whirl!
pho xe lua
907 race St (btwn n 9th st & n 10th st)
philadelphia, pa 19107
(215) 627-8883
zen teahouse
225 n. 11th street
philadelphia, pa 19107
(215) 629-4848
last week my college friends decided to meet for dinner at the choo choo restaurant. i've always walked by this place, but have only ever gone in once, a long, long time ago. so to me, this was a new restaurant.
the name of the restaurant is not choo choo restaurant, as you might expect. there is a neon choo choo train in the front window, which is why we (my friends) call it that. the real name of the place is pho xe lua (a viet-thai restaurant).
with nine of us there, we were ready to try everything, and we did.
the salt baked squid was better than the last time i had them at neighboring sang kee, but not as good as the when the dish is spot on there.
the papaya salad with shrimp and pork could, and should have been pre-dressed with the vinegary/not-so-spicy chile garlic sauce, which would have allowed for the green papaya to soak up the vinegar and take on some sort of flavor (raw, as is, this particular papaya was tasteless). [just to mention, i've had the best version of this dish at thai square, in arlington, va: very spicy and highly flavored with shrimp!]
the snails in lemongrass and hot peppers was ok - i'm not a connoisseur of snails, but they taste very similar to mussels, but a bit more firm. i'm guessing they had been cooked a tad bit longer than they should have been, leading to a tougher texture [or maybe i'm wrong, because again, i'm not a snail snob]. we were served a big bowl of them, with a little dish of toothpicks. you are supposed to remove the "foot" part of the snail, which is hard and similar to the shell itself, and then you use the toothpick to pry the snail out of its shell. they were tasty, and i would try the snails with coconut and basil if i were there again with a group willing to give it a try.
we also ordered frog legs in garlic butter, but i just wasn't feeling it. i passed on it, but cavin took a liking to them. i've only every had frog legs once before, many, many years ago, and i remembered them tasting like chicken.
while cavin ordered pho, i just couldn't do it because it was already so hot in the restaurant. so i opted for #305: minced shrimp on sugar cane, grilled pork balls, and bbq pork on vermicelli noodles. it was quite delicious. it was served with a side of the vinegary chile sauce, similar, if not the same, as the sauce used for the papaya salad, and the raw flank steak we ordered. one complaint was that the entire dish was served in one bowl (with lettuce at the bottom of the bowl), so it was difficult to get at the noodles. but that is a tiny negative and i would re-order this dish again any day. (and for $5.50, it's a complete steal!)
i tasted cavin's pho (#114: beef balls rice noodle soup - beef in the shape of balls, not "beef balls"!) and while it was good, i thought the broth was heavy on the star anise and i think i prefer pho 75. but that's just one opinion.
after dinner, we walked a few blocks to zen teahouse to end our meal (not our night, though) with bubble tea. my cold taro bubble tea was pretty good, and since they have hot bubble tea, i might opt for the hot taro the next time i stop by.
when we go to chinatown this friday, we'll probably try another restaurant, but maybe we'll give zen teahouse another whirl!
pho xe lua
907 race St (btwn n 9th st & n 10th st)
philadelphia, pa 19107
(215) 627-8883
zen teahouse
225 n. 11th street
philadelphia, pa 19107
(215) 629-4848
Monday, April 28, 2008
duck prosciutto
holy crap. tonight cavin and i discovered the joys of our first homemade charcuterie! but before i get into it, let me first tell you how we started down this road.about a year and a half ago, while we were living in dc, we decided to press our luck by ordering a half hog from a butcher leigh knew. since the first year turned out quite well, we decided to go for it again in 2007. needless to say, we haven't used up all the pork yet, and it was taking up a lot of room in my parents' new freezer. after reading through jacques' complete techniques, we thought, 'what the hell?' and decided to dry cure a ham.
i'm a little pissed at myself for not documenting the process more, but basically we took a ~5 lb. ham (organic), salted it for about 2 weeks, draining the liquid every so often, removed all the salt, rubbed it with garlic and cracked peppercorns, wrapped it with cheesecloth, and hung it the garage. we're supposed to let it sit for 6 months or longer. we did this march 13, so if we waited the obligatory amount of time, it would be ready for my birthday.
fast forward one month later. i was reading ruhlman's blog on curing and i had this hankering to buy his (and brian polcyn's) charcuterie book. as we were driving home from work, we took a mini detour and stopped by the bookstore to pick up a copy.
ruhlman says, 'Duck breast is one of the easiest dry-cured items to prepare at home. Duck breasts are widely available, and their size is perfectly manageable. Even a frozen store-bought breast of duck will provide results that will surprise you, especially if you've never cured your own meats, yielding a rich prosciutto-like flavor.' [p.54, charcuterie]
as soon as we read this, cavin and i immediately got to steppin'!
we couldn't find duck breast, but we did find a whole duck, which i ended up butchering myself, in the hopes to maybe confit the legs (but we didn't have enough rendered duck fat so we'll try again once we've save up enough fat).
anyway, we basically did the same thing we did for the ham: we salted the duck breasts for 2 days in the fridge, removed the salt, dusted with white pepper, wrapped each breast in cheesecloth, and hung it next to our friend (the ham) in the garage for 1 week. so guess what today was?!?
here's a picture of the two duck breasts after drying for one week. i have to admit that the breasts were thin to begin with, but since this was our first attempt, we continued on, wanting to see how it would turn out. the breast at the top of the picture is skin side down; the white stuff is the white pepper that we sprinkled on it. the bottom breast is skin side up.
this is a picture of one of the breasts after i thinly shaved pieces off. you can see that the breast is a deep red color (which is how it's supposed to look), and you can see that there is a lot of fat on the breast (cavin and i haven't been eating the fat, though, it's perfectly acceptable, as you would if you were eating a traditional piece of thinly sliced prosciutto. 
it tastes a bit salty - we could have probably adjusted the salting period, based on the thickness of the breasts. ah, maybe next time. but anyway, prosciutto is supposed to be salty!
but the fact that we ate a piece of duck that we never really cooked, and am still alive to write about it makes this, in my book, a successful attempt. we're taking this as a sign of good things to come in the fall/winter when we uncover our dry-cure ham project. i can't freaking wait!
Labels: cooking
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
debunking the yunk
so ever since cavin and i decided to take the plunge and become homeowners in manayunk, we've been trying to embrace our inner meathead by hanging out on main street. [there is future in a spin-off blog on manayunk, but for now i'll keep everything in kalat-o-scope. though, i have now added a manayunk tag.]
whenever i have been back visiting philly in the past 10 or so years i've been living elsewhere, i've only hung out in manayunk a handful of times. it always felt so cheesy and the people that hang out are so young, and so naive (and so god damn annoying), that i've avoided it at all costs. in fact, the only times i've hung out in the 'yunk since i turned 21 were times when other people dragged me there.
but now that this is our soon-to-be neighborhood, i'd better start owning it. and so it begins.
i'll hopefully be dedicating a separate blog entry to a different establishment in manayunk (or even roxborough, maybe east falls and mount airy, too).
stay tuned to see if kalat-o-scope can get motivated and find a decent place to hang out! hehe
whenever i have been back visiting philly in the past 10 or so years i've been living elsewhere, i've only hung out in manayunk a handful of times. it always felt so cheesy and the people that hang out are so young, and so naive (and so god damn annoying), that i've avoided it at all costs. in fact, the only times i've hung out in the 'yunk since i turned 21 were times when other people dragged me there.
but now that this is our soon-to-be neighborhood, i'd better start owning it. and so it begins.
i'll hopefully be dedicating a separate blog entry to a different establishment in manayunk (or even roxborough, maybe east falls and mount airy, too).
stay tuned to see if kalat-o-scope can get motivated and find a decent place to hang out! hehe
Labels: manayunk
Friday, April 18, 2008
korea, an neong ha seh yo!
when i think of my blossoming love affair with korean food, i think of that fateful day at hill center registering for my first classes in grad school, where it all began.
three asians (one of them me) sat on the bench in the hallway outside of room 501, waiting in line to see the secretary. when one of them left to register for her classes, i was left with who i now know as sung hee, and that was the beginning of our friendship. but had i gotten there a bit earlier or a bit later, i could have befriended the chinese girl and would have been gushing about my love for chinese food. or the chinese girl could have befriended sung hee, and you would be reading a chinese girl's blog professing her love for korean cuisine. but alas, it was i who became entangled in the bibimbap mix (and brought cavin with me).
after leaving new brunswick and all the korean joints in nj, cavin and i explored the korean restaurant scene in dc and outlying areas. so when we moved back to philly, we had to start from scratch and see if we could unearth the holy korean bbq.
some research later, we discovered that philly does indeed "do" korean in the form of our own little koreatown. armed with this knowledge, and the fact that we basically drive near this part of town to get to hong kong supermarket, we ventured out to olney to reconnect with our inner mandu.
what did we find? one place was a small korean noodle house on cheltenham ave that hand draws their own noodles. nothing was written in english, but as we looked around, everyone seemed to be eating either a big bowl of the seafood noodle soup, or the black bean noodles - so of course, we got both. while it was tasty (and rather cheap, if i can recall correctly), we left still in search of good ol' fashioned korean bbq.
Cheltenham Seafood Noodle Shop
401 W. Cheltenham Ave.
215-635-3959
the next place we found was actually not in koreatown, but in north wales, of all places. koko restaurant is next to the assi plaza, an asian grocery store, reminicent of h-mart. koko restaurant opened up fairly recently and we decided to take our chances - plus, we knew where they were getting all of their ingredients...
they had electric grills at only some of the tables, and i recall the prices being fair. i remember that the panchan was a little lacking (maybe only 3-4 varieties), and the portion of kalbi was a little smaller than i expected. that said, it's still a good fix if you are out in the suburbs, jonesing for korean bbq.
korean bbq koko
1222 welsh road
north wales, pa 19454
(215) 412-4300
around the same time cavin and i started to really search for korean restaurants, the philly inquirer came out with a timely piece on koreatown. the day before the article came out though, we already had plans to try korean fried chicken we had heard so much about down in dc.
apparently there is a lounge on cheltenham ave, soho cafe, that serves only one food item on their menu: bon chon chicken. we went and picked up 2 boxes of mixed spicy/mild chicken wings and were completely blown away. one box had 20 pieces of large chicken wings, a container of cubed daikon radish, a can of soda, and a cute magnet for the fridge with their info on it. the coating is so amazing - it's light and airy and the technique used to fry the chicken allows the skin of the chicken to be super crispy. i remembered reading a nytimes article about the korean fried chicken, but i wasn't expecting it to actually be this addicting! [and now i understand sung hee's unwaivering devotion for fried chicken, like popeyes - if only we had found a bon chon in the area!]
be aware though, the frying technique takes time, so i'd advise you to call 30 minutes ahead of time to place an order, or be prepared to hang out in the soho cafe lounge and wait. oh, and while an order of 20 wings (with daikon radish and soda) is $20, it's totally worth it. trust me.
Cafe Soho
468 W. Cheltenham Ave.
215-224-6800
finally, i treated the fam out to our most recent korean outing at everyday good house. the service was great and they serve alcohol. there were 7-8 varieties of panchan, our kalbi and bulgogi were intensely flavored, and they were more than willing to keep refilling our requests for more of the japchae panchan (which my mom loved).
each diner received a small dish of seasoned sesame oil and fermented soybean paste for our bbq. this is something that i hadn't seen before in all of my korean restaurant experiences to date (except i think they did that at koko), but it was a welcomed custom, especially when eating the grilled, unmarinated pork belly.
another korean custom that i KNOW sung hee has recounted tales of is getting a room at a karaoke bar, drinking with friends and getting sloshed while singing neil diamond tunes. apparently the building that houses everyday good house also has these karaoke rooms of which i speak. cavin and i have yet to go, but maybe in the future we'll build up enough courage and take the plunge. i mean, it IS a private room, so why not?
Everyday Good House
5501 N. Front St.
Philadelphia, PA 19120
215-276-7942; New World Karaoke 215-549-7942
three asians (one of them me) sat on the bench in the hallway outside of room 501, waiting in line to see the secretary. when one of them left to register for her classes, i was left with who i now know as sung hee, and that was the beginning of our friendship. but had i gotten there a bit earlier or a bit later, i could have befriended the chinese girl and would have been gushing about my love for chinese food. or the chinese girl could have befriended sung hee, and you would be reading a chinese girl's blog professing her love for korean cuisine. but alas, it was i who became entangled in the bibimbap mix (and brought cavin with me).
after leaving new brunswick and all the korean joints in nj, cavin and i explored the korean restaurant scene in dc and outlying areas. so when we moved back to philly, we had to start from scratch and see if we could unearth the holy korean bbq.
some research later, we discovered that philly does indeed "do" korean in the form of our own little koreatown. armed with this knowledge, and the fact that we basically drive near this part of town to get to hong kong supermarket, we ventured out to olney to reconnect with our inner mandu.
what did we find? one place was a small korean noodle house on cheltenham ave that hand draws their own noodles. nothing was written in english, but as we looked around, everyone seemed to be eating either a big bowl of the seafood noodle soup, or the black bean noodles - so of course, we got both. while it was tasty (and rather cheap, if i can recall correctly), we left still in search of good ol' fashioned korean bbq.
Cheltenham Seafood Noodle Shop
401 W. Cheltenham Ave.
215-635-3959
the next place we found was actually not in koreatown, but in north wales, of all places. koko restaurant is next to the assi plaza, an asian grocery store, reminicent of h-mart. koko restaurant opened up fairly recently and we decided to take our chances - plus, we knew where they were getting all of their ingredients...
they had electric grills at only some of the tables, and i recall the prices being fair. i remember that the panchan was a little lacking (maybe only 3-4 varieties), and the portion of kalbi was a little smaller than i expected. that said, it's still a good fix if you are out in the suburbs, jonesing for korean bbq.
korean bbq koko
1222 welsh road
north wales, pa 19454
(215) 412-4300
around the same time cavin and i started to really search for korean restaurants, the philly inquirer came out with a timely piece on koreatown. the day before the article came out though, we already had plans to try korean fried chicken we had heard so much about down in dc.
apparently there is a lounge on cheltenham ave, soho cafe, that serves only one food item on their menu: bon chon chicken. we went and picked up 2 boxes of mixed spicy/mild chicken wings and were completely blown away. one box had 20 pieces of large chicken wings, a container of cubed daikon radish, a can of soda, and a cute magnet for the fridge with their info on it. the coating is so amazing - it's light and airy and the technique used to fry the chicken allows the skin of the chicken to be super crispy. i remembered reading a nytimes article about the korean fried chicken, but i wasn't expecting it to actually be this addicting! [and now i understand sung hee's unwaivering devotion for fried chicken, like popeyes - if only we had found a bon chon in the area!]
be aware though, the frying technique takes time, so i'd advise you to call 30 minutes ahead of time to place an order, or be prepared to hang out in the soho cafe lounge and wait. oh, and while an order of 20 wings (with daikon radish and soda) is $20, it's totally worth it. trust me.
Cafe Soho
468 W. Cheltenham Ave.
215-224-6800
finally, i treated the fam out to our most recent korean outing at everyday good house. the service was great and they serve alcohol. there were 7-8 varieties of panchan, our kalbi and bulgogi were intensely flavored, and they were more than willing to keep refilling our requests for more of the japchae panchan (which my mom loved).
each diner received a small dish of seasoned sesame oil and fermented soybean paste for our bbq. this is something that i hadn't seen before in all of my korean restaurant experiences to date (except i think they did that at koko), but it was a welcomed custom, especially when eating the grilled, unmarinated pork belly.
another korean custom that i KNOW sung hee has recounted tales of is getting a room at a karaoke bar, drinking with friends and getting sloshed while singing neil diamond tunes. apparently the building that houses everyday good house also has these karaoke rooms of which i speak. cavin and i have yet to go, but maybe in the future we'll build up enough courage and take the plunge. i mean, it IS a private room, so why not?
Everyday Good House
5501 N. Front St.
Philadelphia, PA 19120
215-276-7942; New World Karaoke 215-549-7942
Labels: philly, restaurant
amada, or should i say, a-MEH-da
i'm behind on my blogging about restaurants so hopefully today i'll get to post a whole slew of mini reviews of the places that we've been in the past 3 weeks or so.
cavin's birthday was in the beginning of april, and since we've been living with the 'rents, i thought it would be nice to get out and do something, so i not-so-secretly made a reservation to amada, with high expectations. before his birthday date night, i kept dreaming of a philly version of jose andres, since amada was created by another jose, jose garces, and because, quite frankly, i was missing the dc dining scene.
i already posted a reply to don rock's post on the alleged fantastic restaurant on donrockwell, but it bears repeating below:
yeah, so basically that's it. oh, i did neglect to mention my thoughts on the seating. while the space inside is quite cozy and warm, there are many tables that are up against the wall, so that there are chairs on one side, and bench seating on the other. while i don't mind the padded benches, i DO mind the fact that when you sit on them, they sink down so that you are basically a whole foot lower than your dining companions at the other end of the table. it really makes for awkward conversation (cavin sitting up high staring down at me) and i felt like i was a little kid again, barely being able to see above table height.
amada
217 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Phone: 215-625-2450
cavin's birthday was in the beginning of april, and since we've been living with the 'rents, i thought it would be nice to get out and do something, so i not-so-secretly made a reservation to amada, with high expectations. before his birthday date night, i kept dreaming of a philly version of jose andres, since amada was created by another jose, jose garces, and because, quite frankly, i was missing the dc dining scene.
i already posted a reply to don rock's post on the alleged fantastic restaurant on donrockwell, but it bears repeating below:
QUOTE(DonRocks @ Jan 24 2008, 11:15 AM)
I went into Amada with high expectations, given that its chef, Jose Garces, was a 2007 finalist for the Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic James Beard Award.
Eleven dishes later, and $240 poorer, I can say with confidence that Amada - at least on this night - wasn't even as good as the downtown Jaleo, and considering that it's a much smaller operation, that's saying something.
The highlights of the evening were the Sangria, a glass of Godello, the dip brought before the meal, and the dessert. In between came an armada of courses, ranging from decent (Albóndigas ($11), Amada's Empanada ($12) Chipirónes A La Plancha ($5)), to mediocre (Pulpo A La Gallega ($11), Boquerones ($12), Piquillos Rellenos ($12), to poor (Gambas al Ajillo ($9), Entrecote A La Plancha ($15)), to inedibly salty (Patatas Bravas ($4), Caldo Gallego ($7)).
. . .
Cheers,
Rocks.
QUOTE(purplesachi @Apr 9 2008, 12:22 PM)
i wholeheartedly agree about amada. politburo and i went this past saturday and the best thing i had that night might have been the dessert (banana torrijas). nothing was memorable, except the extremely saltiness of every dish we tried (boquerones, pulpo, patatas bravas, etc). the pato con datiles (duck confit flatbread) could have been any meat other than duck and it was extremely greasy. the hamachi special was seared too much, creating a rubbery, tough texture to the fish. and the dip brought before the meal was reminiscent of canned tuna and capers swimming in an excess of mayo and olive oil.
on top of the mediocre food, there was a very loud table at the front (next to the window) that almost started a fight with the table nearest to them (because they were asked to keep it down a bit). the waitress knew they were loud yet didn't do anything about it.
i'll give tinto a try, but i don't think i'll be heading back to amada any time soon. *sigh*
yeah, so basically that's it. oh, i did neglect to mention my thoughts on the seating. while the space inside is quite cozy and warm, there are many tables that are up against the wall, so that there are chairs on one side, and bench seating on the other. while i don't mind the padded benches, i DO mind the fact that when you sit on them, they sink down so that you are basically a whole foot lower than your dining companions at the other end of the table. it really makes for awkward conversation (cavin sitting up high staring down at me) and i felt like i was a little kid again, barely being able to see above table height.
amada
217 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Phone: 215-625-2450
Labels: philly, restaurant
Friday, April 04, 2008
missing jackie
at the end of february, during a break in a training class i was attending, i stumbled into a conversation about hair salons.
girl 1: ... yes, i got my hair cut, but this was a few weeks ago. i got it all chopped off! An did such a good job! i love him! did you know i work there as a massage therapist?
girl 2: oooh! i didn't know! i LOVE An also! he's the only person i ever let cut my hair!
me: are you talking about hair salons? i've been looking for a good place to get my hair cut, because i'm really nervous about paying a lot of money for a haircut that sucks.
girl 2: oh! then you should DEFINITELY go to heaven and earth - it's in lafayette hill. you should have An cut your hair. see this? see my hair? this is An's work. i don't even have to blow dry my hair! it just dries naturally like this! TOTALLY go to heaven and earth and get your hair cut by An!
girl 1: yeah, you should go there - the only thing is that An doesn't do "updo's". but other than that, he's REALLY good. here's the phone number. definitely make an appointment.
me: sure, why not? i'll give it a try. thanks!
so, i made an appointment to get my haircut by the alleged amazing An. i'm picturing this total diva, perhaps with stylistics similar to Christian, from project runway. i mean, what kind of person (guy) has the name "An", except an over-the-top, self-righteous prima donna?
but before i go into the details of heaven and earth and this "An" character, let's review the conversation i had weeks before my fate, which might have hinted at what was to come...
clue #1: i was in a training class AT WORK. no shortage of khaki pants and tacky color coordinated sweaters and cardigans here! i should have guessed that the people dressing like color coordinated robots get their hair cut at robot salons.
clue #2: the salon is in lafayette hill. while i don't doubt that there are some trendsters in the area, i would bet my mittens that the majority of people going to this salon are suburbanites and that more style-conscious peeps are not traveling to the suburbs to get their hair styled.
clue #3: girl #2's uninspired hair cut. she basically had long (down to the middle of her back), straight, hair. no layering. no angles. just cut straight across. !?!? like that is supposed to show off "the amazing An" and his prowess with scissors? pul-leeze. i just cut jano's hair a few weeks ago and i think i did a better job than what An did with girl #2's hair...and i don't even get PAID to cut hair!
but, my hair was just getting too long since my last haircut several months ago. i didn't have any other leads, so i thought, well, maybe it won't be that bad...
i was really nervous all day before my haircut, and with good reason. when i parked the car, i was thinking, 'well, this can't be that bad." heaven and earth is in a house that was converted to a salon. when i was walking up to the door, i noticed a woman walking out - a middle aged lady whose hair didn't look terrible, but looked very unremarkable.
once inside, the lady at the front desk was an older woman (no hair style whatsoever). she was nice enough, but as i started to look around, everything there seemed to scream, "WE ARE MEDIOCRE IF YOU PLEASE!" (teen magazine in the waiting area; Q102 music blasting from the speakers; no younger people). yet, i went against my better judgement and still hoped for the best. plus, i didn't yet meet the amazing and mysterious An!
to say that i was disappointed when I met An is an understatement. he wasn't a diva in any way, shape, or form. most importantly, his hair wasn't styled (or even cut) remarkably, plus he was going gray. and, the mysteriousness of his name was debunked: he was vietnamese. (i was secretly hoping that it was short for something fantastic, like Anwanatobioshizimbabwe - and maybe it is, but after one look at him, i didn't really care anymore.) but still, i was hoping for the best...
i showed him a picture of what my hair used to look like after jackie cut it and i asked, "do you think you can cut my hair like this?" and unequivocally, he stated, "of course!" and started hacking away. and it seemed like everything was on course until he started blow drying my hair.
i took my glasses off during most of my haircut, but something didn't feel right. i felt bristles scraping my scalp, very similar to bristles that would be on a ROUNDED brush. i quickly asked, "maybe you want to blow dry my hair straight? isn't that a ROUND brush you are using?" the response i got was, "oh, i'm just giving your hair some body, that's all. it's so fine that it needs body." to which i responded, "are you sure? i think you should blow it straight" but he reassured me that it would be fine.
then i said, "please don't cut my bangs so short because i don't want them getting into my eyes" and he reassured me that they would be fine. then later he used the small rounded bristle brush to curl my bangs. (yes, i just said that he CURLED my bangs!)
finally i put my glasses on. he handed me a mirror and spun me around and said, "i didn't stack it as much as you wanted in the back," (i.e. he didn't cut it that short in the back AT ALL, which basically meant he didn't cut my hair like in the picture i showed him at the start). when i saw what he did, my first reaction was shock. he totally had styled my hair as if i was some senior citizen working the streets in north philly. all i needed was uber red lipstick and blue eyeshadow to make the look complete. "oh, uh, thanks. it looks...pretty ok."
then he handed me his business card and told me to call in the future for my next appointment. as i walked to the front desk, i felt embarrased that i let him style my hair the way that he did. did he see me as a complete idiot? (apparently so, since he cut my hair to look one.) i tried to get out of there as quickly as possible.
driving away in my car, there were moist cheeks and screams coming from the mess that i was. by the time i made it home, i was livid that i had spent all that money for an awful haircut. i made a scene when i walked in the door and my parents thought something terrible had happened to me. "LOOK AT THIS! LOOK AT THIS!!!" my dad was nice, "it looks good." meanwhile, my mom could see that it wasn't good. but she was on the phone and couldn't console me.
i immediately ran upstairs and washed my hair, muttering swear words at An and at myself for not knowing better. after it dried, it wasn't necessarily as bad as it could have been: he left it longer than i wanted, though the bangs were shorter than what i asked for.
my saving grace was telling myself that because he left it long, when i get it cut in the near future (NOT by An, or anyone else in that old folks home they are calling heaven and earth), i would still have enough hair to get it styled properly.
so... to sum it all up:
1. don't go to heaven and earth
2. don't get your hair cut by any vietnamese person named An
3. don't listen to co-workers in corporate america about where to get your hair cut
4. do trust your instincts
5. don't betray the all-knowing and most awesome stylest, jackie.
girl 1: ... yes, i got my hair cut, but this was a few weeks ago. i got it all chopped off! An did such a good job! i love him! did you know i work there as a massage therapist?
girl 2: oooh! i didn't know! i LOVE An also! he's the only person i ever let cut my hair!
me: are you talking about hair salons? i've been looking for a good place to get my hair cut, because i'm really nervous about paying a lot of money for a haircut that sucks.
girl 2: oh! then you should DEFINITELY go to heaven and earth - it's in lafayette hill. you should have An cut your hair. see this? see my hair? this is An's work. i don't even have to blow dry my hair! it just dries naturally like this! TOTALLY go to heaven and earth and get your hair cut by An!
girl 1: yeah, you should go there - the only thing is that An doesn't do "updo's". but other than that, he's REALLY good. here's the phone number. definitely make an appointment.
me: sure, why not? i'll give it a try. thanks!
so, i made an appointment to get my haircut by the alleged amazing An. i'm picturing this total diva, perhaps with stylistics similar to Christian, from project runway. i mean, what kind of person (guy) has the name "An", except an over-the-top, self-righteous prima donna?
but before i go into the details of heaven and earth and this "An" character, let's review the conversation i had weeks before my fate, which might have hinted at what was to come...
clue #1: i was in a training class AT WORK. no shortage of khaki pants and tacky color coordinated sweaters and cardigans here! i should have guessed that the people dressing like color coordinated robots get their hair cut at robot salons.
clue #2: the salon is in lafayette hill. while i don't doubt that there are some trendsters in the area, i would bet my mittens that the majority of people going to this salon are suburbanites and that more style-conscious peeps are not traveling to the suburbs to get their hair styled.
clue #3: girl #2's uninspired hair cut. she basically had long (down to the middle of her back), straight, hair. no layering. no angles. just cut straight across. !?!? like that is supposed to show off "the amazing An" and his prowess with scissors? pul-leeze. i just cut jano's hair a few weeks ago and i think i did a better job than what An did with girl #2's hair...and i don't even get PAID to cut hair!
but, my hair was just getting too long since my last haircut several months ago. i didn't have any other leads, so i thought, well, maybe it won't be that bad...
i was really nervous all day before my haircut, and with good reason. when i parked the car, i was thinking, 'well, this can't be that bad." heaven and earth is in a house that was converted to a salon. when i was walking up to the door, i noticed a woman walking out - a middle aged lady whose hair didn't look terrible, but looked very unremarkable.
once inside, the lady at the front desk was an older woman (no hair style whatsoever). she was nice enough, but as i started to look around, everything there seemed to scream, "WE ARE MEDIOCRE IF YOU PLEASE!" (teen magazine in the waiting area; Q102 music blasting from the speakers; no younger people). yet, i went against my better judgement and still hoped for the best. plus, i didn't yet meet the amazing and mysterious An!
to say that i was disappointed when I met An is an understatement. he wasn't a diva in any way, shape, or form. most importantly, his hair wasn't styled (or even cut) remarkably, plus he was going gray. and, the mysteriousness of his name was debunked: he was vietnamese. (i was secretly hoping that it was short for something fantastic, like Anwanatobioshizimbabwe - and maybe it is, but after one look at him, i didn't really care anymore.) but still, i was hoping for the best...
i showed him a picture of what my hair used to look like after jackie cut it and i asked, "do you think you can cut my hair like this?" and unequivocally, he stated, "of course!" and started hacking away. and it seemed like everything was on course until he started blow drying my hair.
i took my glasses off during most of my haircut, but something didn't feel right. i felt bristles scraping my scalp, very similar to bristles that would be on a ROUNDED brush. i quickly asked, "maybe you want to blow dry my hair straight? isn't that a ROUND brush you are using?" the response i got was, "oh, i'm just giving your hair some body, that's all. it's so fine that it needs body." to which i responded, "are you sure? i think you should blow it straight" but he reassured me that it would be fine.
then i said, "please don't cut my bangs so short because i don't want them getting into my eyes" and he reassured me that they would be fine. then later he used the small rounded bristle brush to curl my bangs. (yes, i just said that he CURLED my bangs!)
finally i put my glasses on. he handed me a mirror and spun me around and said, "i didn't stack it as much as you wanted in the back," (i.e. he didn't cut it that short in the back AT ALL, which basically meant he didn't cut my hair like in the picture i showed him at the start). when i saw what he did, my first reaction was shock. he totally had styled my hair as if i was some senior citizen working the streets in north philly. all i needed was uber red lipstick and blue eyeshadow to make the look complete. "oh, uh, thanks. it looks...pretty ok."
then he handed me his business card and told me to call in the future for my next appointment. as i walked to the front desk, i felt embarrased that i let him style my hair the way that he did. did he see me as a complete idiot? (apparently so, since he cut my hair to look one.) i tried to get out of there as quickly as possible.
driving away in my car, there were moist cheeks and screams coming from the mess that i was. by the time i made it home, i was livid that i had spent all that money for an awful haircut. i made a scene when i walked in the door and my parents thought something terrible had happened to me. "LOOK AT THIS! LOOK AT THIS!!!" my dad was nice, "it looks good." meanwhile, my mom could see that it wasn't good. but she was on the phone and couldn't console me.
i immediately ran upstairs and washed my hair, muttering swear words at An and at myself for not knowing better. after it dried, it wasn't necessarily as bad as it could have been: he left it longer than i wanted, though the bangs were shorter than what i asked for.
my saving grace was telling myself that because he left it long, when i get it cut in the near future (NOT by An, or anyone else in that old folks home they are calling heaven and earth), i would still have enough hair to get it styled properly.
so... to sum it all up:
1. don't go to heaven and earth
2. don't get your hair cut by any vietnamese person named An
3. don't listen to co-workers in corporate america about where to get your hair cut
4. do trust your instincts
5. don't betray the all-knowing and most awesome stylest, jackie.
Labels: chaos