Sylvie's Crew
On Saturday was the first time I helped volunteer with my cousin Sylvie. Usually once a month, she gathers a couple of friends to contribute some food or money and creates a lunch for a needy organization. This time around, it was for the N Street Village organization that helps out with women who are homeless or recovering from drug addiction or mental illness.
I made my way downtown and walked into the Bethany Women's Center, where the food would be served. As I walked in, I was the only guy in the place, being stared at by whole bunch of women. I was a little nervous trying to look for Sylvie, but luckily, a member of their staff knew right away I was looking for her. She guided me to the kitchen and I finally saw Sylvie & Jenny. Later we were joined by Nichole, Joy, and Christine.
On the lunch menu that day, Sylvie decided to create some pizzas, pasta, and salad. Sylvie had some home made pizza dough in which Jenny, Joy, Nichole, and Christine helped make a variety of pizza pies and the pasta. And I'm not joking about the variety.. white pizza, cheese with tomato sauce, vegetable, pepperoni, pepperoni and olives, white pizza with pepperoni, combination with turkey sausage.. and there might be another one that I'm missing. Nikki and I were on salad duty. We were a little slow, but now that we know what we are doing, we'll be more efficient next time :P Oh, and I forgot, Joy brought some awesome ginger snap cookies for desert.
We were able to finish up everything in 2hrs and were ready to serve by noon. The ladies lined up as we served them pasta, salad, and three slices of pizza. There was still room for leftovers and we encouraged them to eat some more. One cute elderly lady came up for a vegetable slice to go. As she walked away, she took a big whiff of the pizza, exhaled "Ahhhh" and smiled at us. That right there.. made my day. It was such a great experience that I hope I will be able to do it again. I think it's pretty amazing that my cousin has been organizing, taking lead and doing this for quite some time now. I believe now, we are known as Sylvie's Crew. Be on the lookout for where we'll be next haha.
Ping Pong Dim Sum
Ok, with a name like that.. how can I not try this place out? Ping Pong Dim Sum is a London based restaurant that just opened up recently in downtown DC. It's right on 7th street in Chinatown/Verizon Center. I met up with my college buddies, Christy, Mantik, Jenn and Almond.
The menu offered a pretty interesting variety, however from what I noticed, it was a lot of seafood related dishes. The restaurant recommends that each person should get 3-4 dishes. Each dish costs anywhere from $2-7, which is a bit pricey. We all ordered a good amount, at least that's what we thought. Each dish had 3 portions, which is not good when you need to split it up for 5 people. We cut everything in half and ate from there. Overall, the food tasted pretty good, but the portions were way too small and way to expensive. Definitely not a great bang for the buck. By the end of it, we were still starving. Right after, we ended up driving to Centreville to feast at BBQ Chicken & Beer which more then satisfied our hunger. Terigold is still my flavor of choice!
I'd only recommend Ping Pong Dim Sum for Happy Hours. Small portions, hopefully some cheaper prices, drinks and a nice atmosphere could be the right setting and reasons for you to visit. If you are going there for true dim sum feasting... then look elsewhere or be prepared for a big bill. And also on a side note, the Flowering Jasmine & Lily tea is quite cool. It actually sprouts at the bottom of your glass with a flower in the middle. It's like a secret garden inside your tea glass haha. But the taste is too subtle. C for taste, and an A for the wow factor.
Ground Level Gourmet
My good buddy Huong has finally started a blog! Huong is an amazing cook that everyone should look out for. I've been fortunate to taste her creations. She puts alot of thought into her dinner parties, from the food, decor, and how everything is presented. Just a like a true chef! Check out her site at www.groundlevelgourmet.com
Music Video Of The Day: P.O.D - BOOM
In honor of my ping pong dim sum adventures, I present to you P.O.D. Boom. It's the only video I know of that features ping pong the majority of the time. What's cool is that I know some of the people in the video.. and some of the guys are actually wearing our North American Table Tennis Shirts! Woohoo. Enjoy!