MEGU New York: Friends in high places lead to magnificent spaces

Taste: 4.5 / 5Ambience: 4 / 5 Would you want to eat there again?: Yes Was the price worth it?: No

"Do you have dinner plans for tonight?" And that was the little text I got which led to the best Friday night surprise yet. I first met my friend Amalie at Penn through Greek InterVarsity, but since moving to New York, we've become so much closer thanks to joining the same church and running in the same communities. Though she would certainly laugh that she's a "friend in high places," she does in fact hold a crazy cool job, and her boss had an unused gift certificate to Megu, an asian-fusion restaurant, that was going to expire that day. Ever so flattered I would be considered for such a cool outing, we quickly made reservations and battled the freezing cold to make it there alive. We were rather surprised by the fact that we could make a same-day reservation at the Tribeca location and by how empty it was (only half of the tables were filled), but we wondered if that was attributed to the awful weather outside. 

Because we had a restaurant voucher, the 5-courses were already pre-set. We started out with the "Crispy Okaki Aspargus" - Japanese cracker battered asparagus which was presented in such a fascinating way. The savory crackers added such an interesting (and familiar) flavor to the asparagus which we both enjoyed quite a bit. We were surprised, though, because it seemed to be quite a filling appetizer and first-course. Next, we had the Seaweed Salad which was light and surprisingly flavorful.

Our third course was a few different components. We had goat "meatballs", roasted peppers and scallops (not pictured). The goat meatballs were rich in flavor, but not overly oily which I appreciated.

For our entrees, we were given a few choices and I selected the kobe beef with caramelized onions. Little  did I know that it would come on a lava stone and be lit on fire. Casual. I snapped as many pictures as I could and absolutely love how the photographs turned out. Fire is such an interesting subject - it's constantly moving and you can never truly capture it's essence, can you? At the same time, the blend of blinding whites, oranges, yellows, and blues is such a beauty you can't find anywhere else.

I was amazed at how tender the kobe beef remained - I suppose the quick sear served its purpose to caramelize the onion and the outside of the beef, leaving the inside a perfect medium-rare. It was an excellent portion size as well.

Amalie selected the pork chop with (ginger?) sauce on it. She loved it just as much, although there were no flames on this one!

At last, the 5th course of our meal was dessert! Little did we know that we would have not one, not two, but three components to desserts. We each got a mini creme-brulee, a multi-layered green tea crepe cake, and a chocolate lava cake. The creme brulee and chocolate cake were quite standard, so I was most excited to dig into the green tea crepe cake. However, I found that the texture was a little mushier than expected. The cream, without a doubt, was phenomenal and had a subtle tea bitterness to it which I thought made it more authentic. However, I think the crepe layers were in fact too thin and therefore became soggy from the creme. The creme brulee was the winner of the trio, but then again I tend to love creme brulee more than other desserts. (Unfortunately at this point, my DSLR died and I resorted to my iPhone)

And of course, who can resist a 6th course of late night lattes?All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed the meal. However, by the end of it we started wondering whether or not we would have found the meal worth it had we paid for it in-full. The voucher on Gilt Group was $119 total, so at roughly $60/person for a 5-course meal, it would be more than reasonable. However, at a full-price of an estimated $200 or more, we agreed that it wasn't worth $100/person. Of course, the meal was still fantastic overall and if money is not an object for you, I would recommend it. Many thanks to Amalie for bringing me along and treating me to such a wonderful spontaneous night!

In terms of photography, I tried to use my 50mm prime lens, but with such dim lighting and social acceptable behavior severely limiting me, the photographs didn't turn out nearly as well as I had hoped. The ISO had to be blasted so high just to get some sort of focus, and even then I was too close to get the full subjects in focus. If any other photographers have some experience shooting in restaurants, I would love to learn more! Namely, how do you get a decent photo without completely embarassing the rest of your party? Haha luckily Amalie was a good sport through and through and even helped me move plates around so I could get better shots.

City Living | City Loving

I've realized that despite moving to New York City eight months ago, I still have yet to actually blog about this city. When I first moved here, I was so awe of this city. Even after two summers here, this city blows my mind time and time again with its endless beauty, mouth-watering restaurants, and a whole new breed of people. Without even realizing it, I started hashtagging my Instagram accounts with #citylivingcityloving - it just sounded so right, and I was positive I had heard it before. Soon, my friends started making fun of me with #countrylivingcountryloving and all sorts of ridiculousness. When I clicked on the hashtag itself, I realized that apparently I'm the only person in the world who uses this saying. So hey, in the spirit of that, I've started a new category on my blog to feature NYC at its finest: City Living | City Loving.

Insinuations and connotations: the cycle of imagery

As a fairly conservative person, I look at the first image and I'm instantly uncomfortable. There's an intimacy and rawness that seems far too private to be displayed to the public much less enlarged to that size. Yet, that's the fascinating thing about framing - it can completely change the context. With such a close up shot, the image clearly depicts bubbles on a body, but which part? The question itself insinuates other connotations. Yet, that's simply my arm - much more innocent than the picture would suggest. Despite taking the picture myself and knowing very logically what the image depicts, even my own mind jumps in a split second to assumptions, shock, judgement, and more. I remember during the Vancouver riots, a photograph blew up on the internet.

(Rich Lam/Getty images)

It seemed to be evidence of a couple kissing on the ground amidst the chaos surrounding them - they seemed at peace and in their own moment. Yet, from a different angle, the story told another story. In truth, the girl had fallen down during the stampede and was overwhelmed and crying. Her boyfriend was attempting to calm her down the best he could. This still fascinates me because it goes to show how there's a continuing cycle of how life and art affect one another. The public saw that photo, and perhaps you see my photo above, and we all make assumptions based on...imagery we have seen before. It's so interesting how over time images, colors, words, sounds, and so much more can collectively impact all of our thoughts.

In terms of photography, I wasn't willing to risk damaging my DSLR, so I used my iPhone 5 and the Camera+ app to take these two shots (and edit!). I'm constantly amazed at the power of our cell phones - I can't believe the amount of detail that can be captured.

Reflections and hidden spaces

One of the things I love about La Jolla is how diverse the different beaches are - La Jolla Shores has wide open sand and relatively calm waters, Marine Street's sand is soft but there's that crazy dip where you plunge into the ocean, Windansea has a crazy rock terrain and incredible scenery when you turn left and right, and the Cove has all these different inlets with their own mini beaches too. For the longest time, I've loved the tide pools at Marine Street and the Cove - for those of you unfamiliar, tide pools form when high tide or waves fill the crevices in rock formations with seawater. When the water pulls back, these little separate habitats live the hidden spaces. I have fond memories of poking my fingers into anemones (Finding Nemo, anyone?) and having it close onto your finger. It was really amazing getting the chance to venture out (terrified I was going to drop my camera in one of the puddles) and photograph the area for the first time on my own. At first I tried to photograph into the water, attempting to capture the life in the puddles. I became far more interested in the strong contrasts, geometrical repetitions, and reflections in the water and shifted gears partway through. The image above came out as my favorite - similar to my light, form & abstraction project in school, I loved how when the context is removed, the photograph can take on such a different meaning. In reality, it's just one of the smaller and shallower tide pools - but to the eye, it could be a lake at a distance, or a shot in a forest. The lights and darks evoke a sense of emotion - it's fleeting because of the light, yet tranquil and calm due to the water. 

Riverside reunions and the bond of study abroad

I have been so incredibly lucky to have made such amazing study abroad friends during my time at King's College London. Over a year ago, I brought the Brits on an amazing cross-country USA tour, but was worried when we would all be reunited together next. When I studied abroad, I was a junior in college, but all of our British dormmates were freshman - now, two years later, the British students are in their 3rd years and studying abroad themselves! My good friend Max just loved us Americans sooo much (hahah) that he signed up to study at University of California Santa Barbara. Talk about an American experience! Fortunately, he decided to stay with a friend in Riverside for Christmas, and I was able to drive up for a mini reunion of our own! Considering neither of us knew anything about Riverside, we resorted to Yelp and TripAdvisor to figure out what to do. We went to the Mission Inn for lunch (good food, bad service), and then realized the UCR/California Museum of Photography was just a quick walk away! By far my favorite piece was Hank Willis Thomas' Strawberry Mansions. There were multiple shots of a block connected accordion style. I particularly appreciated how each panel showed the uniqueness of each house, yet the connection of the panels provided a sense of unity of the entire neighborhood. For more of Hank Willis Thomas' work, check out Artsy here. The museum itself was designed in a modern way. They had a large camera obscura outside which allowed you to see an outside view as a living photograph of sorts on an interior wall! I highly recommend the museum - it's free for students or with a Yelp check in, but also only $3 regular admission.

We next decided to go to the UCR Botanical Gardens. I originally anticipated a small walkable garden, but we were astonished to realize how vast the grounds were! The place is massive. There were various plants with which I practiced shooting at a shallow depth of field.

f 1.8 1/640 ISO 400 - I could have probably reduced the ISO down to 100 on this

We noticed that the sun was about to set and thought we could take a path up to the highest point to see the sunset. I quickly realized my sandals were completely ill equipped for the steep hike up, and was too busy dying before Max made me turn around to witness the scene behind me! 

All in all, it was a wonderful day and so amazing to catch up with Maximus as I like to call him. I'm excited because another cross-country trip is in the works, and hopefully all of us will be reunited yet again!

I'm so blessed to have good friends who make the effort to keep up relationships despite being worlds apart!