Guan Fu Szechuan

Guan Fu was totally worth the hour-long trek to Flushing for me.  Everything we tried was good, from the quality of ingredients to the flavor.  They have a very extensive menu as well, and I'd definitely like to try more items.  The ambiance of the restaurant is more high end and classy, and the prices reflect that (not a small hole-in-the-wall place).

We had the cold mung bean jelly noodles (涼粉) in chili oil to start, and while it had a kick, it became the most refreshing item after all the heat in the other dishes.

The boiled fish with pickled cabbage (酸菜魚) was very flavorful, and you can pick whether you want tilapia (standard offering) or sea bass (more expensive...almost twice as much; can't remember).  I was expecting boneless fish filet, but there was actually quite a lot of fish bones to pick through.  The flavor was very good though, if you don't mind eating more slowly to pick out the small bones.

The chicken with double pepper (雙椒爆童子雞) was super spicy and delicious.  Chicken itself was still tender despite being heavily stir-fried.  We ended up with a bunch of leftover chili pepper, no surprise, and I decided to take it home and cook another meal with the pepper, and I'll just say those peppers are just as potent the second time around (in the best of ways, of course).

We also tried the dan dan noodles (擔擔麵) with mapo tofu, which was a fun 2-in-1.  The flavor was good, but the noodles were a bit on the soft side for me.

Overall very good first experience.

The Nutcracker

I've been meaning to go watch The Nutcracker at the NYC Ballet for years but have not been in town or had the time to go during the holiday season, so I'm glad I finally made it this year.  I haven't seen this ballet since I was a kid, but I love the music (who doesn't??  it's Tchaikovsky!), and it's such a classic, that adult me had to go at some point.

And...now that I have, I can say that it was fun and festive, and I can see how it's a great production for kids, but adult me prefers Swan Lake.  The first act of The Nutcracker actually had relatively little ballet, and it seemed like more of a play and acting.  There are also a lot more children in the ballet than I remember (not good or bad, just an observation, but perhaps that's also why there's not as much dancing).  The second act has most of the "popular" songs, and the Sugar Plum Fairy was a lovely dancer.  As a side note, the Playbill notes definitely made me appreciate some of the dances more.

Overall, it was enjoyable and lighthearted, but it wasn't as amazing as I had remembered.  That said, for those who have never seen it, I'd still recommend going one of these years, unless you're Scrooge and hate the holidays.

Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1

My earliest memory of Bruch's Violin Concerto is of my friend performing it beautifully and virtuosically with the Clear Lake Symphony Orchestra.  I was eleven at the time; she was ten.  I remember getting lost in the melodies (and wishing I could play as well as she), and then walking away with the very colorful third movement stuck in my head for days.  Later at home, I would listen to the CD over and over -- it was a David Oistrakh recording, and to this day, that's still my favorite rendition.  I suppose we're all more or less influenced by, if not partial to, the first recording of a song we hear.  Keep in mind this was before the days of YouTube and even Napster; it wasn't nearly as easy to find different recordings and compare and contrast before forming a view!

Bruch composed three violin concertos, or four if you count Scottish Fantasy, which I also love, but his other two concertos are rarely performed and never reached the same level of popularity as the first (hence people often just refer to Bruch's first violin concerto as the Bruch violin concerto).  The first movement is dramatic, passionate, and emotional, yet it is probably the most easily forgotten movement and is sometimes described as a long prelude into the second.  I'm not sure I agree with that statement though, as the piece has its own distinct character and has darker undertones than the second or third movements.  The second movement is actually a rondo and the heart of the concerto; the melody is beautifully sung and becomes more spirited, uplifting, and powerful as the piece progresses, before quieting down again at the end.  The third movement is an energetic dance, and perhaps the most impressive (and memorable) with all its double stops and fireworks ending.

Anyway, why am I talking about all of this now?  Because the New York Philharmonic will be performing this from October 27 - November 1, with concertmaster Frank Huang as the soloist.  So obviously I have to go 1) relive some good memories (I've actually never heard Bruch's violin concerto performed live after my 10-year-old friend's amazing concert), 2) support my fellow Houstonian (no, I don't know Frank Huang, but less than 6 degrees of separation...a few of my other music friends either studied violin with his mom or are friends with his younger sister), and 3) just enjoy one of my favorite violin pieces.

*UPDATE: Glowing review from NY Times here.


Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 (David Oistrakh, of course...that EMI Studio CD cover is the exact CD I had!):

Movement 1:

Movement 2:

Movement 3: