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| Smorgasburg, Brooklyn Flea, DUMBO, Brooklyn, NY |
Just two weeks ago, I was in New York City. I travel there
almost month, and I love it. Well, ever since last year, I’ve wanted to go to
Williamsburg in Brooklyn to attend the Brooklyn Flea at Smorgasburg. What is it
that you ask? Well, it’s pretty much a “Flea Market” of food stands – good old,
fresh, foodie food!
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| Map |
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| Photographs |
Finally, on my latest trip to New York, I was finally able
to do it. This time, though I went to DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge).
This place was AWESOME. Not only was the Smorgasburg there, but this place had
one of the best views of Manhattan from Brooklyn. The little town in Downtown
Brooklyn had so much character, with cute little restaurants, the nice
cobblestone under the bridge, and the pretty architecture. It was a great
escape from the concrete jungle from across the water. Walking towards the
Smorgasburg, there were beautiful photographs from different photographers.
Each artist had their unique style of taking pictures – one of Hispanic family
households, one of random candid shots of New Yorkers in the city, one of
crowds or human traffic in New York, and many others. That’s what I love about
New York, they know who they are, they know where they come from, and they have
a hell of a lot of character. Their food and art speaks volumes. No wonder
everyone wants to be there.
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| Cobblestone |
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| Bolivian Food menu |
Anyway, back to the Smorgasburg. I finally got there. It was
such a HOT day, right away my boyfriend, cousin and cousin’s husband all wanted
something cold and refreshing to drink. We walked through all the food stands,
and found a Bolivian food stand. They made their own homemade lemonade sodas. Super refreshing! I had the Maracuya-Lemonade, and my boyfriend had the Rose Petal
lemonade- very different in flavor, but
both so good to the body, in the sweltering heat. The passion fruit was tart,
and the rose petal was delicate.
Since it was so hot, we decided to take refuge under trees
to get some shade. There, we had a nice breeze coming in from the water, where
we can just people watch, and enjoy the view of Manhattan. When you close your
eyes you can hear the people, the boats, the breeze, and of course… the subways
crossing the Manhattan Bridge. Another great view was the view of Brooklyn
Bridge. Beautiful.
After cooling off, we got something to eat. I wanted
something light, because personally, I can’t eat much in the heat. I ended up
getting some Filipino food – imagine that? New York has it all! Lumpia Shack
was my choice… I had a great variety of different Lumpias. By the way, Lumpia
is pretty much an eggroll.
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| Lumpia Shack |
I had the sampler, because I wanted to taste them all so I
had 3 Lumpias of each flavor. There was the peking duck, the truffled adobo mushroom, the original pork adobo. It
was delicious, but I must say, my favourite was the peking duck Lumpia. I could
totally go back all the time for that.
Now here’s the thing, when you’re Filipino, and you see
other Filipinos, your pride starts kicking in. So of course, I had to talk to the chef/owner. We of course exchanged the “you’re Filipino, right?” question. I also ordered the small
Halo-Halo with my meal – but of course, he ended up giving me the large. Oh
gosh, I was trying to cut down on sugar – but I guess is the Filipino
generosity taking place. I take it, and I am just a happy camper. I didn’t
finish it though – it was too much, but super delicious. Halo-Halo is kind of
like a Filipino slush, made with milk. They add coconut jelly, coconut, sweet
beans, jackfruit, ube (sweet purple yams), and leche flan. Of course this place
added a twist, and decided to top it off with caramel popcorn. LOVED IT.
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| All types of Lumpia! |
I know, I know what you’re saying – isn’t this supposed to
be a “healthy” food blog? Ok, well here is my take on healthy – eat fresh
produce, make your own food with fresh and organic ingredients, watch your
portion sizes, reduce your fat and sugar intakes by replacing them with
healthier fats and sugars. Also, the use of herbs adds so much more flavor to
your food. And by the way – it is HEALTHY
for you to treat yourself to this kind of food – once in a while.
In life, there should be a balance to everything. Too much
of anything is not good for you. Eating too much, spending too much money for
unnecessary things, indulging too much, etc… can take a toll on you. So live
life with balance, and you will enjoy it a lot more.
Let me end by saying this – a lot of people diet, because
they want to lose weight fast. The trick is, you need to change your lifestyle.
There is no magical pill that will make you lose weight that is healthy. You
need to change your diet to healthy, fresh food. No processed stuff, or that crappy fast food
that we all love and hate at the same time. You need to watch how much you are eating
(portion control), and you need to do some kind of exercise everyday. At least
30 minutes of walking, or any cardio will be good for the heart and the soul.
Finally, like Shaun-T from beachbody says… don’t have a “cheat day”, have a
“TREAT DAY”.
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| View of Manhattan from DUMBO |
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