Day 1: Hiking from El Chalten to Monte Fitz Roy

Jan 20, ’09 11:20 PM

I am excited but at the same time nervous. I’m geared up and waiting for the rest of my group outside Rancho Grande Hostel to begin our first day of hiking. Today’s plan is to hike along Chorillo del Salto and get our first glimpse of Monte Fitz Roy, one of the two that tower over El Chalten in this part of Argentina’s Patagonia. I am carrying about thirty pounds worth of clothes, my sleeping bag and our toiletries, while the Dr. is carrying our tent with his own gear. We’ve split our provisions between us, but I still made sure he carried the heavier jjajang tuna cans.

Yesterday, I was antsy during the five-hour drive from El Calafate to El Chalten. When I started to see Glacier Viedma up front, the largest glacier on the eastern slopes of the Andes, I turned to see if my companions were awake. My heart thumped: I made it! I made it to Patagonia! Rain flecked my window and I thought, Rain all you want now but please, please stop for the next five days. I am reminded that the name Chalten comes from a Tehuelche word meaning “smoking mountain”, due to a cloud that usually forms in the top.

We all stopped by the National Parks office to get an introduction and to listen to the rules of the park before the bus dropped us off at Rancho Grande where we had reservations for four bunk beds. Our humble room will be one of the many reminders of our hike in the Spanish Pyrenees back in 2006. It’s the beginning of peak season and we were surrounded by people who were also ready to hike: tall backpacks leaned against the walls and boots stacked up by the main door. Some of them we’ll encounter again on the trail and all of them we’ll share this Patagonian experience with.

We start walking towards the yellow house at the end of the road. The sun is striking at 10am and there is barely a cloud in the sky. I quietly hope that it stays that way. Here in Santa Cruz, Argentina, the weather is finicky and unpredictable. From reading Greg Crouch’s Enduring Patagonia before I left New York City, I learned that the wind will be our enemy. We start slow and up; my shoulders getting used to the weight on my back. I’m bundled up, but I’m hot and I know if I remove my fleece, I’d have to put it back on again when I turn the next corner. The trail is well-marked but rough. The soil is very dry and padded with small rocks and I can’t stop to take photographs of the dots of yellow and purple flowers along the way because there are others behind me.

We reach our first viewpoint where we could see the swirls of the Chorillo River. At last, rest. I’m surprised at how green everything is. I imagined tumbleweeds rolling along the flat plains while the wind whistled in the background. It hasn’t been an hour yet and Patagonia is already throwing surprises at me. We mostly hike narrow paths through the forest until the trail finally opens up where we walk on cliffs and then onto flat land with small ponds.

All of a sudden, there it is: Monte Fitz Roy and its ever-recognizable shape. I know because I’ve spent five months planning this trip for the group and I have seen numerous photos of its grandeur and glory. Right now, I can’t believe I’m finally looking at it in person. Its name was bestowed by explorer Perito Moreno after the Beagle’s captain, Robert Fitzroy, who sailed the area around 1834. Even though it’s not even half the height of the Himalayas, its granite makes climbing it harder even for the most experienced. More than a hundred people summit Mount Everest a day, but only one successfully ascends Monte Fitz Roy a year.

Everyone is taking photos and it takes a few tries and more energy than I can muster to jump for one of my Cia photos. I haven’t worn my sweater in the last hour and I already have a criss-cross tan below my neck. I want to stay and savor the view even though I know there will be more.

At Camp Poincenot, we pick a spot where the boys set up our two tents. We stretch and get used to our backs without all the weight and we eat our first energy bars for lunch. Because it was the middle of the afternoon, we decide to take a quick walk to see Lago Piedras Blancas where the glacier truly looks like flowing water frozen in time. It’s a much easier hike without our packs, but not less rewarding.

Back in camp, we begin to unwind and rest for the night–just in time when that swish of a cloud around Fitz Roy start to look like it’s going to make its way down. The clouds are more gray and we feel some rain coming. We are all surprised that the hike up here took less than four hours, but while we cook and eat our first meal of vegetable Jambalaya, miso soup and Korean tuna, we know that it was enough for today.

Day 1 itinerary:

Related post/s:
Monte Fitz Roy and Lago Piedras Blancas photos on Flickr
Route 40 drive photos on Flickr from El Calafate to El Chalten
I highly recommended Enduring Patagonia as a must-read

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Curry-Ya

Jan 14, ’09 12:03 AM

214 East 10th Street between First and Second Avenues
866/602-8779
about $25 for two, with drinks, without tip
♥

Yohshoku, or Western dishes adapted to fit the Japanese taste, kept me alive when I was younger and wasn’t making a lot of or any money. In West L.A., I loved Curry House because I could get a hefty lunch for $5. When I was in Tokyo, I ate a lot of gyuudon and tonkatsu (beef bowls and deep-fried pork cutlets) because they were the most affordable for us kids with a tight budget. Believe it or not, back then I spent my money on design books instead of food.

So when Curry-Ya opened last year, I was excited to go even for the sake of reliving those days. True to form, my kareh raisu, the Japanese-style curry so far removed from its inspiration, tasted like how I remember them: rich, gooey, salty, and just super tasty. Unfortunately, I’m older now and I paid a higher price digesting it afterwards.

I still appreciate good design and Curry-Ya has that style I would like to adapt if ever I opened my own restaurant: marble bar, less than twenty stools up against it, open kitchen. I’m not any younger, but I’m back to having less money because of this economy and I can see more Curry-Ya in my future.

Related post/s:
Curry-Ya shares the same owner with Rai Rai Ken next door
For a more Indian curry, go to Brick Lane a few blocks down

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Where to eat in Jersey City, New Jersey: Dosa Hut

Jan 12, ’09 12:06 AM

My first exposure to dosas was from Hampton Chutney and, I must admit, wasn’t the most authentic. I still like eating at Hampton Chutney once in a while even though they’re overpriced and I’ve since searched for good, and less expensive, dosas in the city. Shit, I’ve even spent several hours trying to make a Nepalese version at home.

My parents and I met up with Honey and Paolo in Jersey City to check out a Filipino man in the suburbs who apparently can give you the same diagnosis as a chiropractor and help you as much as a physical therapist can. My father has always complained of lower back problems; my mother almost broke her hip and wrist when she fell off a ladder; I still have a busted left knee from hiking the Pyrenees. He didn’t accept any kind of payment–though we ended up buying tocino and longanisa from the wife who makes them at home–so we didn’t see any harm in visiting him.

An hour later, we were famished. Honey drove us to Dosa Hut for lunch where I introduced my parents to vegetarian meals that actually made them full. My parents, always hard to please, refer to all kinds of South Asian food as “Bombay”. They’ve never seen a dosa before and wouldn’t be able to tell one curry from the next. So when I ordered, I asked the lady behind the counter what made their “special dosa” special. It contained cabbage, green bell peppers and onions and was fit for two people. The flavor wasn’t as special as the classic dosa however, stuffed with cheese and parsley. It didn’t seem much at first, but it was deliciously light yet still filling. The crepe itself was crisp and the different chutneys gave my folks a good education about dips outside of the usual Filipino soy sauce and vinegar.

Oh, my left knee has been okay since that visit.

Dosa Hut is at 777 Newark Avenue in Jersey City, New Jersey and is all vegetarian. You can call them at 201/420.6660.

Related post/s:
The Nepalese have the chataamaris
Saravanaa Bhavan has a few choices that can fill you up

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Matsugen

Jan 7, ’09 12:07 AM

241 Church Street at Leonard
212/925.0202
$75 for tasting menu, without drinks, without tip
♥ ♥

66 was a long time ago but entering Matsugen reminded me of those long lunch hours I used to take to eat at an expensive restaurant and only pay lunch prices. I had a delicate dim sum meal back then, even before Chinatown Brasserie opened, and it cost triple what I would have paid at Jing Fong. No screaming waiters, though, and the white tablecloths remained white even after several dumplings and shumais.

Contrary to popular belief, Jean-Georges Vongerichten is not the chef at Matsugen. Put together the Matsushita brothers wanting their first U.S. mainland restaurant and Jean-Georges needing to replace 66 and you have a high-end Japanese restaurant in a beautifully-designed Richard Meier TriBeCa space. It’s more chic than Honmura An (ahh, more memories!) and it’s more serene than EN Brasserie.

Is it expensive? Definitely, especially if you’re used to Sobaya like me. But if you want to impress, it’s a good place to go, not just for the soba noodles made in-house, but also for sushi, sashimi and even shabu-shabu (also considerably more expensive than Shabu Tatsu’s). If you spend some time looking at the menu, you can get away with paying less than a hundred dollars for two. You won’t be achingly full, but you’ll get the idea why a big-time chef like Jean-Georges would be satisfied with only being behind the scenes on this one.

If you don’t want to be bothered with the several pages of Japanese food with detailed descriptions, the $75 tasting menu when we visited included uni with yuzu jelly–a beautifully assembled starter that’s as creamy as the freshest sea urchin around–a sushi plate, a lobster salad, a bowl of hot soba and a dessert. I highly recommend the hot soba in duck soup and the hot soba with Japanese yam. The noodles yield freely and the broth is so clean: refined Japanese food has never been better.

Related post/s:
Four years ago: EN Japanese Brasserie
One of my favorite noodle recipes to make at home
Skip the desserts at Matsugen and cab it to ChikaLicious instead

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Pork Roast Thai Green Spices

Jan 5, ’09 12:10 AM

This Jamie Oliver lamb recipe may seem to require a lot of ingredients but once you have them, all you need to do is toss everything together to marinate the meat. I substituted the lamb with pork roast and served it to guests for my mother’s 61st birthday. I didn’t even use salt because all the herbs were enough to give the roast a delicious Thai-inspired flavor. You’ll find how amazing the lemongrass smell lingers in the meat even after several reheats of the leftovers.

Ingredients:
1 pork roast, bone-in, about 5 pounds

For the marinade:
1 stalk lemongrass, cut in short pieces, smashed
10 kaffir lime leaves, chopped
1 medium-sized knob of ginger, peeled, sliced
half a head of garlic, minced
half a bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped
4 Thai chilies, chopped
juice from 3 limes
olive oil

1. Marinate the pork roast. Pat pork roast dry with a paper towel. Transfer to a large glass container that you can use to marinate. Stir together the olive oil and lime juice in a small bowl and drizzle all over the roast. Stuff every nook with garlic and herbs. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight.
2. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425º. Remove the pork from the refrigerator and let rest at room temperature until oven is ready. Place an empty aluminum foil-lined roasting pan in the oven while the oven is pre-heating. When oven is ready, transfer the roast to the pan and cook for 45 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to 325º and roast an additional hour, or about 10 minutes per pound. Using a meat thermometer, the thickest part of the roast must be around 130º. Remove to a chopping block and let stand for half an hour before carving.

Related post/s:
You can get all the herbs and spices at Asia Food Market

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