Restaurant Review: Di Fara Pizza

1424 Avenue J
at E. 15th St
Brooklyn, NY 11230
(718) 258 - 1367

Pizza
Price: $2 - $35
Dine In, Take Out

So my buddy called me up yesterday afternoon and asked if I was in the mood for pizza. I was but little did I know that we would be traveling an hour and a half to Midwood, Brooklyn for the pizza. My buddy said that I won't be disappointed.

Di Fara Pizza's is located in Midwood Brooklyn. Its a little pizzeria on the corner of Avenue J and 15th Street. We got there around 6:30pm and they were just opening the door. In less than 5 minutes, the place was packed with patrons as everyone started ordering the hand-made pizzas by Domenico DeMarco who has been making pizzas for more than four decades. We were the second patrons to placed an order and luckily got a table. I went up to see Mr. DeMarco make his pizza and I would say, it was amazing to see him make his masterpiece. He was very delicate but intricate in making each pie and I could see that the patrons didn't mind the wait.

So we ordered one special pie and two slices of the square pie. We also had to wait but it sure was worth it. We first got our square slices and I was so hungry that I decided to take a first bite. Big mistake, it was fresh out of the oven and kinda burn my tongue a bit. Anyway, the slice was really good, the crust ws well cook and the cheese just melts into your mouth. The basil gave it a touch of color and fragrance. It was worth my tongue getting burned.

Then our pie came and you could just see everyone eying the pie, freshly out of the oven. The special pie ($35) is made up of fresh mozzarella cheese, onions, Italian sausage, mushrooms and grated parmesan cheese topped with fresh basil which Domenico adds after pulling the pizza out of the oven. This was even better. The crust was crisps, the tomato sauce was sweet while the rest of the ingredients just made the whole pie look tempting and tasty. I took my time in eating my slices - smelling the aroma as I took each bite and let it sit inside my mouth - tasting all the fresh ingredients in my palate. I can't believe we finished the whole pie between my and my buddy.

So was it worth it to travel all the way to Brooklyn for Di Fara Pizza... you betcha

Fact: Di Fara has been only closed once - when Domenico De Marco had to have foot surgery.

Movie Review: The Spy Next Door

Spy Next Door stars Jacky Chan as Bob Ho, an undercover CIA superspy on loan from the Chinese intelligence who decides to retire from his career and settle down with his girlfriend, Gillian (portrayed by Amber Valletta) who happens to be his next-door neighbor. While as his place, Colton (Billy Ray Cyrus), a CIA agent and his colleague, decided to send him a file that contains a top-secret formula that could wipe out the world's oil supply.

Meanwhile, Gillian had to fly out because his father needs a hip replacement. Gillian was going to hire a baby sitter but Bob volunteered to take care of her three kids - Farren (Madeline Carroll), Ian (Will Shadley) and Nora (Alina Foley). Bob was doing this to get the approval of the kids so that Gilliam and him can bring their relationship to the next level. While they were a Bob's house, Ian mistakenly downloaded the file that Colton sent to Bob thinking it was a pirated concert. This resulted into the Russian going after Bob and the kids in order to recover the file.

The only reason I wanted to watch this movie is because of Jacky Chan who is still making movies and doing his own stunts at 55. But the movie slightly exceeded my expectations. The movie was entertaining and quite funny. The stunts are always amazing in Jacky Chan movies but he has mastered to mix it with some comedic quaffs. The movie's theme is family and it surely a family-oriented movie with clearly is shown through the interaction between him and the three kids. Overall, I would definitely recommend this movie for some family fun and family night.

Dependency

So last Monday afternoon, after the rain has finished pouring its might onto us, the lights started flickering and then suddenly.. boom.. Power Outage.

Since I work with technology, I had to run around just to ensure everyone had power down their equipments just to be on the safe side. After doing such thing, I relax and chatted with some of my colleagues. One could clearly see our dependence on electricity this time. Everyone was just out of their offices and just chatting with each other. Well one reason is that the offices are so dark without the lights and the heat is off even though the emergency generator was on. It was cold especially in the place I work because of the non-existence of heat. Now, picture this..what if the world suddenly loss all electrical power??...geez, we have to rely back on firewood for heat and cooking our meal. We wont be able to use any calculators and mathematical machines to do our computing and we would be relying on abacus. Machineries wont work which would result into non existence of fuel to power cars and busses which would revert us back to walking as a means of transportation except of course if you have a bicycle, which could mean everyone would be fit hehehe. We wont have any processed food and instead, we have to rely on natural food which could be good for use as well.  Geez, just imagine this to happen, do you think you will survive?

This is basically almost a re-blog of a post I made 4 years ago. And it is very much through especially when we suffered a power outage last Monday due to severe rain and gale force winds. I did change some of the wording in order to be up to date.

Movie Review: Up in th Air

Up in the Air is a story about Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), a corporate downsizing and career transition expert. He is also an inspirational speaker. He loves the life on the road racking up miles towards his ultimate goal, to be part of the exclusive American Airlines' 10 million frequent flyer mile club.

During one of his travels, he meets Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), another frequent flyer and decided to have a casual relationship with her. They  synchronized their schedule to ensure that they will be able to meet again.

Meanwhile, Ryan was called back to CTC's office in Nebraska. They would soon find out about the plan cost-cutting by the Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman), the company's boss. He hired Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) who wants to introduced laying off people over the internet thus reducing their travel expenses. Ryan was against this and Craig decided to do an experiment - Ryan brings Natalie along to show him the ropes.

During their travels, Natalie gets dump by her boyfriend. Ryan visits his family to see his sister get marriend. Ryan then falls in love with Alex only to find out the she already has a family and was only doing this for fun. In the end, Craig shelves the technology and sends Ryan and his co-workers  back on the road.

The movie was pretty good. The plot is simple - in order to achieve what you want, you need to make sacrifices. In the movie Ryan's sacrifices settling down in the pursuit of his goal. George Clooney was great in depicting his character. Props should also be given to Anna Kendrick who complimented Clooney's sauve with her wittiness. Vera was also amazing with portraying her character. The film was easy to follow . The visuals weren't great since it was either the airport, in a airplane or at an office. But overall, the movie is worth every buck.

Up in the Air website

"Thank You"

"Thank You"

Only two words but packs a punch. Saying those two words or being told has a lot of effect on someone. Where i work requires a lot of helping and once in awhile, being told "thank you" uplifts my spirit and inspires me to do more work. Sometimes, work can be really grueling. People come in and asked you tons of question (sometimes stupid) regarding this and that and sometimes you just get so overwhelmed with question that you are eager just to leave everything done and walking out. Usually, you wont hear anyone thanking us (me and my coworkers). They would regard you as someone who was hired there to answer their questions. Sometime, i just want to tell these people that they dont pay me for what im doing here.

Its like one of the days, I helped a couple of people, answering their question or guiding them to different steps on things that they have to do. Usually I have the patience with this and ignore it but today was one of those days when you wish no one would bother you. I was so eager to leave eventhough it wasnt time yet but there were two old ladies who came in and ask for help. Eventhough I had one foot out of the door, i cant just leave them there without any help. So i sat down, answered thier questions and guide them through what they need. Then one of the ladies said, 'Thank You'. While the other one said, "Im glad you were here, ur my favorite helper". Ahh, those kind words brought smile to my face and I left with a sense of accomplishment and made me feel that my job is worthy.