Long Week: As Long as My Foot-long

This week was painstakingly dreadful despite the upcoming, highly anticipated labor day weekend and being released a little earlier today.  I was really hoping to be let out before lunch and was so looking forward to (and expecting) it that I totally forgot about lunch ... until I realized that everybody in the office had gone out.  So I faced the truth and went to get myself a Subway's foot-long while moping.

I opted for the oven-roasted chicken on whole wheat bread with everything on it plus honey mustard.  It was literally as long as my keyboard.  All that for $5 excluding tax ...amazing!

When I finally got home, my beau shows me a mini-mooncake that his co-worker had given him.  It was delivered to her straight from Hong Kong and she demanded that he eat it quickly while it's fresh!  Hence we scarfed it down!

It really was just a mini "cake."  It was nothing like the traditional moon cake other than the "moon," or the yolk, in the center.  But then again, over the past few years, the moon cake has evolved into variations including chilled moon cakes and flavored moon cakes (such as green tea, red bean, etc).  Nonetheless, this mini moon cake was very delish and I'd prefer having this over the original moon cake anytime.

Case of the Mondays ...

So it is Monday, yet again. As with most people, I hate Mondays with a passion! One of the most unpleasant feelings occurs when Sunday night approaches and the length of your weekend comes hastily to its end. Though you should be using the last few hours of Sunday wisely, to your dismay, thoughts and pictures of yourself sitting before your stationary desk at work come gushing into your brain. No matter how fun-filled your weekend might've been, it ends on that horrible note! Now wouldn't it be nice if weekends were extended? Or even better, to have every Wednesdays off? I've been a long-time supporter of working Mon-Tues, taking a day break in the middle of the week, then working Thurs-Fri, and taking another 2-day break. Breaks are lovely! You'll be replenished the next day ... and it'll be a productive day! I say it should be federally mandated! Yay or nay?!

On a brighter note, on Sunday, before those irksome thoughts of work came haunting me ... I had my weekly fix of Vietnamese Sandwich, or Bánh mì! This sandwich is by far the best sandwich that's ever existed. Made with plain & simple ingredients such as pickled carrots and daikon, cucumbers, cilantro, grilled pork, mayo and cold cuts ... all resting on a toasty French baguette, this sandwich proves that some plain things in life can get a little addicting!

Believe it or not, I've actually attempted to make my own Bánh mì before, straight from scratch, yes including the French baguette itself!
Fine, I cheated just a teeny bit by using roast pork rather than marinating and grilling my own pork (I've seen the recipe!!). Well, to make a long story short, my homemade version of the sandwich was an utter embarrassment... not only to the Bánh mì itself... but to my culinary skills as well!

Now for the wandering minds, my favorite spots to purchase Bánh mì are the following, in no particular order (Well... maybe I do prefer one over the others. I'll disclose it someday! )
Thanh Da - Brooklyn, NY
Ba Xuyen - Brooklyn, NY
Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich Deli - New York, NY