Evening 4 NYC: Brooklyn eats and beats

What I wore: Skirt: City Chic $10 / Patterned shirt Thrifted $1 / Shoes $30 Converse

Hello lovely ones. How are you all? I hope that you are well and that this post finds you happy and healthy. So I'm up to day 4 of my USA summer holiday recount. This was our first Saturday night in New York. We were so very mad at ourselves for succumbing to the heat and having a little 'snooze' on the previous night. We had contacted Gabby to see what her plans were and she said we could meet up after her rehearsal in Brooklyn on the Friday night. That small snooze turned into a six hour sleep....DAMN jet lag got the better of us and we vowed never to waste another New York night again.

What I wore: I had a suitcase full of clothes ready to roll. I had some sort-of outfits set for certain days but because I had a lot of open days free to hangout with the girls I planned to just pick what I wanted to wear as we got ready. I had a lot of cute short sleeved jackets to wear but the heat was much hotter than last year so a lot of the clothes I had were just too hot. The materials were bright and patterned but many of them were not breathable. So I just had to flip the script and wear my cool and breathable clothes. I wore my simple black City Chic skirt. I picked it up at the Campbelltown outlet for $10. I love the cut of this skirt and I wear it a lot with various tops and it's just the right length to pass as a dress. My patterned shirt was thrifted and I picked it up on a half-price summer sale for only $1. I paired it with my black chucks just to keep it simple and comfortable. Green button earrings, bag and chain were thrifted too. My hair started straightened and down but as you will see in the remainder of my posts; it always got too hot and I eventually chucked it all up out of my face. Either that or I simply only had 15minutes to get ready before we had to leave. We were always late. ALWAYS.


So even though we were out all day on Saturday walking up and down 5th Avenue, we came back to our hotel and attempted to try and finally meet our gourgeous guide Gabby (one half of the Trini-sissy Combo) on time. On our first attempt we were late and lost (try two hours late) and she hung out at the mall and met us with a huge smile on her face. So this night....I didn't want to stuff up otherwise she really would have to second guess her decision and offer to show us around Brooklyn. Her directions were impeccable (even for  3 directionally challenged Australians) and before we knew it we were wondering around Fort Greene area. She said she had made plans for Ethiopian. We were really keen to try food we had never eaten before so this was the perfect opportunity. We wandered past the Brooklyn Gallery and a performing arts centre/theatre. The evening breeze was a welcomed contrast to the summers day heat. We walked past the the extremely busy Habana.....it looked so pretty, littered with people and coloured fairy lights. We considered stopping in for some drinks but we decided to carry on to our Ethiopian restaurant Bati.

Amazingness on a plate. Time to break the bread.

Habana after hours

Bati Ethiopian Restaurant Brooklyn

It was still very warm at this point and as we sat down and started to relax, the conversation with our new friend started to flow. As the food arrived we shared giggles and swapped stories about our sisters and our crazy friends. We were still waiting for Candice to arrive (the other half of our Trini-sissy combo). By the time she had arrived we had nearly gobbled up all the delicious bread, lentils, beets and meats. The Ethiopian food was soooo tasty. I will definitely be on the look out for more good African food when I'm out. Candice was just like Gabby. Open, friendly and keen to share stories and laugh a lot. If that wasn't enough Gabby swooped on the bill and paid before we could really object. I was really overwhelmed by her kindness. I was already thrilled that she could find the time in her busy schedule to show these three strange Australian girls around her neighbourhood. She just went right ahead and paid for everything. SMH. I guess it's just so rare for people to be genuinely nice for not other reason than to show someone else a good time. I don't think I ever said it enough, but they really MADE this holiday for us. It was just the best to hang with these girls. I want to somehow return the favour. I really hope I can find a way to bring them over here for a visit. Gabby and Candice I miss you my Trini-Sissys (Trinidad Sisters :) All our lil jokes. The food. The dancing, The laughing, the teasing. This is New York to me now. You guys are a big part of our New York love.

Fab 5 Trini-Sissy's Gabby and Candice plus us 3 @ Mo's

After dinner we headed over to Mo's for a few drinks and it was soooo crowded but it in a good way. There were a lot of attractive men just watching the game on tv but the DJ was playing the best old school music so I just made my way out onto the dance floor. At first I was a little self conscious (I usually don't give a damn when I hear a song that I like but everyone seemed to just stand on the wall and watch everyone else) but then I was like "stuff this! when will I be out in Brooklyn with all these amazing songs playing again? I am so not going to waste this!" So we danced and represented Australia in the club. Thanks Gabby for the shout out!

After some serious dancing we decided to go outside and get some fresh air. While outside and chatting to new people and we were invited to an independent fashion mixer that was happening around the corner. Of course we had to wander over. How could we not right?

So the event was hosted by The Men of Living of Legacy and Women that run the World groups to celebrate Congo Independence day. It was so very inspiring to young men and women who have made the conscious choice not to follow others and social trends but rather to "promote gender empowerment by organising benefit events to raise funds to help preserve the family structure" and to "bring awareness of international gender struggles and to build an international alliance to help one problem at a time". I just felt so blessed to witness such an event. A small group of like minded people working together, encouraging creative pursuits while doing something as practical as collect school supplies to send overseas for those less fortunate.

 Everyone was really nice and made the effort to come and talk to us. We loved the designs by Ntumba and the presentation by Gisele Eboma showcasing her very own Surfing Queen designs. Honestly it really was too cool for words. I don't know I just loved how a simple night out led to some many unplanned great life moments.

De Lux Gallery in Fort Greene Brooklyn

Surfing Queen Bag available on ETSY

Another new friend Britteny and I with our gift bags :) 

Ntumba was so welcoming and even mentioned us in her newsletter. YEYAHHH AUSTRALIA ;)

I loved this dress.

Our Trini-sissys looking at the merchandise

Mo's round 2. The dance floor was too crowded so I jumped on stage ;)

 After the fashion mixer we went back to Mo's (with even more friends...shout out to Britteny, Patrica, Theresa and Sam) to finish off the night with some more dancing only this time the dance floor was even more packed. It was very interesting making our way through the dance floor. Talk about BODY TO BODY. I tried to dig it....but after a while it became too much so I went up on the stage and danced near the DJ box. I guess this is a small snippet of what it is like to live here. It's spontaneous, busy, sweaty and hot but there is ALWAYS something going down. So my lovely ones, there you have it. It's a long post I know but I really wanted to share this night with you all. I could have told you about another 10 stories that happened that night but I don't want to keep you for too long. It was just such a good spontaneous night. I would love to hear about your stories....you know, one of those nights where nothing was expected but then everything just happens and it becomes one of the most memorable nights ever.

Big Love,    Falala Mele

Candice and Pulu vi-o-lay-in'

4th July pt.1 2012

Hello Readers,

How are you all? At the moment it is Sunday and we are enjoying a lazy day in Las Vegas. We have been on the go in New York for the past 10 days running on an average of 4 hours of sleep per night. Now that it is not so busy we have finally had a chance to have a good sleep and a good feed! Our last meal was with our beautiful Trinidadian sisters who treated us to our last meal in New York. We ate curried goat HELLLL YES, curried lentils and split peas roti, curried mango and some grapefruit juice. It was perhaps my most favourite meal in New York and that is a big call because we ate a lot of good food.

Anyways back to the 4th of July post. We started our day with a 4:30am wake up call. Why? Well we had to get up to watch the State of Origin decider between New South Wales and Queensland. It was being played live at The Australian. The bar was jam packed with Australians who were all there for the same reason; to support our home states. It was sooooo full we had to wait outside for the first 10minutes and it started to rain. It was all part of the fun I guess standing outside in the rain cheering on our team.

This picture doesn't really show how packed it was but believe me. It was CHOC-A-BLOCK!

Repping the blue for New South Wales

Louisa, Mele, Pulu & Ruth at the State of Origin screening at the Australian in NYC.

It was a nail biting game and our beloved New South Wales lost the game by one point *sobs quietly* but after the game we spotted another lone Polynesian (there aren't very many in NY....I think she was the only other one we saw) so I walked over to say hello. After a quick chat about the game we decided to sit down and have breakfast. It was so very nice to find out that Louisa  and I follow some of the same Polynesian blogs including the very talented author Lani Wendt Young.

Like us; she is a fellow lover of music and musicals so we swapped our 'must see' suggestions and chatted about what we have done and what we still want to do while visiting. It was so lovely to meet her and to hear about all the interesting places she has lived (like Japan and Hawaii to name a few) and to hear about her plans for the future. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors and I am sure we will be seeing big things from her. Polynesians keep an eye out.

After that we caught the subway over to Brooklyn to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge with Ruth. We did this last year after Coney Island so it was nice to take Ruth to see it. But before we did, we made a stop at Grimaldi's woodfired authentic pizza (some say the best in New York).

We got there 15minutes before it opened. I LOVE IT WHEN TIMING IS JUST RIGHT and before the doors opened there was a line heading down the street. People were waiting in line and it was really hot so that alone told me that the pizza would be good.

The service was really friendly and fast and we got the first pizza for the day. These guys don't play. It took about 10 minutes for them to roll the dough, place the fresh mozzarella and basil on the pizza before it was steaming in front of you. The base was light and crispy and it was just so very fresh. I should have asked for extra basil because we love it. Other than that, I have no complaints.

After pizza we made our way down the road to find some frozen yogurt and another beautiful view of the city.

 What I wore:

So it has been VERY hot this visit. I am not complaining. I love the sun and I'm glad I'm not stuck in the cold winter but a lot of the pretty clothes I have packed have been too hot to wear because the material is not cotton.

So on this day I wore my blue top from Kmart. I wore it back to front because I liked it better with the high neck and the lower back.
It was also blue for my team.

Basic black tights because they are comfortable and cool. Red chucks for colour and comfort (we walked a lot so I had to be sensible) and my cute orange glasses that I picked up from a street store for $5 on Fifth Ave.

Chain and earrings were thrifted.

Happy 4th of July

Stay tuned for pt.2 we went to the 41st annual African arts festival in Brooklyn.


Big Love,



Falala Mele