Adventures in Finding a Babysitter

Back in the late 80's, there was a movie called "Adventures in Babysitting" starting Elisabeth Shue. Remember her? She was in Karate Kid and Back to the Future II & III. Probably better know for her role in Leaving Las Vegas, which got her an Oscar nomination. Back to "Adventures in Babysitting". The plot was simple. A suburbanite teenage girl starts her boring weekend evening with a couple of kids she's babysitting. One thing leads to another and they end up having an adventure of their lives as they they navigate through the city ghetto.

I was reminded of that movie recently when the Wife and I were interviewing for our Baby H's babysitter. Now, the adventure was our, as we looked for a babysitter. Never appreciated how difficult it is to find a good babysitter, especially in the city. It's not like in the suburbs where you can hire the neighbor's kid to look after our Baby H. Most of our neighbors are young couples. The adventure starts with asking our friends, looking for ads, posting ads... basically, have to comb through strangers to find someone we can trust with our baby girl. Not an easy task to say the least.

We interviewed three candidates - and luckily for us, we found someone that we liked.

First candidate - she was a dancer from Japan. In her mid to late 20's. She looked responsible. But didn't strike us as really excited about being a babysitter. She was referred to us by a family friend. Immediate first impression was just not good. We weren't sure whether she liked kids or not. At best, she was indifferent. But she had babysitting experience. We had our doubts. After the interview, asked her for a reference, to which she did not take too well and wondered why we needed a reference. Did not go well, obviously.

Second candidate - he was also a dancer from Japan. He wasn't really a serious candidate. He went to the same school as the Wife in Japan. I guess we can say he is a family friend. But no experience with babysitting. I can see he likes kids. One of his dream is to go back to Japan and become a teacher. That passion alone will not convince us to trust the life of our Baby H to him.

Third candidate - now, she really impressed us. Immediately when she came to our house and introduced herself, she went straight to Baby H and began playing with her. Really energetic and you can tell she loves kids. She is a professional. She works for one of the nursery/daycare in the city. She is studying for her doctorate degree in early child development. And she wants to open her own nursery/daycare in the city. What really impressed us is that she wanted to see the Wife feed Baby H, put her to sleep, and the whole evening routine. She wanted to observe so that if and when she baby sit for us, she knows what to do and what not to do - to keep Baby H within her daily routine and her comfort zone. We were sold. Needless to say, she is our babysitter.

How did we come across this great babysitter? Our family friend's baby girl goes to the daycare that the babysitter works at. I do consider us lucky to have found a babysitter relatively easily.

The Halal Guys

53rd and 6th Halal Cart, also known as the Halal Guys. I've heard about them. I've seen the long line that forms on southwest corner of 53rd and 6th in Midtown. Everyone lined up for their chicken and/or lamb on rice with special white and hot sauces. You see a lot of street vendors in NYC. Apparently, not all of them are the same. The Halal Guys is apparently the best of the best. 

I finally had the chance to try the halal on 53rd and 6th. Meat on rice is $6 a plate - and you get a very generous portion of meat (either chicken or lamb; or you can ask for a combination) over yellow rice. It also comes with few pieces of pita bread and a garnish of iceberg lettuce. You don't want to forget the white sauce and the hot sauce on the side. 

My thoughts on chicken and lamb on rice.

1). I like the fact that lamb meat is diced. You can taste the meat better, which is quite tender. 

2). It is nice that they give you the sauces on the side - so that you can adjust as you like it. Go easy on the sauces. 

3). Hot sauce is very very spicy. You'll feel it till the next day. 

4). The portion is HUGE. I ate the whole thing - but regretted later in the night. That was a lot of food for $6. 

Overall, its one of the NYC experiences. If you are out late at night after few drinks, this is a good place to stop by for some cheap food before heading home. Like going for ramen noodles when you are out late in Tokyo. Definitely, for $6/plate, it is good eats!