Going.. going.. gone!
July 6, 2008
Gap had come out with a complete ad campaign for a limited edition line of shirts to commemmorate the Whitney Biennial by producing shirts in collaboration with a select group of artist. They are no longer online and are being sold on sale at certain branches. I grabbed one of the shirts below by Marilyn Minter over the weekend and will be going back for more. Grab yours before they’re gone!
Passing through Bryant Park with Angelo in tow
July 6, 2008
Bryant Park is one of my favorite parks in the city because you can take in it’s length and breadth from any vantage point in the park. It’s not that huge but it has a breathtaking vista of a patch of green beyond Central Park in the city. Angel and I stopped today. I’ve taken pictures of the park in the winter, spring, summer and fall. I keep going back to it because it’s right in the heart of Manhattan. This was one of the first parks I saw as a new transplant to New York eight years ago. Soon I will see it everyday when we move offices to a building in its periphery. I cannot wait to have lunch there and just take in the sunshine on a regular basis. (I guess that means you’ll see more of Bryant Park here in the future.)
Bryant Park is a hub of activity with early morning concerts by name artists, movie classics in the sunset, and Fashion Week. During Winter, you’ll find a holiday bazaar here.
Lunch by the New York Public Library
July 3, 2008
I finally left the office just before 3pm, 2 hours after the second assistant had left. I had earlier made up my mind about what and where lunch would be.. So here I am with my cup of crab bisque from Soup Man, sitting by the shade in one of the many tables in front of the New York Public Library. (There are actually even more chairs at the back by Bryant Park which flows into Sixth Avenue, a.k.a. Avenue of the Americas.)
There’s a young man with a fancy looking camera seated on the table a few feet from mine, discreetly snapping away at random. I must admit I am green with envy that he has that fancy toy while I am clicking away with my blackberry. This place is always teeming with people, most specially during the lunch hour when many executives and other working people bask in the sunshine and eat on the steps leading up to the library. (That’s the American love affair with the sun for you.). The guy with the fancy camera has stood up and is probably clicking away from another vantage point.
The tourists are resting their tired feet. New York City is, after all, a walking city. (Bring your most comfortable shoes!) You can easily spot the tourists either because they’re wearing shorts or they’re thumbing through a map other than one of the subway. (We Locals still need it occasionally on the train so that is not always a dead give away.)
This is "me" time. I figured I could take a half hour and just sit here, think aloud online, just listening to the intermingling of the sounds of traffic on Fifth Avenue, the chirping of the birds overhead, the chatter of the Japenese tourists behind me and this couple taking a lunch break in front of me. We often get carried away and live our lives on a very tight time table. This is my moment to literally stop and smell the flowers. I don’t get to do it as often as I would like to, except while doing something else like going from place to place. Today, I’m doing it and concentrating on just being.
In a short while, I’ll be standing up and cleaning out my mess, heading 2 blocks down to pick up some Clinique supplies at Lord & Taylor then I’m walking to my express bus stop at the corner of 36th and Sixth Avenue. I am hoping I don’t get distracted by the urge to visit some of my other usual haunts this side of the city — like the Cosmetics Market on 39th (between Fifth and Madison) or the bead shops (on Sixth Avenue between 36 and 34th). One of the bigger stores is actually on the corner of the bus stop. This is going to take a lot of willpower!. Perhaps the thought of having to pick up the little tyke from daycare will pull me onto the bus on time. Meanwhile, have to get going…
(And yes, picking up Angelo brought me to the bus stop straight. The bead shops will always be there… I’ll save that for next time.)
My day in pictures:
Gay Pride Parade 2008
June 30, 2008
One thing I want to do sometime in the future (and hopefully with my brother Nikki in tow) is to watch the Gay Pride Parade of New York. I didn’t know it was actually today until we ended up in traffic on 34th street on the way to the Lincoln tunnel to our luncheon in New Jersey. We were stopped right at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 34th where the Empire State Building stood proudly on one corner. As Alan said, we got front row seats to a snippet of the show.
The rain had poured momentarily but strongly, and we caught some dancers in white spandex (donned with the wet look) dancing/marching to the tune of "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis. It surely exuded a party atmosphere as the crowd enthusiastically cheered the parade on with complimentary catcalls and hoots. How I wish Nikki was here with me.
Click on the picture or here for a larger version
This is a long overdue post on this exhibit at Rockefeller Center. Read more about it here and here is an article from the New York Times on the exhibit. It’s one of those things that make New York City, New York.
Trying to keep my Friendster blog up to speed
June 22, 2008
I know I’ve been neglecting my Friendster blog, whereas I have been writing daily on my main blog and then cutting and pasting the entries there to my multiply blog. And to think this is the easiest to edit because it is not blocked by my firewall.
Well I’m going to try and do the same thing here as I’m doing on Multiply just to keep everything updated. Hence the cross posting.
Happy Monday!
A different Saturday morning
June 22, 2008
Originally posted on June 21 in Pinaynewyorker.com
I’m typing away again giving myself a 15 minute break before I go back to the kitchen. I woke up reasonably early because the little tyke woke up at past 7am. (What a relief!) Perhaps it was force of habit but I did what I do every morning. I walked to my blackberry which was connected to the charger and checked for messages. I quickly scan the new mail and I basically look for two things: mail from the boss and mail from home.
Just junk mail. Good. I am fortunate that the boss who’s mindful of the fact that if she e-mails me at an unholy hour and I’m up, I will respond. So she tries to keep that in mind but she’s in Europe and I’m just worried our arrangements for her might not have worked out. She is, after all, 6 hours ahead, and she has been there almost 8 hours now. If anything went wrong, I would’ve heard about it already. Or on the otherhand, she would’ve handled it. Sigh of relief.
And I always watch out for e-mails from home — and since they’re 12 hours ahead of me, most e-mails come either during the time I’m asleep if not towards my noon. Nothing for now.
The boys have both had their breakfast, and I’ve washed most of the dishes. I made my stop at the bathroom and cleaned the throne (not the tub yet, though), and I’m gearing up to cook some negamaki for a pot luck lunch we’re going to which is also supposed to be sort of a baby shower for one of Alan’s officemates.
I’m looking forward to that one because I am good friends with some of Alan’s officemates. It’s good to mix with the people he works with day in and day out in a social setting. We’ve been to picnics, dinners, parties, weddings together.
We’re not really looking towards staying there the whole time. We want to be able to make up for the time Alan was away for business from Sunday to Thursday. But it’s always nice to be with friends.
Time to hit the kitchen and get cooking. I’m giving myself thirty minutes prep time and around the same amount of time to cook. It’s a little tedious to prepare because it means wrapping bits of thinly sliced beef on scallions. The fact that I’m preparing double my usual serving will add to the prep time.
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The Busy Bee Cake from Black Hound
June 22, 2008
Originally posted on June 20 in Pinaynewyorker.com
I went to a birthday party this afternoon in the office where they served this extraordinary cake that was something I just had to share. They ordered this cake from Black Hound which was simply to die for! It was my first taste of The Busy Bee Cake which was described on their website as
"(their) signature cake. Three layers of chocolate butter cake, two layers of almond butter cake, two layers of bittersweet chocolate mousse, and one layer of marzipan…all covered in marzipan and bittersweet chocolate and decorated with marzipan and almond petal bees. Your cake may be ordered with an inscription at no additional charge. The bees remain on the inscribed version of this cake."
The "frosting" is actually a chocolate and marzipan fondant-like icing which requires that you cut the cake with a real instead of a plastic knife because it will crack as you try to slice into the cake. The cake itself is very satisfying and chocolicious, and a piece will sate your craving both for a sweet treat and something filling.
The cake layers are thin enough to lend their flavor to the whole but not too thin to be unnoticeable. The almond bees were not only visually delightful but a rather yummy treat. The flowers were actually made of marzipan which was another added treat! On the whole, it was a dreamy indulgence we had. Something you should definitely try if you ever get the chance to go to their store here in New York.
Their retail store is located at 170 Second Avenue, New York City (212.979.9505)
A side trip to Manhattan
June 22, 2008
Originally posted on June 19 in Pinaynewyorker.com
I’m rushing to the city on the 7 train hoping to make it to the boss’s driver before she steps out of her lunch appointment somewhere by Bryant Park. Something I was supposed to make sure she had when she left got left behind — but she doesn’t know it yet. So before she gets upset when she finds out, I’m already creating a solution to my problem. I had a good mind to get upset at the 3rd assistant, but I knew that wouldn’t do either one of us any good, so instead, I opted to work on solving the problem.
Besides, it’s a nice day to take a walk around the city, no matter how brief a break it may be. (No sense in aggravating myself.). I could hear that the driver was rather surprised that I was coming to meet him. I sensed a hint of irritation when he asked me what I wanted him to do after I had explained the situation. I said I was taking care of things — and if I didn’t catch him, we could always send the papers via messenger, but that would’ve been too pronounced a delivery. The driver switched from being irritated to concerned when he realized I was actually going out of my way to get the materials to him… And why not? This is part of my job.
(Now on the 7 train going back…)
It IS a beautiful day! Makes me want to just pick my perch in the shade and just watch people walk by. But I have work to do! I decided I would take the train a station down and I walked two blocks to Grand Central Station instead of taking the train from the Fifth Avenue stop. I wanted to take in some sunshine…
I stopped by Wild Edibles at the Grand Central Market for some takeout — my favorite Seared Sashimi Tuna for lunch and Crabcakes for dinner. Yum! That made the trip more than worth it. It must be inflation but the portion is just a tad bit smaller, but what I’m missing are the greens that used to go with it the tuna that made for a good "side".
Just another day’s work..
The mug that started it all
June 8, 2008
This is my first ever Starbucks mug which started my collection in February 2001. It’s the valentine mug of 2001 which was the first ever mug I ever bought, and which has spurred me to collect more. Although I have quite a sizeable collection now, most of my mugs have a story to tell, and in chronicling the collection, I think it is also good to take note of the stories behind the mugs as well. I had arrived in New York in June of 2000, and although I had been going to Starbucks regularly thanks to my coffee drinking hubby, I never really paid particular attention to the mugs. In February 2001, I saw this mug and was just drawn to it because of its design. I picked it up and used it as a pencil holder in our room. We had a few mugs in the house already by then, but they were already there and being used by Alan when I got here. This will always have a special place in the display because it’s the one that started it all.
