thanksgiving 2008

r took me to orlando, fl this past thanksgiving to spend the holiday with his family. his gravitation to new york city stems from having grown up on a ranch/farm; he felt he had already lived the rural lifestyle and wanted to experience the urban life. i had met his mother on her visits to new york and a previous short trip to orlando but had never seen her ranch, located just outside of orlando. i am just realizing i didn't take any pictures of her place! argh!

she has two horses (at the time, she had three, but one of them passed away around christmas so she now has two), four border collies (r's favorite breed), a parakeet, and a greenhouse where she has been growing ponytail palms as a business venture. she lives there by herself and takes care of the entire six acres pretty much single-handedly when she isn't on nurse duty at the local hospital or teaching at the community college.

her parents and sisters live around the orlando area and convened at her house for thanksgiving. i found it kind of odd but endearing that they all kept commenting on my prettiness. i guess it's a southern politeness, but i would've thought that being a nice person is more important for r's well-being and happiness than being a pretty girl. but it's one of life's graces to learn to accept compliments.

with the exception of r and me, having just traveled the evening before, everyone contributed to the meal which was delicious. i might've even had too much turkey because i had to excuse myself for a three-hour nap.

later in the day, r met up with an old friend from high school while i stayed at his mom's house and looked through some old photographs and newspaper clippings from his childhood. the local newspaper had a picture of r in the eighth grade, standing next to a mural he had painted at his middle school, something he had initiated at that young age. i was so impressed he had this drive and focus to make art so early on in life; he had never mentioned the mural to me before. r's mom also showed me other pictures of his earlier artwork which included winning prizes at regional shows and having been commissioned by local businesses. i felt a little overwhelmed by how deeply his love for art has always been.

the next day, we took his grandmother out for lunch, a break from her nursing home, and to visit his other set of grandparents in their new home. they had become great friends once they had become in-laws, and the friendship lasted even into r's grandmother's dementia. she became so alive as soon as she saw her old friends and reminisced about their younger days. we went for a short walk to the edge of lake apopka. the waters are now polluted, from having been treated as a chemical dumping ground, but had once been a huge fishing attraction, particularly for bass. the community and government are slowly working to clean up the lake. it is a peaceful neighborhood that i hope r's grandparents will enjoy.

for our last day of the trip, r took me to new smyrna beach. r had grown up going to jb's fishcamp and restaurant with his father who knew the owner, jb. he has always stated that their crabcakes were unbeatable. knowing that i shared his love of seafood, we feasted there. the restaurant draws almost all of their seafood from the water just behind the building:




people docking at the restaurant for a meal

we had our sleeves rolled up and dug into oysters, crabcakes, grilled fish, hush puppies, steamed shrimp, and steamed crabs. it was all fresh off the boat, simply prepared as to not ruin fresh seafood, and incredibly delicious. after our huge meal, we went for a walk along the beach. the sun happened to be on the verge of setting so the sky flushed with hints of pinks:




birds running from the waves




then poking their beaks into the sand as the waves retrieve


someone fishing


he might've caught something!


birds teaming up for their hunt for food in this turbulent setting of crashing waves


more birds


amazing sky at sunset


an unexpectedly romantic setting



our foot prints


imagining if we owned one of these houses and got to see sunsets like this every evening...

when we returned to the parking lot, we spotted these old cars:








i bet these drivers all know each other and decided to get together for some great seafood at jb's and discuss their cars and whatnot.

we left early the next morning, having this incredible day as our freshest memory of the trip. it was a lot of fun, but part of me felt a little guilty for not having spent this holiday with my family. but annual holidays are just like birthdays: they will come along next year. there will be opportunities to spend them differently over and over again. maybe next year, r will get to try my mom's awesome chinese cooking.

new orleans again

r started a job in new orleans last week, and i've been here since last friday just to keep him company and make the transition easier for him. he's gotten at least one job per year in nola since 2004. it's pretty ridiculous considering he's based out of new york.

since i've arrived, it's been a series of deja vu. luckily, i had just missed mardi gras. it's not so much fun when you can't drink so you actually notice all the vomiting that occurs around you. also, strings of beads being pelted at your head is scary. but the company that hired r this time placed him in the same hotel as the last company who hired him. in fact, we think he had been placed in the same room last year.

r had been looking for a place to move to so that he wouldn't have to spend all three months of his stay in nola in a hotel. last night, he signed the lease and received the key to a loft apartment just blocks away. so we decided to go ahead and make the move. the act of moving out of the hotel was also oddly familiar since we had done the same thing last year, after having stayed at that hotel, possibly that same room, for a while. but this apartment is one that r hasn't stayed at before although the color scheme and style of furniture resembles that of one of the apartments we lived in last year.

while r is at work during the day, i've been roaming around the area a bit. everything is still pretty much the same as last year although the city feels more deserted this time. maybe i'm not remembering well, but i thought there had been more pedestrians in the french quarters, more tourists. i've heard there's been a spike in crime (a serial rapist who targeted tulane female students was caught not long ago) so i've been more cautious in my current ventures. (to be fair, however, there's been a spike in crime in new york as well. but on second thought, new york does not have a feeling of desolation in the middle of the day.)

but the mission for this trip is to revisit all the delicious restaurants. our first stop was herbsaint where we had baked oysters and beef short rib on potato cake as our appetizers and moved onto their special of flouder with pickled turnips and greens and their duck leg confit with louisiana rice. the meal was superb.

the next day, a saturday, r had to work. total bummer. but we met for lunch near his office at juan's flying burrito. we shared chips and guacamole which tasted freshly prepared. then, he had the western chicken burrito, and i had the super green burrito with lots of delicious veggies.

later that evening, after going through our list, we hit cochon, which is owned and run by the same chef, donald link, as herbsaint. we really had to rein ourselves from over-ordering and settled on sharing the fried boudin, fried rabbit livers, paneed pork cheeks, their mahi-mahi special small plate, the ham hock entree with sweet potatoes, pickled greens, and black-eyed peas, and a side of lima beans. i actually prefer cochon over herbsaint because it seems to have a more casual atmosphere, and the food is more adventurous. the mahi-mahi special was probably the least impressive although still delicious. everything else had the perfect balance of meatiness, sweetness, and acidity. i love that this place makes use of all parts of the pig to their fullest ability, and their menu reflects that.

the next day, we started off with brunch at surrey's cafe and juice bar, which had become a weekly routine last year. i believe their orange-pineapple juice is a staple on their menu, but they had a special cactus juice that r tried. it was super refreshing, just slightly sweet. r went with one of their daily specials, a mexican frittata, and i chose the migas with chorizos. the food is just as fresh and delicious as i remembered it.

that evening, we finally got vietnamese food. with the except of three afternoons, r and i had vietnamese at kim anh's for lunch everyday. so i associated incredible vietnamese food with nola in that twisted way (as opposed to cajun cuisine). we went to tan dinh on the west bank and walked out satisfied, r with pho ga and i with korean bbq ribs bun in the tummy and leftover roasted pork in a flour roll.

early in the week, we walked a couple of blocks to lucy's for convenient yet delicious fish tacos. i felt a little guilty for getting them since grouper is one of the fish you should avoid, but i got over it quickly. there's a reason that the chinese rates grouper as one of the most edible worthy fish.

and last night, we finally made the trip to kim anh's for vietnamese egg rolls and combination pho with sliced beef, meatballs, and chicken. it gave us the strength and motivation to rush back to the hotel, pack, and move everything of ours to the loft apartment. kim anh's has possibly the best pho. the broth is so rich in flavor, and the quality of their food is consistent. i only wish they had a branch within walking distance of the warehouse district so that i could repeat the daily feasting of their food this time around.

the places we have left on the list to taste are dick and jenny's and jacques-imo's. of course, if we have the time, i'll take mona's cafe and lebanon's cafe for some great hummus and falafels. the gastronomic adventures of nola is to be continued.

gastronomic birthday

it's been a week-long birthday. actually two weeks long. as luck would have it, i landed a 4-day weekend, followed by a 3-day weekend, this month as my work week was slowly being shifted from a friday-tuesday schedule back to a monday-friday schedule.

WEEK 1

so last week, i took advantage of the 4-day weekend to visit b & d in philadelphia. i took the chinatown bus and arrived in philadelphia in the early afternoon. b & d live on the philadelphia antique row, antique store after antique store down their block. the whole neighborhood is very cute and nice. after setting down my bags, we headed out for some pho, a perfect dish on a cold winter day. r & i have yet to find good pho in new york; we are starting to believe vietnamese is one cuisine that new york does not offer a good restaurant of. we ate vietnamese everyday for lunch while we worked in new orleans last winter. it's good to know that philly pho is phantastic, being just a 2-hour bus ride away.

d had some work to finish up so b took me to the liberty bell and independence hall. it was quite a day to go: the day after obama's inauguration, having become citizens so recently, this 2008 election being the first election b & i ever voted in. it became unexpectedly emotional. we took a tour of the independence hall, and our guide was awesome. she told the stories of our founding fathers with great enthusiasm and knowledge. i took some pictures which i will post in a later entry.

that evening, we dined at a vegetarian chinese restaurant, none of us being strict vegetarians. but the food was surprising and delicious. we ordered seaweed pancakes, not knowing what to expect. what came out to our table were literally seaweed patties that have been lightly deep-fried. the natural chewy texture of seaweed made it fun to eat. then, we had spicy tofu and a dish of vegetables. the food tasted very clean but flavorful. i don't think we missed meat at all during that meal.

the next day, we started at morning glory diner. it's a cool little joint where coffee is served in stainless steel mugs. they specialize in frittatas which are served beautifully browned on the top, with a chunk of biscuit and a small cup of cooked apples, and i chose a side of grits. nothing fancy, just plain goodness.

then, d left b & me to do some random strolling around the city. we threw in some shopping although we didn't make any purchases. we stopped at a small cafe for some tea before heading back to b & d's apartment for pre-dinner nap. b & d took me to cochon as my early birthday dinner. they went for the tasting menu which included a cauliflower soup, skate on fennel salad, lamb, and crepe. i selected an arugula salad with beets, suckling pig with lentils and brussel sprouts, and shared a creme brulet. it was a decadent meal. we were glad for the walk home after our gluttonous pleasure-taking and then spent the rest of the evening in delirium.

then, friday was the day i headed back to new york. but before leaving, we ate breakfast at sabrina's cafe. the entrees were a little fancier than morning glory diner's and were tasty. but i prefer simpler fare for my first meal. at least, the service was great. we actually had stopped in fitzwater cafe where we stood just inside the front door for about 5 minutes, watching the hostess chit-chat with a table, not once acknowledging our presence. we went to the spices, coffee, and tea shop in the italian market area and grabbed a couple of $1 bags of teas. then, we went back to b & d's apartment for my bag and headed for the bus. as much as i missed r, it was a wonderful break from new york city. also, i've missed b & d terribly and was glad to be able to see and spend time with them.

WEEK 2

chinese new year arrived the following week, and my birthday according to the chinese calendar is the 3rd day of the new year. unwittingly, my co-workers planned a cupcake surprise for that day. i don't like making a deal of birthdays, maybe because i didn't grow up with birthday parties. birthdays were always a more intimate affair shared with just family. so i had warned my co-workers to not do anything. also, i'm not a big fan of sweets. but i unintentionally discovered an email in the general work email account about cupcakes. i blew their cover and thought they would ditch the plan. wednesday was a very snowy day anyway. but they went ahead and surprised me with vegan cupcakes, knowing that i'm lactose intolerant, and everyone on the project singing happy birthday. candles and all. i started scraping off the icing, because it was too sweet, and everyone started yelling that the cupcakes were vegan. i had to reassure them that i was aware but just found the icing too sweet. i definitely appreciated the thought and effort behind it though.

friday was my birthday according to the gregorian calendar (normal calendar). my 3-day weekend started on this day. i slept in, leaving r to his own defenses for breakfast and coffee. taking my time to get the day started, i finally left the apartment at around 2p, for a bit of shopping. i traveled a little uptown to look for a specialty store in search of a gift for someone. i wasn't sure what i'd find, but two items jumped out at me instantly as the perfect gifts. i was very glad to accomplish the mission so quickly and effortlessly.

i continued my shopping spree to origins where i received a birthday discount and bought one item for basically half price. i hopped onto the bus that stopped on the block and got off when i spotted a body shop. i also received a birthday discount there and bought one item for basically half price as well. just a few stores away was a barneys coop. i've had a store credit on a barneys card for years, from my first film job in los angeles. so i decided to stop in, just to see if i could use the card that day. i found a pair of jeans in an unusual shade of dark blue, and they happened to fit. i will need to shorten them a little, but that is nothing unusual. they were originally priced at $178, on sale for $59. i thought i had about $45 on the card so i figured i'd pay $15 for a pair of nice jeans. when i got to the register, the sales representative told me i had almost $100 on the card. so not only did i walk out with a free pair of jeans but also still more credit to spend. i was in such disbelief at my luck that i had to call b immediately; i was on a shopping high. then, i went to soho to look for a specific shirt by uniqlo. they didn't have exactly what i wanted but something close. and it was on sale for $6, normally for $16. so i bought it. then, i made my way into chinatown and headed home.

that night, r took me to craft for dinner. we had a late reservation, for 9p. r got us a cab to the restaurant, a luxury for me. we arrived about a half hour early and waited at the bar. we were admiring the decor, which was very simple but luxurious and well thought out, and people watching, a lot of the new york rich. but although it was obvious the restaurant usually catered only the super wealthy, they were still wonderfully nice and friendly to us. the staff exuded a sense of warmth that was very welcoming, smiles that seemed genuine to have you there for dinner.

we were quickly seated at a table pretty much in the center of the dining room. the table felt a little big; r seemed far away. but the size of the table made sense once our food arrived. to start off, we were presented with an amuse bouche: spoon bread topped with virginia ham served in a metal spoon with the handle beautifully curved into a delicate oval to stabilize it. the bite was full of flavors that played with each other in your mouth.

we ordered quail and a beets and tarragon salad as our first courses. r picked the salad, and i picked the quail because r had never had quail before. the beets salad was wonderful, lightly mixed in a mysterious vinaigrette that was heavenly. it turned out to be well balanced with the quail, which was served deboned except for the shin, allowing you to pick it up delicately. it was lightly seasoned and moist, perfectly cooked, allowing the natural flavor of quail to do its justice. then, our main courses consisted of monkfish, my choice, and the flat iron of steak, r's choice, with sides of gnocchi (r), brussel sprouts (me), and trompet royale mushrooms (me). there wasn't any description on the menu so we were pleasantly surprised by what came out. the monkfish was wrapped in prosciutto and accompanied by a bit of cream sauce and another deeply flavored sauce. there was what i guessed to be either seaweed or odd mushrooms with it. the monkfish had a great meaty texture, and the prosciutto added a complimentary flavor to it. the steak was light and cooked perfectly, topped with beans and accompanied with a bone marrow. the gnocchi were served in a creamy sauce so i only tried a couple of them. they had a great density and flavorful sauce. the brussel sprouts were roasted with bits of bacon so they were wonderful. the trompet royale mushrooms were tasty and meaty. we, then, ended the meal with a meyer lemon tart with a mint syrup and hibiscus granita. the tartness was a perfect way to end the meal, considering we were stuffed and almost passed on dessert. the whole meal was divine.

we noticed how well run the restaurant was. one side of the restaurant was the wine cellar which hid the kitchen. we loved the mesh that held each bottle in the racks. the other side of the restaurant was a soft half-dome shaped by thick slabs covered with smooth leather, hiding the dish-washing. we loved the use of exposed bulbs with specially enlarged wires inside them. i didn't think of making a visit to the restroom just to check it out. but r went and informed me that real hand towels were provided, not paper towels, and then tossed into a basket. r only had one criticism about the decor: should use a planters box instead of vases.

to keep the decadence going, we took a cab back home.

the next day, we had brunch at benny's burritos in the east village, our favorite weekend brunch place because of their food and affordability. we tried to walk around the area and into soho, but the cold made it too difficult. so we went home. i took an afternoon nap. then, we went for korean dumplings in koreatown, at mandoo bar, continuing on the theme of deliciousness and affordability. b was right: the kimchee dumplings were awesome.

the whole birthday celebration is finally dwindling. i'm not excited about turning 30 nor am i devastated. birthdays are just markers for another year past. but this birthday has been great because of the people in my life. they are worth celebrating.

old year, new year

2008 had been a very eventful year: the first year of my life to share with a boyfriend, having moved twice, becoming a u.s. citizen, casting my first ballot in arguably the most historically groundbreaking presidential election ever (even though it still hasn't hit me how important obama's victory is; maybe it'll finally come to me when i have kids, and they ask me about the election when they study it in history class), gaining an official brother-in-law, having flown 5 times around the country for jobs, vacations, and holidays. i'm not sure if i can really catch up on everything.

becoming a u.s. citizen had brought up some questions within myself. i took the naturalization oath in a brooklyn courthouse. the room was filled with about 400 people, all there to become citizens that day. a man next to me got excited when someone started telling us about how we could still register to vote that day in the presidential election. like me, he wanted to have a say in the government he has to abide. most of the 4 hours were spent waiting for the judge to arrive. finally, she came and spoke nice words about how momentous this occasion was and how honored she was to preside over the ceremony. we had been given a flier with the oath of allegiance on it, and i looked over it before we actually did the oath taking. it starts off as such:

i hereby declare on oath, that i absolutely, and entirely, renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty of whom or which i have heretofore been a subject or citizen...

it didn't affect me upon reading it in silence in my head. but when i had to say these words out loud, i found myself unable to make a sound; i froze. i felt my heartbreak, in having to voice my renouncement to what was once my home, the only i had known for the first eight years of my life, a place that had become part of my identity. i felt like i was being asked to betray myself.

there was no doubt that i wanted to become a u.s. citizen. i had no problem reading the rest of the oath. i just didn't realize how much it would hurt to have to give up my ties (albeit only in a governmental sense) when the time came. i felt hong kong ripped from me once, when it was handed back to china after almost a century of british governance. then, the pop stars i grew up idolizing (in a tween obsessed manner that evolved into a mature admiration as their careers took on a more serious direction) started to pass away. they had all been little chips in the core of me that i wasn't even aware of. having to vocally give it up cracked that core.

i know there's still a lot of hong kong that will always be a part of me, but this superficial identification wasn't as superficial as i thought it was. one's citizenship only defines their home according to a map, the invisible boundaries that certain people have created. but there really is no border; there are no edges; the planet is round.

so today, i went to the post office and applied for a u.s. passport. having to hand over my certificate of naturalization unnerves me only because i am afraid it might get lost. the post officer who helped me put through this application warned that it now can take up to three years to replace the document. but i just let it go.

i didn't know of true unhappiness until we immigrated to the u.s. i think this explains why i feel so strongly tied to hong kong while my feelings towards the u.s. is more ambivalent even though i've spent more of my life in the u.s. hong kong has been my childhood fantasy land. and i'm sure it has to do with my age at the time of immigrating as well. i was just about to turn eight. most people probably experience their first true moment of sadness right around then as children become more cognizant of their surroundings at that age. i am certain that i would've had to experience something devastating soon had we stayed in hong kong. but the way things have turned out, i associate happiness with hong kong and heartbreaks with the u.s. but as tough as it is to get over the heartbreaks, i persist.

a day off

it's veteran's day, a holiday we weren't expecting to have off work. therefore, we've made no plans. our one true day off. we survived october.

r's grandfather made it through his heart complications. we've made plans to visit him and the rest of r's family in florida for thanksgiving. the apartment is starting to look more put together as we've unpacked bit by bit.

we didn't do anything for halloween. it was b's last weekend with us, having been gracious enough to come down to nyc from philadelphia, leaving behind her new hubby for a month, to help out on my current project. amazingly, we survived the month with her staying with us. we had a couple of fights, but being sisters, we just got over them. r felt a little anxious about them. i think he never really fought with his brother because they're more apart in age than b and me, and therefore, didn't really understand that we would just get over fights.

r's mom came to visit the day b left. we introduced her to ikea. we wanted to go for a small couch that we believe would actually fit through the door, unlike the bigger version where the movers were stuck in the hallway and ended up taking it back to the warehouse. the new couch now rests perfectly in our living room. r's mom had been trying to think of a way to redecorate one of the rooms in her house. she wanted to turn it into a craft room and was struck with tons of ideas during her visit at ikea. luckily, there's a branch in orlando, fl so she would be able to implement them when she returned home.

the next day, we took the train with her to r's brother's house. r's brother took us apple picking, my first time. picking an apple off a tree and biting into it immediately is one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. something so simple but felt so wondrous. it happened that my favorite kind of apples, fujis, were one of the two varieties left to pick for the season. they were so delicious. we brought home about ten pounds of it. i think there are still a couple of them left.

then, election day was quite a day. i had registered to vote, handing in my registration card in person to the board of elections, but never got anything in the mail to confirm that i would be able to vote. i got a little worried since this was my first time doing through this process, having become a citizen recently. after getting instructions from someone at the board of elections, my day went something like this:

i stood in line, thankfully a short line, at my polling site in midtown to acquire a certificate to obtain a court order. the woman who helped me was so kind and proud that i had become a citizen recently and made the effort to vote. i took the certificate downtown, to the board of elections, and plead before one of the judges standing by to grant me permission to vote. it was my first time sitting before a judge on a one-to-one basis. she gave me a written notice that allowed me to vote on an affidavit ballot and instructed me to re-register so this wouldn't happen again. when i turned in my second registration card, the woman behind the desk told me that i was supposed to have been given an absentee ballot. i wished it had been the case, but the information was too late. i took the notice from the judge back up to the polling site in midtown and stood in line again. the woman who had been helping earlier that morning was still there. so she set me up to do my affidavit ballot, and when i turned in my ballot to her, she and her co-worker applauded, for turning in my first ballot and for the effort i made that morning. i think she was more excited that i was. i just hope the next time will be much easier.

also, a friend of mine from tennessee just started on a job in the city. her employers set her up at a hotel only a few blocks away from r and me. i'm glad that she's staying at a place so close to ours so that it'll be easy to see each other. she was working on the same project that r and i met so seeing her has made me realize how far r and i have come.

i'm just glad that things have slowed down a bit. work has gotten more hectic, but it's nice that everything else has slowed down. r and i had a couple of tough moments, but it's kind of nice to know that we can be grumpy and not agreeable all the time to each other and still be okay. i'm going back to doing nothing now and will post my naturalization oath experience next time.

so there's more...

this afternoon, i received in the mail a notification to take my naturalization oath just days before an extended deadline for new citizens to register to vote. theoretically, i should be able to fully participate in this year's presidential elections.

but minutes later, r called me to congratulate on the good news and to deliver some bad news: his grandfather has been hospitalized for a heart aneurysm. his mother and grandparents live in florida so it must be tough for him to not be there with them.

hasn't autumn already settled? no more things popping up for a while. it'd be nice to have an uneventful rest of the year.

new couch, apartment, and job

a lot happened in the past few days that coincided with the changing of the seasons. if we're doing the "things happen in threes," then we should actually go back to two weekends ago.

r and i have been thinking about moving, not necessarily to any specific location but just not staying in bushwick. where we are in bushwick, there's not much around. r likes to have a wide variety of restaurants around, cool bars to stop by, and options on how to spend our leisure time in the neighborhood. that's not bushwick. we take the train out to manhattan for pretty much everything.

so after seeing some rental listings that interested us in the financial district, we decided to explore that area a bit. we liked the architecture and sense of history that the part of town imbued, but we felt that it would feel too desolate at night, as if everything there operates on wall street hours. we were there on a sunday afternoon and there were hardly any people on the streets:


we noticed a lot of sidewalk construction going on in the area.


hidden incline


almost deserted street


a section of pearl street where restaurants set up outdoors seating

but since we were also near the piers, i suggested that we take the ikea ferry into brooklyn. after all, it was free. r was game so off we went:


looking at some buildings in the financial district from the pier


pier 11 - where to catch the ikea ferry


big boats down the pier


birds


a seagull


view of brooklyn from the pier


ikea ferry schedule


ikea ferry - "furniture purchases cannot be used as floatation devices"


the brooklyn and manhattan bridges connecting the two boroughs


cranes on the brooklyn shore


2 other boats


sails


cruise ship - i've never seen one upclose; they are huge!


ikea - ikea had made a park at the pier it took over for its store


park at ikea pier


ikea lounge chairs


crane, no longer seems to be in use, at the ikea pier


part of an old bridge in the state of decomposition near the ikea pier


statue of liberty and a bit of governor's island


one of the four waterfalls by olafur eliasson


another one of the four waterfalls by olafur eliasson


a waterfall by olafur eliasson under brooklyn bridge


approaching manhattan skyline 1


approaching manhattan skyline 2


approaching manhattan skyline 3

we had been couch shopping the previous day and had looked at several stores in manhattan. r had originally snubbed ikea because he wanted a nice couch, one of really good quality and design. he doubted ikea for being known for selling cheap furniture. but we had no luck at those fancier stores and figured we'd check out ikea's selction while we were there. just as you would suspect, it was at ikea that r found one that he really liked. he purchased it on the spot. unfortunately, ikea didn't have any of that model in stock that day. we placed the order anyway and figured we would just wait until they get a new shipment.

in the subway station on our way back to bushwick for the night, we saw this sign:


"danger: 3rd rail alive" - alive like frankenstein?

the following weekend (last weekend), we figured we should start checking out some apartments that had caught our interest on craigslist. there was one in particular that looked like it had the amount of space, light, and configuration that we were looking for. we made an appointment with the broker, and it turned out that listing had false photographs. the broker claimed that the landlord was tricking people into going to the building only to offer another unit, much dingier than the unit in the photos. so he sent us to look at three other places that fit our criteria.

out of the three, we liked the first one we saw the most. in fact, we liked it immediately and only looked at the other two places just in case they could actually get better (they didn't). it felt spacious - 2 levels with the kitchen, full bathroom, and a living area on the first floor, and a bedroom with a wall-to-wall closet, another full bathroom, and a potential work room on the second floor (basement). oh, not to mention access to a private terrace from the first floor and to another terrace shared with a neighbor from the basement. the rent is a little on the pricey side - neither of us could afford it on our own - but with our powers combined, we can make it work. it's actually about the midpoint of our budget range. in fear that we could lose it by delaying a day, we applied for it that afternoon. we've been approved and signed the lease earlier this week. we're just waiting until we can get the keys. the delivery of the ikea couch will now be diverted to the new apartment.

also, i had to shuffle around some stuff in starting work next week. i had originally agreed to work on a tv pilot with someone i have worked with before and whom i really like working with. but then, i was contacted about another job, a feature film, that would start at the same time and one that would last three times as long. being a freelancer, you have to take the long jobs when you can. (r and a friend of mine concurred with this philosophy.) once i was extended an official offer to work on the feature film, i had to pull out of the tv pilot (luckily, that person was extremely understanding about it).

it's just days into autumn, and the chill has already crept into new york. i wonder if i can hold out on unpacking my cold weather clothes...

what is this world coming to

i found this article today about how human activities are having unintentional consequences on ocean life. man-made noise pollution are drowning out the ability of whales, dolphins, and other sea creatures who rely on sound to communicate with each other, thus, posing dire effects on their survival. it reminds me of another article about the surge of orphaned elephants and the destruction of their social order, also due to human activities, that has turned this normally benign animals into raging killers, in my mind, much like the african children who had been torn from their families and turned into killing machines. the fact that all these things that human beings have done, invented/created to ease our livelihood and survival in this world, have such severe consequences on other creatures, makes me want to cry in shame, guilt, and helplessness.

upcoming presidential election

the week before last, i had spent a few days in boston with my friends, p & d. p was on last week of maternity leave. since her mom was there as well, she took the afternoon off from being mommy-p to just being p. we went out to lunch and then to see the dark knight, which was even better the second time around because i caught things that i had missed the first time.

on our walk to harvard square, we started talking about sarah palin, whom we don't support. (i refuse to support anyone who doesn't support women's rights, especially when she is a woman herself. it makes no sense and shows how hypocritical she is.) we had been watching the week's worth of the daily show with jon stewart and the colbert report. as we walked and talked, a woman in front of us hung up her cell phone, turned to us, and said, "i know who you're talking about." p and i looked at each other, unsure of how to react to that statement. then, the woman said, "i hope you're not for palin," and proceeded to go on a rant about the her and the republican party.

she revealed that she had been a federal government employee and hated working under the bush administration. apparently, every time she logged into her work computer, she has to click "yes" to a statement asking if she will work in the best interest of the government to farm out as much work as possible to contractors. regardless of whether she agreed with that policy, she despised having to be forced to agree with it on a daily basis. she was so fired up in telling us how wrong she felt the republican party has treated this country that as we reached our parting ways, she apologized for having us listen to her tirade. we, of course, loved that it had happened, that people are becoming so impassioned about this election that they would reach out to strangers and share their views.

last night, r and i eavesdropped on two guys at the table behind ours, discussing palin's run for vice president. it's exciting to hear people talk about politics after all the talk accusing the american public how uninvolved they had been in previous election years. of course, being in boston and new york is partial. they're mostly democrat supporters. what i would find more interesting is to overhear what people are discussing in the mid-west and other areas of the country where they are more republican. nonetheless, this election seems to illicit more attention and participation than the previous two elections. maybe we now have more at stake, with wall street taking a huge hit today (announcement of the lehman brothers' bankruptcy, merrill lynch being bought out by bank of america, aig's close position to destruction) following a pattern of a troubling economy and the ongoing military involvement in the middle east, that people are paying closer attention. on one hand, yes, people getting impassioned by this election is exciting. on the other hand, however, it's almost as if it's only because this country is facing a dire situation that americans are finally listening up. i can't help but wonder if people had been this involved and paid this much attention the last two times, would we be in this situation.

on a side note, i received a notice from the ins that because i had failed to make my appointment to take my oath of naturalization, i will have to wait for further notice of a rescheduling. i never received the first notice of the oath to begin with. to think that having taken the oath would've secured my ability to vote! now, i have to wait and see if i can make it by election day. fingers-crossed!

rainy days and cigarette butts

i had dinner plans with my father this evening. we were to meet at the canal/centre subway station in chinatown. chinatown is always a little gross with the wafts of day(s)-old-seafood odor hanging in the air and mysterious murky puddles that if one were to see some mutated creature emerging from their surface, he/she should not be surprised. but rain elevates this grossness to another level, and it was raining.

i arrived there early, and while waiting for him, a homeless man caught my attention. he started to yell about something. i was on the phone with l and so didn't really listen to what he was saying. but the bits of "you chinese" that i caught makes me think that it was somewhat racist. he's homeless probably because he has a mental illness though, and i would rather not antagonize someone who doesn't bathe and clean on a regular basis to avoid making any level of physical contact with them.

while scanning the crowd, looking for my father, i noticed a lit half-smoked cigarette had fallen to the ground. then, i saw the homeless man reaching for it. i had to hold up the magazine in my hand to avoid seeing what was going to happen but then had to look to confirm my suspicions. yes, he dropped it on the wet, nasty ground, picked it up, put it on his lips, and continued to smoke it. after a couple of puffs and more ranting, he dropped it again. the gesture seemed almost deliberate. i couldn't help but wonder if he found the cigarette tastier when dipped in street juice.

what is it with rain and cigarettes and crazy people?

labor day - parade and coney island

this post is a little late as i have been out of town for a few days, thus, away from my computer:

for labor day, r and i met f to see the caribbean parade with the promise of coney island afterwards. the parade was more f's idea since she's from panama. r and i probably wouldn't have gone to it had it been up to ourselves. we're just not parade people. standing in a large crowds waiting to see "something" is not really our idea of fun. besides, f's mom didn't have a food stand at this event so the main attraction was not there. but i love f so we went:


the parade at washington and eastern parkway, in front of the brooklyn art museum


looked like a peacock


more parade


more parade


girl in costume

and then onto coney island!!! this summer is supposedly the last summer the amusement rides and games would still be there before the developers come in to demolish them. it's been the rumor for the past few years, but those years seem have run their course. we shall see if the rumor this year is true as we head into next year, if the coney island we saw this summer will remain the same or if we had been there at a historic season.


coney island - view from train


we took the q train to the coney island station


nathan's - our first stop, hard to imagine that the plan is to building condos onto of this structure - according to f, nathan's has been named as a historic landmark so it cannot be destroyed


our nathan's feast...or what's left of it


proof that hot dog vending machines do exist - had we not been filled with delicious greasy nathan's, we probably would've tried one


some like to roll in style


boardwalk


shadows of the three of us


boardwalk and park


in the park


music courtesy of the red boom box


we survived the cyclone!


at sunset


cops hanging out by a sign


the beach that none of us were brave enough to venture onto and we admire those who did


boardwalk at sunset


alley


games


beach at sunset


q train crossing the manhattan bridge on our way back to bushwick

i took most of these pictures blind, aiming without looking looking through the viewfinder to be inconspicuous. of course, these are only a selection of all the pictures i took, and some of these are cropped. still, taking pictures this way was easier than i thought it would be. about 80% of all the pictures were fine as they stood, without further manipulations. i owe this to using a digital camera, which i'm discovering affords me a certain liberty that my nikkormat couldn't.