Cheese Aisle at Grand Central Station Market

This is the cheese aisle at the Grand Central Station market where I like to shop when I'm invited to dinner. Since I don't cook, I usually offer to bring a selection of cheeses and fruits for the host/hostess.

Next to the cheese aisle are the sausages and deli meat section and the bread and dessert section. Last summer, some friends and I stopped by here to get some cheeses, sausages and bread before heading to Bryant Park for an inpromtu picnic. Oh and there is a wine section at the market too.

For me, cheese was an acquired taste. I didn't grow up eating them so I don't like stinky cheeses until I went to France in 1996 where my friend introduced me to them. Since then, I love all kinds of cheeses. My favorites are Greek feta and chèvre (fresh goat cheese).

So what are your favorite cheeses?

Hiro @ the Maritime Hotel

There are photos taken at Hiro, a dance club in the Maritime Hotel in Chelsea. My friend, Brien took these photos three weeks ago. I was not able to go because I was on the plane floating somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic on my way home to NYC. I love the colors in the photos.

When was the last time you dance in public? Dancing around the house on your own doesn't count. :-)

Hermès Rooftop Statue

About two months ago, Peter in Paris posted a photo of the statue of Napolean on a horse on top of the Hermès store in the french capital. He mentioned in his blog that Natalie of Sydney Daily Snap had also posted a similar photo from Australia. So I told Peter I would go and take a picture of the statue at the New York City store on Madison Avenue and 62nd Street.

Here is a list of bloggers who have posted photos of the Hermès statue around the world:

1. Eric of Paris

2. Peter of Paris

3. Natalie of Sydney

4. Ming of NYC

Let me know if here are any more Hermès statue photos so I can add on to the list.

When was the last time you bought something obscenely expensive?

TV Killed The Radio Star

I saw this graffiti on a temporary wall in front of a store in Union Square. I thought it was beautifully done and so unique because it was anonymous. Most graffiti artists tag their work with a logo or a nickname.

Interestingly enough, Dr. Vint Cleft, the godfather of internet, predicts that TV will go the way of radio in the near future. TV killed the radio star and internet killed the TV star.

So how many hours of TV do you watch a week?

Get That Monkey Off My Back

I saw this kid with his mother the other day and couldn't help thinking of the phrase, '"Get the monkey off my back!" But seriously, I think it is an ingenius way to keep your kid safe without looking like he is on a leash.

So what is your monkey? What do you want off your back?

Apartment Stoop 4

This is the apartment stoop of a very nice townhouse in the East Village. Notice the gate under the staircase. The gate leads to a basement apartment of the building, which are fairly common here in New York.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

Fire Escape 6

Here is another photo of a fire escape taken in front of an old apartment building in the East Village. The fire escape structure here is overgrown with plants, which suggests that nobody has used it in a long time. I guess that is a good thing.

Notice the size of the windows on the building. You can usually tell the age of the building by the size of the windows on them. Buildings constructed before World War II (commonly known as pre-war buildings) tended to have smaller windows because they did not use steel in the overall structure. They were mostly constructed with bricks and concrete, which are very heavy. As a result, these buildings can only afford smaller openings to maintain the structures' integrity. Newer buildings now use a lot of steel, which is significantly lighter and stronger than concrete, and therefore, have larger windows.

I live in a co-op building constructed in 1928. It has small windows but really thick concrete walls, which are great for noise and temperature insulation.

So do you know when your house was built?

View From Inside the Apple Cube

This is the view from inside the Apple Cube Store on 5th Avenue and 59th Street. The building on the right is the former Plaza Hotel. Now it is being converted into a super luxury condo that sells for over $1 million per unit.

So if you had $1 million dollars, what would you do?

Fashion Walk of Fame

Los Angeles may have the Hollywood Walk of Fame but New York City has the Fashion Walk on Fame on 7th Avenue, also known as Fashion Avenue in the Garment District. To be honest, I didn't know about it until I came across this plaque on the street pavement between 38th and 39th Street last weekend.

Speaking of fashion, I just bought two new pairs of stress-free (i.e., wrinkle resistant) and stain-resistant khaki pants on GAP.com. I literally live in them because they require minimal ironing and retain the non-wrinkle look for days afterwards. Also, one day a kid on the bus accidentally spilled half a can of juice on my pants and it wiped off completely without staining or wetting the fabric. Ever since then [2005], I have bought all my khaki pants at GAP. But GAP discontinued the line recently and a salesperson at the store suggested search online. So I did and I found them ON SALE.

So where do you buy most of your clothes?

Disclaimer: I do not work for nor own stocks in GAP or its parent company.

Unidentified Fried Chicken (UFC)

A couple weeks ago, New York Magazine did a story on Korean Fried Chicken (the new KFC) and Unidentified Fried Chicken (UFC) in Jackson Heights, Queens was listed as the best restaurant. So earlier this week, I stopped by UFC to get some Korean fried chicken take-out.

Here is a photo of the restaurant. I ordered the soy-garlic and the spicy mustard flavored chicken and they were delicious.

What is your favorite fast food?

Traffic Scene

Here is another street scene in New York City taken from the cable car from yesterday's photo. This is 3rd Avenue looking northwards.

No question today. Have a bit of a flu/cold/runny nose and can't really think straight after taking the cold medicine.

Welcome to Manhattan

This is the exit ramp of the Queensborough Bridge onto 59th and 60th Street in Manhattan. The bridge connects Long Island City in Queens to Manhattan across the East River. This photo was taken from a cable car suspended hundreds of feet above the river. You can see the pair of double steel cables that hold up the car in the top right of the photo.

Last year, two cable cars were stuck for over 5 hours midway through the journey after the stations lost power. Emergency generator power did not kick in and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) had to fly a specialist in from upstate NY to fix the problem. The cable car service was subsequently shut down for months. It was returned to service only recently.

So do you have a fear of height? OR do you have any phobia?

Chibi's Bar in SoHo

This is the flag/logo for Chibi's Bar in SoHo, which is connected to the Kitchen Club, a American-Japanese fusion restaurant on the corner of Prince and Mott. This type of restaurants and bars are typical of what you would find in this neighborhood.

I haven't eaten here before but the American-Japanese fusion concept sounds interesting. What is your favorite type of cuisine?

Painting @ Sullivan Room

This is a painting on the wall above the stairwell leading down to the subterranean club, Sullivan Room, which I posted and talked about yesterday. I like the painting because it reminds me of Japanese style manga cartoons.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Sullivan Room

This is a photo of the bar at a beautiful subterranean club near New York University (NYU) called the Sullivan Room. It looked kind of empty because it was around 11:00 PM when my friends and I arrived. The crowd did not pour in until after midnight.

I took this photo on low-speed setting without flash with my pocket size Canon Powershot A520, which I've had since March 2006. I am thinking of getting a new camera but I cannot decide on whether to buy another small compact automatic with higher mega-pixel or a bulky digital SLR camera with all the snazzy components.

What camera do you have? Any advice on what camera I should get?

Are You Winking At Me?

I believe this little fellow likes me. I saw him outside Barnes & Nobles at Union Square this weekend and he was winking at me. I winked back at him with my camera.

So what do you do to let someone know you like him/her?

Mid-Month Photo Theme: Subway Train

Per Strömsjö of Stockholm by Pixels and I decided to create an impromtu mid-month theme of subway train photos. So here is my contribution to the effort -- the New York City subway train.

To see the subway photo from Stockholm by Pixel taken by Peter Fristedk, click here.

Photo Shoot in SoHo

I was walking down Prince Street in SoHo when I noticed something interesting going on here --two guys were photographing each other over the SUV parked in the middle of the street. I don't know if it was a photo shoot for an advertising campaign or just some tourists taking photos of each other in SoHo.

SoHo, short for South of Houston Street, is a hip neighborhood where some of the most popular cafes, restaurants and shops are located. It is also a place to see celebrities because a lot of famous people live here. I have bumped into Meg Ryan, Iman, Daniella Pestova, Claire Dane, Moby, Audrey Marnay and Andre Leon Talley here.

So have you ever met a celebrity?

Carnegie Deli

I was at the Carnegie Deli on 57th Street and 7th Avenue with some out-of town friends this weekend and this was what the couple at the next table ordered for lunch. It was the $20.95 Carnegie Gargantuan Combo of 1/2 pound of turkey and 1/2 pound of corned beef with Swiss cheese on whole wheat bread. When I saw the waiter arrived with their sandwiches I asked if they would allow me to take of photo of one of the sandwiches. They gladly obliged!

The sandwiches my friends and I ordered were less extravagant. We had a 1/2 pound corned beef sandwich, a 1/2 pound pastrami sandwich and a slice of cheese cake to share among the three of us. Our sandwiches looked about half the size of the sandwich in the photo. But boy, were they delicious!!!

So what do you have in your favorite sandwich?

Apartment Stoop 3

Here is another photo of apartment stoop in the Greenwich Village. I especially love the intricate ironwork on the railing.

So how is your weekend so far?

All Partied Out

This young fellow looked like he is all partied out. It was around 2 in the morning when this photo was taken. Normally I don't stay out this late but I had some out-of-town friends who wanted to visit some clubs and bars in the city.

I am usually in bed before midnight. I need my 8 hours of sleep OR ELSE I'm not a pleasant person to be around the next morning.

What time do you usually go to bed?

Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum

This is the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum located on the edge of Astoria, near the East River in Queens. It is not on the regular tourist route but sometimes, art enthusiasts will trek across the river from Manhattan to see the small but distinctive collection of Isamu Noguchi's work.

Noguchi (read about his life here) may not be a household name among great American-born artists but most of us have seen two of his most famous works (or derivatives of them), which are the paper screen lanterns/lamps and the Noguchi table.

This is one of my favorite museums in NYC because it is small and manageable, and never crowded. Of course, nothing beats MoMA or the MET, but the Noguchi Museum is in a special class of its own.

Who are your favorite artists OR where is your favorite museum?

Juice Bar

It is sweltering hot and humid in NYC this week. And one of the best cures for weather like this is a nice cold refreshing fruit & veggie juice combo. My favorite blend is an orange-apple-banana-celery-beet juice. And the best place to get one is at this juice cart in front of MoMA on 53rd Street between 5th & 6th Avenues.

What is your favorite juice combo? Yes, you can add a dash (or more) of vodka if you desire.

The Inconvenient Truth

This is another photo from the old files, which was taken the day after the iPhone was released in the US. The gentleman sitting next to me on the subway was playing with it so I asked if I could take a picture of the phone. He gladly obliged and even demonstrated some of its features to me.

When I was in Asia, my US cell/mobile phone did not work because it was not compatible with the Asian cellular phone system or the rest of the world's, for that matter. I did not think ahead of getting an Asian SIM card for my phone so I left it at home. I was phoneless for a month.

What was the most inconvenient situation or thing to happen to you during your last vacation?

Back in New York City

I'm back in NYC and regular programming will resume.

This photo was taken a couple months ago at an Italian cafe called, Caffe Dante in the Greenwich Village . My friend and I were early for a movie so we stopped in here for some coffee and gelati, and that was when I noticed the reflection on the window. What you see there are some of the most beautiful and expensive townhouses in Manhattan. These buildings are very characteristic of the Village's architecture. The cafe is very popular among hipsters and tourists alike, so if you are even in NYC, you should stop by Caffe Dante.

So how was your month of July when I was away? Did anything exciting happen?

Kuala Lumpur: Petronas Towers

This is the view of the Petronas Towers from my hotel (Traders Hotel) in Kuala Lumpur. Okay, it is NOT exactly the view from my hotel room window but rather a view from the corner of the hotel lobby. All the best rooms with tower views were sold out so I had the room with the 2nd best view from the hotel -- the parking lot. But I'm not complaining!! Kuala Lumpur is a beautiful city and the Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC) area is absolultely stunning. And I'm heading back to NYC tomorrow morning.

Confession: My bathroom has a bidet. It's devine!! Am thinking of installing one in my NYC apartment.*blush*

So have you ever used one?

Meet Up With Edwin of KL Daily Photo

Met up with Edwin of Kuala Lumpur Daily Photo at the Suria Mall beneath the Petronas Towers this morning. It was great to meet a fellow daily photo blogger.

Belated Theme Day Photo: Typical Breakfast

I apologize for missing the Theme Day Photo a couple days ago. I do not have easy access to the internet while on the road but I have not been trying very hard for find it either. I'm on my last leg of the trip. Am in Kuala Lumpur this weekend in super nice hotel with broadband internet connection. YEAH!

Anyway, here is a photo of someone else's breakfast. To find out whose breakfast this is, click here.

So can you see what was on the menu for breakfast here?