Groovy for the 60s

I found this psychedelic Volkswagen van parked outside a building in the Village a couple months ago. I thought it was groovy because of the beautiful artwork!! I wonder if it belongs to an aging hippie from the 60s or a Wall Street millionaire with his new "toy"?

My dad used to own a vintage 1967 WV beetle when I was a young kid. It was a temperamental car (I'm trying to use PG-rated language here) that won't start on mornings when the weather was too cold. My brother and I would have to get out of the car and push it down the street hoping to jump start the engine while our dad steered it away on coming traffic through the windows.

So when I was old enough to get my own car, I specifically stayed away from a VW and bought a second-hand Nissan pick-up truck instead. Eventhough that truck had over 200,000 miles on it, it was super reliable and it gave me very little trouble.

So tell me about your first car.

Theme Photo: Street Signs or Street Lights

The theme photo for September 1st is Street Signs or Street Lights. This photo, taken at the Greenwich Village, is where the epicenter of gay New York is located.

Here are the other 108 bloggers who are participating in the photo theme this month:

Seattle (WA), USA - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Singapore, Singapore - Boston (MA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Kajang (Selangor), Malaysia - Mainz, Germany - Evry, France - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Sequim (WA), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Nottingham, UK - Toulouse, France - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Manila, Philippines - Mumbai, India - Montpellier, France - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - Moscow, Russia - Paris, France - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Austin (TX), USA - Lyon, France - Stockholm, Sweden - Hyde, UK - Hong Kong, China - Joplin (MO), USA - Seoul, South Korea - Chandler (AZ), USA - St. Louis (MO), USA - Arlington (VA), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Villigen, Switzerland - Sydney, Australia - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - San Diego (CA), USA - Bandung (West Java), Indonesia - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Nelson, New Zealand - Quincy (MA), USA - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Bend (OR), USA - Wellington, New Zealand - New Orleans (LA), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Nashville (TN), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Detroit (MI), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - Selma (AL), USA - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Miami (FL), USA - Arradon, France - Sheki, Azerbaijan - New York City (NY), USA - Inverness (IL), usa - North Bay (ON), Canada - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Tenerife, Spain - Auckland, New Zealand - Forks (WA), USA - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Chateaubriant, France - Madison (WI), USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Orlando (FL), USA - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Ajaccio, France - Baltimore (MD), USA - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Budapest, Hungary - Lyon, France - Saarbrücken, Germany - Adelaide (SA), Australia - Le Guilvinec, France - River Falls (WI), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Naples (FL), USA - London, UK - La Antigua, Guatemala - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - Paris, France - San Diego (CA), USA - Trujillo, Peru - Haninge, Sweden - Prague, Czech Republic - Oslo, Norway - Grenoble, France - Shanghai, China - Toronto (ON), Canada - Durban, South Africa - Zurich, Switzerland - Cape Town, South Africa - Singapore, Singapore - Torino, Italy - Flagstaff (AZ), USA

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?