Inside Baltazar

Baltazar is a very nice French restaurant in SoHo. I have not been there in a long time but I did managed to get a shot of the inside of the restaurant through the huge windows on the street.

So where is your favorite restaurant?

Roosevelt Island Tram

I took this photo last Sunday when I was on my way to Bed, Bath & Beyond on 61st and 2nd Avenue on the Upper East Side. The Roosevelt Island Tram happened to approach my direction as I was walking east so I took out my camera and snapped a few quick photos before going on my merry way.

So have you ever been on a cable car before? If so, where was it at?

The Americans Are Coming

Last week, I posted a photo of a mural that was being installed and called it, The British Are Coming. Apparently I was wrong! This mural was paid for by the British Tourism Board to promote Britain. So I guess the Americans are coming.

So have you ever done a follow-up post to an old entry?

Waiting for the Train

Today is October 15, which means it is another subway theme day. This photo was taken at the Union Square subway station when I was waiting for the train to go home last weekend. The people you see in the photo are waiting for the downtown train while I was waiting on the other side for the uptown train.

The theme is shared by the following bloggers:
Budapest - New York City - Paris - Stockholm

Christmas Wish List I

I was at the local grocery store this weekend when I heard a Christmas song playing on the speakers. Even though it is still too early to be planning for Christmas, I think I may have found an item for Santa Claus to bring me; I have been a very good boy afterall.

I saw this beautiful red Francis x7 espresso machine at the Conran Store in midtown last Sunday. According to the sales lady demonstrating and handing out free espresso, the machine currently retails for $395 (that is a $200 off the actual price). The lady also said that it was designed by Italian architect, Luca Trazzi.

So do you have a Christmas wish list yet? If so, what would you like Santa to bring you?

Times Square

I took this photo last Wednesday as I was heading to the theater to see the Broadway musical, In The Heights (yesterday's photo). The weather was cool and dry, and the street was packed with tourists and locals alike. Times Square is probably one of the most exciting places to visit if you are not in a rush to go somewhere because the human traffic on the street can be quite taxing.

So where do you encounter the most human traffic in your city?

Broadway Stage for "In The Heights"

This photo was taken inside the Richard Rodgers Theater last Wednesday where I went to see the Tony Awards (Best Musical, 2008) Broadway show, In The Heights. Most Broadway shows forbid photography inside the theater. But at this show, everyone was taking photos of the set before the show started. So I did too. The attendants didn't seem to mind at all.

The show was amazing. It had a wonderful mix of hip-hop, rap, R&B, salsa and soul, which were all very modern and new for this genre of entertainment. If you liked West Side Story and Rent, this is the show for you. In fact, it is the West Side Story of the 21st Century.

So have you seen any good live shows lately?

GROM Il Gelato Come Una Volta

Italian gelato brand, GROM il gelato come una volta from Turin has opened two stores in NYC -- one on the Upper West Side and this one in the photo, in Greenwich Village. I walked by the store last weekend but did not get a chance to taste the gelati. I will definitely stop in the next time I'm in the area.

So how is ice-cream different from gelato? Will you be able to taste the difference?

Reflections in SoHo

The windows, fire escapes and trees in the photo are actually reflections on the window of a store in SoHo. The building you see is directly behind me and the chandelier is located inside the store. This photo was taken on a cloudy Saturday afternoon just before the sun began to set. Supposedly, this is the best time to take photos.

So what time of the day or day of the week do you usually go out and take your photos?

Grand Central Station Stairs

This photo was taken inside the Grand Central Station last weekend. It was not as crowded as it usually is during the week days so I was able to get some great photos there.

I am a huge fan of railway transportation and I wish we had great rail services like they do in Europe and Japan. I have taken the train from NYC to Montreal (10 hours), Toronto (10 hours), Boston (4.5 hours), Washington DC (3 hours) and Philadelphia (2 hours), and from San Diego to Los Angeles (2 hours).

So have you ever taken the train lately? Do you like it?

Cellist Video Shoot

I saw this video shoot for a cellist at Columbus Circle this past weekend. When I started taking photos of the group, the guys behind the cameraman started forming a circle around the cellist and cameraman. I don't know if they were trying to block my view or they just happened to move around and inadvertently blocked my view. Nonetheless, if someone had come up to me and told me I can't photograph them, I would have apologized and put my camera away.

So has this ever happened to you?

N.B.: Does anyone recognize the cellist? Is he someone famous?

The British Are Coming

I saw this mural being installed on Spring Street between Prince and Crosby in SoHo last weekend. But it looked more like a painting than a poster so I was totally in awe at the qualtiy of work done here.

So what did you do this weekend?

Subway Skylight

I was invited to an open house party at the Upper West Side yesterday afternoon. I have to admit, in the 10 years that I've lived in NYC, I can count on my hands and feet the number of times I've visited this neighborhood. No, it is not because it is not a safe area; on the contrary, it's a very desirable yuppie neighborhood. The main reason I rarely visited the Upper West Side was because it takes two train changes to get there from Queens.

This photo was taken as I came up from the underground train station at 72nd Street and Broadway. This beautiful glass ceiling is the roof of the subway station there. I was immediately drown to the beautiful patterns on the ceiling.

So have your visited some place new lately?

To-may-toes, To-ma-toes

These tomatoes were sold at the Green Market in Union Square yesterday. I have never seen that many varieties of tomatoes in my life. There were big ones and small ones, purple ones and white ones, round ones and not-so-round ones, cute ones and ugly ones.

I have to admit, tomatoes are an acquired taste for me. When I was a kid, I hated raw tomatoes. Now it is one of my favorite things in a salad.

So what food items did you acquire a taste for recently?

Battery Park Vista

Old architecture juxtaposed new ones in Battery Park at Lower Manhattan. The neighborhood was built on reclaimed land on the southern tip of Manhattan to attract more residential population to an otherwise, downtown business district.

So are you more of the downtown type (i.e. hip & cool) or the uptown kind (i.e. posh & sophisticated)?

N.B.: Excuse the "dust particles" in the sky.

Water Towers

These water towers are relics from the past but they can still be seen all over Manhattan, especially on top of older buildings. I don't know much about them but I assume they were the main source of water for the residents of the buildings before modern water system was invented.

So what is the oldest thing you have at home? Do you collect antiques?

Kayaking on the East River

This photo was taken from the pier at Long Island City two Saturdays ago at about 8:15 AM. I noticed this guy kayaking alone on the East River. Who on earth wakes up that early to go kayaking on a Saturday morning?!?!?!

In the background of the photo, you can see the Queensborough Bridge that links Queens to Manhattan. You can also notice some weird splotches in the sky. Those are dust particles from the INSIDE of my camera lense. ARGH!! It's an old camera so I think it's time for me to get a new one.

So what time do you usually wake up on Saturday morning?

Theme Photo: Lines

Today is Oct 1st, which means it's theme photo day again. This month's theme is lines. So here is a line of shoes on the display window of Paragon Sports Store at Union Square. The weird discoloration on the top left corner is from the reflection on the glass.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Brooklyn Public Library

This is the front entrance to the Brooklyn Public Library near Park Slope, Brooklyn. It may not be as recognizable as the New York (Manhattan) Public Library but I think it is just as majestic. During this trip, I did not get a chance to go inside. I will the next time I'm in the area.

So where do you usually get the books you read?

Urban Ballerina

I saw this performance artist dancing on Smith Street in Brooklyn a couple weekends ago. The plastic skirt she was wearing had little solar panels that generated enough electricity to play a weird static-like sound/music on the mini-speakers that were also attached to the skirt too.

But the funniest thing was hardly anyone on the street stopped to look at her except me and another passerby. It seems that New Yorkers are so desensitized to this sort of stunts that they don't even bother to look at them any more. I mean, we have the Naked Cowboy at Times Square.

So what is the oddest thing you ever saw on the street?