M&M Statue of Liberty

Here are some souvenirs from the M&M Store on Times Square. It's a favorite among tourists, especially those under the age of 10.

So what kind of souvenirs do you usually buy when you are traveling out of town?

Greenwich Village Apartment

This apartment on 12th Street in the Greenwich Village has a little private garden and foot path to the front door, which are extremely rare in New York City. Most apartments have the main door located right on the street.

So what is special about your home?

Don't Use Cash!

The sign on this coffee shop window says: Don't Use Cash! Save 5% of all purchases using any form of payment (credit, debit) or Just Roasted Coffee Card. That is strange indeed as most stores prefer cash over credit or debit payments.

So do you think this is just another publicity stunt by the coffee shop OR do they really benefit from credit and debit purchases?

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

This Christmas tree was set up in the lobby of my apartment building. It belongs to everyone who lives here. So I'm going to share it with you all.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

Flight 001

This interesting store, Flight 001 in Greenwich Village, sells some of the most interesting travel items. On Sunday, I went there to buy an adapter plug for Italian wall sockets for my laptop. Yeap, I'm heading to Rome in January for a little vacation. I guess that wish I made when I threw the 100 Lira coin (US$0.07) into the Trevi Fountain in 1980 might come true after all.

So have you ever made a wish and it came true?

Window at Dean & Deluca

This guy was checking his e-mail or text messages on his cell (mobile) phone while shopping at Dean & Deluca, a gourmet supermarket on Prince Street and Broadway Avenue in SoHo.

So how often do you check your e-mail?

Someone Was Here

I saw these paw prints on a fresh coat of snow this morning on my way to brunch. Notice the two dark spots on the lower right corner? I wonder if those spots are what I think they are. And no, there wasn't a tree nor fire hydrant near by.

So what do you think those spots are?

Restaurant Felix

I shot this photo of Restaurant Felix on the corner of West Broadway and Grand Street last week. I've never eaten here before but I understand that it's an expensive restaurant with hipster cred(ibility).

So how do you categorize yourself? A hipster? An intellect?

Winter Snow

It snowed (again) this morning and here is the scene outside my living room window. Sorry for the blurry photo but this was the best one out of the bunch I took.

So what is your idea of a good breakfast when it is snowing outside?

Panettone

Here is a tower of panettone, a type of Italian Christmas bread, at Whole Foods Supermarket in Union Square. The festive confection is becoming increasing popular in the US and frequently given as gifts. The quality of the photo isn't the best because I snapped it with my cell phone.

So have you ever had a panettone?

Empire State Building

Aside from the CitiBank Building and the Empire State Building in the photo, can you see the Chrysler Building? The street on the left is Queens Boulevard and the skyline in the far background is Manhattan.

No question today! Hope you have a great day.

Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful...

It snowed yesterday afternoon for a couple hours and again, in the evening when I was on my way home. This photo was taken from inside the train car when the door opened at the Woodside station. I wanted to take a photo of the snow coating on the platform when a person walked by and I ended up with this wonderful photo.

So what kind of weather are you having now?

Nine Days To Christmas

This gigantic sculpture of the Roman Arabic numeral '9' is located outside the Brasserie 8 1/2 restaurant on 57th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue. I took this photo on the same day I took the one of the brasserie window, and I have been saving it for today's post.

So do you save anything unconventional, hoping it would be of some use at a later in the future?

Holiday Bazaar at Union Square

Every December, temporary shopping bazaars pop up all over the city to sell everything from food and jewelries to clothes and bags for the holiday season. This year, there are three holiday bazaars that I know of (there maybe more) : Union Square on 14th Street, Bryant Park on 42nd Street and Columbus Circle on 60th Street. This photo was taken at the Union Square site.

So do you have a holiday bazaar in your city?

Update: Opps! I forgot about our mid-month subway theme day until Peter of Paris and Virginia of Birmingham alerted me to my faux pas. So how am I going to spin this? Okay, see that roof on the upper left corner of the photo? That's the roof of the 14th Street subway station at Union Square. Here is another view of the subway roof taken from above.

This mid-month subway theme is shared by the following bloggers:

Budapest - New York City - Paris - Stockholm

Special guest blogger:
Virginia of Birmingham (in Paris)

Angels @ Rockefeller Center

Here is a close-up shot of the lights-and-wire angels at the Rockefeller Center Atrium that I posted a couple days ago.

So what is your plan for the weekend?

Lexus No More

We had a strong wind storm a couple days ago and it must blown the Lexus sign of its perch on top of this building next to Queensborough Plaza. What's more interesting is the little ladder that goes up the side of the building where there is a door. I wonder who lives in there.

So what is the oddest place you have lived before?

Argosy Bookstore

This is the entrance to Argosy Books, one of the few independent bookstores left in New York City. Located on 59th Street between Lexington and Park Avenue, it specializes in rare and old books, maps and prints, which makes it somewhat immune to big store chains like Barnes & Noble and online retailers like Amazon.com that sell mostly new fiction and non-fiction books.

So what kind of books do you usually read?

Chrysler Building

Here is one of the grand dames of New York City -- the Chrysler Building. The photo was taken while I was standing in front of Macy's Departmental Store on 34th Street and 7th Avenue. I have just bought two pairs of wrinkle-resistant Docker's pants that were on sale.

So what have you bought on sale recently?

Antiques and Art @ The Armory

A friend invited me to the Antiques & Art at The Armory show sponsored by AVENUE magazine last weekend. It was definitely an eye opener for me. Among the antiques on display was a velvet lined wooden chest filled with gold and silver flatware from the Romanov era, priced at an affordable US$450,000. :-)

So do you have a formal set of china and flatware?

Ice Rink @ Bryant Park

This is The Pond at Bryant Park, an free ice skating rink on 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenue. It is one of three ice skating rinks in the city -- the other two are at the Rockefeller Center and Central Park.

So when was the last time you ice skated?