Step Sisters on 42nd Street

The Chrysler Building (1930) is only half a block away from the Grand Central Station (1903) on 42nd Street. The buildings were built only 27 years apart but they couldn't be any more different. The Chrysler Building was made of steel and glass in the Art Deco style while the Grand Central Station is mostly concrete and bricks built in the Beaux Arts style. Here is a photo of both buildings. They are like step-sisters, both from the same family but from different pedigrees.

Do you have any siblings? How different are you from him/her/them?

Art or Smut?

This is a somewhat beautiful sculpture of a pregnant woman called, the Virgin Mother by British bad-boy artist, Damien Hirst. The bronze sculpture is roughly two-and-a-half storeys high and stands on plaza of the Lever House at Park Avenue and 5oth Street. I said the sculpture is "somewhat beautiful" because you are looking at the pretty side of the woman. The other side of the sculpture shows the anatomy of her body beneath the skins and muscles. Click here to see the other side of her body.

Damien Hirst is considered the "shock jock" of contemporary art because most of his work, in my opinion, are created to elicit shock and horror from the audience. Among his most recognizable and shocking art pieces are a tiger shark cut into three sections, and a cow and calf sliced into half cross-sectionally, all preserved in formaldehyde. Despite his outrageous stunts, he is extremely successful (i.e., wealthy) and his work, highly collectible.

What do you think? Has contemporary art gone too far or will future generations look at this as a ground breaking trend, like we do now with Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein?

Manicured Lawn

I saw this gentleman mowing the lawn and was so intrigued with the beautiful lines on the grass that I took a photo of it. I think it takes some skills to do it so neatly. If it was I moving that lawn, you would find patches of grass and bald spots all over the place.

Mowing the lawn was one of my least favorite chores when I was a kid. That is why I prefer to live in an apartment. The janitor and gardener take care of everything inside and outside the building. I wish I have a maid too. I hate dusting and vacuuming as well. But I don't mind doing the dishes or the laundry. Anyone interested in swapping chores?

What is your least favorite chore around the house?

Toto, I Don't Think We're In Kansas City Anymore

Here is an exterior shot of Balthazar, a wonderful french brasserie in New York City. It is one of my favorite places to eat breakfast or lunch during the middle of the week. But I avoid it during dinner or the weekends because of the crowd. The front of the store reminds me of many restaurants I've seen in Paris.

Although French cuisine is still very popular in New York City, a lot of the super expensive haute cuisine restaurants have shuttered due to changes in gastronomic style and taste. Young people who eat out a lot prefer to dine at casual environments instead of restaurants that required them to wear a tie and jacket or a dress.

Do you have a favorite restaurant in your city?

Fire Escape 4

Here is another photo of a fire escape in front of an industrial loft in SoHo. The architecture of the building is classic SoHo style -- large windows, original crown moldings and detailings, super high ceilings, and large expanse of floor spaces with minimal wall partitions.

Originally, SoHo (South of Houston Stree) was considered an undesirable area zoned for industrial and warehousing activities. Over the years, it has become one of the most expensive and hip areas to live, shop and eat in New York City. Many famous celebrities live here including David Bowie and Iman, Claire Danes, Sofia Coppola, and Boy George. If you are curious about where the celebrities in NYC live, here is a Star Map of Manhattan.

Have you ever met a famous person before? Which famous person would you like to meet most? What would you say to him/her/them?

Long Island Railroad Track

I was visiting a friend in Astoria last week and we went for a walk through the Astoria Park before heading out to dinner. On the way to the restaurant, we came upon this structure, which is one of the foundations for the elevated Long Island Railroad (LIRR) tracks high above.

Notice the tip of an apartment building at the middle left of the photo? We wondered how noisy it was living under the railroad tracks. Then a train roared by and it was deafening. The residents who live here must not get a lot of sleep especially during the day when the trains come by every 30 minutes or so.

Most Americans do not use the train to travel from one state to another except maybe in the northeast of the country. I have never been on a train until I moved to New York City. And the longest train ride I ever had was the 10-hour trip from New York City to Toronto, Canada.

Have you ever been on the Orient Express?

My Vespa Fantasy

I have a fantasy! In it, I ran away to the Amalfi Coast, rented a little villa by the sea and bought a Vespa, like this one in the photo above, to zeep around town. The strange thing is despite my fascination with the Vespa, I don't know how to drive a motorcycle. Maybe one day, I will have the courage to run away to Italy and learn to ride the bike.

Vespas have become very popular in New York City in the last five years or so. A lot of yuppies are buying them because they are a cheap and convenient mode of transportation in this compact city. There are even Vespa Clubs where members meet regularly at cafes to talk about their bikes.

If you could run away, where would you go?

La Vie en Rose

The rose bushes outside my apartment building are in full bloom this week. I guess it is a good sign that the summer is here. I played with the macro feature on my camera and managed to get a couple of good shots of the blooms.

Disclaimer: I did not plant nor nurture the rose bushes in the photo. The building gardener did all the work.

If you love macro shots, please check out L'heure Bleue's blog. She has an amazing photo of a morning dew drop sitting precariously on a leave of a rose bush.

Elevated Subway Trains

Although most of the subway tracks in New York City are below ground, there are some that are elevated or above ground like this one in the photo (Queensborough Plaza). The above ground subway tracks can make a lot of noise and affect the property values around them.

The most desirable apartments in the city are usually those that are between 2 to 4 blocks away from the subway stations. In addition, the availability of support businesses like grocery stores, restaurants, cafes, dry cleaners, book stores and cinemas can significantly affect the value of the properties.

I live about two and a half blocks from the nearest subway station and my commute to work takes about 50 minutes. How long is your commute to work?

Taschen Store Skylight

This is the inside view of the new Taschen Bookstore in SoHo. Taschen Books is the most prolific publisher of coffee table books in the world. It publishes books on topics ranging from art and design to film and pop culture.

There is a huge skylight at the rear end of the store, which floods the area gorgeous natural light coming through the glass ceiling. In addition, you can see the distinct SoHo loft architecture of the buildings abutting the store. The concrete wall on the right is the entrance to a staircase leading down to the basement offices. The walls of the stairwell is painted with wild, psychedelic shapes and colors, which is very indicative of the type of books the store carries.

If you like books, check out the site, Leaves of Grass by Sonia A. Mascaro who posted some wonderful photos of home libraries filled with books. I even noticed a few coffee table books in her photos.

Do you have any coffee table books at home?

Maine Monument II

Here is another photo of the Maine Monument that I posted about two weeks ago. This photo, unlike the earlier photo that just showed the boy doing the "I'm the King of the World" pose, includes the entire cast of the scene.

There is a lady flanked by two near naked men on each side of her. This postures are fairly common in maritime statues from the 1800s. Does anyone know the significance of the posturing?

Ming and His Raw Food Diet

Chinatown vegetables like these are fairly common and relatively inexpensive. Many families come here to buy their weekly rations of meats and vegetables on weekends. I, however, come here for the restaurants and cafes. And while I'm here, I take a lot of photos.

Some of you may already know this about me -- I don't cook. In fact, I dislike cooking so much so that I have developed a taste for raw food like sushi, beef tartar, carpaccio, uncooked vegetatbles like broccoli, cauliflower, squash, carrot, pea pods and salads. I even like my burger cooked medium rare. But I'm not a member of the raw food movement.

What are your favorite vegetables and how do you like them cooked?

Ming on a Photo Assignment

About six weeks ago, I received an e-mail from a young gentleman who asked if I could help him propose to his girlfriend. Of course, I said yes. My assignment was to shoot photos of New York City scenes with a note in the photos saying, "Say YES to Wai Leong!" I promised I won't post the photos until he had a chance to propose to her. So on May 25, Wai Leong proposed to Zee and she said YES!! CONGRATULATIONS!!

Wai Leong documented his "Project Proposal" on Marry Me Zee and created a beautiful video proposal for her. You can watch the video at Marry Me Zee (the second video down) or click on this YouTube word. My photos are among the three dozen photos or so photos he collected from around the world for her. Is that romantic or what?

Gosh, Wai Leong put me to shame. I was never THIS romantic!!

Literary Walk at Central Park

On Wednesday, I posted a new photo of the Central Park benches that were located at the Literary Walk. Here is the follow-up photo to the Literary Walk, which stretches from 66th Street to 72nd Street. At the end of this path are The Mall (a public square, not a shopping mall), the Bethesda Fountain and the Boathouse Restaurant.

If you are visiting New York City and have only an hour or so to see Central Park, this is the place to go. It is probably the most beautiful and popular places to visit in the park. To get here, take a taxi or the bus to the 72nd Street and 5th Avenue entrance and walk west into the park. You will see The Mall and the Bethesda Fountain after a short 10 minutes' walk.

Theme Photo: View From Your Bedroom

June 1st is Theme Photo Day. The theme this month is: View From Your Bedroom. Here is a photo taken a few minutes ago, i.e. 1:00 AM in the morning. I set the camera shutter speed to 2 seconds to capture more light in the photo. You can see the fire escape right outside my bedroom window. The other bedroom window has an air-conditioner sitting on it. The view ain't pretty but it's home.

I forgot to sign up for the theme photo day list but here are the 87 sites that are participating this month:

Seattle (WA), USA - Manila, Philippines - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Toruń, Poland - Baton Rouge (LA), USA - Seoul, Korea - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Vantaa, Finland - Madison (WI), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - Cleveland (OH), USA - Chicago (IL), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Omaha (NE), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Stockholm, Sweden - Grenoble, France - Lubbock (TX), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Arradon, France - Hyde, UK - Joplin (MO), USA - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Kansas City (MO), USA - Naples (FL), USA - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Manila, Philippines - Sydney, Australia - Stavanger, Norway - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - London, UK - Chandler (AZ), USA - Nelson, New Zealand - Singapore, Singapore - Hamburg, Germany - Sydney, Australia - Tenerife, Spain - Moscow, Russia - Lyon, France - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Villigen, Switzerland - Anderson (SC), USA - Oslo, Norway - Evry, France - Hayle, UK - Mumbai, India - Kitakami, Japan - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Los Angeles (CA), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - La Antigua, Guatemala - Paderborn, Germany - San Diego (CA), USA - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - Madrid, Spain - Lyon, France - Selma (AL), USA - Shanghai, China - Baziège, France - Cologne (NRW), Germany - North Bay (ON), Canada - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Stayton (OR), USA - Sharon (CT), USA - Austin (TX), USA - Hong Kong, China - Trier, Germany - Joensuu, Finland - Paris, France - Greenville (SC), USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Budapest, Hungary - Cork, Ireland - Bastia, France - Vancouver, Canada - Brookville (OH), USA - Jakarta, Indonesia - Mainz, Germany - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Zurich, Switzerland - Torino, Italy - Montréal (QC), Canada

Old Iron Fence

I saw this iron fence in front of an abandoned townhouse on 60th Street and 3rd Avenue on the Upper East Side. It has some very beautiful details that we don't often see any more. I think it was handmade due to the irregular size and shape in the curls above the horizontal beam.

I hope whoever buys this townhouse will try to salvage this fence and not remove it from the building.

Central Park Benches 4

Last month, I posted a three-photo series on Central Park's benches - on April 15, April 16 and April 17. Personally, I am fascinated by these benches because they are so different and yet so similar. A lot of the different designs and materials used are based on when they were installed in the park.

Here is another set of benches lining both sides of the Literary Walk in Central Park. These are pretty old they are made almost entirely of wood and brass (or iron). The walk stretches for 6 blocks from 66th Street to 72nd Street. It is one of the most photographed scenes of Central Park.

N.B.: Please vote for me for the Blogger Choice Award (or click on the icon on the right). You may have to sign up for an account to be eligible to vote. Thanks to Carol from Oh! For the Love of Food for nominating for the award.

Chimneys in NYC

These chimneys on top of a co-op building on Park Avenue and 60th Street are quite unique and interesting. I believe the apartments in the building have individual wood burning fire places, which are rare and found only in very old and expensive apartments. Nowadays, new buildings have electronic heating systems that negate the use of steam pipes or fire places to keep the place warm.

I have never lived in a house with a wood burning fire place. But I find the concept very appealing because of all the beautiful imageries I saw in movies and television while growing up. I would love to spend a winter vacation in an old house so I can build a fire in the furnace and curl up next to it while drinking hot cocoa. And maybe toast some marshmallows.

Have you ever lived in a house with a fire place? Did you enjoy or was it more work than it seemed?

Hairless Dog

I saw this hairless dog at the downtown street fair a couple weeks ago. It received a lot of curious stares including a couple of "Ewwwww!"s from the kids. The dog demeanor was very nervous and jittery like a chihuahua but it is about the size of a Jack Terrier.

The owners told me the dog was specifically bred for its hairless qualities. Have you seen anything like this before? This was my first time.

Ouch! Is that a fruit?

I took this photo a couple months ago at the Patel Brothers, an Indian supermarket in Jackson Heights, Queens. It is a tropical fruit that is quite delicious.

Can you guess what it is?

Update: It is a jackfruit, which is a kin of the mulberry tree. Click on the highlighted word on the left for more information.