Korea Sparkling

I saw this attractive 'advertising wrapper' on the double decker tourist bus at Central Park South yesterday. It really made me want to visit Seoul, South Korea. And since I love Korean food, I figured it would be a gastronomical visit too.

So where do you want to visit on your next trip?

Time Flies

I saw this clock with wings in a store window display of Anthropologie at Rockefeller Center recently and I loved it. Time really flies when you are having fun.

So what do you do for fun? I love to sleep so every chance I get, I try to sleep as much as possible.

Love is a Gamble

According to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) advertisement here, one has a 2 to 1 odds of running into six tall, dark, handsome men on the subway. I don't know if that is a good thing or not. If you were a single girl (or a single gay man), I guess the subway is as good a place to meet men as any other place.

So where and how did you first meet your current spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend/partner? Was it love at first sight?

Gay Man Trapped in A Fembot

This is an advertisement for Avedka Vodka that I saw on a telephone booth at Union Square. I thought it was different and yet innovative in a weird way. But most interestingly, I love the tag line: I'm a gay man trapped in the body of a fembot.

In the photo, you can see my reflection in the glass. I was carrying a white plastic bag with me. Inside the bag were two BIG bars of chocolate brownies with macadamia nuts that I just bought at the Union Square green market down the street. After this photo was taken, I went to the park and ate one of the brownies with a cup of chai latte from Starbucks.

Which do you prefer - brownies or chocolate chip cookies?

What is your first grade teacher's name?

This photo, taken inside the subway train yesterday, shows an advertisement for the NYC Teaching Fellow program The program was initiated in Spring 2000 to encourage people to become teachers.

New York City's school system severely lacks qualified teachers in the classroom so the program was created to provide financial incentives for young college graduates, as well as older, second career adults, to consider teaching as a profession. Some of the benefits include: a one-time $2,500 tax-free stipend during the summer training program, a starting salary of $42,512/year plus health insurance and retirement plan, and tuition assistance towards earning a Master's Degree in Education.

The tag line of the advertisement is: You remember your first grade teacher's name. Who will remember yours? So, do you remember your first grade teacher's name?

Brass Monkey

The Brass Monkey is an Irish bar in the Meat Packing District located on the lower west side of Manhattan. As the name suggests, this used to be a blue collar neighborhood where freshly slaughtered meats were processed in warehouses and delivered to supermarkets across the city during the day. At night, transvestite prostitues took over the area to ply their trade in dark alleys and seedy motels.

Gentrification took over about five years ago and turned this neighborhood into a hot spot for hipsters, yuppies and tourists alike. Today it is packed with restaurants, designer fashion outlets and night clubs. There is even a boutique hotel called, Hotel Gansevoort and a private club (like a country club but in the city) called, Soho House.

Tiffany & Co.

This is a photo of a gigantic print advertisement for Tiffany & Co. on the main concourse of the Grand Central Station. The simplicity of the ad is absolutely brilliant. The 'robin egg' blue is so iconic and synoymous with the brand that the name of the company does not have to be complete visitible in the ad.

The company started out as a stationery and fancy goods emporium called Tiffany & Young, short for Charles Louis Tiffany and John B. Young, in New York City in 1837. The name was then changed to Tiffany & Co in 1853 when Charles Louis Tiffany assumed control of the entire company. Today the name is considered one of the most recognizable and respected luxury brands in the world. The flagship store located on 57th Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan inspired the movie, Breakfast at Tiffany's, starring Audrey Hepburn.

I hope everyone gets a little 'robin egg' blue box or something just as exquisite under the Christmas tree this year!!

UNIQLO

This advertisement was on a temporary wall surrounding a construction site in Chinatown. The ad is for UNIQLO (pronounced you-KNEE-coo-lo), a Japanese brand of medium priced clothes that just opened its first NYC store in SoHo. It is supposedly the largest UNIQLO outlet in the world, with over 35,000 sq ft of retail space and serves as the brand's global flagship store.

The store was designed by well known interior designer, Masamichi Katayama and boasts a 5-storey high display case filled with unique t-shirts created by artists from Japan specifically for the store opening.

The advertisement depicts cashmere sweaters and wraps that retail for $89.95 and $59.95 respectively. I'm thinking of getting the sweater in brown (on the zebra) or dark blue (on the right pengium). Or if I'm really lucky, I may find one under the Christmas tree this year. *wink* *wink* I've been a good boy this year; really I have!!