Someone Was Here First

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?

Bike Lane

The mayor's office has recently designated sections of the streets into bike lanes all over in the city . Cyclists are ecstatic about the change; automobile drivers, not so much. As for me, I don't drive nor bike so I'll reserve my judgment until later.

One thing I will have to do now is watch out for speeding bicycles as they careen down the street. They are not as easily noticeable as cars, that's for sure. But they do less damage than a car coming at you at 45 mph.

Personally, I rather hike than bike. What about you?

Lost Bird

Last week, I lost my camera but I found it the next day. On Saturday, I saw this sign posted on a lamp post in SoHo -- apparently someone found a lost bird. My question is how does one find a lost bird? Did it fly into someone window and said, "I'm lost?"

So have you lost something recently? Did you ever find it again?

After The Rain

It rained cats and dogs almost non-stop from Friday evening through Sunday morning this past weekend. But the rain stopped briefly on Saturday evening when I went to the East Village to meet some friends for dinner. On the way to dinner, I saw puddles of water everywhere and noticed the interesting reflections in them. So I took out my camera and starting taking photos.

This is one of the few photos that came out nicely because of the light from a car approaching and the person crossing the street when I took the photo. The other 6 or so photos I took were not as interesting because they lacked context or movement. I guess every element serendipitously came together in this shot.

So how many photos/shots do you normally take for each "scene" when you are out shooting photos for your blog?

Parking Garage

This type of outdoor parking garage is quite common in the city where space is a premium. To maximize the number of cars stored in the area, there are elevated parking spaces that are meant for longer term parking while short term parking are located on the street level.

So how many cars do you have? What kind of car do you drive?

Steam & Taxi

I thought this was a perfect New York City scene because of the steam coming off the pipe from beneath the street and the yellow cab driving by. The steam is a result of warm air from the underground shafts meeting the cold air above ground. The pipe was installed to help reduce pressure build-up underground, which can cause the manhole covers to explode up in the air and create serious damages.

No question today.

The Savoy in SoHo

I have read wonderful things about The Savoy in London and dreamed of enjoying high tea there one day. In the meantime, I will have to content myself with drinking tea at The Savoy in SoHo.

So do you have a place you want to go for lunch that isn't necessarily convenient right now?

Chinatown Street Scene

This photo was taken two weekends ago when I was in Chinatown to meet my friends for brunch. The street was especially busy because it was a couple of days before the Lunar New Year. After brunch, we went to see Mama Mia, the Broadway show that is based on songs by the Swedish pop group, ABBA.

So who is your favorite singer? Who have you been listening to lately?

Rats with Wings

Not everything in NYC is beautiful and exciting. It can be very noisy and crowded, super expensive and quite dirty, like this photo above. There are also more rats in New York City than there are people. It was reported in the news recently that for every person living in the city, there are 4 rats living UNDER the city.

Pigeons, like rats are a nuisance. They are essentially rats with wings because they feed on human garbage and spread diseases like psittacosis, cryptococcosis and histoplasmosis via their droppings. What's worst is that some people like to feed pigeons with their leftover bread and cakes, making them less afraid of humans.

So have you been guilty of feeding pigeons in your neighborhood?

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?

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.

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?

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.