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?

Free Tibet Rally

I saw this Free Tibet rally at the southern end of Union Square on my way home from an alumni function in the city last night. The function went well and we ate some great southern food -- cajun gumbo, fried catfish, popcorn shrimp and hushpuppies.

Interestingly enough, it was an unexpected reunion for me and two friends whom I went to graduate school with over 10 years ago. The last time we were all in a room together was in March 2005 when we all met up (again, unexpected) in Basel, Switzerland.

So have you been to an alumni function lately?

Rainy Friday

I took this photo with my cell phone while waiting for the train to go to work yesterday morning. I apologize for the poor quality but I liked the colors in it. The splash of orange, yellow, pink and blue definitely cheered up an otherwise, dreary day.

So do you usually wear colors or are you a black-on-black kind of dresser?

Human Beehive

This skyscraper, east of the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, is One New York Plaza. It has these interesting square windows that make it looks like a beehive.

I wonder what it feels like to work inside there. Will everyone be running around, busy like a bee?

Triple Vision

Notice the multiple reflections in the glass doors? This photo was taken at the back entrance to the Winter Garden near Battery Park in Lower Manhattan last weekend. The area was surprising not crowded despite the wonderful weather.

It's been a busy week for me so I haven't had much chance to visit everyone's blogs. I will play catch up this weekend.

How is your week so far?

Brooklyn Heights Promenade

This is the Brooklyn Heights Promenade on the western edge of Brooklyn overlooking the vista of Lower Manhattan across the East River. I took this photo last Saturday and edited the image before posting it on here. I enhanced the contrast and reduced the brightness. Then I cropped the photo to give it the image I want.

So do you edit your photos?

W Hotel Union Square

This is the W Hotel Union Square, located on the northeast corner of the park. The building itself has been there for decades before the W Hotel chain took over and converted it into a boutique hotel. The external façade were kept the same while the inside were gutted and turned hotel rooms.

Notice the flight of fire escape stairs on the right of the building. Imagine trying to climb down or worst, climb up those stairs. So are you a stair climber or an elevator rider?

Graffiti City

Paris has the outdoor stairwell at Centre Pompidou and we have ours at 5 Pointz in Long Island City, New York. This converted warehouse, across the street from the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, is home to many artists who work in their studios here. These graffitis are part of their work and they are totally approved by the building owner.

So do you have a monument or place in your city that resembles one in another city?

Battery Park Rooftops

This photo shows the various rooftop apartments in buildings at Battery Park near the Staten Island Ferry Terminal on the southern tip of Manhattan. Top floor apartments and penhouses maybe wonderful (no one stomping on the floor upstairs) but the electricity bills can be signicantly higher than (sometimes double) apartments on the middle floors. However, if one can afford penhouses like those, electricity bills are probably not a huge concern.

So how is your weekend going?

Peking Duck III

This restaurant with its banner for Peking Duck House on Mott Street in Chinatown supposedly serves one of the best Peking ducks in NYC. I was invited to dinner there a few years ago and I have to admit, it was a classy joint.

The duck was served three ways: (1) the whole duck was carved table side to yield pieces of crispy skin with a layer of fatty meat, and served in paper thin crepes with scallion and hoisin sauce; (2) the skinless duck was then taken back into the kitchen and the meat cut into small pieces and stir-fried with shiitaki mushrooms and other vegetables, served with rice; (3) the rest of the duck (bones and all) was then stewed to make a light soup, which was served last.

It was probably the most decadent Chinese meal I've ever had in NYC. Thank goodness I didn't have to pay for it. The host did.

So where did you eat your most decadent meal?

Long Island City Vista

Here is another view of the Pepsi-Cola sign (middle of the photo) in Long Island City. Click to enlarge the photo and you will also see the Queens Borough Bridge and the ConEdison Power Plant chimneys. The building on the right is one of the new condominiums that are sprouting up all over the neighborhood.

So would you ever live in a condominium or do you prefer a house with a back yard?

Pepsi-Cola Sign

This Pepsi-Cola sign is what was left of a Pepsi bottling plant in Long Island City, Queens. The gigantic metal structure has gained such an iconic status in the area that earlier talks of moving the sign elsewhere caused quite a huge uproar among the local residents. For now, it stays where it is supposed to be.

So does your city have an iconic structure that represents it?

Fishs Eddy

This eclectic store north of Union Square called, Fishs Eddy stocks some of the most colorful and interesting housewares I have ever seen. As you can see in the photo, there are a lot of fun and interesting stuff to buy here including porcelain hand molds from glove manufacturers (yesterday's photo), wooden shoe molds (not shown in this photo), cake pedestals, discontinued hotel chinaware, milk jars, old paintings, etc.

So is there anything in this store you would like to have?