Under The Boardwalk II

This photo, taken at the base of the Queensborough Bridge, shows The Food Emporium on the left and The Terence Conran Store on the right. The beginning of the Queensborough Bridge can be seen in the background of the photo.

The Terence Conran Store is a British departmental store that specializes in contemporary furniture and housewares. The store also houses a small florist and carries a small selection of books and music.

Under The Boardwalk

The Queensborough Bridge, completed in 1909, connects Manhattan at 59th Street to Long Island City in Queens. The bi-level bridge has 11 traffic lanes dedicated to automobiles and a separate lane each for bicycles and pedestrians. Interestingly, the bridge was built directly over Roosevelt Island without an exit route onto the island. There is another bridge that connects Roosevelt Island to Queens.

The base of the Queensborough Bridge on Manhattan's side are homes to The Food Emporium, a high-end supermarket and Guastavino's, a comtemporary restaurant. Both the supermarket and restaurant are carved into the foundation of the bridge and therefore, have spectacular granite arches with tiled ceilings.

This photo, taken inside The Food Emporium, illustrates the beautiful vaulted ceiling and tiles located directly beneath the bridge.

Leprechaun in New York City

This is another photo taken at the Queens' St. Patrick's Day Parade. The young fellow is dressed as a Leprechaun, which is an Irish fairy known for its mischievous attics.

St. Patrick's Day is traditionally celebrated on March 17 by people of Irish descent all over the world. On this day, people adopting everything green from green clothes to green food.

The biggest St. Patrick's Day parade is held in New York City (Manhattan) where over 2 million spectators and parade marchers walk down 5th Avenue.

Photo Update : Spike, the Bull Dog

This is a photo update of my previous post of Spike, the Bulldog.

I found out this morning that Spike was featured in the Travel Section of the New York Times. I wanted to share the photo with everyone so I'm posting a second photo for the day.

Photo Credit: This photo was taken by Eric Hauser of the New York Times.

It's All Gone to the Dogs

I would like to introduce everyone to my neighbors, Sasha (Husky) and Spike (Bulldog). They live in the same building as I do and I frequently bump into them in the elevator, the lobby or outside on the street. Sasha is a little shy and Spike is a sweetheart.

This photo, taken last Sunday, shows Sasha and Spike dressed in their special outfits because they were invited guests at our neighborhood's St. Patrick's Day Parade. This is the 8th year our neigbhorhood has hosted the local parade.

Roosevelt Island Tram

Roosevelt Island is a narrow little island that sits in the middle of the East River between Manhattan and Queens. It is approximately 3 miles (1 km) long and 800 feet (240 m) across at its widest end.

There are a number of ways to get from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island, but none is as exciting as the cable car/tram that floats 250 feet (76 m) above the East River. The view from the tram is breathtaking but it is definitely not for one who has an extreme fear of height. Last summer, mechanical problems caused two trams to stop midair, and 69 people were stranded for over 5 hours.

This photo was taken from the pedestrian and bicycle lanes of the Queensborough Bridge, which connects Manhattan to Queens. The neighborhood on the left is the Upper East Side.

Vandalism on the Subway Train

Vandalism has always been and still is a problem in New York City. Recently, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which runs the city's subway system, posted notices of $500 rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of people who are responsible for the taggings and graffitis on the subway trains.

Vandals used to spray paint the glass and plastic surfaces inside the trains. This led the MTA to install plastic coated glasses on windows and metallic surfaces on the walls to enable easy and inexpensive cleanups. The vandals are now using acids to burn through the plastic coatings and scorch the surfaces beneath them. That is why a lot of the new graffitis have drip marks on them.

I took this photo on my way home from work last Friday. You can see the signature/symbol of the vandal etched in acid on the train's window. I hope the MTA is successful in prosecuting these dumb**ses for defaceing public properties.

Adam Goes To The Museum

Adam is a friend of Amedee from Evry, France.

In this photo, he was going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with his girlfriends (who can be seen waiting for him above the stairs) but he decided to stop and take a photo for his friend, Amedee. He said, "I wish you were here!"

Stone Street

Stone Street, located in downtown New York, is a unique block of shopping and dining destinations in an otherwise grey and bland section of the city. The financial district, where Wall Street is king, is not known for its charm or beauty. The streets are narrow and the buildings are tall. This results in a light deprived environment where everything looks shadowy and bleak despite the wealth and financial power surrounding it.

Stone Street is lined with 18th century buildings that have been restored and converted into restaurants and retail spaces. Since no new constructions are allowed on this historic block, the area is bathed with sunlight and colors. In the summer, the street is closed to automobile traffic and side walk cafes spring up to create a beautiful oasis of beauty in the middle of this concrete jungle.

Theme Photo: Men at Work

This guy was supposed to be working but instead, he was oogling at the pretty girls across the street.

Today, 62 Daily Photo sites are participating in this month's theme photo, Men at Work. Here are the participants: 1 Porto (Portugal) 2 Greenville, SC (USA) 3 Hyde (UK) 4 Tenerife (Spain) 5 Albuquerque, NM (USA) 6 Stayton, OR (USA) 7 Rotterdam (Netherland) 8 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) 9 London (England) 10 Richmond, VA (USA) 11 Sydney - Sally (Australia) 12 Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) 13 Constanta (Romania) 14 Evry (France) 15 Lubbock, TX (USA) 16 Szentes (Hungary) 17 Villigen (Switzerland) 18 Mumbai (India) 19 Tel Aviv (Israel) 20 Twin Cities, MN (USA) 21 Jakarta (Indonesia) 22 Houston - Candice & Megan, TX (USA) 23 Budapest (Hungary) 24 Singapore - Zannnie (Singapore) 25 Dubai (UAE) 26 Singapore - Keropokman (Singapore) 27 Madrid - Dsole (Spain) 28 Mazatlan - Kate (Mexico) 29 Nelson (New Zealand) 30 Vantaa (Finland) 31 Kyoto (Japan) 32 Tokyo (Japan) 33 Joplin, MO (USA) 34 Auckland (New Zealand) 35 Sequim, WA (USA) 36 Menton (France) 37 Minneapolis, MN (USA) 38 Istanbul (Turkey) 39 Sydney - Nathalie (Australia) 40 Sharon, CT (USA) 41 Seattle, WA (USA) 42 Anderson, SC (USA) 43 Monte Carlo, (Monaco) 44 Milano, (Italy) 45 Grenoble (France) 46 Wailea, HI (USA) 47 Guelph, ON (Canada) 48 Melbourne - John (Australia) 49 New York City - Ming_the_Merciless (USA) 50 Cebu (Philippines) 51 Bandung (Indonesia) 52 Antigua, Guatemala (Central America) 53 Hamburg (Germany) 54 London - Jonemo (UK) 55 Hong Kong 56 Stavanger (Norway) 57 Paris (France) 58 Naples, Florida (USA) 59 Saarbrücken (Germany) 60 Shanghai (China) 61 Quito (Ecuador) 62 Zurich (Switzerland)

Shanghainese Soup Dumplings

One of my coworkers, who is Shanghainese, introduced me to soup dumplings about 6 months ago. Now I am totally addicted to them. Soup dumplings, which originate from Shanghai, are essentially meat dumplings filled with hot, delicious soup inside. The dipping sauce of choice is black Chinese vinegar with shredded raw ginger.

So how does the soup get inside the dumpling? Well, the meat filling is mixed with a soup base and frozen for a couple of hours. That enables the soup base and filling to solidify and congeal together. The frozen mixture is then scrapped with a spoon and (securely) encased in wonton wrappers, and steamed to perfection. Because there is soup/liquid in the dumplings, they are made-to-order and have to be consumed immediately. Otherwise, the wonton wrappers will absorb the soup inside and turn doughy instead of light and soupy.

Salt Spreader

New York City received another dousing of snow and sleet yesterday. School children enjoyed the day off while adults were outside shoveling snow so the cars could get out.

I saw this salt spreader on the sidewalk in my neighborhood. The workers were still shoveling snow further up the street. I assumed that once the snow is cleared, the blue colored salt will be deposited on the street via the wheel barrel looking machine.

Does anyone know what the salt is blue?

Holy Bat Wing, Batman!!

This photo was taken at an art gallery opening in New York City last Friday. A good friend of mine designed the catalog for the exhibition and I was invited to attend the opening and reception.

The woman in this photo was wearing a very interesting winter jacket. It has a pair of straps attached to the inside that can be worn over the shoulders like a backpack. That way, the woman does not have to carry the jacket in her hands when she is not wearing it.

She told me it is a club kid jacket. I have never heard of the term. Have you seen this kind of jacket before?

Takashimaya Florist

Takashimaya is one of the most exclusive and expensive departmental stores in New York City. While researching the information for this post, I found out that Takashimaya does not have a US-based website. The only store site I could find in English was for Singapore Takashimaya.

Takashimaya is a large Kyoto-based retail store that has outlets all over Japan, as well as in Taipei, Paris, Singapore, and New York City. It was founded in 1829 by Iida Shinshichi. The store specializes in obscure designer brands for apparels, cosmetics, accessories, and home furnishings.

This photo was taken inside the store's floral department on the 1st floor of the building. Aside from floral arrangements, it also sells garden ornaments, decorative and utilitarian vases, tools, and books and cards with botanical themes.

Statue of Victory

This statue of Victory is part of the Sherman Monument located on the south east corner of Central Park. The monument depicts Victory leading General William Tecumseh Sherman seated on his horse coming home from war. General Sherman was one of the generals who led the Union (northern states) against the Confederates (southern states) in the American Civil War .

The monument was created by August Saint-Gaudens in 1892-1903. Saint-Gaudens was one of the most important American sculptors of the Beaux-Arts era.

Victory is a common symbolic figure used in many war monuments to signify triumph. The figure is based on the Greek goddess Nike. One of the most famous of these statues is the Winged Victory at the Louvre in Paris.

Healthy New York City

Recently, the New York City Board of Health passed an amendment to the city health code to slowly phase out artifical trans fats in all food items served at restaurants by July 1, 2008.

Prior to that, the other major public health initiative undertaken by the city was the smoking ban, which took effect on April 1, 2003. The ban covered all workplaces including bars, restaurants, cafes, pool halls and offices. In addition, the city and state imposed an additional $1 tax on every pack of cigarettes, making New York among the nation's most expensive places to smoke.

This photo of a small convenience store is advertising cigarette sales at $6.60 per pack. The prices at other stores are closer to $7.

So how much is a pack of cigarettes in your city?

Ming the Merciless Unveiled

I did a google search of "Ming the Merciless" and found there are more than one blogger/internet surfer using the name. Aside from me, there is a guy in California and another in Switzerland who call ourselves, Ming the Merciless.

But who is Ming the Merciless? The name came from a fictional character in a scifi comic strip called, Flash Gordon, which was first published in 1935. Ming the Merciless was an extraterrestrial villain from the planet, Mongo and the main nemesis of the hero, Flash Gordon. Ming the Merciless has an underground ice palace, Ice Station Earth, set deep beneath Antarctica. With his arsenal of laser weapons (that was so 1930s, before WMD became the word of choice) and an army of drone robots, Ming the Merciless set out to conquer Earth but his plan was foiled by Flash Gordon.

This photo, a semi coming out party for me, was taken inside a relatively empty subway train -- nobody was sitting within view of my camera. The reason my face is not totally visible in the photo is because I was told (and have read) that blogging can be a career suicide, especially if too much information is revealed. Besides, I fancy myself as the International Man of Mystery. Yeah baby!!

If you have an alter ego, who would you be?

Korean Cuisine

I love Korean cuisine and my favorite Korean dish is the spicy tofu and seafood stew, which is especially delicious during the cold winter months. Another reason I love Korean food is the appetizers or side dishes that are served with every meal called, banchan. These little morsels of meat, seafood or vegetable dishes are served tapa-style and they can be spicy, sweet, salty, crunchy, soft, or chewy.

This photo was taken last week at my favorite neighborhood Korean restaurant called, Natural Tofu. It is one of the many banchan that came with the meal. I do not know the name of this dish but it is a type of black beans that have been deep fried, tossed with a sweet barbeque sauce and sprinkled with sesame seed. Yummy!! If you love asian food like I do, you should check out Singapura Daily Makan Photo by Keropokman who blogs Singapore Daily Photo.

So tell me about your favorite food. What do you like to eat?

Murray's Bagel

A bagels is a type of yeasted dough bread that was first introduced to this country in the 1880s by Jewish immigrants from Central Europe. It has an extraordinary chewy consistency, which makes it very different from other types of breads in the market. The chewy consistency is achieved by boiling the dough in water first before baking it in the oven.

New York City bagels are supposedly the best in the world because of the city's tap water in which they are boiled in. Or maybe it is because New Yorkers are snobbish about their food. Regardless of where they are made, bagels are usually eaten with cream cheese. For more special occasions, bagels are served with cream cheese topped with smoke salmon or lox.

This photo was taken inside Murray's Bagels on 8th Avenue and 22nd Street in Chelsea. It is a chain of bagel cafe that sells all types of bagels and its accoutrements like cream cheese, smoked salmon and whitefish, creamed herring, etc. Bagels are usually consumed at breakfast, with a cup of strong coffee.

So what do you normally eat for breakfast? What did you have for breakfast today?

Chinese New Year Lion Dance

The lion dance is a traditional Chinese dance that is usually performed during special occasions like Chinese (Lunar) New Year, which starts this week. The dance involves two acrobatic performers who balance an elaborate head piece and a long tail while mimicking the moves of a lion to the rhythm of drums and cymbals.

This photo was taken on Sunday (yesterday) afternoon in Flushing, Queens. The lion dance troupe was performing on the street and visiting various retail stores in the area. It is supposed to bring good luck to the businesses that hire these dancers to perform at their stores.

Flushing, in Queens, is the second biggest Chinatown in New York City. The other two Chinatowns are in downtown Manhattan (the oldest and biggest) and Brooklyn. Flushing is also the site of the Arthur Ashe Stadium for the U.S. Open and the Shea Stadium for the New York Mets.