Having returned from sunny New York to snowy Ann Arbor with piles of clothing and a happy stomach, I must say it has been a rather successful trip! The sky has been kindly pouring snow on us these past 2 days in Ann Arbor and outside is covered in a blanket of soft white fluff [correction: THICK soft white fluff].=) I'm the only person I know rejoicing at this though.. Isn't that sad?
Anyway, I've decided to do a round-up post about New York rather than boring everyone with detail after detail of the trip! [I can't remember everything anyway considering my memory is like that of a slightly more intelligent goldfish.]
Sightseeing
Most Amazing Cool Streets
SoHo
This is a tough one.. I guess it’d be a tie between SoHo [which sort of takes the lead here] and Greenwich Village [which has quaint streets but is less classy than SoHo is]. I really like SoHo because it has beautiful stores and lots of stuff to look at. On the other hand, Greenwich Village has a lot of cute shops that are a little quirky and unique. So both really have their good points and I really like them both!
Greenwich Village
Most Beautiful Space in New York City
I vote Central Park with no hesitation whatsoever. Despite certain paths that were iced over, I really really enjoyed myself in Central Park which is big, spacious and beautiful! The planners of the original city of NYC were extremely thoughtful in the landscape of the park. Every part of Central Park is pretty even in winter when everything is covered in snow! ^_^ It’s a great spot for just walking around, exercising or [in the summer] picnicking!
The Lake at Central Park
Most Adorable Spot
This goes to Nintendo World! They have too many kawaii Pokemon characters and Super Mario characters!!! And of course, their collection of limited edition DS Lites doesn’t hurt either. ;)
Giant Pika Pika!
Most Stunning Area
Brooklyn Bridge as seen from South Street Seaport takes the prize for this one. I think it really helped that we went there on a gorgeously sunny day with clear blue skies and wonderful weather! Looking at the majestically large bridge linking Manhattan and Brooklyn together is a magnificent sight especially when paired with calm waters and a crystal clear sky.^_^ It’s also very soothing just sitting there enjoying the sights, the sunshine and the sea breeze blowing past gently.
Brooklyn Bridge is majestic no?
Most Gorgeous Library
is located in Columbia University and has the most amazingly well placed study spots that all have fantastic wireless access and easy access to a power point. Why can’t Ann Arbor have that too! (T_T) They have little alcoves for you to study at by yourself and lots of tables, each equipped with power points for everyone sitting at the table. Their collection of books looks insanely large as well.
Most Amazing Museum of Knowledge
It’s a favourite for most people – the American Museum of Natural History! It’s full of exhibits of all sorts of things from space related stuff to animals to humans and so on. You’ll definitely find something you’re interested in there. Most of the exhibits are extremely informative and very well laid out, such as the Ocean one and the one on human evolution regarding arts and culture and stuff. We didn’t spend nearly enough time in there but we were all fainting from hunger so we had to leave. We also spent more money to watch the Space Show [$16.50 for admission with one show – either the Space Show, Imax or Special Exhibition] which was very very good.
Most Fabulous Art Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art wins this! Called the Met for short, it is full of art for everyone! There are the classics in the form of Greek and Egyptian art carrying on to the Modern painters and Impressionists and then you’ve got the Modern painters and photography as well as the Costume Institute! With such a wonderfully varied collection, I think the Met is a wonderful place for a first-timer or someone familiar with art. I had a lot of fun going through all my favourite Impressionist artists, Japanese art and the Costume Institute. Rachel had a ton of fun going through all the Greek and Roman art and sculptures. And we checked out all the galleries that we passed through as well.=)
A beautiful piece by a Russian painter.
A beautiful dress by Jean Paul Gaultier in the Costume Institute
Shopping
Most Exciting Computer Store The Big Apple Store in the Big Apple! ^_^ Located on Fifth Avenue near 58th Street, this Apple store is amazingly pretty! =D =D =D And they have rows of MacBook Airs for you to play with… Like how I updated the last entry from there.xD There are also all the iPod Touches and iPhones you could ever want to play with. And of course, the newest Apple launches.
Most Exciting Toy Store It has got to be F.A.O. Schwarz! Even though the Ferris Wheel in Toys R Us was exciting, the quality and variety of toys available at F.A.O. is stunning to say the very least. The vast collection they have of handcrafted dolls and teddy bears was a joy to look at and I loved looking at all the “couture” creations for the dolls. Haha. It also helped that they had the softest stuffed animals imaginable, a whole collection of stuffed Harry Potter creatures and a giant candy section of sheer happiness!
Most Amazing Supermarket Trip
Having been told by my father that I have to go there, I didn’t hesitate in dragging my friends along with me into the giant Whole Foods at Time Warner Centre. Located in the basement, the Whole Foods there is amazingly well stocked with everything from perfect looking capsicums/peppers to organic everything to readymade fresh and frozen meals. I’ve never seen a place where they stack the vegetables in rows in order of colour! The ready made food section had the juiciest supermarket roast chicken I’ve ever had and it was so good! Even the breast meat was palatable because it wasn’t too dry and the thigh meat was amazingly delicious, especially when dipped in the juices!
Beautifully laid out vegetables.
The Fabulous Roast Chicken!
Most Amazing Deals for Clothes Forever 21 and H&M!!! My favourite stores because when they have sales, even when you go crazy buying up stuff, you still don’t spend that much money for the amount of clothing you get! Never buy from Forever 21 in Singapore.. It’s so inexpensive in the US that it makes the clothes in Singapore look totally overpriced! Plus if you go to the Forever 21 at Herald Square [34th Street and Avenue of the Americas/Sixth Avenue] and the H&M at Fifth Avenue [in the main district near the Cathedral and Rockefeller], you’ll get fabulous clothes at low-ish prices. Great stuff! I love shopping in the USA!
Most Awe-Inspiring Store
Tiffany & Co. at Wall Street is the store we visited! We really should have visited the Fifth Avenue location but I guess some things can’t be helped. They have the most amazingly pretty jewellery ever and you really just want to buy the whole first level [where all the expensive pieces are..]. =D The second level had the chunkier pieces and the Tiffany’s silver, houseware, etc collections. The staff there were wonderfully friendly as well so it was a very nice change from the snooty staff members in Singapore.
Most Quirky Store
I adore Anthropologie! It’s like the upmarket version of Urban Outfitters in a fabulous way.=) I love all the bohemian-style products they have and I really really adore their clothes and household items! I found these gorgeous lampshades that I really adored and the cutest teapots and tea cups! But I really like the clothing they carry although it’s seriously unafforable.
I love the window displays!
Eating
Most Amazing Sandwich
The Banh Mi from Mott Street in Chinatown! =D It was … Gorgeously amazingly good. The pork bits, the ham, the cucumbers, the radish-carrot mixture and the coriander all went amazingly well together! And it really helps that for $3.25 you get a giant sandwich cut into half [$4.50 for the vegetarian version which is amazingly good as well] and bursting with juices and ingredients! So good. I think I could eat Vietnamese sandwiches everyday!
The absolutely AMAZING pork bits!
Most Amazing Burger Meal
Shake Shack takes the cake! =D Located in Madison Square Park, I went on a cold, rainy day but the beautifully made fries made the world seem a little sunnier! It’s also pretty affordable at $8 for the most expensive sandwich stuffed full of ingredients. I got the original Shake Shack burger filled with a juicy beef patty, cheese, lettuce and tomato with the Shake Shack sauce sandwiched between yummy bread. Delicious! The fries were some of the best I’ve tasted as well. Yay!
The amazing fries!
Most Inexpensive Eats
Chinatown!!! It is literally a haven for people looking for cheap eats.. For an extremely filling dim sum meal, we paid about $12-15 a person!!! And for one giant bowl of noodles, we paid less than $5 for it.. Guo Tie dumplings are also available at just 5 for a dollar! Amazing deals no? And we bought breakfast there a lot by buying buns and stuff because they cost less than a dollar each. Great deals!!! And we kept buying fruit in Chinatown because it was so inexpensive… 1 pound of cherries for $3 and 1 pound of giant sweet grapes for $1.60! xD xD xD We got a fruit fix as often as we could.
These Char Siew Sous deserve special mention because they were so DAMN good!!! xD
Most Delicious Hot Chocolate
goes to City Bakery near Union Square! ^_^ It’s rich, creamy and warm but not hot! Plus they have this super cool spinning chocolate wheel to mix the hot chocolate into its luscious texture. Yum…
A take-out version!
Most Brilliant Dessert
The cheesecake Kevin and XW brought from.. I don’t know where they got it from actually. But the cheesecake was a variant of New York-style cheesecake that was a richer and creamier version of Japanese cheesecake. And since I love Japanese cheesecake, I’m sure you’ll know that I adored this! Rachel though, loves the New York cheesecake at Benash, along 7th Avenue.
Most “Healthy” Hot Dog Meal
At Papaya King, you have a choice amongst all the meals! I chose the Sausage Combo which comes with a special sausage hot dog with peppers and onions, Cajun Fries and a Tropical Drink of your choice. Since all their tropical drinks are made from pure fruit and nonfat yogurt, they’re pretty good for you! I chose the mango one which reminded me of Lassi which I’m not a big fan of.=P But the hot dog was delicious!
The cluttered counter of Papaya King lends it a certain charm.
Most Healthy Drink
Make Jamba Juice your friend and indulge in a whole new world of fruit drinks! With all sorts of variety available and even free boosters for Immunity and so on, Jamba Juice is a great way to get a refreshing drink that’s good for you! I had a drink composed of pomegranate juice, strawberries, mangoes and peaches which wasn’t too sweet and so yummy!
Most Fabulous Map Guiding Guy
KEVIN!!! ^_^ Thanks to him, none of us got lost [well, not really..] and we had delicious food!!! =D
And cannot forget the travel companions:
Xiaowei!
Rachel!
And of course.. Lihui and Johnathan!!! Who's photos I don't have. COUGHS.
^_^ I would like to thank my travelling companions very much. Haha. And now I shall return to my work, and to marvelling at the HUGE amounts of snow being dumped on us at this very moment.
cheers *[-witchstone-]*
[music : Distance Utada Hikaru + Zui Chang De Dian Ying Jay Chou] [mood : xD but tired] [food : BANH MI!!!]
Jiamin: Haha. You'll be able to feel the New York air if you look at the photos.=D
Zhenrong: Omg. Haven't heard from you in AGES!!! xD xD xD
I'm currently updating from the FABULOUS Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City.=D =D =D
IT IS SUPER COOL!!!
I'm trying out their latest release, the MacBook Air. It's like, the most gorgeous piece of engineering ever. Seriously. It's so light and thin and gorgeously amazingly pretty.*_*!!! And just now we were playing with the iPhone but that's kind of old news now in comparison to the MacBook Air...
Later we'll be going to FAO Schwarz to just revel in toy happiness..xD And across the street is Bergdorf Goodman, Chanel, YSL, LV [their latest collection is quite terrible.X__x At least, from what I can see in their window displays..], Pucci, Bottega Veneta, etc etc. Ahh! Happy! Haha. Must aim to be rich in future and enjoy all the wonders of money.=)
This morning we went to the American Museum of Natural History.. It's great! But I think the gem collection in the Smithsonian is very much more comprehensive and interesting.
The past few days have been great.. We've been SHOPPING [like crazy..] and EATING [also like crazy..] and sightseeing! ^_^ We also met Christl last night which was great. Heh!
Ok. Must go explore the rest of the store and squeal over like.. I don't know. Every single product in the store.xD xD xD Heehee! And later we'll be pigging out all over NYC... Shake Shack, City Bakery and fabulous cheesecake coming up!
I hope everyone is having fun!
cheers *[-witchstone-]*
[music : xD xD xD] [mood : VERY ECSTATIC!] [food : TOO MUCH.xD xD xD]
In 4 hours, I'll be waking up to take the Airbus to the Detroit airport to catch a flight to New York City.^_^
I'm really tired now though, after our fantastic Potluck and Tang Yuan Party...
Thanks Xinyi and Adolphus!!! ^_^ Thanks for letting me help.=D Haha. And Izzy and Jinghao too!!! Hehe.
We made: Ginger-Pandan Soup with Tang Yuan [sesame and peanut] Shrimp and Sausage Fried Rice Breaded Fried Shrimp Stir-Fried Vegetables Chicken Broccoli Bake
I'm tired, but at the same time happy.. Haha. I'm so happy about Tang Yuan!!! I want to eat more.. ^_^ And I realised today that if the ginger soup doesn't have an overpoweringly strong ginger taste, and is complemented by pandan and rock sugar, it's yummy! And I learnt a lot of new things today about cooking... ^_^ Happy!
I've also learnt that I need to buy a nice big "wok"-like pan to stir-fry stuff.
But I just felt like having a change.=) No big changes though.. I wanted to make everything match the main image but I don't have enough time to do something like that so.. I guess this will have to do for now.^_^
Brush: Deviant Art Font: Randomly found online Lyrics: レミオロメン's 粉雪 Template: Winter 2008
The lyrics are from 粉雪 by レミオロメン which I've been listening to incessently for days.
It's a really nice song! ^_^ And although it's a nice song, it's rather depressing as well...
It's from the drama 1リットルの涙 [One Litre of Tears] which I just finished watching with Guo Lu recently.=) It's a very sad show.. And sure to bring tears to your eyes..
Don't worry! The winter blues aren't getting to me.=) In fact I'm happy with all the snow around.. And of course, the cold.^_^
Today I finally caved to pressure and went for dinner at BD's Mongolian Barbecue where you have a buffet [it's not free-flow unless you pay for the unlimited plate] of food and you pick what you want, along with sauces and create your own stir-fry which you can then enjoy with rice or tortillas. The tortilla are for eating the stir-fry "moo-shu" style, according to my friend, a concept that is completely alien to me. But I'm assuming it's some wrap thing. O__o
Anyway, it was dinner with my Japanese classmates and tutors. Tutors meaning they are students [one is a 4th-year Japanese student, the other is a Japanese person] but they take time to come help us amateurs with our Japanese.^_^ So this was really a sort of appreciation thing that we've been wanting to do for ages but never got round to doing.
I haven't had so much fun during dinner for a while.=) My Japanese classmates are absolutely hilarious, especially my classmate from New York. Ahaha. He is absolutely FUN to be around.xD xD xD And he makes the most RANDOM jokes ever invented.
I realised that I really need to expand my social circle.. One way people do so is through church, which is how a lot of my Japanese classmates make friends. Otherwise, it's through class. ^_^ A lot of people have commented that my Japanese class is pretty close and I'm happy about that.. I hope that we don't completely lose contact after we finish RC Japanese..
Some things are inevitable. But I still like to look at this from a positive point of view.^_^
I'm glad I took Japanese in the RC.. Because it has been a wonderful way to meet people.. Not only do I have my class which is pretty close, we also meet all these random people who eventually become friends during Lunch Table and Conversation Table.=) Somehow people always seem to be friendlier when they are helping you with a language or some other similar difficulty..
Everyone, 頑張って！^_^ I am trying to work hard at Japanese so I'm going to try to blog a bit in Japanese in every entry.O__o Hopefully I'll remember to do so? Haha. And hopefully I won't make a lot of mistakes because my Japanese is still quite crap. よろしくお願いいたします！
Ted: COUGHS. Must look at the FEELING he gives. Not his looks! Tsk tsk. SO SHALLOW. Hahaha.
Kee: YESS!! Me too.=D The lyrics are very nice right?? They are so simple but convey so much meaning!
Jiamin: We don't.. actually sing around a table. Hahaha. Okay. Sometimes we do. But the songs are nice! And it really helps in understanding you know, when you get explanations for the songs and stuff.=P Haha. How is Bear Bear? =) And the blueberries are now out of season. But still yummy!
Here's another brilliant song we sang at Conversation Table on Friday! ^_^
千の風になって by 秋川雅史 [Sen no Kaze Ni Natte by Akikawa Masafumi]
私のお墓の前で 泣かないでください watashi no ohaka no mae de nakanai de kudasai そこに私はいません 眠ってなんかいません soko ni watashi wa imasen nette nankaimasen
千の風に sen no kaze ni 千の風になって sen no kaze ni natte あの大きな空を ano ookina sora wo 吹き渡っています fukiwatatte imasu
秋には光になって 畑にふりそそぐ aki ni wa hikari ni natte hatake ni furi sosogu 冬はダイヤのように きらめく雪になる fuyu wa daiya no you ni kirameku yuki ni naru 朝は鳥になって あなたを目覚めさせる asa wa tori ni natte anata wo mezamesaseru 夜は星になって あなたを見守る yoru wa hoshi ni natte anata wo mimamoru
私のお墓の前で 泣かないでください watashi no ohaka no mae de nakanai de kudasai そこに私はいません 死んでなんかいません soko ni watashi wa imasen shindenankaimasen
千の風に sen no kaze ni 千の風になって sen no kaze ni natte あの大きな空を ano ookina sora wo 吹き渡っています fukiwatatte imasu
千の風に sen no kaze ni 千の風になって sen no kaze ni natte あの大きな空を ano ookina sora wo 吹き渡っています fukiwatatte imasu
あの大きな空を ano ookina sora wo 吹き渡っています fukiwatatte imasu
Note: I got the Japanese lyrics off the internet, but I romanized it myself. For non-Japanese readers, I've actually romanized は as "wa" instead of "ha" as it actually is because in those instances, it's pronounced "wa".^_^ Just a note..
This is actually based on a poem by Mary Frye:
Mary Frye - (do not stand at my grave and weep)
Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep. I am in a thousand winds that blow, I am the softly falling snow. I am the gentle showers of rain, I am the fields of ripening grain. I am in the morning hush, I am in the graceful rush Of beautiful birds in circling flight, I am the starshine of the night. I am in the flowers that bloom, I am in a quiet room. I am in the birds that sing, I am in each lovely thing. Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there. I do not die.
^_^ It's a beautiful song and you can watch it here:
Isn't it a very amazing song? It was Number One song of the year on the National Charts [by Oricon] if I'm not wrong! ^_^
After Valentine's Day, I've been in a good mood because there have been less things to do! ^_^ And since I have no exams this week [just readings and a test and homework of course], I shall post some pictures!
A typical dinner that I eat at the retail dining outlet in my dorm when it's too cold to walk outside/I'm too lazy to walk outside/the food in the dining hall is bad.^_^ A Beef Quesadilla with vegetables and chicken tenders!
Xiaowei and I took a trip to Meijer the other day and it was a lovely day indeed! Sunny out, with little wind and it wasn't too cold.=D
Winter in all it's glory..
It was sunny yet the snow wasn't melting.. =P Go figure about how cold it was..
The parking spaces in front of Meijer.=) A car is most certainly necessary..xP
Despite the great weather in the early afternoon, the wind started to pick up and as we waited in vain for the bus, we decided to portray emotions that were TOTALLY different from what we were feeling.. IT WAS DAMN COLD!!!!
Although we'd originally gone to Meijer to get printer ink, we ended up with a stash for a fruit party.^^ Time to stock up on Vitamin C for the winter!
Blueberries and Blackberries. Yum!
Watermelons! Delicious!
I also went to donate blood at night.=) Haha. Apparently I filled up the bag uber fast.. And apparently, the colour of my blood is very nice... O__O I sense vampirism somewhere.. Haha.
UMix!!! One of the best free activities to attend in Michigan because you get so much cool stuff for free!!! ^_^ I wonder what's in the bag..?
My new bear that I stuffed on my own!!! It's name is: チョコレート [Chokore-to] which means Chocolate in Japanese.xD xD xD Kawaii ne!!! Haha.
Thumb Thumb has a new friend.^_^
So that's about it for updates on my random life.. Haha. Except that I've once again fallen in love with Darker than Black...
Hei!! KAKKOI!! xD xD xD Another cute guy with a deep dark past! Hahaha.
And I really like Yin.. =) She's such a mysterious person..
^_^ With anime around, I'm happy! Haha. Manga too.=) And of course, dramas! And music... ^_^ Hooray! Time to read about Sociology..
On Valentine's Day, or rather, Thursday evening, the girls went out for dinner at Pizza House!! ^_^ It's pretty good.. I'm quite impressed. Haha. =P And we gossiped a lot.. And ate just as much.. So I think it was a wonderful night out.^_^
The interior of the restaurant. It's got a pretty homely feeling and is perfect if you're there with a few friends or if you're there with a large group! ^_^ The servers are really friendly and if you go early like we did, you'll definitely get a table. Otherwise, you'll either have to wait or make a reservation beforehand.=)
Got a surprise gift from Yuzhen, Chenli and John Yap!!! Homemade Pineapple Tarts!!! They were DELICIOUS. I hope there are some left.(T_T)
Pizza House!
For a starter, we shared freshly made Bruschetta. SO YUMMY!! ^_^ The giant slab of Mozzarella was delicious! The tomatoes were dressed in a lovely mix of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil and a teensy bit of garlic. Yum!
For the mains, we ordered 2 pizzas with thin crust.=) Since the place is called Pizza House, I'm pretty sure they are famous for pizzas right?
Hawaiian!!! With olives as well and since I don't really like them, I picked them out. ^_^" Hehe. Doesn't the pizza look amazing in all it's glorious cheesy perfection?? =D
We also ordered the House Special which has Sausage, Green Peppers, Mushrooms and Onions. This was amazingly good!!! I loved the combination of the toppings because they worked together really well and the crust was pretty thin. I've tried their regular crust as well, which I must say passes my dough test. ^_^ Yummy!!! I was stealing the House Special because it was so good! Haha.
Although we were declaring that we were stuffed, when the server mentioned dessert, the whole table perked up! Haha. Suddenly, space was created for the sweet-toother within us...
Look at the size of that damn thing! Hahaha. It was HUGE but we polished it off.=D
We were in a really good mood after the meal and I felt that it wasn't terribly unaffordable to eat at every now and then. Perhaps another girls' night out is in order!
I was in such a good mood, I went back to the dorm and started karaoke-ing with my friend on youtube.=P Haha. Then I did my homework.
Hmmm. I'm going to post on regular life nowadays soon enough.^_^ cheers *[-witchstone-]*
[music : Sen no Kaze ni Natte Akikawa Masafumi] [mood : sleepy] [food : PINEAPPLE TARTS.
My Emotible!
starry-eyed: filled with such youthful hope and optimism that one's eyes twinkle even when it's dark
Wish List
ie: motivation to save money!
- clothes
- shoes [heels! boots!]
- the perfect tote
- coats/outerwear! [Soïa & Kyo, Burberry...]
- Gackt - nine*nine
- Gackt Photobooks:
1 The Gift The Sixth Day & Seventh Night Tour Document (2004)
2 Crescent Photobook (out of print)
- Cookbooks!
1 Thomas Keller The French Laundry Cookbook
2 The Nobu Cookbook
3 Emily Luchetti A Passion for Desserts
4 Alice Medrich Pure Dessert
- Anime/Manga
1 Rurouni Kenshin
2 xxxHOLiC
3 Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-
- Proficiency at Japanese!
- Learn French for Food!
