I had a long and awesome Saturday even if I never left the city. I was worried I'd be wasting my weekend off by not spending it on an out of town trip somewhere but I surprised myself with such a fun filled day. I was up early and headed over to Ana's to take Santi's second month photos and then we had brunch at The Vanderbilt. I went home, showered and met up with Mica over at 34th st on the Manhattan west side and we made our way down to the west side high way hoping to get beers at Frying Pan on 26th st. Apparently everyone in the city thought of doing the same thing because the boardwalk was packed and we couldn't get tables anywhere. We walked over to Chelsea Piers where we laid on the grass and napped for about an hour enjoying the cool breeze from the Hudson River. Then we walked to Billy's Bakery at 21st st. to get cupcakes then we were off to Chelsea Market on 15th st where I scored a gorgeous dress at Anthropologie on sale for $39.95 marked down from $178.00!! SCORE!!

We kept walking towards 6th ave where we got ourselves a manicure/pedicure at 14th st after which the hunt for sushi began. We walked all the way down to west 4th st looking for good sushi. We scouted and scanned menus at about four sushi spots before we settled on Sushi Mambo on Bleecker and Cornelia st. where we shared a massive Japanese meal. By this time we had already zigzagged down Manhattan for a whopping 30 blocks and 6 avenues. We were full and tired so we took a cab over to the east side where we met up with a couple of people over at the Filipino bar on the East Village where we had a bottle of Red Horse each then cabbed home where we were met with Benny and two of his couchsurfing friends, Camilo and Andrew from Denmark. We were equipped with a bottle of lemon flavored russian vodka and OJ so we hauled our goods, Mica's banig, a blanket and speakers up on the rooftop where we spent the next three hours drinking and laughing. At one point Mica played Empire State of Mind and all five of us got on our feet and started dancing. At 3am, we called it a night and climbed back down and washed our feet from dancing on our filthy roof.

These are the only photos I can post for now since Benny already posted this on Facebook. The first is Mica, me and Andrew sharing the bathtub as we washed our feet. The next is of Camilo on his turn to use the tub with a beer in hand. You will have to give me time to post the rest of today's photos when I'm good and sober.

Tomorrow we plan on doing this all over again with Michael and (hopefully) Caitlin and our other Russian Couchsurfer Alexander. YEY NYC!!

I ended up not leaving Brooklyn today despite previous plans of heading out by Hudson River Park and sunning myself. Decided to take advantage of Brooklyn's own beautiful lawns by the east river. I headed over to the Brooklyn Bridge Park where I laid down on grass, lathered up on sunblock and enjoyed the soft breeze blowing from the river. I will have to make regular habit of this. I had such a nice, quiet time that I fell asleep without realizing it.

I made another round of the ginger scallion noodles for dinner (because they were really that good) and I sat down with Caitlin and Michael and we watched Layer Cake in the living room.

Michael's got a membership at 24 hour Fitness and he's trying to get me to use his complementary month pass to try it out. I haven't gone to the gym since staying with Kate in California so I'm worried my body can't handle it. I am, however, attempting to quit smoking as part of my 2010 goals so having that out my life might help.

Oh, and E just uploaded his photos from last Sunday! You can view them here. I rarely like having my photos taken but he actually took really nice ones of me so I'm very happy. And, yes, I got fat, you don't need to tell me. That's what happens when life is (kinda) good, you get fat.

They would be Niki, Awie, Chris and my faithful camera.

I spent my day indoors in bed watching the Lost series finale (finally!) and cried my eyes out. I shall not explain this further. Only Lost fans can empathize with me on this one.

The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting with Niki on Yahoo, Chris (Mazo!) on Facebook and semi-bantering with Awie on my FB wall. When all three decided it was time for them to go to bed, I headed out with one goal in mind: head over to Billy's Bakery and indulge in fabulous cupcakes! After that I headed towards Chelsea High Line park and armed with my trusty old rebel baby, captured some really nice photos from the park. I miss going out with my camera. When E asked me the other day how often I go out with my camera, I was ashamed to say I haven't done so in a while. Taking more photos being part of my goal for 2010, I plan to go on more photo walking trips over the next couple of months. The weather should be great from here on, with summer looming over the horizon.

Some of my favorite images from today:

This was such a candid moment that I stealthily had to take it.

After several shots of the plants with the sun behind me, I tried out using the light to outline the plants and they turned out wonderfully.

When the sun began to set, I headed up to Rann and Oli's apartment and hung out for a bit before heading home and making myself a crispy chicken salad for a late dinner.

Tomorrow is another day! If the sun is high, I shall head back to the west side and sun myself by the Hudson River Park and maybe grab an afternoon beer at Frying Pan.

I LOVE NYC.

With Michael being in the house as our official temporary honorary roomie, a.k.a. he's crashing in the living room for a month before he sublets Mica's room when she leaves for Tennessee for 6 weeks starting June, being vegan due to his allergy to anything dairy, we've been doing much less regular cooking in the house and I've been mindful of reading ingredient labels on items I bring home so I don't accidentally try to kill him by offering him toast (true story).

I had an all vegan dinner at momofuku a few days ago with that jar-of-pickles+shiitake-buns+ginger-scallion-noodle combo and it was fabulous.

Today, I've managed to recreate two of me and Mica's favorite dishes. The anchovy plate from Prune and the ginger scallion noodle from Momofuku. Did I succeed? Oh yes. Good enough for me to not need to venture out to the city when I'm craving for both. Now, if only Scott Bryan had his recipe for the organic roasted chicken online(along with everything else in his delicious yet expensive menu). I haven't had the opportunity to go back to Apiary yet. Lately I've been trying to cut back on the expensive meals. The man's a genius but a every time I eat there I spend no less than $50 for dinner. Meals in my own kitchen will have to be sufficient for now.

Ginger Scallion Noodle with quick pickled cucumbers and baby bella mushrooms in grapeseed oilMarinated anchovies with celery hearts and toasted almonds

Last Sunday, despite gloomy skies, I went out for a quick photowalk by the Hudson River with someone-we-shall-now-refer-to-as E. So E and I met up at B&H photo since he wanted to buy a 50mm before the photo trip. I ended up purchasing a light umbrella and a 32" 5 in 1 reflector, the latter I've been meaning to buy, the former is something I thought I could use for my makeshift studio. We walked towards the Hudson River and walked down until we ended up in Frying Pan. The place is named after the lightship that's also docked by the pier. It's basically a boardwalk equipped with seating and a stage for bands who play at night. It's a great place to sit and drink beers by the water. Coincidentally, Michael told me about this place just two days before, since he went there with a couple of friends and they were dancing in the ship's boiler room. He insisted that we had to go there and that day, E tells me it's also one of his favorite places in the city.





Full photo album can be viewed on my facebook. Not my facebook friend? Tough.

Now excuse me as I watch the Lost series finale.

SO I find myself home (relatively) early on an off day. Was up till 5am this morning on the phone with my vegas chicka Louiie and was up oddly early this morning and made breakfast for people before they scurried off to work. I was supposed to take a short nap after lunch then head out to the city to wander. I ended up sleeping until 4pm. I got ready to head out and went to visit Michael at his workplace in Superdry. I've never been in there before and never heard of the store until he told me he got a job there. They sell really nice clothes at really ridiculous prices. Think $100 jeans and $500 leather jackets. I did have a lot of fun trying out clothes though. I spent about an hour in the store while Mike kept handing me random stuff to try out in the dressing room. I might just buy a leather jacket, a couple of jeans and a shirt...using his staff discount of course. Hahaha! I've never had clothes that fit me so well so I'm considering this a very good investment.

I then walked round and round the east village and ended up buying a cardigan and sandals on sale in Urban Outfitters. I had dinner at Momofuku Noodle bar where I ordered too much (jar of pickles, shitake steamed buns, ginger scallion noodles and a yuzu palmer slushie. I had the noodles packed up to go and kept walking until I found myself in Best Buy where I finally got myself an apple airport express. I've been thinking of getting one to plug my 1tb hard drive in so I can access my external drive from anywhere in the house.

When I got off the subway on my way home, I decided to make a detour and get a quick pedicure in the nail salon next to my apartment building. They were slowly closing up but luckily were still accepting customers for another half hour.

I got home and am now currently catching up on episodes of Lost, V and Mercy.

I saw Iron Man last night with Michael (finally!). We went to see the midnight showing up by Times Square after I got off work. I miss watching movies with my Denver Gang, and heading to Bona after. The movie was a bit disappointing. I didn't have the same feeling I got after watching the first film, the "Let's-go-see-that-again!" feeling. The first hour was remarkable slow, with a few hilarious lines from RDJ and when things started to get real fun with the actions scenes, it ended too abruptly. Overall, the movie was okay. not too great though.

I'm contemplating on attending a Lost Series Finale viewing party over at Tribeca this coming Sunday. To those of you who don't know, the show's last ever episode will air this Sunday and Lost fans everywhere are congregating in bars celebrating the end of a good show. I don't know anyone here who are fans of the show too so I'm wondering if I should just buck up and go alone and make an attempt at meeting new people...or I might find someone whom I can drag over to go see it with me. New York City readers, any takers? You know where to find me.

I shall shower you all with some of the stuff that's been keeping me preoccupied (apart from work). The past couple of weeks have been fun and interesting. Been going "out" with friends both old and new. I have been in NYC in over a year and I've never been out dancing in a bar/club until this week so this was definitely out of the ordinary for me. Was out with Benny and his friends a few days ago and we all danced at this gay bar somewhere in midtown near Times Square. Then two days after that, Michael (our new temporary honorary roommate) managed to drag me along with him to Greenhouse on a Tuesday night where we went dancing like we (really) just didn't care. Mica brought a couple of friends over and we all headed down to Chinatown for a late night (rather, early morning snack). They drove us home and we continued the party until the sun came up and we all passed out. The last time I did something like that, I must've been 21...or maybe not. Remind me...

Apiary has been temporarily replaced as my go-t0 place for good eats by Momofuku Noodle Bar. I have been there every week the past three weeks. The food is so remarkably awesome, I can't get enough of it. Pictured above is their ever so famous roast pork buns (dubbed as the best siopao on the planet). Below is the ramen I had on my first visit. The ramen was fabulous but it can't compare to the ginger scallion noodle Mica had, which I also ordered on my following visit.
Below and after photos of my recent haircut. Fake straight hair below. I have yet to take a photo of it with it's natural curl.
Based on a recommendation from one of the tour guides from Foods of New York, I headed down to Butter Lane, a quaint little shop that sold nothing but cupcakes. I had the chocolate cake with espresso icing and the vanilla cake with pistachio frosting. Was it good? Yes,, but not quite as awesome as Billy's Cupcakes. Magnolia bakery can suck it.
This was the group of boys I hung out with at Therapy Bar in midtown. This is us waiting for the subway home at 3am.This was the night I asked Mica to get a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon for us to share when I get home from work. Instead, she and Michael bought several bottles (one for EACH of us, plus extras). I don't need to describe how that night went but I will say that a crazy wrestling match occurred on our living room floor while watching Raising Arizona.
Have I mentioned that Michael is about 6'7"? I've never felt so short in my life.This is a photo I took of Mike while we were hanging out at the storage facility across Greenhouse while we waited for the club to open. He's sitting inside his storage space surrounded by everything he owns (which was not much). We sat there sipping vending machine coffee, sobering up after the drinks we had from Bar Seven Five earlier that evening. More alcohol was consumed that night of course.
I have videos of last night's fun events. Mike and I headed to Queens to pick up his tux then he accompanied me while I grocery shopped at an asian store where I picked up items I needed to make sinigang na hipon that night. I also gave him his first taste of green mangoes which he loved. Benny was hilarious playing host to his own talk show. Most of it was captured on my flip and I shall share as soon as I catch up to the 8 million things I haven't done because of all the fun I've been having.

I shall update soon.