New York, Day III

A short visit to the beautiful Columbia University campus was followed by a short trip to Central Park and therefore a visit to the famous Strawberry Fields. Huge Beatles fan here. Huge. No photos from Columbia, at least not any digital ones. I will get around to scanning the prints...eventually.

Surprisingly the lineup for the Empire State Building Observatory wasn't that long. I don't understand why there isn't any cell reception up there. None of my 'signature' night shots here. Got there a bit too early and wasn't willing to wait four hours for the sun to set.

Only in New York will you find an elevated park made from an abandoned railroad. That would have been demolished or left to rot had that been located anywhere in the Philippines (a bit mean of me to say, but it's true). Free concerts, jazz and classical musicians here and there, food, interesting people and amazing views of the river and the city.

New York, Day II

Dropped by Grand Central first thing in the morning to take some tourist-y photos of the famed subway station. They have a very open Apple store maybe two stories up where I bought my mom an iPhone case (like you care).

I met up with Nicole (who was studying at NYU for the summer), for lunch at the adorable Alice's Tea Cup on East 64th. We ordered the Mad Hatter, which included some scones, sandwiches and cookies with tea served in adorable pots. I had the usual Earl Grey - not too adventurous when it comes to food, no. I was able to get a few photos from the famous Laduree on the Upper East Side. It costs about $20 for 6 macarons. It's a little steep but I doubt I'll get another chance to try them out.

The MET is huge. There was hardly a place to sit on the steps ala Blair Waldorf and minions of Gossip Girl. Regrettably, I forgot to take down the name of the artist who did my favourite piece with miniature people glued to the wall (I can't think of a more elegant way to put it). If you're ever at The MET, make sure you head up to the rooftop. There's a pretty decent view of the city in addition to the occasional exhibit. I probably would not have made an effort to find the elevator if it were not for Nicole's rooftop tip. I lazy. My being lazy also explains the pathetic photo of The MET's exterior. The 24-70L is a pretty heavy lens, so I stuck with the markedly lighter 50mm.

I took a photo of a homeless woman at the subway station in a well-off area in Manhattan. A few seconds later a woman angrily asked me why I would do such a thing. I'm not the type to not defend myself when faced with situations like this, but given that I was in public in a foreign city in the company of my godfather, I decided to keep my mouth shut for once. It's really none of her business, and she should have thought about possible reasons for my supposedly offensive actions before asking such a stupid question.

If you want a fantastic view of the Brooklyn Bridge without actually getting on it, head to South Street Seaport and into the whats-it-called mall-like place. They have a veranda you can lounge in that provides you with said view.

New York, Day I

The photos taken at Times Square at night didn't turn out as great as I would have liked. I aimlessly photographed the tourist attraction hoping there would be a good shot in there somewhere - not too happy with them, and I blame sleep depravation. The place was amazing nonetheless. It feels as if the whole world is gathered there. It's that crowded.

The three or four story M&M store is my heaven. You might know this if you've known me from high school. Despite their extensive and overwhelming selection of products, they didn't have M&M's crispies! Tsktsk. I guess it's only sold in the Philippines. Moving on with life. We sat on the Red Stairs in Times Square for a while, where I enjoyed my milk chocolate NYC Taxi Mix. Mmm.

My last visit to New York was in 2007. My godfather introduced me to chocolate dipped gummy bears from F.A.O. Schwartz and I've been hooked ever since! It's not even surprising that we don't have them here in Vancouver. I have to visit specific candy stores in the U.S. every time just for those, but F.A.O. Schwartz has the best!

final spring

The Temper Trap came to Vancouver last Tuesday and played at the Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park. THEY WERE AMAZING! We got to stand right in front of the stage across Dougy Mandagi. Mind. Blown.

The venue didn't allow any "cameras with detachable lenses" so I didn't take any of my SLR's with me. Psh. I did take my Diana F+, which technically has a detachable lens. The photos above were taken with the point and shoot my sister lent me. Photos from the Diana will take about a week to process, even longer since I don't think I'll be getting around to it soon.

The photographers at the event only photographed the first 2 songs or so, and I don't understand why. Anything worth photographing at a live concert comes after the manufacture of sweat.

Oh, I'm suddenly going to New York.