noonish leaving LAX for JFK.

descent into JFK.

the room. sheraton in brooklyn. so new that cabbies couldn't find it.

super tiny but super fab bathroom. loved the shower.

appetizer at momofuku. FAT pork and a yogurt soju(!).

roasted potatoes mixed with kimchee and topped with a poached egg. Best Idea Ever.
also, the poached egg was extra yolky but the yolk never dripped. how'd they do that?!

my noodle dish. was a bit salty towards the end but i enjoyed those cucumbers and sliced shrooms.

my friend's ramen order. more of that poached egg goodness please.

main dining room at budhhakan. we came, we saw, we didn't eat here. this time.

christmas tree made of shiny, shiny cd's in the chelsea market.
which, btw, rivals sf's indoor food marts for smells and hip cozyness.

chelsea market apparently was once a factory or something like that. hence the industrial interp of a waterfall. fab.

i heart christmas lights.

view of the standard from highline. the highline is as amazing as i thought it would be.

on exhibit.

concrete goodness on the highline.

even the bell map is industrial yummyness.

where we dined on pastries and coffee. because we are hip and cool.

looking down towards...urm...some busy street. i just like all that wood.

ooooo....artsy fartsy shot...!

he was graffiti-sprayed everywhere. by whoever "alec" is.

the cooper union!
what is it?
don't know!
just another example of wacky new york modernism.

wacky. very.

yieah yieah it's a parking "lot". i know the concept, i've seen the execution, just never took a pic before.

missing lunchtime at EN by, like, 5 minutes. wtf.

so, instead, lunched at pinto. thai food. this is my appetizer -- i was craving papaya salad.
the fancy-schmancy contraption in the back is their version of a thai iced tea presentation.
all that shiny gray to the left is My New Favorite Purse (sorry mr. kors).

my garlic beef entree.

apparently 12/11 was "dress like santa" day in nyc.

my super-shoddy attempt at capturing the artsy details of the invisible dog gallery.

no, not an art installation. just the gallery lighting. which, like, is so cool and i totally wish i can have this.

atsa my entry, second from right.
more photos of the exhibition here.

walking the invisible dog. get it?
oi, we is a clever bunch.

peeps wandering about waiting for the live media sessions to start.

in between presentations during the live media session.

corean fud after the show.
i was tired so i didn't eat much. i failed at respecting the corean fud.
please don't revoke my azn pride card.

much time was spent underground figuring out the subway system. and visiting with the rats i guess.

rainy. but at least we left before The Great Snowstorm of 2010.

inside il laboratorio del gelato. OMGSOGOOD. the food and the decor.

brunch at the spotted pig. tin ceiling and copper pipes...w00t! great food too yieah btw.

dunno why they're perched on a ledge in the subway but there they are. cute.

at EN. seated at the centerpiece table.

cuz i like shiny things.

so commences a parade of dishes from the $90 and $65 samplers.
this here's the shabu beef. raw the way i like my meats.

kyoto style appetizers.

sashimi so fresh there was a hint of sweetness.

that blue shrimp was Teh Awesome.

FIRE! for the miso-based lobster shabu.

that miso soup was so rich it was creamy. no brothy powder crap at EN, eh.

grilled fish of deliciousness.

egg with unagi. dude, unagi beats a couple of dried green peas as garnish ANY DAY.

EN's famous handmade tofu.

it's beef, baby. medium rare but i still liked it.

the chikun was good but what really tasted amazing were the greens.
leave 'em on the hot stone till they crisp and they'll taste like roasted seaweed.

feesh balls!! squishy orange caviar ftw!

buckwheat noodles. though unfortunately we were too full by this time to enjoy properly.

dessert. tofu cheesecake was interesting but the lemon sorbet was fab.

inside rockefeller building at night.

it's the tree!

the rink that we didn't skate at because the line was long, it was rainy, and we were tired.

tourist shot.

from the tree looking towards the street.

from the street looking towards the tree.

st. patrick's. never did make it to mass as it entailed *shudder* getting up early.

inside the empire state building.

candified.

glitterfied.

discofied.

mail slots on the 86th.

glowy neon(!) on the 86th.

i fall for all sorts of tourist displays.

from the 86th. it rained the whole time we were up there.

it was a corny magical 15 minutes despite the fatigue.

the hudson.

oh yieah i rock the artistic.

so i won't jump off.

constantly streaming steam/clouds.
and sharp edges you don't wanna get caught jumping over.

from the 102nd. about 3 minutes of visibility before the clouds set in and all you could see was ...

... this.
yieah. much excitement.

zero visibility.
which means, there's no way kong would've made it to the top -- he wouldn't have been able to see where he was going.

crystalized.

damn i like them shiny stuffs.

accidental bokeh. because i can't work the manual focus on the new cam yet.

not even bokeh. just blurry. *sob*

le sigh. blurred to crap dammit.

this is as if i'd ran despeckle in ps a billion times. next time i'll just take pics on manual focus instead of filtering.

steam.

inside anthropologie. sooo much shiny stuff.

finally figured out that i can't work the manual so i should just go to auto-focus.

the cop telling us where dean n deluca's is. with the horses going "why are we standing here again!?!?".

art deco.

the tree in daylight.

rockefeller glass.

just a city shot.

emo city shot.
omg the new cam is amazingly awesome.

nintendo world!! next to dean n deluca's.

old skoo people!

not a fan of the plumber actually. yieah he's the mascot, blah blah blah, shoulda been link standing there.

the today show. walked past and saw all the lights so i snapped a pap shot.

magnolia bakery. duh. love the happy servers, the endless samples, the huge lump of red velvet cheescake.

back in brooklyn to grab luggage before heading off to the airport.

the lobby.

snapped just cuz it's bluuuuuuuuuuu.