What's Not to Like about New York City?

Union Square Park with the Mystery Building in the background
I'm thinking, "New Yorkers never notice anything unusual. Not even a blue monkey sitting next to them."

Carmine's @ Broadway and 90th Street

Supersize me!

Lookit! I'm almost in the movies!

Subway Singer

Central Park at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street

Central Park Zoo
A sign of the times, I like to think.

My mother's second cousin's sister's daughter Minerva

White-crested Hornbill (Long-tailed Hornbill)
Great hairstyle, dude!

A new species: literature at the zoo

You can even step on it

Got happy feet, anyone?

Black Stork
"The tourists are here again. I'm going to sleep."

Dude

Worshippers at the temple of Apple on Fifth Avenue

At Rose Hall (another Rose Hall is in Montego Bay, Jamaica), Jazz at Lincoln Center, for the Tenth New York International Ballet Competition

Like no other

Have we MET?

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Fifth Avenue

No visit to New York City would be complete without a visit to the Met, a wonderful art museum on the east side of Central Park. It contains art collections from all over the world and houses an entire Egyptian temple, the Temple of Dendur.

At the fountain in front of the Met
New York City wildlife includes two icons: pigeons and rats. Of the two, the pigeons are only slightly more endearing.

Oops! How'd my head get in the picture?!

That's the Sculpture Garden on the first floor and Central Park beyond those big windows.

Hmm. Maybe I'm hungry but I see bananas in that painting.

I just love Monet's water lillies.

I feel cc-cold just looking at Ice Floes!

Do you think she's drawing me?

Wheat Field with Cypresses, Vincent Van Gogh
Man in Blue Tee: You thinking what I'm thinking?
Koko: Yes.

Day at the Museum

American Museum of Natural History Subway Station
81st and Central Park West

AJ, Marcy, Jo Anne, and I spent the afternoon at the Museum. These steps going from the station to the Museum are lined with murals of life under the sea.

The Nautilus. This creature lives in the Andaman Sea off the southern coast of Thailand. It is considered a living fossil as it's been around for 500 million years.

The Willamette (Oregon) Meteor

'zatso?

Whodaguessed!

'Ey, bredda! Iz what yu doing up dere, man?

The mother of all canoes

Out of Africa...you and me. Did you know we share 97% of our DNA?

Ahh, yes. Life IS slow.

Quartz (amethyst), Brazil
You're so beautiful! Wanna come home with me?

Chilling out at Cilantro, 82nd and Columbus Ave

Strawberry margarita. Cool.

Lunch at Central Park West

Cousin Marcy came to lunch with us at Central Park West. Jo Anne made a Southeast Asian dish called Chicken Rice which originally came from Hainan, China.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

For Chicken Stock:
chicken back, legs, wings for stock (shortcut: use 2 chicken buillion cubes)
12 cups water
2 1/2 cm Ginger, bruised
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons Sesame oil
1 teaspoon Light soy sauce
1 daikon peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch rounds

2 cucumbers and/or 2 tomatoes for garnish
chopped scallion (green onion) and cilantro for garnish
4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts and/or thighs, excess fat removed

Put all the ingredients except chicken breasts and/or thighs and the garnishes in a soup pot. Bring to a boil then simmer 45-60 minutes or until the daikon is translucent and tender. If using chicken bones to make the stock, be sure to skim the pot. Turn off the heat. Poach the chicken in hot broth until done, about 10 minutes. Then use a sharp knife to slice the chicken into thin slivers. Set aside. Keep the soup warm and serve it with sliced daikon.

For Rice
3 cups Long grain rice (white or brown; preferably Thai jasmine rice)
6 cloves Garlic, peeled
5 slices Ginger
2 tablespoons Vegetable oil
5-6 cups Chicken stock
2 teaspoons Salt (optional)
2 teaspoons Sesame oil

If you like a dry fluffy rice, use the knuckle method to judge how much water goes in the rice pot. The water level should come to just below the first knuckle of the middle finger. This works for both white and brown rice. Bring the water to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed.

In Thailand, Hainanese chicken rice is always eaten with the following dipping sauces.

Brown Bean Chili Sauce
6 fresh red chilies, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced fine
2 tablespoons Ginger, minced
2 teaspoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Vinegar or lime juice
1/4 cup bean sauce, mashed
dash soy sauce, if more saltiness is desired

Put all ingredients in a small bowl and combine.

Ginger sauce
1/4 cup fresh ginger, chopped fine
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons canola oil.
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

Put all ingredients in a small bowl and combine.

Serve chicken slivers with individual bowls of soup and hot seasoned rice. Spoon the dipping sauces in individual dishes. Garnish with cucumbers and/or tomato slices and scallions and cilantro.

Eating Our Way Through New York

Nussbaum & Wu
113th Street and Broadway

Jewish breakfast in the morning: Enjoying an everything bagel with scallion cream cheese

Wah Kee Restaurant
Centre Street and Canal Street

Lunch in Chinatown included General Tso's chicken and rice and Singapore mei fun

Apt. 16 BR
100 St. and Central Park West

I love leftovers! Japanese chicken curry, salad, and brown rice. I wish I had a stomach, though.

Hunter College

Hunter College
68th Street and Lexington Avenue

Today, Jo Anne, AJ and I went to AJ's school, Hunter College. This is where he is studying film production. Hunter is part of the City University of New York system. It includes two-year, four-year, and post-graduate institutions.

Sunday in New York

Church of the Holy Name
96th and Amsterdam

AJ, Jo Anne, and I went to the nine o'clock mass at Holy Name. The church has soaring rafters, a favorite roosting spot for the pigeons that fly in through the open doors from the street. Sometimes they fly low over the pews, and everyone ducks and hopes they don't get bombed.

Here I am sitting in our pew. Today, we sang "Be Not Afraid" and "On Eagle's Wings." Good choice. ( I'm thinking of the pigeons.)

Deluxe Diner
113th and Broadway

During their "New York Year" (2005/06), Jo Anne and AJ often went to Sunday brunch at the diner after mass. They always ordered eggs benedict. For sentimental reasons, they did the same thing today. Actually, they do enjoy eating the same thing over and over again.

The counter at Deluxe Diner

AJ is starting his own blog on basketball.

Working together. To each his/her own.