Union Square

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the market wasnt so big when i was there 4yrs ago summertime, guess it was juz a festive thing. it juz opened afew days b4 we went, lucky lucky hurhur.

quite a crowd there, but can still walk rather comfortably, unlike the streets of Orchard Road during xmas. bleahz. it spans across the whole open area right outside union sq subway station, greenwich village area.

glimpse of the area the market took up, used to be a park originally.

all kinds of fresh produce, dry goods, souvenirs, handicrafts, everything!

Beefie n hot apple cider from farmer's market. tats when he fell in love with cider hurhur.

old man selling NYC subway t-shirts, quite nice but of cuz more expensive than bangkok lols.

Jesus's beard disappears when u pour hot water into the cup! hurhur cute.

famous Momofuku crack pie, yummy but a tad too sweet. desserts in nyc are always too sweet anyways.

vendor selling all sorts of flavoured tea, quite a splendid sight to behold~

right opposite the Union Square market is this shopping mall with a huge Whole Foods Market and this big Forever21! hurhur we juz went shopping there after.

visit the market if u have a chance! such markets are not a common sight in NYC, i think.

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Woodbury Common

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ahhhh the fateful place~~

we set off with the intention of reaching the outlets just in time for the Black Friday shopping madness at midnight, but the madness started at the expressway. traffic was a nightmare and we ended up reaching the outlets only at 2am.

and we literally shopped the whole night until the sun rose. it was a cold and rainy night, really mad.

queues were mad long at all the shops that i wanted to go into!

Coach was crazy-packed with TTs who were basically just grabbing every single shit inside. i came out with one pathetic bag nia USD120, 15% Black Friday discount on top of factory price, not too shabby hurhur.

i only joined this Armani Exchange queue when i saw the queue was shorter as the sun shone brighter. worthy queue, bought 2 dresses, USD35 and USD7.

my last mad queue of the shagged night, 45 tmd minutes outside True Religion. i went in and came out within 5 minutes, empty-handed. haiz that's really dumb.

prices were not dirrrrrt cheap on Black Friday leh, mostly maybe just 10-20% cheaper for some, which Lulu said can get on special holidays as well. methinks it's not worth the massive jam in the tmd cold and rain in the middle of the night, unforgettable experience though.

thanks Lulu and Zim for braving the madness with us!

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NYC randoms

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huge "mimosa flower" spotted outside Hilton NYC. hurhur.

i love this photo, looks uber Hollywood movie scene lols. jaded NYC taxi driver looking bored, also outside Hilton.

alfresco lunching outside some 888 office building while waiting for our Carnegie Hall tour to start. it's actually quite cold so do it only if u're really crazy or if u have hot Starbucks latte in hand. lols.

oh oh anecdote here!

some crazy angmoh girl ran up to me while i was munching on my subway, and asked if i want a free haircut.

i was stunned and rejected, crazy angmoh girl left disappointedly.

then the angmoh girl to my left asked me "why not??!!?"

random angmoh guy behind me suddenly yelled "cuz it cannot be better than it already is now??"

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lols Americans are really very liberal and open, strangers do just start talking to u just like that.

some interesting coloured cabbage looking plants by the roadside. i just saw them on sale at Arcade leh, wtffff Singapore florists are actually selling Americans' roadside plant!! OMG LOLOL.

little piano prodigy busking at the Times Square subway station, attracted quite a crowd. cute boy~~~

very common to busk in NYC, anywhere and everywhere.

that day i think i just told KLJJ that i saw alotta rats at the NYC subway stations, running amock amongst the tracks. also alotta rats at the police station near Lulu's apartment too, NYPD and their donuts *tsktsk*

Beefie said he had the impression that New Yorkers are generally snobbish, but then we did meet quite a number of random New Yorkers who saw that we were lost and tried to help.

there was an uncle who just nonchalantly muttered "there's no E train today" when he overheard that we wanted to take the E train. haha weird, offering help but sound so unwilling.

Europeans touched The Wall Street Bull's balls! but their economies are still equally sluggish. heng i never touch. AHAHAHAHA.

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this si angmoh ghee na HAD to be in the otherwise perfect picture. wtf his dad (who's the one helping us take the photo) didnt see that he's in the photo meh?!?!? BAH.

ahh nonetheless, i love autumn in New York~~~~

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Sammy has a blog now??

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as if having a Facebook account to himself is not enough, his dedicatedly crazy mummy setup a brand new blog for him....

http://samforestloolim.blogspot.com/

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i already dont know whether to roll my eyes or to laugh and awwwww whenever i read Sammy's FB, and now with the blog..... goshhhhh, seriously?? LOL.

oh well, at least Sammy can write okay, i enjoyed the 2 posts he wrote thus far. your mummy taught u well, Sammy darling! hurhur.

now let's just see how long u can keep up with your blog.....

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i love his eyelashes!

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sooooo longgggg and thick! i want!!

okay actually Beefie's eyelashes oso quite long and thick. BUT NOT MINE! BAH.

fell in love with Song Seung Hun when watching My Princess. well, in the first place i hardly dont fall in love with the male lead in any kdramas. hurhur.

what a gorgeous face~~~

and most importantly.....

WOOHOO WHAT A HOT BOD!! AHAHAHHAHA.

seriously, how carnivorous can i be. lololols.

not too bad a kdrama, was watching it when i was burning at 39.5 deg cel earlier this month. Secret Garden's still better though.

momentarily had the urge to rewatch Autumn Fairytale again after watching My Princess lor, but SSH looked too dorky for my liking in the 11-year-old kdrama.

Korea, wait for me!! please fend hard against Japan's radiation while still hoping all the best for the Japanese!

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Sammyyyyyyyy!

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"kind of" patiently waiting to setoff on our road trip.

sleepyyyyy. ahahaha his falling-asleep pose so cute! hearted away his "didi" in order to maintain the cuteness ahahahhaa.

poor Sammy resigned to getting bullied at the Thanksgiving Party. the kids were all stacking their toys on him.

Sammy's are-u-going-to-bully-me-too look lols. his mum trained him to be a kids-friendly dog so too bad for Sammy lah. hahaha.

awww i miss Sammy!!

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Ah Heng in NYC

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a very un grand central photo taken by Ah Heng....

grand central looks like this:

the old colonial kinda building. so that tent thing in the 1st photo was really offfff~~ haha~

then Ah Heng took an uber poser ish photo of Beefie outside Grand Central....

i liked it and wanted the same...

any feel?? hurhur.

more artistic photos at New York Public Library....

then finally the best photo of all...

PwC 2006 Run 3!! but Singapore and not NYC branch ahahaha.

hope u found alot more new friends in NYC, Ah Heng! though the title is dedicated to u, but i realised u only appeared once in the whole post hurhur.

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will Singaporeans ever be like them?

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somehow the Japan earthquake seems nearer and more real to me because i actually talk to some colleagues in the Japan office.


yesterday, i called up the Japan CFO to get his approval on something that was really not urgent and tbh quite mediocre for a CFO.

he missed my call, which was within my expectations since he will definitely be overwhelmed with the avalanche of concerns ensuing from the quake.

the Japan office is a small office, but my experience with most of the Japanese colleagues is that they are really nice and hardworking. but commonsensically-speaking, if i were the Japan CFO, i wont care about a stupid small fry's call during such frenzied times, so i was resolved to calling him back only later this week.

surprisingly, he messaged me awhile later and apologised for missing my call and told me to call him later instead as he needs to call the Asia Pac CEO to update him on the situation in the Japan office.

-___- who am i as compared to the Asia Pac CEO??!?!? and he's nice enough to tell me to call him back later!

anyways, i finally caught him on the phone and thanked him for accepting my (imho silly and not-so-important) call, and i asked him how is he. he sounded warm and cheerful as usual, told me the Japan office is okay, his staff are all okay, and his family is okay as well. and he profusely thanked me for the concern.

seriously, i dont know if i can still be so nice and sound so optimistic if i were him. it was such a relief to hear that my colleagues in Japan are all okay. but i heard that their area still suffers from aftershocks so their operations might be suspended anytime. let's keep our fingers crossed for them!

i read this on fb and got extremely touched by the Japanese' calmness, resilience and civic-mindedness, and how united they are against their worst disaster since WWII. seriously, i believe if this were to happen to Singapore, we will be trampling on each other to get onto the train and hoarding every single grain of rice we can see, no?

"At Tokyo Disneyland:
Tokyo Disneyland was handing out its shops’ food and drinks for free to the stranded people nearby. I saw a bunch of snobby looking highschool girls walking away with large portions of it and initially though “What the …” But I later I found out they were taking them to the families with little children at emergency evacuation areas. Very perceptive of them, and a very kind thing to do indeed."

"At a congested downtown intersection …
Cars were moving at the rate of maybe one every green light, but everyone was letting each other go first with a warm look and a smile. At a complicated intersection, the traffic was at a complete standstill for 5 minutes, but I listened for 10 minutes and didn’t hear a single beep or honk except for an occasional one thanking someone for giving way. It was a terrifying day, but scenes like this warmed me and made me love my country even more."

"The bakery lady
There was a small bread shop on the street I take to go to school. It has long been out of business. But last night, I saw the old lady of the shop giving people her handmade bread for free. It was a heart-warming sight. She, like everyone else, was doing what she could to help people in a time of need. Tokyo isn’t that bad afterall!"

"At the supermarket
I just came back safely from the supermarket! Man, I was so touched at how everyone there was mindful of others, buying only as much as they needed and leaving the rest for the people behind them."

"A strong voice
Yesterday, I was impressed and touched by the actions of my neighbor’s 13-year-old-boy. He was home alone when the earthquake hit. But instead of hiding, as soon as the earthquake quieted down, he jumped on his bicycle and road around the block repeatedly shouting at the top of his voice, “Is everyone alright? Is everyone okay?” At the time, there were only women and children and the elderly in the homes. I cannot describe how comforting it was just to hear a strong voice asking if I was okay. Thank you!"

"A big, kind voice
I’ve been walking for many hours now. I’m touched at how everywhere I turn, there are shops open with people shouting “Please use our bathroom!” or “Please rest here!” There were also office buildings where people with access to information were voluntarily shouting out helpful tips, like “**** line is now operational!” Seeing things like this after walking for hours and hours made me feel like weeping with gratitude. Seriously, there is still hope for this country!"

"Coffee
My husband finally got home very late last night after walking for 4 hours. He told me he felt like giving up at around Akabane, when an elderly man who was going around handing out free coffee saw him, gave him a steaming cup and said, “You must be tired and cold. Here, have some coffee!” My husband told me that it was because of this elderly man that he found the will and strength to continue walking. I’ve already heard this story from him five times tonight, so no doubt he was really, really touched! Thank you to my husband’s anonymous helper!"

Jiayou, Japan, fighting!

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The Legendary Rockefeller Christmas Tree

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i simply have no yuan fen with it lah. e 1st time i went there in hopes of catching it lit and decorated...

it's not even assembled yet.

*angry*

2nd time we tried our luck, also our last day in NYC...

tree is up but not lit nor decorated yet. heard the rockefeller security guard said it'll be lit 2 days after i left. bahhhhh.

but can see the skating rink lor. u wont believe how crowded it is, i quickly snapped the above photo while being shoved out by sheer human traffic. duhhhh.

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