Age Schmage

According to one of these cheesy online quizzes, I act more like a 27-year old. But do I act that way because that's how people percieve me and treat me? Or am I treated that way because that's how I feel, act, and look?

Eh, who cares. I need to finish my glass of wine and play my karaoke video games on my new tv before bed time.

It just keeps getting BETTER

This morning was supposed to be the end of my my 30th Birthday Tour, when Holly and I woke up in Las Vegas. Little did I know, there was more fun to be had.

Mandalay Bay Hotel is known for its fun pools. Unfortunately we didn't have time to make use of the pools until our last day, before our morning return flight. Perhaps a strange move --to wake up at 7:30am just to go relax at the pool, but it was worth it!

Mandalay has a large beach-like pool that emulates minor ocean waves (except a little cleaner). Plus they have a river-like pool, with an easygoing current that pushes you around a meandering circle. People sit in inner tubes to float around, and at one point a tiny waterfall pours over you. It feels like you're swimming without really trying to swim. And in 100-plus degree weather, the water feels great! Then we basked in the sun for about ten last luxurious minutes before checking out of Mandalay.

Later at the airport, as Holly and I overhear some amusing conversations, such as this one:

Arlene*: Hey hey hey--can you check for me if you can see anything on my neck?
Brenda: What do you mean, like a hickey?
Arlene: (frazzled) Do you see anything?
Brenda: No, no...
Arlene: Well you know I'm going to get picked up in an hour and...
Brenda: Ohhh you didn't really do anything bad --did you??
Arlene: Uhhh... No! No...
Brenda: Hahahahaha, yeah right.
Both: Hahahaha.
Brenda: Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!!

And then later...

Cindy: It was such a good idea to go to club Pure.
Donna: I know, I think everyone had a good time!
Cindy: Everyone was so trashed!!
Donna: I know, hahahaha it was so fun. How did Jenna get home? Did she walk home?
Cindy: Oh no we drove her home.
Donna: Hahahaha! I just got the funniest message from her just now.
Cindy: What did she say?
Donna: She didn't know how she got home, and she's still totally drunk, and "Thanks you crazy bitches, for a great weekend."
(*names are fictional. Cuz I don't know who these people were.)

Then, while we are waiting to board our plane, I hear a low, chummy and strangely familiar man's voice. I look up to see the guy talking to his buddy, and slowly I realize that I am looking at Will Arnett, who stars in my favorite sitcom, Arrested Development (He plays Gob, pronounced like "Joe" with "b" on the end).

I want to run up to tell him that I love his show, but right as I think of this, he gets up to board his plane to L.A.! Arghhh! I want to run after him to tell him anyway, but my flight is about to board too, darnit. Oh well. I am thrilled to just have seen him so close. I wonder what he was doing in Vegas! And does Amy Poehler know??

We get back to the San Jose, where the weather is beautiful: comfortably hot and sunny, with a slight breeze (unlike the unbearable desert heat of Vegas). Holly and I ride the super-clean VTA train back to her Pleasantville-like apartment, and I then drive my convertible Junebug back home.

As I pull into my driveway, I see tents and crowds of people in the streets; apparently there is some kinds of arts and crafts festival! Neat. I decide I'll have to check it out later. Then as I open my apartment door, I realize that something about my apartment looks different.

My tv is silver. And my room is somewhat tidied up. Wait. Do I have a silver tv? Wait. My room wasn't this clean when I left! Wait. What is that red thing on the tv? Is that a big BOW?? I look to the right, and my sad old black tv is sitting on the floor, unplugged.

I finally come to my senses and realize that somebody has snuck into my apartment and replaced my near-dead tv with a fabulous shiny brand-new Sony Trinitron WEGA, all hooked up to my VCR and iPOD!!!!

I run up to the tv and grab the red bow, attached to a set of photos documenting how my friends Todd and Karen straightened out my livingroom, installed my tv, and finally celebrated their masterful execution of the secret gift plan with lemonade and iced tea down the street at Cool Cafe.

I am in total disbelief. I am partly humiliated that my friends had to straighten out the mess that I left before taking off for Vegas. I am amazed at how sneaky and generous my friends are!! Thanks Karen, Todd, Todd, BK, and Tim!!! I have such awesome friends!!! I'm not worthy!!!!

I suppose it shouldn't have been so surprising, because for years they have ridiculed my insistence of putting up with my horribly erratic tv, hinting at buying me one for my birthday. But I didn't really believe they would go through all that trouble.

After thanking my friends on the phone, in hysterics, I unpack a little bit and head out to browse the festival outside my apartment. I see a lot of unappealing folksy art, but I do find some cute baby clothes to buy as gifts. Then I come to a block where there are chalk paintings on the floor! I wonder if my chalk artist friends, Sara and Cuong are involved. The first one is a beautifully lit Renaissance style painting, and I wonder if it's by my friend Cuong. Then I spot my coworker Annette, who tells me that the painting is indeed by Cuong, and then she shows me Sara's, which is a beautiful rainbow butterfly. By far, their pieces are the best of the show.

I then run home so I can drive to Dave and Joann's house for dinner to see my Aunt Ruth who is visiting from out of town. Dave and Joann's little boy Nicholas has become surprisingly active since last I saw him, giggling, kicking and making all kinds of cute animated expressions. My cousin's 22-year-old cousin Melissa is also there, who gushes over my recent b-day travels, job at Yahoo, convertible, and sunny-day life in California.

After a hearty meal of barbecue beef, shrimp, veggies and more, they send me home with leftovers. When I get home, I turn on my shiny new tv, and the best action movie ever is on: The Transporter. The perfect end to a perfect day. (Y'all ready for Transporter 2???) I am the luckiest person ever. I LOVE IT!!

30 going on 13

...otherwise known as (Sweet Sixteen)2 - 2, or my Double Quinceañera

Other than the tragic realization that I am probably now lactose-intolerant and will require a personal trainer to fit back into my old jeans and aspirational drawer-full of cute swimwear, I feel quite happy at the ripe old age of 30. Some of the reasons include (in no particular order):

• I can get away with fun clothes, because thanks to Asian genes, dimples, occasional acne, and stubborn baby fat, I look more like I'm in my 20s or teens.



• I can shamelessly enjoy really bad music, movies, and tv, because I don't care about being cooler than the other kids.



• Having a stable job and no dependents, I can afford to indulge in an extravagant designer bag if I think it's cute. Or a shopping spree at Target. Or stock options. Or a spontaneous trip to Las Vegas to see Destiny's Child.



• I know better than to fall for horrible trends like Ugg boots, Boho-chic, Croc shoes, and the horrific return of pegged jeans.



• I am finally starting to like little kids. But I don't feel like I need to have any right now.



• I am rather content sitting around at home by myself in my undies in my own apartment.



• I rather enjoy the company of my delightfully strange and funny friends, including one who giddily exclaimed to me, "You're 30 and Dirty!" I think she meant it as a compliment...



• Despite being a fairly small Asian person, I can still chug 3 sake bombs, two cocktails, and a glass of wine and still walk around in heels and sing karaoke. And even in a drunken stupor, I can tell my friends I don't need another drink, because I know when to avoid the vomit level of drunkeness.



• I have friends who still get excited about s'mores, miniature candy apples (highly recommended from Luna Park), karaoke, video games, and the little plastic animals that come with fancy cocktails.



• I am not as freaked out about what will happen to me, as I was in my 20s. And I feel better about knowing what I need and want to be happy.



• I'm getting closer in age to men who seem slightly more dateable, having figured out what they want and need to be happy. Can we say, "30 and Flirty"?



• I have a super-fun convertible bug and live in nearly perpetually sunny weather.



• My friends think it's perfectly fine to get me presents suited for a 13-year old, such as:

A miniature suitcase of happy-faced sushi rubber stamps


The Muppet Show DVD Set


A banana phone. Or rather, a banana case for my phone.

Happy Birthday to me, indeed! Now pass me the Lactase pills before I start to get cranky.

Live and Let Die, indeed

I am one of those weirdos who favors Roger Moore over the other James Bonds. I know most people think Sean Connery was the best, but if you watch some of those over again, he's kind of a bastard, slapping women around rather flippantly. Plus in real life he was known as a racist.

Anyway I probably go more for that pretty-boy thing that Roger Moore has, rather than Sean Connery's burly-man appeal. Actually, my whole family liked the Roger Moore Bond films because he played up the mischievously funny aspect of James Bond.

I don't remember these films very well, but just now I caught part of Roger Moore's first Bond film, Live and Let Die, on AMC. I don't think I've ever seen this one. But my god, you have to see it! I imagine it doesn't get shown a lot, because people probably thought it sucked, but it's really off the wall and amusing. Plus, you see a gorgeous young, buxom Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn!) in her film debut, playing a tarot card psychic. I'd be willing watch this again. Maybe we can have a wacky James Bond movie party.

Since it's Roger Moore's first Bond film, he looks younger and therefore more dashingly sexy. Also the villains are hilarious and there's all this voodoo magic! Consider these highlights:

James Bond sees a snake on the bathroom floor from his vanity mirror, so he quickly spins around, to spraying his aerosol aftershave over a lighter at the snake, to kill it with a MacGyver-eqsue blowtorch.

Psychic Jane's character is casually lounging in a traincar's wall-mounted bed, until a villain suddenly slams the bed closed, so she's left folded up against the wall, muffled.

James Bond is sitting at a table, watching some disco singer in a crowded bar, until a trap door in the floor magically opens up and swallows him and the table. Nobody around him even blinks an eye while a waiter comes and replaces the table.

One character's demise involves expanding like a blimp and exploding like a hollow balloon.

Fun fact: This film won an Oscar! --for its title song, by Paul McCartney.

There is a henchman named "Tee Hee."

Live and Let Die? I think Live and Let Live!

The Office has run amok!

Since returning from vacation, my work environment has run amok!

1. Overcrowded Yahoo! introduces valet parking

Monday morning, I discovered that as a result of our quickly growing number of Yahoos (who are disgruntled over the insufficient parking space and some coworkers' poor parking skills) we now have free valet parking. I was a bit shocked at first, but I suppose it is a nice convenience.

2. My normally functional computer breaks down.

Never has my trusty G4 powerbook crashed, until last week, while uploading photos. It crashed, and then it continued to crash on startup. This happened about 10-20 times in a row, so I gave up. When I brought it to work, the computer technician told me that some kind of settings file got corrupted.

On the bright side, they were able to retain my data and decided to just give me a new laptop (because fixing the old one would require opening the hardware, which would void the warranty). That was great! --until this morning, an error message popped up, telling me that my Microsoft Office database was corrupted.

Finally, it seems to be working well now. Phew.

3. My coworkers are equally plagued with injury and computer problems.

Our Researcher broke her foot, while working abroad! She was wearing flats, just walking along some kind of uneven tiled floor! She had to return early to get foot surgery and now is walking around the office in crutches and a big foot cast. PLUS her PC also broke down and she lost half her data.

Another Designer's PC also wouldn't start this morning. Something to do with the Microsoft platform. Ironically, he used to work for Microsoft. He also was not surprised to hear that my mac's Microsoft data got corrupted. I see why he left his old job.

And another Designer's girlfriend got Viral Meningitis! Luckily it's not the bacterial kind, which can be fatal. (I know someone that nearly died from that kind.) But just recovering from meningitis is a horrific thing in itself. She's been spending several painful days on Morphine, Motrin, and Vicodin. Plus she can hardly eat without barfing. But at least she's getting better.

4. Rodent Infestation.

This morning, while typing away on my pc, I noticed a blur of movement in my peripheral view. For a second I wondered if I was seeing things, until I see the same brown blur shoot back in the opposite direction. I yelped and stood up. It was a MOUSE, scurrying across the back of my desk along the cubicle wall.

I called facilities, and they said they would send some pest control people over. I nervously sat at my desk, but really I wanted to go home. I took my stuffed animals home so they wouldn't get chewed up.

Time to find a new job? Or maybe just another vacation.

Babe in the Big City

Friday morning, I trained over to South Seaport (at the south of end of Manhattan, close to Brooklyn) to visit my cousin Miranda, her husband Ed, and their new baby, Devon.

Miranda admitted that Devon doesn't look much like either of the parents and joked that she was the milkman's baby, haha. But I realized that the baby resembles Miranda's sisters. Then again, Devon is less than 2 months old, so her face may change a lot over the next year and start to resemble her mommy and daddy more. I liked Devon's cute little potato-like head.

Miranda started to feed Devon some milk. Then I noticed something funny about Devon's hands. I wasn't going to say anything, but then Miranda teasingly chastized Devon for giving us the finger!! Apparently Devon has a habit of doing popping up her middle fingers when she has her milk. It's like her way of saying, "I'm cranky and I want my milk dammit!!" Miranda says they have taken photos of this, because it happens so much. She thinks Devon will be a spunky little tomboy, just like mommy Miranda was.

As we got ready to meet Miranda's friend, Ting-ting for lunch, Devon pooped her diaper. Miranda changed the diapers, only to have Devon poop two more times! Miranda kept calling her friend between changes, because she didn't think she'd make it out of the house. Then Devon got the hiccups. She sounded like a little squeaky toy, haha.

We finally got Devon out into a cab and head over to the upper east side for Japanese curry. It turned out that Devon was very peaceful in the bustling urban jungle of heat, noise, and bumpy sidewalks. Newborns like a lot of ambient white noise and rocking motions. Apparently it is soothing because it's similar to the experience of inside her walking mommy's womb.

I realized that Miranda's friend sort of reminded me of an Asian Charlotte from Sex and the City, being very preppy-stylish. And Miranda was like Miranda from Sex and the City, getting used to mommyhood. (Except cousin Miranda is way cuter and less cranky, of course.)

We headed over to Tiffany's, so Miranda could buy an engagement gift for her sister-in-law. I wasn't in the market for any fancy jewelry, silver, or crystalware, but I was just happy to be in a clean building with A/C. I was really amused by the silver baby gifts, including the stereotypical silver spoon. They even have silver rattles and fancy porcelain piggybanks! How are any of these items even remotely beneficial or useful to a baby? They weren't even very cute. Who buys these things??

At one point, Miranda had to change Devon and feed her some milk in the ladies room. Women who came in would fawn over cute little Devon. However, one woman came out of a stall and played with little Devon's hand before washing her own hands!! That was gross! --particularly for a newborn, who is potentially more vulnerable to germs!

It reminded me a little of when I used to have a cute little dog. People space out and forget personal space issues and common consideration when something cute is involved. Sometimes it's okay, and sometimes it's funny how people react, but sometimes it's just annoying and rude.

Finally Miranda settled on a crystal gift, and we quickly popped over to Louis Vuitton across the street. Miranda checked out the charming Manhattan bag (pictured here) and the rounded Ellipse bag. I eyed the new Marukami Cerises (cherries) line, particularly the shoes! Alas, the Manhattan bag is over $1000 and who knows how much more the Cerises items were. Well, it was fun to browse anyway.

Later I joined Todd and BK for dinner at a health-nut restaurant called Josie's, on the recommendation of Todd's sister. They had sushi, chicken, fish, and other healthy meal options. Its colorful and trendy interior, ultra-health conscious menu, and fruity cocktail list seemed particularly girly to me. I'm guessing the Rockettes love to dine there.


We headed over to Film Forum to catch a documentary called State of Mind, about two aspiring North Korean girls who apply their amazing rhythmic gymnastics skills to perform for their beloved leader, Kim Jong Il. It was a remarkable look into the isolated society of communist life and strange mass-control of propaganda. They are protected from any outside news and western influences, much like books I had read about China during the Cultural Revolution.

It's amazing the kind of devotion and dedication these children have to their mind-boggling, synchronized performances and to their leader. You see how the parents and grandparents hold so much pride in their humble lives, and how they collectively hold such hatred for the "arrogant Americans," since we bombed and destroyed their land and people many years ago.

It's ironic, how we live such lives with rich resources, opportunity, and expression, while many of us detest our own president. Yet Kim Jong Il, an egomaniacal, control freak of nature, is totally adulated and worshipped by his people.

BK's NYC debut, plus Conan is funnier than Letterman

BK arrives, just in time for good eatin'

Wednesday night, BK arrived in NYC (his first time there!), at the fancy "Westminster Suite" at the Warwick hotel. We met up with friends, Grace, and Jordy for a respite in Bryant Park, then walked over to meet cousin Bill and Jenn at a hidden gem of a restaurant: Sakagura, a Japanese restaurant known for its consistently delectable small bites and extensive sake menu. Located at 43rd street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, this restaurant is well-hidden in the basement but manages to still be busy.

The interior had a traditional Japanese feel with its wooden panelled booths. The bathrooms look like they're inside giant wooden sake barrels. We ate heartily, especially the braised beef spare ribs, Japanese eggplant, karaage (fried chicken), and seaweed salads. Bill, Jenn, and I had sake-based lychee martinis. For dessert, we enjoyed very unusual and yummy Japanese truffles. They looked like they were covered in white chocolate. The ones with a green creamy center were green tea flavored, and the ones with a purple creamy center had a sochu flavor.

Conan makes a pass at a 16-year old girl

Thursday August 11: The big day arrived. We were going to see Conan O'Brien, LIVE, in person!

Bill and I met up with Todd and BK extra early at the NBC studios inside Rockefeller Center, around 3pm to make sure we'd get into the show, because our ticket confirmations warned that we were not guaranteed entrance.

Even though we had to stand around for over an hour, I was relieved that we were waiting indoors, with A/C. (At Letterman, you wait outside on the sidewalk, with the heat, humidity, and street smog beating you down.) Todd's parents and little sister Anna joined us later (after shopping at an important designer jeans sale at Bloomies).

Meanwhile, a stranger came by asking if anyone had an extra ticket, which I had! So we offered it to him. He didn't realize just how damned lucky he was, because when we finally got inside the theater (around 4:15), we were seated in the FRONT ROW!

As we came out of the secret one-stop elevator to the theater, we were greeted by staffers handing out free Conan O'Brien shirts, labelled with "Audience Member" on them. Though the shirts were XL, I was already more pleased with this experience than with the Letterman experience.

Sitting in the front row, we are amazed at how close everything is. The theater itself is surprisingly small, and it's amazing how the cameras fool the eye and make everything look more expansive. The ceiling is covered in big mechanical lighting fixtures and hanging hi-definition flat-panel monitors. They even play good indie music while you wait around for the crew to get the show started. Conan's desk was maybe 15 feet away from our seats.

The warm-up guy who came out in a bright orange shirt is the funny-lookin' dude who does various bits on the show, such as Raymond the Preparation-H guy. He makes some funny, borderline subversive jokes for a while and then introduces Max Weinberg's band, which has some really fun and energetic horn players.

Then Conan O'Brien himself comes running out of the side doors, up into the audience, shaking people's hands (including Todd's and our token stranger's hands), doing a crazy hip-thrusting dance to the music. Seeing him so close, we were struck by his spastic and freakishly tall physique, with the bouncy hair and exaggerated facial features. Some guy jumps up in the aisle to boogie with Conan, and already people were in hysterics. Conan hugged the dancing guy and then made homoerotic jokes at him, but then also invited him to hug Max Weinberg, who gave the dancing guy free drumsticks.

Conan made some banter with some ladies high up in the audience. Then he said, "What am I doing talking to you people way up there, when the ladies are all right heeerrre?" --proceeding to lean in to Todd's little sister Anna, with a lecherous "rrrrrrOOOAAAWWW!" --gesturing goofy cat claws. As he leaned in, Anna scooted back laughing, and he says, "Isn't my FACE-REALLY-SCARY-WHEN-IT-GETS-THIS-CLOSE-TO-YOU???" I should have yelled, "She's only sixteen!!"

He started up the show, jumping in excitement, then miming a rowboat. Already I was amused with the monologue and didn't have to fake laughter.

After the monologue, Conan did the State Coins bit and also the lullaby bit. I don't remember Conan using a guitar before, but he used one this time. Also he did a new one where he and Max Weinberg catch up on Nick and Jessica gossip, and then glare at each other back and forth.

Rob Schneider was the first guest, and although I am not a fan of his movies, he still entertained the audience, doing a very good Elvis impersonation to the tune of "Old MacDonald had a Farm." Conan mentioned how they used to go karaoke in the old days when they both worked at SNL, which made me fantasize about them going karaoke with us after the show.

Then Andre Benjamin (AKA Andre 3000 of Outkast) showed up looking very sharp as usual, promoting his movie, Four Brothers. Sadly he didn't perform any music. The final guest, Louis C.K. (a comedian), was funny, although he got really harsh on his kids for a good joke (he called his daughter a douchebag!).

Everyone including Todd's Republican family enjoyed the experience (despite the usual anti-Bush humor and anti-Clay-Aiken humor).

Side note: Be warned that Rockefeller Center's bathroom locations do NOT match their maps, and the signs pointing to them are totally nonsensical. So if you ever go there, find the bathrooms first before you get into panic mode.

We ended the evening with some amazing New York pizza at Lombardi's, located in Nolita. All the toppings tasted very fresh, and the thin crust was yummy. We followed that with dessert across the street at Rice to Riches, a rice pudding parlor with a tomorrowland-style interior.

5th Avenue and cute poop

Wednesday, I walked up 5th Avenue to find the cute Japanese public sculpture across from FAO Schwartz. The sculpture was sooooo cute and much more amusing and fun than the half-renovated FAO Schwartz store.



Yet I am always fascinated by FAO's doll section. I find parts of it somewhat disturbing, because some dolls have creepy faces and some emulate rather ostentatious fashions and real-world personas. Obviously these are designed for grownup collectors, not kids. I took a picture of the Legolas Ken doll for Karen. Another one was deemed "Daria, fashion doll of the moment" --which really looked like Paris Hilton. I actually liked the retro Barbie-styled "Puchi Bags" --and then I realized that these were meant for carrying little dogs, and they each cost about $400! So I settled for photos of the real thing.



I then browsed other fancy 5th Avenue stores. I was amused by the Bergdorf Goodman displays, which had giant post-it murals of clowns set as a backdrop behind their mannequins. High fashion is so amusing. And fun!

Then I looked around Henri Bendel; they had some wacky Heatherette fashion displays. I really enjoyed the Takashimaya department store, which had a lot of distinctive and cute clothes and housewares. It was all too upscale for me, so I finally stopped at Zara and picked up more affordable shoes and a top.

Then I cabbed over to go stay at Bill and Jenn's new upper west apartment, which is really great! They have skylights, access to a cute patio roof, and open space for all their appealing wood furniture and art. I noticed Bill is painting again, because he had a new oil-painting portrait of his friend Alex on his drawing table. Jenn has a great windowed office with views of neighboring gardens and trees. Their landlord is letting me stay in his extra guestroom downstairs, which is already bigger than my apartment and has its own bathroom.

Shopping, eating, and indie films in NYC

Tuesday, Todd and I walked around SoHo. I showed him the dramatic skate-ramp-like, modern interior of the Prada store. Then at a trendy boutique, I considered buying a purse that used a real handcuff as its handle, until I realized it was $75 instead of $27 on sale. Instead, I bought a funny sushi-themed baby outfit for my cousin's new baby. Todd tried on designer jeans (on his own volition!), which he then rejected.

We also stumbled upon Kate's Paperie, a wonderful stationery shop. I was tempted to get some photo albums but stopped myself. Todd was thrilled to find grid-ruled, spiral-bound notebooks. Of course I had to stop at H&M's and bought a couple summer tops to help me endure this crazy hot weather!

Shopping gets tiring on a hot summer day in New York, so we stopped for a nice casual lunch at Mooncake Foods, an Asian-fusion diner. Todd had fish tacos with Magnolia Jasmine Iced Tea, and I had Crawfish Dumplings with a watermelon cooler. Plus we shared lobster-mango summer rolls. it was all very refreshing and yummy.

We also walked into Little Italy, where we stopped for a gelato (an unexpectedly large serving) and coffee and walked a little bit into Chinatown. I looked around for cute knockoff bags, but I didn't really like anything I saw.

That pretty much zapped all my energy in the hot sun, so we finally headed back to the hotel for a nap. For a late dinner, we joined my cousin Bill and his fiancee Jenn for vegetarian Indian food at Saravaan's, on Lexington and 26th. The service was a touch spotty, but I thought it was still yummy. Bill claims there is better vegetarian Indian elsewhere.

Then Todd and I saw the new Jim Jarmusch film, starring Bill Murray, called "Broken Flowers." It was amusing, but the pace was a bit slow, especially for a late movie. Then we had dessert at Cafe Lalo (featured in the film, "You've Got Mail"), where we had their famous delicious frozen yogurt. Then Todd and I lamented how we don't have enough late-night food options in the bay area.

Back at the hotel, I figured out how to send pictures from my phone to my laptop through bluetooth (which saves $ from emailing them). It's easy and fast! I love my new phone.

Monday afternoon with David Letterman

Whew! It is so HOT and humid in New York.

Monday, I met Todd for lunch in Bryant Park, a part of New York I hadn't seen. The casual outdoor tables and grassy park offered a nice respite for the hustle and bustle of New York. It reminded me a bit of the lovely parks in Paris. The shady trees were soothing in the summer heat. I had some kind of pricey yet tasty coppa-with-pulled-pork sandwich, which was fatty but good. I noticed that during the summer, they screen films at Bryant Park, which sounded like a lot of fun; that night they were showing The Odd Couple, which I had been wanting to see. But I was told that people line up 2 hours before the movies to secure a picnic/viewing spot. I don't have the patience for that anymore.

After lunch, we had some time to kill before seeing the Letterman Show, so we stopped at Trump's fancypants mall at Columbus Circle. It's just a nice mall, with a few famous sculptures on the inside. If anything, it was nice to be in a clean, air-conditioned place for a little while. I did notice that they are going to open a Charlie Trotter's restaurant there later. My brother, Ted, had raved about his meal at Charlie Trotter's original restaurant in Chicago.

When we finally get into the theater to see David Letterman, there are cheerleader-like employees who greet you with pep and rhythmic clapping to the music, trying to pump up the audience before the show, so we are ready to clap along with the music and laugh at all of Letterman's jokes, whether good or bad.

Initially when we sat down, Todd and I thought we had awesome seats --about 10 rows from the front, smack dab in the middle. But then we realized how mistaken we were, because the camera crew and cue-card guy have to stand right in front of Letterman. So we ended up having to watch it on the monitors attached to the ceiling anyway.

During commercial breaks, they show best-of reels from previous episodes. Perhaps it was because we saw a Monday show, but I found the guest interviews with Kate Hudson and prodigy golfer, Michelle Wie, to be a little dull. I like Kate Hudson, and Michelle Wie's golfing talents are impressive, but they didn't have any funny observations or wacky stories to share.

Still it was neat to see the set and stage in person, and to see how the show gets run; I'm looking forward to the Conan O'Brien show, because I think it will be funnier.

For dinner, I met with Todd's family at Battery Gardens, a fancy restaurant at the south end of Manhattan island, with a view of the sailboats and the Statue of Liberty. As always, Todd's mom and sisters were dressed in pretty dresses and cute shoes. And Todd's dad entertained us with his quick-witted puns.

I loved the look of the Staten Island Ferry station, especially its neon sign. Taking the free ferry to Staten Island and back to Manhattan on Monday night was refreshing, to get the night breeze off the water, and also to get a free view of the Statue of Liberty. Sadly, my camera doesn't do well with long-distance night shots, but at least I got some interesting night shots of the puddles after a brief rain.

Night lights

I caught this very striking, Wes-Andersonesque sign that looked great in the day, but even more brilliant at night, especially in reflections of puddles.

New York has so much constant sensory stimulation, I love it! Sometimes I have to pause to catch these details. It's the luxury of being on vacation, and that's why I think New York is better for regular vacations, but not as much for living (personally).

Fun with the new phone

After a day with the Samsung, I decided it was too flimsy, the sound quality was shoddy, the web-browsing too slow, and the menus rather annoying. So I traded it in for a Motorola, which seems much sturdier, less annoying, and with even better features, such as bluetooth and a mini fisheye mirror next to the lens for taking self-portraits. Plus, it's compatible with my old phone's charger.

I'm still acclimating myself to all of its fancy features. While walking around NY today with Bill and Grace, I took a picture of this funny bug (with eyelashes!) emailed it from my phone!

We started out the day brunching on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, shopping through Williamsburg (a hipster neighborhood in Brooklyn), and then more eating and shopping in the East Village.

I like Brooklyn so far; I like the trees and mellow neighborhood feel combined with fun things to do. The weather is a little hot, but it's nice to walk around at night without a jacket. I highly recommend the decadent cupcakes at Downtown Atlantic, the brunch at Banania Cafe, and the great soba noodles (imported from Japan) and unique Japanese summer desserts at Sobaya. Dessert consisted of a sweet red bean & rice ball soup, strawberry custard (flan-like consistency), and a delicious yet simple peach jello.

I know I wasn't supposed to buy any more stuff, but I bought a cute, comfy summer dress for me from a boutique called Pema and an amusing shirt for BK from Brooklyn Industries in Williamsburg. How can I come to NY/Brooklyn and not shop!?