Here are my best of NYC pictures - I tried to limit them I promise :-). So if you feel like seeing NYC or what I've been up to - check them out! I'm proud of them! So much fun in 76 pictures :-).
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=492101189474069874/l=302398970/g=50971540/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
Monday, September 10, 2007
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Christine's visit + NJ
Phew - I'm exhausted. I need a vacation from my life - not from my work :-). But all is well! The fun continues...
Thursday after work I went for a long bike ride and was proud of myself and had fun. Went to Riverside park at 96th street and just went north. Was planning on going to 157th or so, but streets weren't labeled so I just kept going! It was so pretty to ride along the river - I didn't even mind the parts with the freeway right there. Passed a lot of courts and fields, and people BBQing. Very pretty. I went under the George Washington Bridge which is pretty, then kept going (after walking my bike up a hill). Went all the way to Dyckman Street which is almost at the end of Manhattan - right before the toll bridge - about 200th St! Was so impressed with myself - remembered a lot of the route we drove to work. Was over 6 miles! Then I raced back, retracing my tracks so that the sun didn't go down before I got back, which it didn't. Unfortunately the sun is going down earlier now and some nights are cool - no! I don't want summer to be over - I like the warm weather :-). Anyway, it was a fabulous ride and I was proud of myself :-). Then later Christine showed up! With her husband Jeff. Was great to see them and be able to host - they liked the cute apartment :-).
So early Friday we headed out to Flushing Meadows and another day of the US Open! Was happy to be back. Watching tennis all day can't be beat. :-). We were there early, so we watched a bit of wheelchair tennis which was interesting. Sorta cool. Then went to the big Arthur Ashe stadium! We watched the men's doubles final which was pretty neat. Then the 2 women's semifinals. Kuznetsova versus Chakvetadze did go 3 sets, but the Russians were sorta disappointing. I don't know if it was nerves, but it was basically trading unforced errors - whoever was mentally up at the time won. So not as exciting as Venus Williams and Justine Henin playing!! That was a great match! Only 2 sets, and I wish Venus was a bit more mentally tough, but it was a fun match to watch. The crowd was mostly routing for Venus, but you have to admit Henin is just so strong lately. So good for her! We did the rest of it - eating expensive food and trying to stay cool. We had seats high up in the stadium - Christine I think would've liked to be closer, but I still had fun. It was fun, too, to sit with Shan Shan and Martin (now with a ring) and talk to them. Sad to say goodbye for real to them :-(. But they took off from NY to drive back to Oregon! And another person who was supposed to show up for USOpen just didn't! Was really pissed at her - I kept calling. All I have to say is that she still owes me my money! But oh well... So after the awesome matches, Christine wanted to watch more tennis, so we went and watched a really close Junior girls doubles match - was fun - on a grounds court so we were close and both sets went to tiebreak. Was fun to hang out more. By the time we left we were tired - took the train back into the city and undecisively found a place to eat dinner! Sorta Italian - Christine and Jeff had pizza and I had a stuffed chicken which was ok. Then we decided we wanted to walk off dinner, so we walked to the Empire State Building and went up it! It was awesome - I sorta romanticized it from the movies, but it was great at night - all pretty city lights. You could see the large lights symbolizing the World Trade Center downtown. And see uptown too - very neat views :-). I got a couple of pictures, but my camera was low on battery. But I highly recommend going at night - no lines! Though it's expensive of course... And the tower itself was lit up yellow - I heard for the US Open - very cool! So that finally called it a night - we returned home after being gone 14 hours!
So SAturday was another whirlwind day - did you expect any less? We slept in, though - I was so happy to get my needed 10 hours of sleep - phew! Then showered and went to brunch - at Le Pain Quotidien which I love. Got good bread and coffee of course. I got a tartine - sandwich with pesto, mozzarella, sun dried tomato and prosciutto. Yummy. Then we all got little tarts for dessert - mine was apricot. Not too sweet - not as good as the berry crumble last time, but pretty good.
Then we took off for our city adventure - through central park first. We walked through Shakespeare's Garden - very pretty and quiet, then Belvedere Castle - neat views. Then the Great Lawn and up to the Reservoir because Christine wanted to see it. We walked around it too, which of course took awhile, but also had great views! Was fun to just walk and talk and hang out with them. We have great conversations and I found I actually like arguing with Jeff! Christine says I don't let people get away with things easily, which is sorta true. I don't know what it's called that I do - stick up for myself/have gall/brash, but it's fun and handy. And hopefully I don't go over the top. :-).
We caught a subway downtown - an east side express whcih was fun. Got off at City Hall to show Jeff the Law and Order Courthouse. Then walked down to the World Trade Center Site - still a big whole in the ground. And then over to Wall Street. Then we ended up in a little cafe where we watched the end of Federer's semifinal. Sorta nice to sit :-). Federer is just amazing. Then we walked down to Battery Park for awhile - they were getting ready for September 11 with flags and memorabilia. Then we decided to head up to the village for dinner. Amazingly we walked from Battery Park up to the East Village! We did a lot of walking :-). Walked through the hectic China town and busy Mulberry street where Little Italy is very commercialized. Then over to Bowery and up to Houston and over to 2nd AVe where we found a little diner that turned on tennis for us to watch! So we just ate diner food - hamburgers. I got an east side burger - mushrooms, mozzarella, peppers and onions :-). It was fun to just hang out and watch tennis and the waiter was really nice. We were full, but ended up getting dessert - milkshakes! We had been sitting there over 2 hours :-). Then we walked to a subway through the village and home! Another long day, but a good fun, filled one :-). Saw my favorite Chinese guy playing his little Chinese-guitar (forget the name) in Times Square. And wandered by Union Square. You see how this place gets very familiar after awhile?
So Christine and Jeff left on an early train this morning. I had a great time hanging out with them! They are awesome :-). Glad they got to visit. And totally - we are going to Japan or Egypt soon Christine!
So I'm doing my down Sunday, although almost 1/2 the day was spent trying to and playing tennis with softball guy! We tried to find a court down on the east side, but got the "you have to have a permit then wait for 2 hours". That sucks. So Mohammed knew of courts in New Jersey at his old office so we headed there! Of course in New Jersey courts are all over and free because it's the burbs. Manhattan is crazy for stuff like that. Anyway - we made it finally there and played and it was fun! In the spirit of the US Open :-). Although Mohammed wasn't very trained in tennis - didn't know the deuce from the ad side of the court, so we weren't fairly matched. So I beat him 6-0, 6-0 in 2 sets :-). Was proud of myself because I was rusty too. But it was nice to be out there. Hot day though! So that was my first adventure to New Jersey! Go me :-). And then we came back via Hoboken and the Lincoln Tunnel. Hoboken was a really cute little town, but I really don't like the tunnels - they are confining. But a fun early afternoon activity...
And yes, I'm still talking to Naveen every once in awhile. We miss each other and we are talking about some of the issues. It is nice to be friendly. And it's nice not to cut off communication so we can share good news :-). Hopefully we can continue to be friendly.
Hope the next week is more low-key than this one was! More nights at home for sure... Got a 1/2 chicken to each for dinner with salad - yum :-). Happy post-weekend!
Thursday after work I went for a long bike ride and was proud of myself and had fun. Went to Riverside park at 96th street and just went north. Was planning on going to 157th or so, but streets weren't labeled so I just kept going! It was so pretty to ride along the river - I didn't even mind the parts with the freeway right there. Passed a lot of courts and fields, and people BBQing. Very pretty. I went under the George Washington Bridge which is pretty, then kept going (after walking my bike up a hill). Went all the way to Dyckman Street which is almost at the end of Manhattan - right before the toll bridge - about 200th St! Was so impressed with myself - remembered a lot of the route we drove to work. Was over 6 miles! Then I raced back, retracing my tracks so that the sun didn't go down before I got back, which it didn't. Unfortunately the sun is going down earlier now and some nights are cool - no! I don't want summer to be over - I like the warm weather :-). Anyway, it was a fabulous ride and I was proud of myself :-). Then later Christine showed up! With her husband Jeff. Was great to see them and be able to host - they liked the cute apartment :-).
So early Friday we headed out to Flushing Meadows and another day of the US Open! Was happy to be back. Watching tennis all day can't be beat. :-). We were there early, so we watched a bit of wheelchair tennis which was interesting. Sorta cool. Then went to the big Arthur Ashe stadium! We watched the men's doubles final which was pretty neat. Then the 2 women's semifinals. Kuznetsova versus Chakvetadze did go 3 sets, but the Russians were sorta disappointing. I don't know if it was nerves, but it was basically trading unforced errors - whoever was mentally up at the time won. So not as exciting as Venus Williams and Justine Henin playing!! That was a great match! Only 2 sets, and I wish Venus was a bit more mentally tough, but it was a fun match to watch. The crowd was mostly routing for Venus, but you have to admit Henin is just so strong lately. So good for her! We did the rest of it - eating expensive food and trying to stay cool. We had seats high up in the stadium - Christine I think would've liked to be closer, but I still had fun. It was fun, too, to sit with Shan Shan and Martin (now with a ring) and talk to them. Sad to say goodbye for real to them :-(. But they took off from NY to drive back to Oregon! And another person who was supposed to show up for USOpen just didn't! Was really pissed at her - I kept calling. All I have to say is that she still owes me my money! But oh well... So after the awesome matches, Christine wanted to watch more tennis, so we went and watched a really close Junior girls doubles match - was fun - on a grounds court so we were close and both sets went to tiebreak. Was fun to hang out more. By the time we left we were tired - took the train back into the city and undecisively found a place to eat dinner! Sorta Italian - Christine and Jeff had pizza and I had a stuffed chicken which was ok. Then we decided we wanted to walk off dinner, so we walked to the Empire State Building and went up it! It was awesome - I sorta romanticized it from the movies, but it was great at night - all pretty city lights. You could see the large lights symbolizing the World Trade Center downtown. And see uptown too - very neat views :-). I got a couple of pictures, but my camera was low on battery. But I highly recommend going at night - no lines! Though it's expensive of course... And the tower itself was lit up yellow - I heard for the US Open - very cool! So that finally called it a night - we returned home after being gone 14 hours!
So SAturday was another whirlwind day - did you expect any less? We slept in, though - I was so happy to get my needed 10 hours of sleep - phew! Then showered and went to brunch - at Le Pain Quotidien which I love. Got good bread and coffee of course. I got a tartine - sandwich with pesto, mozzarella, sun dried tomato and prosciutto. Yummy. Then we all got little tarts for dessert - mine was apricot. Not too sweet - not as good as the berry crumble last time, but pretty good.
Then we took off for our city adventure - through central park first. We walked through Shakespeare's Garden - very pretty and quiet, then Belvedere Castle - neat views. Then the Great Lawn and up to the Reservoir because Christine wanted to see it. We walked around it too, which of course took awhile, but also had great views! Was fun to just walk and talk and hang out with them. We have great conversations and I found I actually like arguing with Jeff! Christine says I don't let people get away with things easily, which is sorta true. I don't know what it's called that I do - stick up for myself/have gall/brash, but it's fun and handy. And hopefully I don't go over the top. :-).
We caught a subway downtown - an east side express whcih was fun. Got off at City Hall to show Jeff the Law and Order Courthouse. Then walked down to the World Trade Center Site - still a big whole in the ground. And then over to Wall Street. Then we ended up in a little cafe where we watched the end of Federer's semifinal. Sorta nice to sit :-). Federer is just amazing. Then we walked down to Battery Park for awhile - they were getting ready for September 11 with flags and memorabilia. Then we decided to head up to the village for dinner. Amazingly we walked from Battery Park up to the East Village! We did a lot of walking :-). Walked through the hectic China town and busy Mulberry street where Little Italy is very commercialized. Then over to Bowery and up to Houston and over to 2nd AVe where we found a little diner that turned on tennis for us to watch! So we just ate diner food - hamburgers. I got an east side burger - mushrooms, mozzarella, peppers and onions :-). It was fun to just hang out and watch tennis and the waiter was really nice. We were full, but ended up getting dessert - milkshakes! We had been sitting there over 2 hours :-). Then we walked to a subway through the village and home! Another long day, but a good fun, filled one :-). Saw my favorite Chinese guy playing his little Chinese-guitar (forget the name) in Times Square. And wandered by Union Square. You see how this place gets very familiar after awhile?
So Christine and Jeff left on an early train this morning. I had a great time hanging out with them! They are awesome :-). Glad they got to visit. And totally - we are going to Japan or Egypt soon Christine!
So I'm doing my down Sunday, although almost 1/2 the day was spent trying to and playing tennis with softball guy! We tried to find a court down on the east side, but got the "you have to have a permit then wait for 2 hours". That sucks. So Mohammed knew of courts in New Jersey at his old office so we headed there! Of course in New Jersey courts are all over and free because it's the burbs. Manhattan is crazy for stuff like that. Anyway - we made it finally there and played and it was fun! In the spirit of the US Open :-). Although Mohammed wasn't very trained in tennis - didn't know the deuce from the ad side of the court, so we weren't fairly matched. So I beat him 6-0, 6-0 in 2 sets :-). Was proud of myself because I was rusty too. But it was nice to be out there. Hot day though! So that was my first adventure to New Jersey! Go me :-). And then we came back via Hoboken and the Lincoln Tunnel. Hoboken was a really cute little town, but I really don't like the tunnels - they are confining. But a fun early afternoon activity...
And yes, I'm still talking to Naveen every once in awhile. We miss each other and we are talking about some of the issues. It is nice to be friendly. And it's nice not to cut off communication so we can share good news :-). Hopefully we can continue to be friendly.
Hope the next week is more low-key than this one was! More nights at home for sure... Got a 1/2 chicken to each for dinner with salad - yum :-). Happy post-weekend!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Never a dull moment
Ok seriously. I'm finally getting what you all say about me being so busy. I love it - I really do. But I'm running myself ragged a bit :-). I realized today I haven't been home in the evening since last Wednesday. And even then I'll be home in the evening only 3 days between Aug 24 - Sept 9 - over 2 weeks. I guess I am adventurous, eh?!
So to update, and not a humongous update this time: Tuesday and Wednesday. Back to work Tuesday and it was lonely because my labmate Emina went home. Sad, but ok - theoretically I'll get more done, right?! So worked, then left at 5:15 to join the IBM hiking club on their routine Tuesday night hikes. I hadn't gone before because of Naveen, but wanted to try it. Well, it was the wrong time to start. Apparently the longer, more interesting hikes were in the middle of the summer when the sun goes down later. So we drove until about 6:30 to get to the site. Did a very slow, easy hike with minimal hills for an hour. Don't get me wrong - it was pretty and naturey and we saw some neat views over green hills, and hiked through a forest. However, it didn't particularly qualify as exercise to me. Then I got bullied into going to pizza after - which I didn't want to do because 1) it's unhealthy 2) it costs $$, and 3) I'd get back to the city late based on the trains. But I went because it was part of the hiking experience and because I had to go with my ride. The pizza was pretty good - I've gotten into the habit of putting a lot of red pepper on my pizza :-). Then got a ride to the White Plains train station, but just missed a train so I had to wait 40-45 minutes until the next one came. That was ok because I had a wonderful phone conversation catching up with Negin :-). But I took the 10pm train back to Manhattan. I was a little nervous about walking through Harlem at this time of night, so I went to Grand Central and took 2 subways to get home instead. So got 1 hour of hiking between leaving from work at 5:15 and getting home around 11pm. Not the best use of time...
So Wednesday I worked from home. Actually got up and went to Central Park to wait in line for Shakespeare in the park tickets! It's crazy the system for this. You have to get in line for FREE tickets. They give out tickets at 1pm for the 8pm showing everyday. And this thing is popular and legendary because famous actors sometimes do this, or actors became known through this. So anyway, I got there a little before 9:30 to wait in line for 3.5 hours for free tickets. That's just the way this works! People sit there on blankets and read and eat for the morning. So I read work papers. And the line has rules - you can leave to go to the bathroom or go to a hotdog vendor close, but you can't leave for more than 20 minutes. So - because I'm me - I exploit the system. I wanted to work out, so I left for 20 minutes and ran around Central Park. Then I came back for awhile, then left again for another 20 minutes and ran around the Reservoir. It was a beautiful day and I was glad to be exercising and out and about. And I was really proud of myself that I ran around the Reservoir in 14-15 minutes! It was really funny - I took my cell phone with me while running and checked the time constantly to make sure I was back in 20 minutes. But it was fun! That's me - fitting it all in :-). So finally the line started moving and we got tickets! Shan Shan and her guy came with too, so we got 3 seats together to see the play! Then they invited me to go out to Indian food for lunch and I went despite my running attire. It was fun to hang out with them :-). Got some crazy news - Shan Shan is engaged! They are crazy kids. So this is hilarious - Her guy is from the Netherlands. They met at conferences and have been chatting online daily since February. He alwasy liked her. So they met at a conference in Berlin for 2 days last month. Then he decided to visit her now for 3 weeks. So they've actually been together in the same place and been dating all of 6 days, and they got engaged :-). Ah, romance. Happy for them, though.
So I digress... On way home from lunch I stopped to pick up perscriptions to find that my new student health insurance company is f***ing stupid and annoying - they seem to not be able to process perscrips from any pharmacy. Like I'm covered, but they only accept UT's student health center as a place that can actually put my insurance through their system so I can get perscrips. Aack! Hate health insurance inefficiencies and regulations. Anyway...
So - to "Free Love"! That's the Shakespeare in the Park slogan this year because they showed Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Night's Dream. I saw the latter last night. I wore one of my new dresses I bought last week and felt beautiful :-). And went down there. It was a slightly chilly night - I want summer nights to continue! The stage was actually really cool - they had a tree there that people climbed and all. And the play was really well acted - I got caught up in it. It was really funny! The actors in the internal play were awesome. And of course the 4 star-crossed lovers. The fairies were good too. Awesome story. Very pleasurable to watch. Have to say - it might've been my favorite Shakespeare play this summer. And they have some neat costumes, great coreography, and they even sang some! So very fun performance. Glad I got to see this New York tradition! Went home via a Tasty D'Lite ice cream store, but it was closed sadly. So I had to stop at McDonalds to get a soft serve because I really wanted ice cream :-).
So now - another day at work! And I'm going home tonight and staying there (after exercise). I'm getting ready for good friends Christine and Jeff to visit for the next couple of days so I have to clean. But I'm so excited for their visit! And more US Open tomorrow! I get to see Henin and Venus Williams play in the semis - rock on.
A couple of random tidbits... I found a carpool but I'm still looking for new housing for the rest of the fall. Also what I meant by my ramblings in the last post is that I feel like I really can accomplish anything and that makes me happy. And last thing - this city really is starting to feel familiar! It's weird that way - certain areas I do know well and I smile as if they are "mine". I hate Time Square really, but love the villages and union square. And 9th Ave between 41st and 55th really does have a ton of awesome restaurants! So yay for familiarity.
Ok signing off... :-).
So to update, and not a humongous update this time: Tuesday and Wednesday. Back to work Tuesday and it was lonely because my labmate Emina went home. Sad, but ok - theoretically I'll get more done, right?! So worked, then left at 5:15 to join the IBM hiking club on their routine Tuesday night hikes. I hadn't gone before because of Naveen, but wanted to try it. Well, it was the wrong time to start. Apparently the longer, more interesting hikes were in the middle of the summer when the sun goes down later. So we drove until about 6:30 to get to the site. Did a very slow, easy hike with minimal hills for an hour. Don't get me wrong - it was pretty and naturey and we saw some neat views over green hills, and hiked through a forest. However, it didn't particularly qualify as exercise to me. Then I got bullied into going to pizza after - which I didn't want to do because 1) it's unhealthy 2) it costs $$, and 3) I'd get back to the city late based on the trains. But I went because it was part of the hiking experience and because I had to go with my ride. The pizza was pretty good - I've gotten into the habit of putting a lot of red pepper on my pizza :-). Then got a ride to the White Plains train station, but just missed a train so I had to wait 40-45 minutes until the next one came. That was ok because I had a wonderful phone conversation catching up with Negin :-). But I took the 10pm train back to Manhattan. I was a little nervous about walking through Harlem at this time of night, so I went to Grand Central and took 2 subways to get home instead. So got 1 hour of hiking between leaving from work at 5:15 and getting home around 11pm. Not the best use of time...
So Wednesday I worked from home. Actually got up and went to Central Park to wait in line for Shakespeare in the park tickets! It's crazy the system for this. You have to get in line for FREE tickets. They give out tickets at 1pm for the 8pm showing everyday. And this thing is popular and legendary because famous actors sometimes do this, or actors became known through this. So anyway, I got there a little before 9:30 to wait in line for 3.5 hours for free tickets. That's just the way this works! People sit there on blankets and read and eat for the morning. So I read work papers. And the line has rules - you can leave to go to the bathroom or go to a hotdog vendor close, but you can't leave for more than 20 minutes. So - because I'm me - I exploit the system. I wanted to work out, so I left for 20 minutes and ran around Central Park. Then I came back for awhile, then left again for another 20 minutes and ran around the Reservoir. It was a beautiful day and I was glad to be exercising and out and about. And I was really proud of myself that I ran around the Reservoir in 14-15 minutes! It was really funny - I took my cell phone with me while running and checked the time constantly to make sure I was back in 20 minutes. But it was fun! That's me - fitting it all in :-). So finally the line started moving and we got tickets! Shan Shan and her guy came with too, so we got 3 seats together to see the play! Then they invited me to go out to Indian food for lunch and I went despite my running attire. It was fun to hang out with them :-). Got some crazy news - Shan Shan is engaged! They are crazy kids. So this is hilarious - Her guy is from the Netherlands. They met at conferences and have been chatting online daily since February. He alwasy liked her. So they met at a conference in Berlin for 2 days last month. Then he decided to visit her now for 3 weeks. So they've actually been together in the same place and been dating all of 6 days, and they got engaged :-). Ah, romance. Happy for them, though.
So I digress... On way home from lunch I stopped to pick up perscriptions to find that my new student health insurance company is f***ing stupid and annoying - they seem to not be able to process perscrips from any pharmacy. Like I'm covered, but they only accept UT's student health center as a place that can actually put my insurance through their system so I can get perscrips. Aack! Hate health insurance inefficiencies and regulations. Anyway...
So - to "Free Love"! That's the Shakespeare in the Park slogan this year because they showed Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Night's Dream. I saw the latter last night. I wore one of my new dresses I bought last week and felt beautiful :-). And went down there. It was a slightly chilly night - I want summer nights to continue! The stage was actually really cool - they had a tree there that people climbed and all. And the play was really well acted - I got caught up in it. It was really funny! The actors in the internal play were awesome. And of course the 4 star-crossed lovers. The fairies were good too. Awesome story. Very pleasurable to watch. Have to say - it might've been my favorite Shakespeare play this summer. And they have some neat costumes, great coreography, and they even sang some! So very fun performance. Glad I got to see this New York tradition! Went home via a Tasty D'Lite ice cream store, but it was closed sadly. So I had to stop at McDonalds to get a soft serve because I really wanted ice cream :-).
So now - another day at work! And I'm going home tonight and staying there (after exercise). I'm getting ready for good friends Christine and Jeff to visit for the next couple of days so I have to clean. But I'm so excited for their visit! And more US Open tomorrow! I get to see Henin and Venus Williams play in the semis - rock on.
A couple of random tidbits... I found a carpool but I'm still looking for new housing for the rest of the fall. Also what I meant by my ramblings in the last post is that I feel like I really can accomplish anything and that makes me happy. And last thing - this city really is starting to feel familiar! It's weird that way - certain areas I do know well and I smile as if they are "mine". I hate Time Square really, but love the villages and union square. And 9th Ave between 41st and 55th really does have a ton of awesome restaurants! So yay for familiarity.
Ok signing off... :-).
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Fabulous Labor Day weekend with US Open + pinkness to prove it
Hi All -
Had some more fabulous adventures this weekend. What can I say? I'm unstoppable and this city just begs to be taken advantage of. Really - I'm now wondering if I have the ability to relax... Hmmm.
Anyway - highlights: biking to Chelsea Piers, seeing Street Festival, going to check out possible place to live, Scandinavian dinner, Coney Island! + Russian food, lots of Harry Potter, and 12 hours of US Open on Monday :-).
So yeah, after I could muster myself Saturday - after hours of watching tennis from the couch (seeing Sharapova lose), I got on my bike and rode. I love having my bike in this city - it really makes me feel free and it's a really easy, fast mode of transportation. Although it's a bit exhilerating/suicidal on certain streets :-). So I went down the Henry Hudson/Riverside Park bikepath that goes for miles so I hear. It's really pretty - right on the Hudson River. Saw lots of people out and neat piers. It's fun to ride down that side of the island. Finally made it down to Chelsea Piers where I wasn't that inthralled. I mean it's neat, I guess. A couple of restaurants, boats for evening cruises, then a really fancy gym, and sports stuff like batting cages, golf range, bowling, gymnastics. Nothing really I wanted to do there, so I kept going. The lady there mentioned Chelsea Market for shopping, so I headed there, but it was mostly food shops. So I kept going and road across town on 14th Street which was a bit scary. I tried the sidewalk for awhile, but people are really annoying. I think I am a NYer - I get impatient with people in my way all the time! People really don't pay attention. But yeah. So I made it over to Union Square, which I love. There were tons of art booths out and I headed over there because I had read about a street festival. I got a gyro there - yum - and walked through the fun booths. Looked at some funky NYC shirts at booths - have to key in on that at some point, plus I want some art from here - maybe photographs of the park or something. I need to figure out where that famous bridge is in the park in all of the pictures and go see it! But anyway - just ended up buying a cool pair of earrings and leaving. Mom - you'd enjoy these festivals! We'll try to find one when you are here... But had to leave and go up to 60th and 3rd Ave to check out a potential neat place to live. Seemed like a really good location and the Eastern European lady living there (she's 30) seems really awesome. And she has a bed for the extra room! So good possibility, but seemed like a lot of people were looking at the room, so we'll see. Fun to think of living in another neighborhood and experiencing that...
So was heading home when a friend of mine said he was at the boathouse hanging out with his cousin and I should stop by. The boathouse is this restaurant on a lake in the middle of Central Park. It's really pretty. Stopped by and chilled for a bit. It really was pretty and relaxing. While I was there we saw 1) ambulances come and look for someone that had fallen in the lake, and 2) a woman exit her gondola ride onto our dock with someone saying "she said yes", and the whole place broke out in a cheer and she held out her new ring for people to see. Very cute :-). So went home after being out on my bike for what seemed like forever (4+ hours). Showered, then went down to the Village/Chelsea area - same area I went Friday night to meet this guy (softball guy) and his cousin for dinner. We ended up at a Scandinavian place - it was very cute! I got Gravlak to try something traditional - sorta like cured salmon with a mustard sauce. Pretty good - I guess it's Norwegian? Then we wandered around to a bar in the Meatpacking District, but that area seems sorta pretentious. I went home not long after, but it was fun to hang out with new people. At least I wasn't at home moping!
Sunday I got up sorta early and went down to meet my friend Shan Shan and her visiting Dutch friend for Dim Sum. I think I've had my fill for awhile, but Shan Shan wanted to go. Back to Chinatown this time - had some good food, but the stuff is all either fried or slimy, so I just get a bit sick of it... But fun times. On the way out of Chinatown I bargained with a Chinese lady for a small weekend duffel - my backpack broke while walking there and I figure I need a weekend duffel to go to Boston anyway. And then I boarded the long train to Coney Island! I'd been wanting to go there to check it out. It turns out this was one of the possibly last weekends it'll exist - someone supposedly is buying it out to turn it into condos or something? It's like a perpetual Carnival down there - lots of rides and games and a freak show and funnel cakes and ice cream and hot dogs - that sort of thing. I walked around, and then had to go on the famous 80 year old rickety wooden roller coaster. Holy God did I think I was going to die. Seriously. It was so jerky - I now have bruises on my legs because I was thrown around my cart so much - up, down, side to side - you name it! Think I won't do it again, but I did survive it! Bought a t-shirt to prove it :-). Then I decided to enjoy the beach! My favorite part - calm, nice sand, and soothing water. Ok, so there were screaming kids and the water was a bit chilly, but the time was very enjoyable! I tuned everything out and just did what I want - swam a bit in the water, laid out in the sun and read... so this is the marathon Harry Potter day. On the (hour long) subway out and back I read Harry Potter the whole way, then I read the book at the beach all afternoon and even while eating dinner by mysefl in a restaurant. I'm an addict :-). Love Harry! Anyway - it was relaxing and I needed that... Very fun. As the sun went lower and I got chilly, I walked the boardwalk to Brighton - apparently sorta "Little Russia". I walked around lokoing for a place to eat dinner. I stopped in a little shop and asked where I could get Russian food. They said "every restaurant is Russian". Literally - people on the street weren't speaking English. Very weird these pockets. But anyway, went into a Cafe and had hot borcsht - yum! And then stuffed peppers and a small order of Variniki or something like that. Basically the stuffed pepppers reminded me of my Mom's - meat and rice cooked in a (red) pepper which was so tasty! And the other was sorta little pasta-like ravioli dumplings filled with stuff - I got chicken. It was good but weird they didn't have any sauce. Although they seemed to give you sour cream with everything. Then I couldn't resist apple crepes for dessert - so tasty! I was so full after.... Very fun experience. So I hopped on the subway back and was very satisfied with my day's adventure!
And Monday - the US Open! Oh my God I was so excited to be there. It was great fun. Went again with softball friend - really nice of him to invite me. And he's lived here forever, but never gone, so he was excited. And we found out Federer (one of the best men's players ever) was playing at night so he immediately went and got night tickets as well when we got there! I wasn't sure, but we did end up staying 12 hours watching tennis - sheesh! Crazy :-). But fun. So we wandered around the grounds a bit, then headed to the Aurthur Ashe stadium. First the women - Azarenka and Kuznetsova played. Didn't really know them. Then we went and grabbed lunch - they had a lot of options! But I got a salad but was disappointed because it was expensive, small, and everything had been frozen so it was weird. Boo. But anyway, went back to watch Roddick play Berdych, but Berdych forfeited in the 2nd set! Boo! Wimpy. We were very disappointed not to see Roddick play more - he's cool. Oh well. So we walked around the grounds a bit before the awesome 5 set match between Blake and Tommy Haas. Very good match. Blake was really strong and powerful, but then lost his mental game over time. Tommy Haas was a bit up and down too, but was really strong in the end. Lots of winners in this match :-). Was great to watch good tennis! It was a warm day, though, and I dressed for it but felt the rays of sun beating down on me. I really don't know what the difference was, but I didn't put on sunscreen at all at the beach and was fine versus I felt like I was burning after an hour watching tennis! So I went and bought some expensive sunscreen to put on. But still, I woke up this morning with pink shoulders :-). But it's proof I was there! Good times :-). So watched some good tennis, hung out, looked at ALL the merchandise there which was fun. I tried to get some pictures - I'll post them later. We sat in the upper deck, so the players are a bit small, but you really can see from everywhere :-). So we hung out a bit before the night matches started. First at night was the women again - Chakvetadze vs. Paszek. I didn't watch too much - didn't know these girls. Went to buy some fun merchandise and come to find out that morning is the time to do it because booths sell out by night! Bummer, but running around to different stores, I found most of what I wanted anyway, so that was good. And I got back to the big stadium before Federer came on to play Lopez! That was great fun, though I felt burned out and sun-blanched. My eyes hurt from the sun - I think I burned them. But yeah - good match. Lopez came out strong with a really good serve and took the first set. We kept wondering when Federer was done warming up and would get in his game, and he did in the 2nd set. Some good tennis, though. I liked it best when they went to net! So after Federed steam rolled through the 3rd set and won that, too, we decided 12 hours was enough tennis and left to get some sleep! Rode the long subway home, and got home a bit after midnight! I need a vacation from my weekend :-). But had a fabulous experience, and I'm excited to go back Friday - maybe I'll see Henin and Venus Williams play! Very cool :-).
Some thoughts on the weekend - I am self-sufficient and driven and enjoy adventure. I can have fun by myself, and of course know how to fill my time. I have told some poeple, but I feel I really hit a pinnacle this summer at my brother's wedding. Felt like I had become the person I always really wanted to be, and was so excited and outwardly exuberant. So confident and happy. Felt great! I'm proud of myself. And looking back, it's not just the weight loss, although that was a big part of it. I've really grown - especially in the last 2 years. And I know Naveen's been a part of that. But I've accomplished a ton of my goals - look at my black belt and getting healthy and losing weight, and doing triathlon training. I'm really secure with who I am. I've built up a great friend network. And I just feel happy and friendly with people, and they respond in kind. I'm still working on some things, but I feel I have so much control over myself, my activities, my happiness. I don't know if that makes sense, but I've guided myself in a wonderful direction. And I've grown through my relationships - loving my friends, even growing more confident and self-reliant and independent (less needy) because of Naveen. I know I am a hard worker, too, and I've proven to myself that I really can put all of myself into my research, but I know that doesn't make me happy per se. I know I am not perfect and I still struggle with things, but I feel I'm better at a lot of things - enjoying things for what they are, flexing, not getting "prickly" as often. And I struggle with Computer Science sometimes, but it's good too. I am a very lucky person! It feels great to be at this place in my life. I'm sure I haven't figured it all out - I never will :-). But I feel a lot more me - the best of me - and that's happy.
Also I think I want to visit Philadelphia. I'm up here, and it's not far away, and I hear it's a cool city. And I'm going to be here until December - aaack! We'll see...
Ok gotta get back to work. There's my saga for today - hope you all had great Labor Day weekends as well! And I have a busy week going this week too (surprise surprise). :-)
Had some more fabulous adventures this weekend. What can I say? I'm unstoppable and this city just begs to be taken advantage of. Really - I'm now wondering if I have the ability to relax... Hmmm.
Anyway - highlights: biking to Chelsea Piers, seeing Street Festival, going to check out possible place to live, Scandinavian dinner, Coney Island! + Russian food, lots of Harry Potter, and 12 hours of US Open on Monday :-).
So yeah, after I could muster myself Saturday - after hours of watching tennis from the couch (seeing Sharapova lose), I got on my bike and rode. I love having my bike in this city - it really makes me feel free and it's a really easy, fast mode of transportation. Although it's a bit exhilerating/suicidal on certain streets :-). So I went down the Henry Hudson/Riverside Park bikepath that goes for miles so I hear. It's really pretty - right on the Hudson River. Saw lots of people out and neat piers. It's fun to ride down that side of the island. Finally made it down to Chelsea Piers where I wasn't that inthralled. I mean it's neat, I guess. A couple of restaurants, boats for evening cruises, then a really fancy gym, and sports stuff like batting cages, golf range, bowling, gymnastics. Nothing really I wanted to do there, so I kept going. The lady there mentioned Chelsea Market for shopping, so I headed there, but it was mostly food shops. So I kept going and road across town on 14th Street which was a bit scary. I tried the sidewalk for awhile, but people are really annoying. I think I am a NYer - I get impatient with people in my way all the time! People really don't pay attention. But yeah. So I made it over to Union Square, which I love. There were tons of art booths out and I headed over there because I had read about a street festival. I got a gyro there - yum - and walked through the fun booths. Looked at some funky NYC shirts at booths - have to key in on that at some point, plus I want some art from here - maybe photographs of the park or something. I need to figure out where that famous bridge is in the park in all of the pictures and go see it! But anyway - just ended up buying a cool pair of earrings and leaving. Mom - you'd enjoy these festivals! We'll try to find one when you are here... But had to leave and go up to 60th and 3rd Ave to check out a potential neat place to live. Seemed like a really good location and the Eastern European lady living there (she's 30) seems really awesome. And she has a bed for the extra room! So good possibility, but seemed like a lot of people were looking at the room, so we'll see. Fun to think of living in another neighborhood and experiencing that...
So was heading home when a friend of mine said he was at the boathouse hanging out with his cousin and I should stop by. The boathouse is this restaurant on a lake in the middle of Central Park. It's really pretty. Stopped by and chilled for a bit. It really was pretty and relaxing. While I was there we saw 1) ambulances come and look for someone that had fallen in the lake, and 2) a woman exit her gondola ride onto our dock with someone saying "she said yes", and the whole place broke out in a cheer and she held out her new ring for people to see. Very cute :-). So went home after being out on my bike for what seemed like forever (4+ hours). Showered, then went down to the Village/Chelsea area - same area I went Friday night to meet this guy (softball guy) and his cousin for dinner. We ended up at a Scandinavian place - it was very cute! I got Gravlak to try something traditional - sorta like cured salmon with a mustard sauce. Pretty good - I guess it's Norwegian? Then we wandered around to a bar in the Meatpacking District, but that area seems sorta pretentious. I went home not long after, but it was fun to hang out with new people. At least I wasn't at home moping!
Sunday I got up sorta early and went down to meet my friend Shan Shan and her visiting Dutch friend for Dim Sum. I think I've had my fill for awhile, but Shan Shan wanted to go. Back to Chinatown this time - had some good food, but the stuff is all either fried or slimy, so I just get a bit sick of it... But fun times. On the way out of Chinatown I bargained with a Chinese lady for a small weekend duffel - my backpack broke while walking there and I figure I need a weekend duffel to go to Boston anyway. And then I boarded the long train to Coney Island! I'd been wanting to go there to check it out. It turns out this was one of the possibly last weekends it'll exist - someone supposedly is buying it out to turn it into condos or something? It's like a perpetual Carnival down there - lots of rides and games and a freak show and funnel cakes and ice cream and hot dogs - that sort of thing. I walked around, and then had to go on the famous 80 year old rickety wooden roller coaster. Holy God did I think I was going to die. Seriously. It was so jerky - I now have bruises on my legs because I was thrown around my cart so much - up, down, side to side - you name it! Think I won't do it again, but I did survive it! Bought a t-shirt to prove it :-). Then I decided to enjoy the beach! My favorite part - calm, nice sand, and soothing water. Ok, so there were screaming kids and the water was a bit chilly, but the time was very enjoyable! I tuned everything out and just did what I want - swam a bit in the water, laid out in the sun and read... so this is the marathon Harry Potter day. On the (hour long) subway out and back I read Harry Potter the whole way, then I read the book at the beach all afternoon and even while eating dinner by mysefl in a restaurant. I'm an addict :-). Love Harry! Anyway - it was relaxing and I needed that... Very fun. As the sun went lower and I got chilly, I walked the boardwalk to Brighton - apparently sorta "Little Russia". I walked around lokoing for a place to eat dinner. I stopped in a little shop and asked where I could get Russian food. They said "every restaurant is Russian". Literally - people on the street weren't speaking English. Very weird these pockets. But anyway, went into a Cafe and had hot borcsht - yum! And then stuffed peppers and a small order of Variniki or something like that. Basically the stuffed pepppers reminded me of my Mom's - meat and rice cooked in a (red) pepper which was so tasty! And the other was sorta little pasta-like ravioli dumplings filled with stuff - I got chicken. It was good but weird they didn't have any sauce. Although they seemed to give you sour cream with everything. Then I couldn't resist apple crepes for dessert - so tasty! I was so full after.... Very fun experience. So I hopped on the subway back and was very satisfied with my day's adventure!
And Monday - the US Open! Oh my God I was so excited to be there. It was great fun. Went again with softball friend - really nice of him to invite me. And he's lived here forever, but never gone, so he was excited. And we found out Federer (one of the best men's players ever) was playing at night so he immediately went and got night tickets as well when we got there! I wasn't sure, but we did end up staying 12 hours watching tennis - sheesh! Crazy :-). But fun. So we wandered around the grounds a bit, then headed to the Aurthur Ashe stadium. First the women - Azarenka and Kuznetsova played. Didn't really know them. Then we went and grabbed lunch - they had a lot of options! But I got a salad but was disappointed because it was expensive, small, and everything had been frozen so it was weird. Boo. But anyway, went back to watch Roddick play Berdych, but Berdych forfeited in the 2nd set! Boo! Wimpy. We were very disappointed not to see Roddick play more - he's cool. Oh well. So we walked around the grounds a bit before the awesome 5 set match between Blake and Tommy Haas. Very good match. Blake was really strong and powerful, but then lost his mental game over time. Tommy Haas was a bit up and down too, but was really strong in the end. Lots of winners in this match :-). Was great to watch good tennis! It was a warm day, though, and I dressed for it but felt the rays of sun beating down on me. I really don't know what the difference was, but I didn't put on sunscreen at all at the beach and was fine versus I felt like I was burning after an hour watching tennis! So I went and bought some expensive sunscreen to put on. But still, I woke up this morning with pink shoulders :-). But it's proof I was there! Good times :-). So watched some good tennis, hung out, looked at ALL the merchandise there which was fun. I tried to get some pictures - I'll post them later. We sat in the upper deck, so the players are a bit small, but you really can see from everywhere :-). So we hung out a bit before the night matches started. First at night was the women again - Chakvetadze vs. Paszek. I didn't watch too much - didn't know these girls. Went to buy some fun merchandise and come to find out that morning is the time to do it because booths sell out by night! Bummer, but running around to different stores, I found most of what I wanted anyway, so that was good. And I got back to the big stadium before Federer came on to play Lopez! That was great fun, though I felt burned out and sun-blanched. My eyes hurt from the sun - I think I burned them. But yeah - good match. Lopez came out strong with a really good serve and took the first set. We kept wondering when Federer was done warming up and would get in his game, and he did in the 2nd set. Some good tennis, though. I liked it best when they went to net! So after Federed steam rolled through the 3rd set and won that, too, we decided 12 hours was enough tennis and left to get some sleep! Rode the long subway home, and got home a bit after midnight! I need a vacation from my weekend :-). But had a fabulous experience, and I'm excited to go back Friday - maybe I'll see Henin and Venus Williams play! Very cool :-).
Some thoughts on the weekend - I am self-sufficient and driven and enjoy adventure. I can have fun by myself, and of course know how to fill my time. I have told some poeple, but I feel I really hit a pinnacle this summer at my brother's wedding. Felt like I had become the person I always really wanted to be, and was so excited and outwardly exuberant. So confident and happy. Felt great! I'm proud of myself. And looking back, it's not just the weight loss, although that was a big part of it. I've really grown - especially in the last 2 years. And I know Naveen's been a part of that. But I've accomplished a ton of my goals - look at my black belt and getting healthy and losing weight, and doing triathlon training. I'm really secure with who I am. I've built up a great friend network. And I just feel happy and friendly with people, and they respond in kind. I'm still working on some things, but I feel I have so much control over myself, my activities, my happiness. I don't know if that makes sense, but I've guided myself in a wonderful direction. And I've grown through my relationships - loving my friends, even growing more confident and self-reliant and independent (less needy) because of Naveen. I know I am a hard worker, too, and I've proven to myself that I really can put all of myself into my research, but I know that doesn't make me happy per se. I know I am not perfect and I still struggle with things, but I feel I'm better at a lot of things - enjoying things for what they are, flexing, not getting "prickly" as often. And I struggle with Computer Science sometimes, but it's good too. I am a very lucky person! It feels great to be at this place in my life. I'm sure I haven't figured it all out - I never will :-). But I feel a lot more me - the best of me - and that's happy.
Also I think I want to visit Philadelphia. I'm up here, and it's not far away, and I hear it's a cool city. And I'm going to be here until December - aaack! We'll see...
Ok gotta get back to work. There's my saga for today - hope you all had great Labor Day weekends as well! And I have a busy week going this week too (surprise surprise). :-)
Saturday, September 1, 2007
New adventures in NYC
So Tuesday night was hard, but it's gotten easier. I really think us being long distance helps because I am used to being alone and being independent and filling my time. So I'm trying to focus on that, and on the future.
So I did go swimming Tuesday night and that was great. I ended up swimming 32 laps! Met my goal of swimming a mile (and then some)! It was exhausting but really rewarding. Was proud of myself. Glad I was able to take advantage of the pool and do some swimming in the park this summer!
Then I road around the park on my bike Wednesday evening - did my 10 mile bike! I do love riding around the park - it's very pretty. And I did laundry that night - very exciting. But was feeling up and more confident.
So Thursday the office shut early - they are shutting down the whole building and networks and everything for the 4 day weekend ( we got Friday off!). So although it was sad to see Shan Shan and Emina at IBM for the last time, it was nice to leave early. I went to a fun dance thing in Central Park that was fun - learning to Disco dance! There were good dancers as our teachers, and a neat DJ. Danced to Stayin Alive. I got a big grin on my face when "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" came on :-). I mostly danced with some older black women - trying to get down the quick-quick, slow-slow pattern (back right, front left, front right, front left). I kept wanting to do jitterbug instead. But got a few fun male partners that were neat to dance with - made me happy to dance and just hang out. The guys were very turny - sometimes I had a hard time keeping up. But yeah - people watching and chatting with the older black ladies was fun :-). So good adventures in NYC. And then I actually rode my bike over to the east side to check out a possible place to live for the fall! It was interesting - a place in "Dormandy Court" where everyone is fresh out of college. I actually felt a little old and mature compared to that place! The apartment was cute, apartment with 2 other 24 year old girls. Was ok, but not sure it's the area I want to move to.... So will keep looking, but it's exciting that I might get to know a new neighborhood in Manhattan!
So my off day - Friday! Went down to farmers market in front of my house which was fun. Love the fresh stuff! Made me a little sad - thinking of Naveen going all these weeks for us. But then I went to Central Park to take advantage of pool for the last time before it closes on Labor Day! Did only 20 laps this time - it was getting hard and I think I need a bit of a break from swimming for awhile! But glad to get the exercise... Then went downtown to meet Shan Shan and Emina for lunch - ate at a cute French place. Love those girls - we have fun conversations about the stress of Comp Sci, having kids, living in the city, boys, everything! We get along great :-). I feel lucky to have made good friends up here, but know it'll be sad to go to work next week and have them not be there... Then walked downtown and went shopping! Went to a place with discount designer clothes - Loehmans. That was really fun! Bought a new purse because the girls convinced me I need a bigger one to hold an umbrella, camera, everything as things don't all fit in my current purse. Then bought some cute shoes - black flats sorta like ballet shoes! Then found 2 dresses (1 green, 1 black and white) I liked and 1 wool skirt (brown)! Was really excited to find these things and fun to shop with the girls. Really good day. And some good prices :-). We met up with Emina's fiance and walked around a bit, then we met up with some of Emina's friends later for dinner. Had a nice dinner at a cute little place. Then went to a bar. Actually invited another friend of mine from the city - that guy that gave me a ride home from softball who also works at IBM but is finishing law school. So it was good to see him again and have another Manhattan friend. Nice to sorta get to know him, and also have Rishi's number - Emina's good friend from college. So went out drinking for awhile and had a good night on the town! Drank a little too much, unfortunately, but made it home ok :-).
So have some fun plans for the rest of the holiday weekend - going on a bike ride now down the river. Going to check out another possible place to live. Tomorrow I'm meeting Shan Shan for Dim Sum again - in Chinatown. Then think I'll head to Coney Island to check it out! Unfortunately Shan Shan can't come because she has to go back to Boston because of a death in the family :-(. Then the softball friend - Mohammed - said he has tickets for the US Open on Monday, so I guess I get to go twice - really looking forward to it!
Happy Labor DAy weekend everyone! Have fun. I'm blessed with wonderful family and friends!
So I did go swimming Tuesday night and that was great. I ended up swimming 32 laps! Met my goal of swimming a mile (and then some)! It was exhausting but really rewarding. Was proud of myself. Glad I was able to take advantage of the pool and do some swimming in the park this summer!
Then I road around the park on my bike Wednesday evening - did my 10 mile bike! I do love riding around the park - it's very pretty. And I did laundry that night - very exciting. But was feeling up and more confident.
So Thursday the office shut early - they are shutting down the whole building and networks and everything for the 4 day weekend ( we got Friday off!). So although it was sad to see Shan Shan and Emina at IBM for the last time, it was nice to leave early. I went to a fun dance thing in Central Park that was fun - learning to Disco dance! There were good dancers as our teachers, and a neat DJ. Danced to Stayin Alive. I got a big grin on my face when "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" came on :-). I mostly danced with some older black women - trying to get down the quick-quick, slow-slow pattern (back right, front left, front right, front left). I kept wanting to do jitterbug instead. But got a few fun male partners that were neat to dance with - made me happy to dance and just hang out. The guys were very turny - sometimes I had a hard time keeping up. But yeah - people watching and chatting with the older black ladies was fun :-). So good adventures in NYC. And then I actually rode my bike over to the east side to check out a possible place to live for the fall! It was interesting - a place in "Dormandy Court" where everyone is fresh out of college. I actually felt a little old and mature compared to that place! The apartment was cute, apartment with 2 other 24 year old girls. Was ok, but not sure it's the area I want to move to.... So will keep looking, but it's exciting that I might get to know a new neighborhood in Manhattan!
So my off day - Friday! Went down to farmers market in front of my house which was fun. Love the fresh stuff! Made me a little sad - thinking of Naveen going all these weeks for us. But then I went to Central Park to take advantage of pool for the last time before it closes on Labor Day! Did only 20 laps this time - it was getting hard and I think I need a bit of a break from swimming for awhile! But glad to get the exercise... Then went downtown to meet Shan Shan and Emina for lunch - ate at a cute French place. Love those girls - we have fun conversations about the stress of Comp Sci, having kids, living in the city, boys, everything! We get along great :-). I feel lucky to have made good friends up here, but know it'll be sad to go to work next week and have them not be there... Then walked downtown and went shopping! Went to a place with discount designer clothes - Loehmans. That was really fun! Bought a new purse because the girls convinced me I need a bigger one to hold an umbrella, camera, everything as things don't all fit in my current purse. Then bought some cute shoes - black flats sorta like ballet shoes! Then found 2 dresses (1 green, 1 black and white) I liked and 1 wool skirt (brown)! Was really excited to find these things and fun to shop with the girls. Really good day. And some good prices :-). We met up with Emina's fiance and walked around a bit, then we met up with some of Emina's friends later for dinner. Had a nice dinner at a cute little place. Then went to a bar. Actually invited another friend of mine from the city - that guy that gave me a ride home from softball who also works at IBM but is finishing law school. So it was good to see him again and have another Manhattan friend. Nice to sorta get to know him, and also have Rishi's number - Emina's good friend from college. So went out drinking for awhile and had a good night on the town! Drank a little too much, unfortunately, but made it home ok :-).
So have some fun plans for the rest of the holiday weekend - going on a bike ride now down the river. Going to check out another possible place to live. Tomorrow I'm meeting Shan Shan for Dim Sum again - in Chinatown. Then think I'll head to Coney Island to check it out! Unfortunately Shan Shan can't come because she has to go back to Boston because of a death in the family :-(. Then the softball friend - Mohammed - said he has tickets for the US Open on Monday, so I guess I get to go twice - really looking forward to it!
Happy Labor DAy weekend everyone! Have fun. I'm blessed with wonderful family and friends!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
P.S.
Alright I lied. I am sad, and I am lonely, and it's hard. I'm just trying to make it through this. On the up side - I went to the library, got a New York library card, and successfully checked out Harry Potter book 6. Nothing like getting lost in a good fun book :-).
Culture out the ears
Hi all. Thanks for all of your support about Naveen. I really appreciate all your nice words, encouraging statements, and advice. I do feel loved by special people :-). People are always amazing that way. Let me just say I am fine. I actually think although this took awhile for me to understand, I had been slowly getting less vested in the relationship as it required me to be more independent anyway. So although I have cried some, I really do feel, on the whole, strong and confident and excited about my future. I already have my continuing lists of what to do in the city updated. And I feel fairly happy and I know I'll be ok. Here, btw, is the current plan:
Labor Day Weekend: Spend last bits of time with Emina and Shan Shan while they are here. Go to Coney Island. Sleep!
Sept 7 + Weekend: US Open + Christine and Jeff visit! Yay :-).
Sept 15 Weekend: Go to Boston to visit Emina and Aled - yay :-).
Sept 22 Weekend: Weekend in NYC! Do last bits of summer activities - park concerts, storytelling, maybe kayak? Wander.
Sept 29 Weekend: Mom visits - nuf said. Yay :-).
Beginning of October - move somewhere. Also see fall colors.
Mid October - visit Christine in Maryland? Or convince her to meet me in Philadelphia which I've never seen?
First half of November - work hard before PLDI conference deadline which is Nov 15.
Thanksgiving - maybe go visit Grandma?
December 1 or 15 - move back to Austin - yay!
Christmas with the fam.
So that's the plan, and I'm sticking to it. I think the time will fly by. And it'll be interesting to see this city in different seasons!
So, with the culture update. Although there were a lot of chaotic emotions going on, Naveen and I decided to make the best of his last weekend in New York. As I say, the breakup was amiable.
Friday night we went out to a Greek place in West Midtown suggested by our doorman George. It was tasty! Got an awesome cheese and shrimp baked appetizer. I got the traditional Greek Mousaka - kinda like their lasagna which was really tasty. And Naveen got their lamb kabob which was good. I heard their fish is good and I gotta go back for spanikopita sometime!
Saturday was a sleep in day. But finally got up and went to the pool since the weather had been crummy all week and I hadn't been able to swim. The water was chilly, but I forced myself to swim another 26 laps! Was slower, but still proud of myself. And the laps were in the middle of the pool so slightly longer than my normal lap so woohoo! Gotta love the swimming. I'm bummed the pool closes Labor Day. Also met a new friend there who I hope to see swimming this week at the pool - a girl who just moved to the upper east side and does investment baking. Yay maybe I can make friends in the city! So got a late start on the actual day, but finally left the house and took Naveen to the MOMA - Museum of Modern Art. Although neither of us are big fans of modern art, I heard it was a must-see. So we saw modern art. Some was cool - I really liked the architecture section with funky chairs and lamps and functional things. It was neat to see some of the artists whose pieces were there - Picasso, Miro, Matisse, Mondrian, Monet, van Gogh. But I really am not a big fan of the "red canvas with white stripe" being real art. I could've done that! But it was good to go and see it, even if we didn't need more than an hour and a half to see it.
So we actually decided to catch the Riverside Park's production of MacBeth on one of it's last nights and lo and behold it WASN'T raining! So saw MacBeth which was very well-done actually and enjoyable. Nice company. Small crowd. Then we decided to head back down to Grand Central for the famous Oyster Bar Restaurant down there - friends had recommended it. It was nice with wood panels and such. I had some New England clam chowder which was really tasty, and enjoyed 1 of Naveen's oysters. It was a bit fishy. Then we got some fried scallop dish which was ok, and a sampler of 4 seafood salads which was fun. Crab meat caesar salad, poached salmon, squid marinated and on top of a bell pepper, and jumbo shrimp. Pretty good :-). I'm really broadening as far as seafood!
Sunday we got up earlier to meet friends at Dim Sum - this time at a place in the west side. It was fancily decorated with mesh coverings over lights in the shapes of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. Interesting. It was more hoisty-toity and expensive than our Chinatown place which I liked better. And they tried to force some food on us that we didn't want. Weird. But the food was generally good and the company of course was fabulous - Emina, Aled, Shan Shan, Naveen and I. We definitely nerded out, but also talked about clothes and products too! It's fun to hang out :-). Then we went our separate ways, and we made it down to Battery Park - Naveen and I - because I wanted to see a free modern dance festival I had heard about down there. Unfortunately we got there a bit late and I mostly got to see south Asian dancing - troupes from India or American troupes doing some modern/Indian mix. There was 1 cool group that did a sort of martial arts modern combo with storytelling which was interesting. But I missed the true modern groups which I wanted to see. Oh well. Naveen and I meandered through the city for the rest of teh afternoon. We finally ended up at the famous Carnegie Deli for dinner. Sorta commercial, but the pastrami sandwich was tasty, and the knish - yum. We took home a cheesecake with strawberries on top for later which was really tasty. Yum. And the appetizer - how can I forget - it was a bowl of pickles! That made me happy right away :-).
So all in all it was a good weekend if a bit of a rollercoaster. Naveen was pretty emotional and psycho-analytic while I was sort of trying not to think about things. It was odd, but I'm glad we got to spend time together and talk through some things about the relationship which was good. Nice last times of our era. It was sad to realize we had to split - don't get me wrong, it was very necessary. But we were compatible and had fun in a lot of ways. So yeah, sad. But the right thing.
Monday was another day at work. I need to get back into work - I've been so unfocussed lately and distracted. But it was Emina's birthday, so we went out to a nice dinner for that to a Portugese/Brazilian place with lots of seafood. It was wonderful! So much "enjoy life and good friends" type of conversation. I was the American, and then there was the German+Turkish couple, the Bosnian, and the Chinese girl. Very interesting conversations - about pets, marriage, children, parents, culture, education. Random things. It was so much fun, though - we all got along well. And I somehow was the "enlightened American". Seriously. They all advocated moving away from your parents/family to another state to go to college - thought it was so necessary to growth that you leave your family and get some freedom and not be so under their noses. I think you do need freedom to some extent, but I said that kind of movement was erroding our American family because there is no more extended families and there are only small family units. Then they also argued that we should just standardize and everyone should learn English. But I said that was very arrogant as English speakers, and there's something to languages being part of culture in parts of the world and it's good to learn many languages. They said that since they all had English as a 2nd language, it wasn't arrogant for them to say - it would just be arrogant if I said it :-). Very funny. So again, good people, good conversation. We were at dinner for over 3.5 hours! And don't get me started about our lunch conversation about religion and money and suicide bombers. But anyway - I live for these discussions :-). And the food - Emina and I shared a shellfish rice traditional stew thing - was good (scallops, mussels, clam, shrimp, lobster). I liked their ceremony - they brought out bread and sausage automatically before the meal, and grapes to finish. Fun :-). So I got home late and Naveen and I had some time to say goodbye before he our short sleep and him leaving at 5:30am. I was bleary-eyed and in shock, but it really was good that he finally left. I'm sure it'll take a bit of getting used to, but really - I'll be ok. I know how to fill my schedule :-).
Tata and hope all's well.
Labor Day Weekend: Spend last bits of time with Emina and Shan Shan while they are here. Go to Coney Island. Sleep!
Sept 7 + Weekend: US Open + Christine and Jeff visit! Yay :-).
Sept 15 Weekend: Go to Boston to visit Emina and Aled - yay :-).
Sept 22 Weekend: Weekend in NYC! Do last bits of summer activities - park concerts, storytelling, maybe kayak? Wander.
Sept 29 Weekend: Mom visits - nuf said. Yay :-).
Beginning of October - move somewhere. Also see fall colors.
Mid October - visit Christine in Maryland? Or convince her to meet me in Philadelphia which I've never seen?
First half of November - work hard before PLDI conference deadline which is Nov 15.
Thanksgiving - maybe go visit Grandma?
December 1 or 15 - move back to Austin - yay!
Christmas with the fam.
So that's the plan, and I'm sticking to it. I think the time will fly by. And it'll be interesting to see this city in different seasons!
So, with the culture update. Although there were a lot of chaotic emotions going on, Naveen and I decided to make the best of his last weekend in New York. As I say, the breakup was amiable.
Friday night we went out to a Greek place in West Midtown suggested by our doorman George. It was tasty! Got an awesome cheese and shrimp baked appetizer. I got the traditional Greek Mousaka - kinda like their lasagna which was really tasty. And Naveen got their lamb kabob which was good. I heard their fish is good and I gotta go back for spanikopita sometime!
Saturday was a sleep in day. But finally got up and went to the pool since the weather had been crummy all week and I hadn't been able to swim. The water was chilly, but I forced myself to swim another 26 laps! Was slower, but still proud of myself. And the laps were in the middle of the pool so slightly longer than my normal lap so woohoo! Gotta love the swimming. I'm bummed the pool closes Labor Day. Also met a new friend there who I hope to see swimming this week at the pool - a girl who just moved to the upper east side and does investment baking. Yay maybe I can make friends in the city! So got a late start on the actual day, but finally left the house and took Naveen to the MOMA - Museum of Modern Art. Although neither of us are big fans of modern art, I heard it was a must-see. So we saw modern art. Some was cool - I really liked the architecture section with funky chairs and lamps and functional things. It was neat to see some of the artists whose pieces were there - Picasso, Miro, Matisse, Mondrian, Monet, van Gogh. But I really am not a big fan of the "red canvas with white stripe" being real art. I could've done that! But it was good to go and see it, even if we didn't need more than an hour and a half to see it.
So we actually decided to catch the Riverside Park's production of MacBeth on one of it's last nights and lo and behold it WASN'T raining! So saw MacBeth which was very well-done actually and enjoyable. Nice company. Small crowd. Then we decided to head back down to Grand Central for the famous Oyster Bar Restaurant down there - friends had recommended it. It was nice with wood panels and such. I had some New England clam chowder which was really tasty, and enjoyed 1 of Naveen's oysters. It was a bit fishy. Then we got some fried scallop dish which was ok, and a sampler of 4 seafood salads which was fun. Crab meat caesar salad, poached salmon, squid marinated and on top of a bell pepper, and jumbo shrimp. Pretty good :-). I'm really broadening as far as seafood!
Sunday we got up earlier to meet friends at Dim Sum - this time at a place in the west side. It was fancily decorated with mesh coverings over lights in the shapes of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. Interesting. It was more hoisty-toity and expensive than our Chinatown place which I liked better. And they tried to force some food on us that we didn't want. Weird. But the food was generally good and the company of course was fabulous - Emina, Aled, Shan Shan, Naveen and I. We definitely nerded out, but also talked about clothes and products too! It's fun to hang out :-). Then we went our separate ways, and we made it down to Battery Park - Naveen and I - because I wanted to see a free modern dance festival I had heard about down there. Unfortunately we got there a bit late and I mostly got to see south Asian dancing - troupes from India or American troupes doing some modern/Indian mix. There was 1 cool group that did a sort of martial arts modern combo with storytelling which was interesting. But I missed the true modern groups which I wanted to see. Oh well. Naveen and I meandered through the city for the rest of teh afternoon. We finally ended up at the famous Carnegie Deli for dinner. Sorta commercial, but the pastrami sandwich was tasty, and the knish - yum. We took home a cheesecake with strawberries on top for later which was really tasty. Yum. And the appetizer - how can I forget - it was a bowl of pickles! That made me happy right away :-).
So all in all it was a good weekend if a bit of a rollercoaster. Naveen was pretty emotional and psycho-analytic while I was sort of trying not to think about things. It was odd, but I'm glad we got to spend time together and talk through some things about the relationship which was good. Nice last times of our era. It was sad to realize we had to split - don't get me wrong, it was very necessary. But we were compatible and had fun in a lot of ways. So yeah, sad. But the right thing.
Monday was another day at work. I need to get back into work - I've been so unfocussed lately and distracted. But it was Emina's birthday, so we went out to a nice dinner for that to a Portugese/Brazilian place with lots of seafood. It was wonderful! So much "enjoy life and good friends" type of conversation. I was the American, and then there was the German+Turkish couple, the Bosnian, and the Chinese girl. Very interesting conversations - about pets, marriage, children, parents, culture, education. Random things. It was so much fun, though - we all got along well. And I somehow was the "enlightened American". Seriously. They all advocated moving away from your parents/family to another state to go to college - thought it was so necessary to growth that you leave your family and get some freedom and not be so under their noses. I think you do need freedom to some extent, but I said that kind of movement was erroding our American family because there is no more extended families and there are only small family units. Then they also argued that we should just standardize and everyone should learn English. But I said that was very arrogant as English speakers, and there's something to languages being part of culture in parts of the world and it's good to learn many languages. They said that since they all had English as a 2nd language, it wasn't arrogant for them to say - it would just be arrogant if I said it :-). Very funny. So again, good people, good conversation. We were at dinner for over 3.5 hours! And don't get me started about our lunch conversation about religion and money and suicide bombers. But anyway - I live for these discussions :-). And the food - Emina and I shared a shellfish rice traditional stew thing - was good (scallops, mussels, clam, shrimp, lobster). I liked their ceremony - they brought out bread and sausage automatically before the meal, and grapes to finish. Fun :-). So I got home late and Naveen and I had some time to say goodbye before he our short sleep and him leaving at 5:30am. I was bleary-eyed and in shock, but it really was good that he finally left. I'm sure it'll take a bit of getting used to, but really - I'll be ok. I know how to fill my schedule :-).
Tata and hope all's well.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
The End of an Era
Hi all. Sad news to say today. Naveen and I broke up - we are no longer dating. I really do feel like this is the end of an era. The reasons are complicated. We are amicable towards each other, which although rare, I believe is a good thing. Basically we grew apart. He got very ambitious with school about a year ago, to the point where he didn't have time to invest in the relationship and demanded a lot of me that I wasn't happy with. Then I began to resent all my sacrifices for him. We had arguments, and had to compromise on a lot of things. In the end, though, I broke it off because he was no longer making me happy. Quite the opposite - I felt misunderstood. I was not being supported and unconditionally loved, rather judged by his high expectations of perfection. He was very critical, and not able to be emotional himself. He hid his emotions and judged mine harshly. He wasn't able to empathize we discovered, and sympathy was hard for him. Instead of saying things in encouraging, loving tones, it was in critical, stern terms. Anyway, I don't want to bad mouth - he is a very nice guy, a loyal, honest man. Also an ambitious man. He can be caring, and he holds to his promises. But somewhere we went astray. It is sad because we thought we'd be together forever. And we have a lot of fun doing things together - similar interests, and future dreams together. But it was not meant to be. I do want to be with someone who knows I am a wonderful person and can show me that daily, who can be supportive and emotional with me. Who can make me happy again.
So that's the short of it. I might write more later, but I wanted to tell people. I will need your help - I am scared of being in NYC alone. For all my love of the place, and all my bravado, I don't feel completely at home here and next week my 2 closest friends leave too. So I am left with only acquaintances. And I know I will be lonely. And because of other events this week - my advisor is now at IBM - I might be here until/through December. She wants me to stay here. It is hard, it might be the right thing to do for my PhD, but it is hard for me. We will see where the road lies. Naveen is leaving on Tuesday and I am not going to Belize with him over Labor Day. I will value my friend and family visits all the more now. And I know I can be strong - I am a strong person - and there is a lot to look forward to out there. But there are always hard times too. So please remember I need you now more than ever.
More on the weekends events later... *Love*, Jenn
So that's the short of it. I might write more later, but I wanted to tell people. I will need your help - I am scared of being in NYC alone. For all my love of the place, and all my bravado, I don't feel completely at home here and next week my 2 closest friends leave too. So I am left with only acquaintances. And I know I will be lonely. And because of other events this week - my advisor is now at IBM - I might be here until/through December. She wants me to stay here. It is hard, it might be the right thing to do for my PhD, but it is hard for me. We will see where the road lies. Naveen is leaving on Tuesday and I am not going to Belize with him over Labor Day. I will value my friend and family visits all the more now. And I know I can be strong - I am a strong person - and there is a lot to look forward to out there. But there are always hard times too. So please remember I need you now more than ever.
More on the weekends events later... *Love*, Jenn
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Pictures anyone?
Hey. So I finally uploaded and organized all my pictures from the summer! Sorry it took so long, and I know there are a lot, but if you want to see some I put on Snapfish leave a comment or email me and I'll share the photos with you. I shared the pictures I took with particular people with them, and shared all of them with Mom and Grandma, but let me know if you want to see others or any of them! I like pretty pictures :-).
Ciao.
Ciao.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
It finally caught up to me
I finally got sick... had a sore throat at the end of Friday and my cold started. Bummer. But it wasn't bad - Echinecea helped!
So I came home from work on Friday - we were going to go to a Shakespeare play in the park, and of course it started downpouring and spoiled our plans. Bummer. Actually, come to think of it - it's been raining for the last week almost. I guess Saturday it didn't rain, but every other day it has! Sorta dreary... But we went out to dinner instead with our guests Bret and Allison who are fun people. They wanted to try some "Best Burgers in NYC" place down in Greenwich Village. I think it was called Corner Bistro - lots of places here have very generic names! Funny that. But this place was packed - small place (everywhere here is small because space is so expensive) with a bar. They only had grilled cheese, hamburgers, and chicken sandwiches on their menu. But I have to say, their burgers were very tasty. Not the best burger in my life, but good :-). So we had some fun times - walked around Greenwich Village and came upon that cupcake store whereupon Bret said it was outrageous to pay $2 for a cupcake. Is it really that crazy? Hmmm. Then we ended up going home and just chilling on our own with banana margaritas Allison made us - pretty tasty! With rum, banana liquer, triple sec, and margarita mix.
Saturday was a long day - one of those "away from home walking around town for close to 12 hours" days. And I was a bit sick. But it was fun - we went back down to City Hall area and saw all the courts, then made a trek from out guidebook across the Brooklyn Bridge which was awesome. Neat bridge! And beautiful views of the skyline - especially the lower Manhattan tall buildings. Altho it was a long bridge. I took a lot of pictures - actually almost got run over by a bike when I took a picture. It was sorta my fault - I was trying to cross the bike road, and I got entirely chewed out by the biker behind the actually biker I ran into! Harangued! I felt bad :-(. But I made it. We went to the recommended fabulous pizza place in Brooklyn when we got there, but of course everyone else had the same book as us so we waited in line over 45 minutes. But the pizza was actually worth it! Pretty simple, but fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce and basil go a long way! Yum :-). Then walked down to the recommended ice cream shop on the pier with all-nature ingredients - also in the book and also a huge line. But faster than pizza. Very tasty - I got vanilla chocolate chunk. I guess they make their own cream. And the pier had some beautiful views - I saw at least 3 bridges there taking pictures :-). But we saw some billowing black smoke as from a fire rising from lower Manhattan and were afraid. Sorta scary - and it smelled metallic when the smell got to us. We found out later that a building by the World Trade Center that was being torn down had caught on fire! Crazy...
So we walked around the Brooklyn Bridge park which was really pretty, and decided we were going to walk back on the beautiful Manhattan bridge because we like the exercise :-). Another mile at least! There were a lot fewer people on that, though, and we made it - dumped back into Chinatown which is always interesting. We walked Bret and Allison through Little Italy (which has all but been encompassed by Chinatown which has expanded a lot). Then we veered over to NYU and Washington Park for a rest. Interesting park - very gritty. Very interesting people watching and lots of performers out - musicians and magicians. I wondered how you get a piano into the park everyday! If only he'd just play the piano and not sing! But it was nice to relax - we saw chess players too. But yeah - there could be hustlers and shady deals in that park too... So from here after awhile we decided to walk again, and headed to Union Square which I like for some reason. We suggested going to a brewery (Naveen loves these), but decided on caffeine instead in the form of coffee - it'd been a long tiring day! Just relaxed in the park with our coffee for awhile - no one felt like dinner. Then finally we just went home and made homemade black bean and corn salsa and ate chips for dinner! How funny... And played Eucher - a fun card game. Good friends, fun times, good company. And they left at like 4:30am on Sunday! But Bret looked up the distance we had walked - a good 7.5 miles! Go us :-).
So we were supposed to have another guest come in Saturday morning to Monday evening, but his flight got delayed again, and for that short of a trip it wasn't worth it, so he didn't end up coming. But that ended up being ok! We were tired Sunday and just wanted a down day. Chilled, watched TV, organized my pictures. It was rainy again or I might've gone to a play in the park. I did treat myself to a pedicure :-). Fun to pamper! And good to relax... Especially after all the company.
Monday was another dreary day - as I say we've had dreary days since Friday... Back to work and my advisor from UT showed up at IBM. She'll be here all fall on sabbatical - it's weird to have her here actually! But it's nice. I ended up leaving early to catch the last movie in the park at Bryant Park in New York City. Bryant Park has the big public library with lions and it's near Time Square. Beautiful park, really - perfect flat lawn for a movie setup. It drizzled a little bit, but we made it through the movie - an awesome one I hadn't seen - Hitchcock's "Pyscho"! Fun to see on the big screen. A bit scary, but of course a classic. Glad to see it! And the audience had mostly seen it because they laughed or clapped before predicted scenes - like when she gets in the shower everyone knew what was going to happen! Most classic scene ever. So very fun. And we bought sandwiches to picnic with :-). I love these little New York experiences like this - free movie in the park. Fun stuff.
Yeah, Kathryn (my advisor) thinks it's very cold here because she came from Austin's 100 degree temps to this week it's been in the upper 50s, lower 60s! Brrr. I'm ready for it to get back to summer this weekend! I want to swim again!
Gave a 15 minute presentation on my (semi-failed) project today at work. Went well - I was told it was well explained which is good. Short talks like that are hard - hard to actually explain the meat or "interesting" part of the research in such a short time. But I made it :-). I need to get into my new project, but I have to admit I'm a bit downtrodden lately. A little scared that everything I do just fails. A little sad that my friends will leave next week and then I won't know people here and will be lonely. A little nervous about starting a new project partly in the database world that I don't know much about. I need to just dive in, not resist it, but it is hard. Here's to generating momentum!
Have a great week - I miss everyone.
So I came home from work on Friday - we were going to go to a Shakespeare play in the park, and of course it started downpouring and spoiled our plans. Bummer. Actually, come to think of it - it's been raining for the last week almost. I guess Saturday it didn't rain, but every other day it has! Sorta dreary... But we went out to dinner instead with our guests Bret and Allison who are fun people. They wanted to try some "Best Burgers in NYC" place down in Greenwich Village. I think it was called Corner Bistro - lots of places here have very generic names! Funny that. But this place was packed - small place (everywhere here is small because space is so expensive) with a bar. They only had grilled cheese, hamburgers, and chicken sandwiches on their menu. But I have to say, their burgers were very tasty. Not the best burger in my life, but good :-). So we had some fun times - walked around Greenwich Village and came upon that cupcake store whereupon Bret said it was outrageous to pay $2 for a cupcake. Is it really that crazy? Hmmm. Then we ended up going home and just chilling on our own with banana margaritas Allison made us - pretty tasty! With rum, banana liquer, triple sec, and margarita mix.
Saturday was a long day - one of those "away from home walking around town for close to 12 hours" days. And I was a bit sick. But it was fun - we went back down to City Hall area and saw all the courts, then made a trek from out guidebook across the Brooklyn Bridge which was awesome. Neat bridge! And beautiful views of the skyline - especially the lower Manhattan tall buildings. Altho it was a long bridge. I took a lot of pictures - actually almost got run over by a bike when I took a picture. It was sorta my fault - I was trying to cross the bike road, and I got entirely chewed out by the biker behind the actually biker I ran into! Harangued! I felt bad :-(. But I made it. We went to the recommended fabulous pizza place in Brooklyn when we got there, but of course everyone else had the same book as us so we waited in line over 45 minutes. But the pizza was actually worth it! Pretty simple, but fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce and basil go a long way! Yum :-). Then walked down to the recommended ice cream shop on the pier with all-nature ingredients - also in the book and also a huge line. But faster than pizza. Very tasty - I got vanilla chocolate chunk. I guess they make their own cream. And the pier had some beautiful views - I saw at least 3 bridges there taking pictures :-). But we saw some billowing black smoke as from a fire rising from lower Manhattan and were afraid. Sorta scary - and it smelled metallic when the smell got to us. We found out later that a building by the World Trade Center that was being torn down had caught on fire! Crazy...
So we walked around the Brooklyn Bridge park which was really pretty, and decided we were going to walk back on the beautiful Manhattan bridge because we like the exercise :-). Another mile at least! There were a lot fewer people on that, though, and we made it - dumped back into Chinatown which is always interesting. We walked Bret and Allison through Little Italy (which has all but been encompassed by Chinatown which has expanded a lot). Then we veered over to NYU and Washington Park for a rest. Interesting park - very gritty. Very interesting people watching and lots of performers out - musicians and magicians. I wondered how you get a piano into the park everyday! If only he'd just play the piano and not sing! But it was nice to relax - we saw chess players too. But yeah - there could be hustlers and shady deals in that park too... So from here after awhile we decided to walk again, and headed to Union Square which I like for some reason. We suggested going to a brewery (Naveen loves these), but decided on caffeine instead in the form of coffee - it'd been a long tiring day! Just relaxed in the park with our coffee for awhile - no one felt like dinner. Then finally we just went home and made homemade black bean and corn salsa and ate chips for dinner! How funny... And played Eucher - a fun card game. Good friends, fun times, good company. And they left at like 4:30am on Sunday! But Bret looked up the distance we had walked - a good 7.5 miles! Go us :-).
So we were supposed to have another guest come in Saturday morning to Monday evening, but his flight got delayed again, and for that short of a trip it wasn't worth it, so he didn't end up coming. But that ended up being ok! We were tired Sunday and just wanted a down day. Chilled, watched TV, organized my pictures. It was rainy again or I might've gone to a play in the park. I did treat myself to a pedicure :-). Fun to pamper! And good to relax... Especially after all the company.
Monday was another dreary day - as I say we've had dreary days since Friday... Back to work and my advisor from UT showed up at IBM. She'll be here all fall on sabbatical - it's weird to have her here actually! But it's nice. I ended up leaving early to catch the last movie in the park at Bryant Park in New York City. Bryant Park has the big public library with lions and it's near Time Square. Beautiful park, really - perfect flat lawn for a movie setup. It drizzled a little bit, but we made it through the movie - an awesome one I hadn't seen - Hitchcock's "Pyscho"! Fun to see on the big screen. A bit scary, but of course a classic. Glad to see it! And the audience had mostly seen it because they laughed or clapped before predicted scenes - like when she gets in the shower everyone knew what was going to happen! Most classic scene ever. So very fun. And we bought sandwiches to picnic with :-). I love these little New York experiences like this - free movie in the park. Fun stuff.
Yeah, Kathryn (my advisor) thinks it's very cold here because she came from Austin's 100 degree temps to this week it's been in the upper 50s, lower 60s! Brrr. I'm ready for it to get back to summer this weekend! I want to swim again!
Gave a 15 minute presentation on my (semi-failed) project today at work. Went well - I was told it was well explained which is good. Short talks like that are hard - hard to actually explain the meat or "interesting" part of the research in such a short time. But I made it :-). I need to get into my new project, but I have to admit I'm a bit downtrodden lately. A little scared that everything I do just fails. A little sad that my friends will leave next week and then I won't know people here and will be lonely. A little nervous about starting a new project partly in the database world that I don't know much about. I need to just dive in, not resist it, but it is hard. Here's to generating momentum!
Have a great week - I miss everyone.
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