01/27/2007

This is in Brooklyn Chinatown, in Sunset Park. One of my high school teachers told me he grew up in Sunset Park and that back then it was completely an Italian neighborhood. Chinatown in Manhattan also took over the Little Italy area; I wonder whether Flushing used to be Italian too before it became Chinese.

01/26/2007

At the store I saw a mini size package of the tea we normally drink, it looked so cute I decided to buy it. I wonder why is it that labels for many products are translated into French, even though there is no clear need or demand.

01/25/2007

On Sunday I accidentally left my wallet in the car service taxi. Luckily the driver found it, but he was so slow to return it to the office -- I had to bother them for the past 4 days ! They are so funny, they scotch-taped around the whole wallet, so that I would know it was secure with nothing taken from it.

01/24/2007

The only snowman I've seen so far this winter is the one on this balloon. I got it from Frist a few winters ago, and my sister liked it so much, she kept it even after it had already deflated.

01/23/2007

On the door to my sister's room. I find it funny that she celebrates herself so much.

01/22/2007

Hilary found this necklace, after much searching -- apparently it is hard to find jewelry of yellow color that is not made with amber. As this was my birthday gift from her and several other friends, she did not want to choose something made with dead insects.
This is my favorite necklace, and I wear it almost every day.

01/21/2007

My mom and I spent 3 hours making spring rolls, which were eaten in about 30 minutes. I first made spring rolls with my grandmother, who taught me how to make them very neat and tight, but I didn't ever learn how she could do everything so quickly !

01/20/2007

On Saturday I met Cindy at the Brooklyn Museum, which was super-crowded by everyone trying to catch the last few days of the Annie Liebovitz exhibit. Because of a special sculpture exhibit upstairs, all the Rodin sculputures have been moved to the lobby of the museum. This is one of them, I don't remember the title.

01/19/2007

First snow of the season ! It was extremely light and almost all gone by the end of the day, but still nice while it lasted. Though I hadn't seen snow in so long, I forgot how slippery it could be and almost fell walking down the stairs.

01/18/2007

The trees along Park Avenue still have Christmas lights on. On Thursday night there was some rain, so the lights reflected well on the sidewalk. I wonder how much longer the lights will stay lit.

01/17/2007

After the holidays, Maria brings to work several boxes of chocolate received as gifts. In the afternoon we open a box and carefully decide which chocolate we want to eat, cutting each in half so we can taste all of them.

01/16/2007

This view is from a window looking behind my house. I like looking out this window at night.

01/15/2007

I forgot to take a picture on this day ! Sad.
The picture above was taken by my mom when her sisters were visiting. I like this one because even though neither is looking at the camera, each one's expression is fun, and the window reflections look nice.
In photo, left to right: Tata Van, Tata Son.

01/14/2007

My favorite stuffed animal, received as a birthday present two years ago from Khang and Loan. I usually call it a duck, though it probably resembles more a chick.

01/13/2007

At Maru after karaoke in Ktown, with many Singaporeans. Discovered a new restaurant, though I can't remember the name now.
In photo, left to right: YC, Lisa, Wei-Li, Chris, Michael.

01/12/2007

Every Friday morning this guitarist plays at my subway station as part of the MTA's Music Under New York program. He plays quite well but I don't usually get to hear him for more than a few minutes.

01/11/2007

One of my favorite fruits. I remember on that day both my mom and I stopped by Chinatown on the way home to buy one, each without knowing the other had done so. I believe the unpeeled fruit is the one I got.

01/10/2007

Co Nini is one of the few Vietnamese we know in New York. I stopped by her office on my way home to drop off something, and decided to take a picture of her at work. One good idea she has is to provide sunglasses to her patients so that they are not blinded by the bright light shining on their faces. Next time I go to a dentist, I will bring sunglasses.

01/09/2007

View of Prospect Park from the plane arriving to LGA. The angle was too close so my house is outside the picture frame, but it would be close to the bottom left corner of the screen. Another fun thing about this photo: the sun was setting so the light condition gives the impression that it is fall (red leaves) rather than winter (gray branches).

01/08/2007

Our new laundry machine - washer and dryer in one ! It looks so nice and is so easy to use, it's much more fun to do laundry now...

01/07/2007

Ducks and geese in the park on Sunday morning. A few of them have numbered tags, I wonder what for.

So hard to choose just one photo to post ! This was also taken in the park, and is one of the few photos I have with Hilary where she is not crouching to my height...

01/06/2007

70 degrees in January ! So extraordinary, it seems that everyone decided to go out today. After taking my two aunts to dim sum in Chinatown, we ran into another aunt and uncle and various cousins who had just eaten in the area. And then, Hilary and Arel happened to be in Brooklyn so we all went for a walk in Prospect Park, where we kept trespassing on other people's football games.
In photo (if you can spot them): Lisa, Arel, Hilary and my dad, Tata Son, my mom.

01/05/2007

Finally, one night with everyone at dinner. I almost tripped over the tripod while taking this picture, so hazardous !
In photo, left to right: Michael, Tata Van, Lisa, Tata Son, me, my mom, my dad.

01/04/2007

Late last night my aunt from Australia arrived and immediately today engaged full-force in one of the activities most popular among our overseas relatives who visit the U.S. -- shopping. As soon as I came home I saw our living room floor full of bags and boxes, and my mom and aunt sorting through everything. It's a bit crazy, she still has a full suitcase of clothes left behind on her last trip here !
In photo, left to right: Tata Son, my mom.
I need to take less blurry photos.

01/03/2007

My good friend Lisa Chen now lives only 3 blocks away from me. She somehow encountered delays on her way home from vacation in India and Hong Kong, so I had to help her set out a bag for her mailman yesterday. One strange thing though -- I came into her apartment last week to leave a Christmas card, and definitely do not remember seeing this huge bag on the table. I took this picture so I could ask my friend who was with me whether he saw it at the time. Quite mysterious...

01/02/2007

Today one of my aunts from Paris has come to visit, exciting ! So funny, she brought an entire case of champagne and four bottles of wine -- her luggage was super heavy !
In photo, left to right: Tata Van, my mom.

01/01/2007

The first picture for this blog was actually taken by someone other than me, and before I had the idea for my resolution. Still fitting though, as this was during a New Year's party (at 12:06am, to be exact).
In photo, clockwise from top left: some girl, me, Jon Bydlak, my brother Michael, Maria (falling!), some guy, Jon Stein.

My 2007 New Year's Resolution

I normally am not able to think of anything in particular that I would want to make as my New Year's resolution. This year, however, I was inspired by an idea on this newsletter (photojojo) -- I am going to take a photo each day and document the pictures on this blog !