Showing posts with label nyc fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nyc fun. Show all posts

Friday, August 12, 2016

nykeiko plays: Cooper Hewitt museum NYC -August 2016



A hot Saturday with a chance of rain brought us to the Cooper Hewitt museum on the Upper East Side. Ok, more like Dave found out Bank of America card holders can get free access and so we decided to go. 

This is my first time at Cooper Hewitt and I quite enjoyed it. I kind of liked the smallness of the museum since larger museums (like the Met) become overwhelming and gets tiring after a bit. This museum is set in an old ha-uge mansion so it's big but not quite big.The day we visited, they were offering all visitors this digital pen with which you can digitally collect and record all the art you see during your visit. Every art piece has a label where you can align with you pen to save the piece. 
You are given a code which is linked with your pen so that after the visit, you can click here, type in your code and see all the objects/art you saved. I think it's kind of great to be able to save your visit this way. Sometimes I don't have the patience to read the art description on the spot or remember what I am reading anyway but with this, I can go home and take another look at all the stuff I saw that day. Like, oh, what was the name of that piece I liked again? Bam! I can find out right away (well, only if I remembered to save it).  You can also see some stats from that day if you like that type of stuff are. For example, the number of people who saved the same piece, your visit duration, what time you saw that piece, etc. You were also able to use the pen to play with these oversized interactive touchscreens where you can see what you collected on your pen or use it to design your own chair, hat, vase etc. People seemed to be into it. 


Anyhoo, here are some memorable pieces I liked: 

Friday, May 1, 2015

nykeiko plays: The Woman in Gold at the Neue Galerie NYC



Adele Bloch Baeur at the Neue Galerie
The portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I is one of the many masterpieces produced by world-renowned Austrian Art noveau and post impressionist painter Gustav Klimt. To see this beautiful portrait also known as Austria’s Mona Lisa, I was so happy to learn that I did not have to fly myself to Austria to be in the presence of this gold beauty.

Monday, January 26, 2015

nykeiko plays: Boozing and painting [Painting Lounge-Manhattan]

Rene Magritte "The Son of Man" a la Totoro
A couple of friends (two couples), me and Dave attended a painting class at the Painting Lounge in Manhattan last summer. We had such a good time, we went ahead and bought another coupon but the motivation has since dissipated and we have until end of March to book a class. Anyway, I never showed you guys what we drew.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Fashion in Conversation: Designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler

Apple's Fashion in Conversation series with Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough & Lazaro Hernandez
Last Friday, I attended one of Apple's Fashion in Conversation series in Soho featuring Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. I have heard before that these two designers are genuinely nice people but it was good to see their down-to-earthness for myself. During the interview, Lady Kinvara Balfour did a good job engaging conversation and asked the questions I was also curious about. The creative process and how the two designers' ideas come together were most interesting to me. All these sessions are recorded and will be available on itunes for you to enjoy! I hope my question during the Q&A session didn't make it because I didn't really ask an interesting question. I just wanted to say something! haha.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

The 3rd annual Racked Awards 2013


This was my vision by the end of the night at the 2013 Racked Awards celebrated at the Heath inside the McKittrick hotel. Alright, I didn't drink thaaat much but those cocktails were pretty strong...except the punch which was so good! The winners of the 2013 Racked Awards were announced earlier in the day and could claim their golden turbans at the party. 

Just to mention a few winners voted by Racked readers:

Best New Store-Personnel of New York (which I personally want to check out!)
Best Sample sale went to 'Comme des Garçon'. (That's where I got my Tretorn sneakers for $20.)
Best New Home Goods Store-Jung Lee. (Another store I want to check out.)
Best French Import- Maison Kitsuné (It's a nice store!)
Best Online Goes Offline- Warby Parker. (I have a pair!)

The Racked Awards golden turbans!




The Heathens played up some great tunes! Oldies, classics and new songs!


3 choices of Tito vodka's handmade cocktails (with fresh ingredients, simple syrups and everything!) were being concocted at the bar. We tried all 3 cocktails as you can see.



photo by Kenneth Bachor 
A party is not complete without a photobooth! There was one set up called Rotobooth inside this mini model train cart! (I need to return to the Heath one day!) Rotobooth lets you use a rotary dial to enter your cellphone number so you can get a text with the link to your 4 pictures! It is a pretty neat idea but freakin' takes forever to dial when you're slightly buzzed which the booth attendant said, guests often are! I'm 30 so I did have a rotary dial phone at home when I was young but I thought, for the younger kids, they must think it is such an ancient but novel idea! 

And right after you finish dialing, you have to step back and get ready immediately for the shot or else you will look like this...

The I Am Not Ready Yet look
But then you get the hang of it and look like this...professional synchronized photobooth takers. 

Fobby Asian pose

We took 12 different poses


Live band, free drinks, a psychic reader and photobooth! More pictures of the party here! Thank you Racked for an awesome party!


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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

A breather...

Finally a breather and some time to blog. Eating home-cooked meal for the first time after two weeks feels wonderful. I made ratatouille last night and tonight, I made mapo tofu and an Asian squash soup with salted eggs. Simple and delicious!

We flew back from Hawaii on Saturday afternoon and we were picked straight up from the airport to attend a wedding in Massachusetts that same evening. The wedding was in the middle of a garden near horsies at Hancock Shaker Village. The air was clean and crisp but so chilly which was a complete shock for my body which has been acclimated to Hawaiian warmth for so long. Yes, take pity on us.

We stayed overnight and got back into the city on Sunday with only a couple of hours to spare before heading to Central Park Summerstage to see Alt-J. I was pretty tired but eager and excited about being back in the city again! The concert was only okay due to many reasons. Someone spilt beer on me earlier in the night (though I was unphased by it), cigarette and weed smokers all over and EVERY person around us were chatty during the concert, simply uninterested in the concert making the whole night unbearable for me. The set ended earlier than we expected (I guess Alt-J only has one album anyway) so I was looking forward to getting a bowl of ramen at the new Ippudo in midtown. A hot bowl of noodles on a chilly night. Perfect.

And finally, we got home just before midnight ...crawled into our own bed... sad to be away from paradise but content to be back home. We missed home.








Tuesday, June 25, 2013

The last of New Amsterdam market ??...





New Amsterdam Market in South Street Seaport
Last year, the New Amsterdam Market was held weekly at South Street Seaport. This year, they only had a one-day-only event and it was held this past Sunday. We were lucky to not have missed it because coincidentally, we made an appointment to meet White Pike Whiskey's brand manager Steven for a tasting at the market. White Pike was the only distillery company there and was really popular. They sold out within the first couple of hours.

We got to taste plenty of great locally-made treats. From fresh sourdough breads to homemade hand pies, ceviche tacos, maple syrup, dried grapes, fresh cherries, handmade beef jerkies, freshly churned yogourt and lots more..this market had over 70 vendors for this one-day only event and everything was fresh. Many vendors sold out of stuff quickly not anticipating the popularity of this market! If you missed out, it's okay. This is the first event to kick off a monthly series of food events happening at this South Street Seaport spot under the FDR right with the Brooklyn Bridge as a backdrop. I am sure some of the same vendors will make an appearance once more. Some are also present weekly at the ever popular Smorgasburg in Brooklyn.







During our stroll and getting to know all the interesting vendors, we spotted this cute Shiba Inu staring intensively for a very long time at a grill cooking delicious hamburgers. Waiting for something to be dropped I'm sure. We stared and laughed at him for the longest time as well. We're definitely dog people but can't commit to having our own....yet!


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Thursday, May 30, 2013

June a coming...+ random thoughts



June is looking busy for many reasons...

My daily brain ADD:

-Between preparing for a wedding and looking for a new home.... yesterday, I choose between shopping for a wedding guestbook and checking out an open house in Downtown Brooklyn. The open house won because my Google Offer coupon for Paper Presentation expires May 31. This Saturday, we will be checking out another open house with probably over 100 people in attendance.
NY Open houses are like big house parties where everyone's invited...

-We have been trying to cut down on meat lately...specifically red meat...just because, it's suppose to be good for you. It is hard when you live with a meat lover boyfriend.

-I did a free yoga class yesterday but didn't enjoy it. It was that or a free self-defense class in the East village. It was rainy and ugly out so I felt too lazy to venture so far.

-My boss' birthday is in two weeks. I need to top last year's gift which was a simple mug which he loves. He has showed it off at multiple lab meetings knowing very well we have seen it multiple times. I paid $26 at the time for the mug at a MOMA store...it is now under $10 on Amazon.

-I still have to find a gift for Mother's Day and ship it. I will probably make something..it will be worth it!

-Going to purchase Broadway tickets for Wicked in October. Talk about early planning but then I can get Orchestra seats for $85..that's 50% off.

-Hosting a birthday party for Dave's cousin in our tiny apartment this weekend. Portable lawn chairs for our guests.

-Electrolytement event next Wednesday. Water acrobats, food and of course, water!

-Cake tasting next Thursday...but knowing very well, we won't be able to afford their lovely cakes. Might as well do something fun for our wedding right? They say cake tasting is the best part...unless you don't like cake then that's too bad.

-An impromptu trip to Montreal in two weeks for a bachelorette party organized by my lovely cat loving sister. She is really excited about which makes me feel so loved. Even though I don't have any bridesmaids for my wedding, having sisters is like having a Maid of Honor by default!

That is all....

oh yea..and we ate this after the open house last night... didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. Thank god it was still an undeveloped embryo since I've had some Vietnamese type balut where you're practically eating a baby chick (Don't Google balut!)..but I was younger and didn't think care so much about animals...

Pinoy boiled duck egg #balut at Uminom Bed-Stuy



Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Long weekend



Hello!

We had a long weekend for Memorial Day and I'm super ready for our 4-day work week!
I felt that, contrary to some lazy weekends we have had, this past weekend's schedule was filled to the brim with activities. From a farewell rooftop party, dresses and wedding ring shopping, hiking, museum, dinners and of course, eating loads of food; I should be exhausted but I am not... ok, maybe a tad!

Random shots from the weekend:


Two little Red Hen's cheesecakes are amAzing!!! I think this is one of my favorite cheesecake ever and guess what! I don't really like cheesecake at all! This was eaten at a friend's farewell party on his rooftop overlooking Central Park. We scolded him for not having more parties before! The view of Manhattan and Central Park was so nice!

Cheesecake from Two Little Red Hens

On Saturday, I got to try some rental dresses that come with our photography and videography service for our reception. I picked two dresses out that I liked..out of maybe 100 I did not like AT ALL. Therefore, it all came down to if it fits or not. One of the dresses I picked, I'll have to lose an inch or two to be more comfortable if I want to eat! 

Picking dresses...

On Sunday, five of us went hiking on Breakneck Ridge up in Fishkill NY. This time, we did the 5 mile loop but did not make it up Sugar Loaf mountain! Scrambling up the rocks for the first hour of the hike is always my favorite part of this trail!

The hour long scramble up Breakneck's rocks while overlooking the Hudson river


On Monday, we had no plans except to eat lobster at Dave's parents but we figured, we had the car for the day and looked for something to do. When a Vietnamese restaurant we wanted to try was closed, we decided we would drive somewhere we can't easily get to by subway. So, we decided to check out ABC Carpet and Home outlet in the Bronx. We picked up Laurie who came with the promise of good food in her belly. We checked out Arthur Avenue in the Bronx know to be the REAL Little Italy in New York.

homemade tangliani pasta with leggy octopus



So pretty driving through the Queensboro...enough for me to make a video of it back and forth..


After dropping off Laurie so she can get back to some "studying", we took the Queensboro bridge back to Brooklyn and as we drove by MOMA PS1, we decided to make a quick stop. I have never been there before and Dave can get free tickets, so we went!

There were some questionable art pieces. As usual, some art was worth the thoughts and some art was garbage...literally.

 trash cans...yup, that's it

A wolf and a deer in one room...what happens next?

And it all ended with a delicious lobster dinner. Lobsters were only $5.99/lb and Dave's parents made some for us on Monday night. They were sweet and salty...no butter or condiments needed...just perfect!!

via my instagram

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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Which is the coolest museum exhibit you have been to? [The Rain RoomMoMa NYC]

Me standing in the Rain Room - nykeiko.com

Which is the coolest museum exhibit you have been to? The Rain Room personally tops them all for me currently. It is one of the most interactive exhibits I have experienced and I have been to a couple of cool ones including Yayoi Kusama's 'Fireflies on Water' and Ann Hamilton's 'The Event of a Thread'. In the Rain Room, heavy rain drizzles down in a quite sizable room equipped with motion sensors which detect your presence and will shut the water right above you as you walk through the room and let you stay completely dry (with a few drops here and there of course!). Completely camera and cellphone safe in the rain!

The Rain Room is on exhibit from May 12 to July 28th but you have to go NOW. As the popularity of this exhibit increases, so will the wait time to go in. When the exhibit was in London, the wait was up to 8 hours. We were able to bypass the line as member's guests and still wait a little. We could not be more grateful for the group of people in front of us who decided to purchase the membership and allow us to be their guest for $5...we had already waited for 45 minutes and were barely moving down the line. The people in the front of the line waited almost 2 hours and it was only the second day of the exhibition. They allow up to 10 people into the Rain Room however, the staff kept saying they were letting 6-7 people in at a time to let people feel the maximum effect of this unique exhibit. There is no time limit for each person and photography is highly encouraged. Every picture you will take will look amazing! I posted a few we took! For more info about the exhibit, click here.

Taking pictures while waiting in line inside the building...Click below for more pics.

The Rain Room - NYC - nykeiko.com



Finally our turn under the "rain"...

Trying to lick the rain but can't!!

Rain Room - nykeiko.com

Thank you- stranger who took a good 3 minutes finding the best angle to take a shot of us while we smooched away. Total PDA for this shot. Apologies!


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Thursday, April 4, 2013

Baseball...

Totoro loving baseball more than me

Finally, I got to watch my first major league baseball game in New York city. Last night, it was Yankees versus Red Sox. I don't know much about baseball. All I know is that I ate a lot of junk food and missed two home runs. The first one we missed, we were gathered with our friends chatting away in the hallway and the second home run, we were already home taking a hot shower. I still had a good time though. Our seats were fantastic (thanks to free company tickets) and I took pics of Ichiro's butt and my cheese fries. We also had beer, hot dog, burger, vanilla milkshake, garlic French fries oh my...

Pre game warm ups. This one player looks like he's getting a shower.

Ichiro's butt. Action shot.

Yankee stadium



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