nykeiko plays: Dia:Beacon, NY

Now that my baby girl is entering toddlerhood, I savor the time I get to spend time with her on weekends. She likes to be out of our small apartment and explore so we always make an effort to take her somewhere fun on the weekends. We also enjoy exploring the city with her. She's very acquainted with all the parks we visit, she loves to point at every pigeon in sight and practices her barking at dog parks. She can nap through loud subway trains and honking cars. Swings are always a highlight and water sprinklers are never to be missed. It's not possible for us to sleep in on the weekends anymore so it is easy for us to get out of the house early and be home for dinner. I think we're better at packing on the fly and taking less time to finally leave the house. We might always forget a thing or two but as long as we have her diapers and wipes, everything else doesn't seem to matter. Okay, I lie, we need to bring a bunch of crap like sun lotion, water bottle, hat, extra change of clothes, bib, snacks and more!

To celebrate the end of Summer, we have been setting out doing mini getaways outside the city.

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: 

nykeiko plays: Garden NYC - Getting a haircut in Tokyo…well, almost.

A bathroom selfie with new haircut

There are over hundreds of hair salons in New York City and picking a place to try is usually based on a friend’s recommendation or looking at Yelp reviews. I’ll be your friend and help you out. I recently visited Garden NYC and I think you should try it too!

Now, what makes this hair salon a little different from others out there is that most of the hair stylists are part-timers. They travel back and forth between Tokyo to New York every couple of month. They have multiple salons in Tokyo and Garden NYC is their first salon outside Japan. So in some ways, you’re basically getting a haircut in Japan..without having to go to Japan! 

nykeiko plays: Salon de Tokyo for no-frill massages

When I mentioned I was in desperate need of a massage, the husband totally delivered. Of course it would be great if he could give me a massage himself but he knew better then to lend his own hands to do the job. Instead, he found me my new favorite no-frill massage place in the heart of the city. It’s called Salon de Tokyo. Just the name excites me. Anything related to Japan makes me happy. When I walked in and was greeted by a Japanese staff, I knew I was in for some quality service. The place is clean and quiet. You’re quickly ushered into a coed changing room (I didn't know it was coed at the time. I thought it was funny when an old grandpa saw me walk down the narrow hallway in my towel and then I saw him with his after my session! I was glad it was just me in the changing room though!). You can take a quick shower or enjoy the saunas before you enter your private room for your massage.  Since I arrived a bit late, I was plopped on a table right away with barely any instructions.

The salon is known for their traditional shiatsu massage with FEET (non-stinky is the bonus), which gives you deeper pressure to relieve all your aches and pains. My therapist asked me how I found out about the place. I told her it was a Mother's day treat from the hubby and that he had been here years ago to use up a gift certificate. She mentioned the place has been opened since 1971. I was impressed! Something that last this long is definitely good! 

Maybe I was in desperate need of a massage but it just felt so, so good. As soon as my therapist began decompressing my back, tears came out of my eye socket and soaked my face towel. Yes, I cried a little. Whatever heaven felt like, this was it. I loved the pain she caused me. This is the only time I will let someone's foot touch me for this long and me wanting MORE of it. I absolutely loved my 90-minute session (which I thought ended way too fast! I’m so greedy!) and would definitely go back. *HINT HINT DAVID!* But now that I know this place exists, I can take myself there. He just needs to babysit for a bit :) The price isn't too shabby neither. A one-hour massage cost $70/hour. They also do home or hotel visits for $85/hour and you just have to pay for the therapist’s cab fare.

I also enjoyed leaving the floor.  I was stuck for a little bit trying to find the elevator buttons. Finally spotted them between two exit doors a few steps away! Like, so not obvious at all.

Oh, this is still my fave cheapo place for a foot massage in Chinatown.

nykeiko plays: That weekend we went to Storm King Art Center and let the inner child breath...

When we came back from our Euro trip, we planned on spending the weekend unpacking and cleaning the apartment but instead, we spent a whole Saturday upstate at Storm King Art Center. A friend rented a car and offered us door-to-door service which we could not refuse. We drove an hour to Cornwall and had a big hardy breakfast at Fiddlestix before heading to Storm King. 

We spent a couple of hours at the center and what we regret the most was not bringing a blanket and some food for a picnic. Despite it, we still enjoyed the wide open space and the large art installations. This is definitely a great place to bring your kids if you ever want to tire them out from running around. There is a lot of space! 

The center offers two-for-one tickets if you have a Zipcar membership. Our friend had a Whitney museum membership which also allowed her to get in for free. There are shuttle buses that can take you around the park or even bike rentals available by the hour. There's 500 acres to explore so it might be worth it! 

Nykeiko plays: Update! Life in snapshots...

Let's address the elephant in the room... 

Woah I have not been very good at writing something up in here. What's new with you? What's new with me? Well, I have been focusing on different things lately. Since it's Summer, I have been more motivated in keeping healthy by eating well and exercising often. Swimming has become my best friend again and I try to go at least twice a week. I feel oh so grateful when it's super hot out and I can to take a dip in the ozone purified pool at the 92Y in the Upper East side. I'm so grateful that I catch myself smiling while doing my strokes up and down the lanes...even when an old lady or man is slow and in my way. I applaud them for coming out and staying in shape!

On a weekly basis, I also try to attend at least one Vixen Workout class and usually on a Friday evening. It's been harder on Fridays though since at the end of a long week, you just want to go home and put your feet up and do absolutely nothing.

Work has also been keeping me quite busy and trapped in front of my computer a lot. This means that I have less time to cover sample sales. Yup, that's why there is lack of reports. I have been good with covering at least four sales every month but this month alone, nada! I haven't seen any interesting sales anyway but hopefully Fall will bring back the hot sales.

In pictures:

When Janet Jones was in town, we dance! 

More pics after jump..

nykeiko plays: Bye bye Jon Stewart..almost :(

Last week, we scored tickets to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last week. Some of you may know, getting a reservation for the show does not guaranteed entry. For the third time (first time, second time), we took our chance and luckily got in and saw Dave's beloved Jon Stewart again! (I like Jon but Dave loooves him.) There are only 20 more shows left. His last show is on August 6.

nykeiko plays: Saturday in the Burg [Williamsburg, NYC]

J train shananigans

This past Saturday, we celebrated Father's Day at Dave's parents with some hot pot. We would love to say that we prepared the feast but the truth is, we didn't do anything at all except bring a cantaloupe as dessert. I mean, the father doesn't like to eat out and likes to cook so Dave says it's not really "abuse" when we're allowing him to do what he loves. All we needed to do was show up hungry. There was more than enough food for a party of ten. We had pork, chicken, beef, shrimps, fish balls, tofu, liver and kidney from an animal and finally, a ton of veggies. We were ready for a nap but the best way to digest was to go for a walk so we hopped on a bus and went to Smorgasburg and the annual Renegade Craft Fair which we try to not miss every year. This year, it's running for 4-weekend straight! We bought a "silly idea" drawing from Lauren Simkin Berke and a super vanilla bean milkshake from Milk Truck. And of course, our Renegade Craft Fair tradition is to take a complimentary photo inside Magnolia Photobooth.

nykeiko eats, plays, shops....May was cray!

Well hello there! May has come and gone and I cannot believe that it is already June! It has been a while since I've posted something properly. My last few posts were about shopping so you must think that all I do is shop, shop, shop, but tis not (fully) true! I have been pretty occupied and simply have not found the time to sit down and write. I must admit though, when I do have time on the weekend, I choose to nap. Work has been draining for me lately.

 Here are some snapshots from May which some of them may have already appeared on my Instagram!

We welcomed May with another beautiful hike. This time we were at Harriman State Park. 

nykeiko plays: Free haircut! @Bumble and Bumble University Model project [NYC]

I got a new hair cut (more than a week old to be exact)! It isn't exactly my favorite hair cut but it is a free one! Read after the jump to find out more...

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.

nykeiko plays: Hike it! Mt. Tammany trail in New Jersey

Winter is definitely over but the temperature has been hovering in the chillies these past few days. We took advantage of the not-so-hot weather this past weekend to get the heck out of the city and hike up some (mini) mountain. Because we haven't hiked in a while (since Iceland back in September), David decided on a semi-easy 3.5-mile hike up Mt. Tammany trail in Northwestern New Jersey. 

nykeiko plays: Cherry blossoming in Central Park

Look! Cherry blossoms in Central Park. My sister was visiting and on her last day, we grabbed lunch at Shake Shack and afterwards, we took a stroll together in the park seeking the blossoms. We found lots of magnolia flowers behind the Metropolitain museum and it was only walking towards my work from 90th street to 96th street where we found a path (Bridle path) decked out with cherry blossoms. All of them have bloomed and are quietly fading away but we were pretty happy we caught the peak of it. It was a hot but breezy afternoon to take a stroll.

magnolia flowers behind the Met

nykeiko plays: More painting at the Painting Lounge [NYC]

Part deux of our painting experience. Our first painting lounge experience was a Magritte. This Koi pond with cherry blossom one was a fun one to do. We didn't bring booze this time so the quality of the painting was slightly better so I would like to think.

nykeiko plays: Meeting David Burnett. Co-founder of Contact Press Images

Picture of Bob Marley taken by David Burnett

Earlier this week at work, we had the honor of being photographed by freelance photographer David Burnett. David has captured the news, thousands of people, historical events on film for over 40 decades and has won numerous awards for his work. He co-founded Contact Press Images which has recruited other famous photographers such as Annie Leibovitz and Sebastiao Selgado (I've talked about Sebastiao here). David Burnett's Twitter states he is a "freelancer through 10 presidents". He has indeed photographed every president from John F. Kennedy to Richard Nixon to current president, Barack Obama. When our boss told us that we were going to have a photoshoot session with him, I glanced through his resume and was in awe. I got to shake hands with this guy who has witnessed so many important historical events all around the world and has beautiful pictures to prove it! This photo, he took moments after Associated Press photographer Nick Ut captured the iconic image of the 'Napalm girl' picture in Vietnam.

nykeiko plays: Hold On To Your Butts [The Pit NYC- Peoples Improv Theater]

Dave planned a date night for us this past Monday. We went to see a sold out comedy show called 'Hold On To Your Butts'. The show was named Top 10 Comedy Show in NYC in 2014 by Time Out New York and  it's now back back for a 15 night run from February through March.

nykeiko plays: Hedwig and the Angry Inch with James Cameron Mitchell and Lena Hall

When my friend Michael is in town, he always finds time to visit museums, watch a play (or two) and Broadway musicals too! This is also a good opportunity for me to tag along as I rarely take initiative to go to shows myself. Dave's lack of interest in seeing anything theatrical makes it rare for us to go to any shows together. We have seen shows in the past though. When I visited Dave before moving to the New York, he took me to an off Broadway show, Avenue Q. For my birthday one year, he bought tickets to Phantom of the Opera which I've wanted to see in New York (I've seen it in Taipei before.) Another year, his boss had extra tickets to Addam's Family (starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth) and finally, I got discounted tickets to see Wicked through my work and that was our last Broadway show together. I don't consider that a lot shows since there must have been hundreds of plays and musicals that have come and gone since I moved here.

nykeiko plays: NYFW Backstage at Badgley and Mishka

You'll often see Bill Cunningham lurking around the tents during NYFW ..and please, don't ask him for pictures. He will say no!

I did not take time off for New York Fashion Week last week. I only had plans to attend one show after I came back from our trip to Montreal so I thought I could slip in and out of work without anyone noticing. Well, while I was in Montreal, two more invitations came in for Badgley Mishka and Jenny Packham and I had to make choices. I contemplated taking another day off but with lots of work waiting for me, I could not do so. My solution was to get to work a lot earlier than usual and leave late or until I finished everything. No harm done I think! What I did have to give up was attending project runway alumni Michael Costello's show at the Lincoln Center which was too late in the afternoon for me to go. I happily offered my invitation to a friend who did the smart thing and took a day off to attend. 

nykeiko plays: GENESIS by Sebastiao Salgado at International Center of Photography [NYC]

At the Taschen store. This book is $4,000.

I first laid eyes on Sebastiao Salgado's photographs at the Taschen bookstore in Soho almost a year ago. There was a large copy of his book GENESIS on display with the picture of a large whale. I immediately recognized the backdrop in the picture, it was Peninsula Valdes where Dave and I visited the year before back in 2012. I found a smaller version of the book where I skimmed through the picture fell in love with the photographs. The book was $4000 and too big for home. There's a smaller version for $70 and perfect for a coffee table (which we did not have at the time). When I got home, I started reading about Sebastiao and found out that there are exhibitions in Brazil featuring his photographs from Genesis. There were no planned dates for New York city or anywhere when I searched. I did not follow up since then. But one day, by pure luck, we were walking through the subway tunnel from the 1,2,3 train to the F,M which we have not done for a long time and an ad caught my eye. "Sebastiao Salgado!" I squealed. It was an ad for Sebastiao Salgado's exhibition at the International Center of Photography in the city.

Happy New Year 2015! [#NYE in #NYC]

Perks of being a Citizen Mag contributor: I booked a room at the CitizenM hotel in Times Square for New Year's Eve. Since I booked way back in June, we didn't know what the plan was until last night.