No place in the world that can compare. Put your lighters in the air, everybody say yeah!

I know it's probably annoying how all I've ever done recently was talk about New York and quote Keys' Empire State of Mind. Well deal with it! I live here and I find it awesome that I do. If there was a way to skip the summer months altogether *this heat is insaaane*, this city would totally be heaven to me.

The following days look very promising though! Tomorrow, the grandfather, the favorite Aunt (Mama Gina) and the cousins (Kitisky & Goan) will finally be at the JFK International Airport. Monday's Memorial Day so we'll probably be shopping (SO MANY SALES <3) and on Tuesday, Karla's going to come over once again & she most likely will stay with us until the end of the week. Polaris Ranger Accessories

I've been on the hunt for fun stuff we could do while the family's around (no more to touristy things because they've all seen it before). So far, I've come up with mini-golfing/doing batting cages, going to the beach : Coney Island preferably, watching movies ~~under the stars, by the Hudson River~~ at Pier 63 (just like how it is in the, uh, lol, movies... may I just add that, best of all, it's free), and Six Flags (!!!). You have no idea how much this excites me! ^_^

Oh look! Photos I've never posted and almost forgot about! I LUFF YEW NORK!

Ye ole Grand Central.

View from Bryant Park.

The Chrysler Building.

These streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you.

I'm reaaally bad with names. And I mean really! Two weeks ago, Karla and I had the opportunity to meet & hang out with our homeland's Ambassador to the United Nations. He was formally introduced to us by Karla's cousin, Kuya Nonoy (who contacted her a few days prior their arrival so we could make dinner arrangements), but by the end of the night we both ended up calling him "Sir General"... So embarrassing! I mean, really! It's like not knowing/remembering President Obama's name - which, yes I know, is Barack!

They stayed here for a week-long convention but we only met up with them on their last night. The original plan was to eat somewhere nice in Hell's Kitchen. But we had to settle for Macy's Cellar Bar and Grill because while "Sir General" was picking up last minute gifts for his wife & daughters, he requested that we just ate at whatever dining place they had inside the mall. Apparently all he had for that day was a sandwich and seeing that it was already 7:30 pm, he was famished.

Apart from the UN headquarters and Fifth Ave, all they've ever seen was the inside of their hotel room. While eating, SG asked me what my favorite place in the city was. Without batting an eyelash, I said, "Times Square!" So that's were we took them. sensa

It feels really humbling to see 'titled' people act so ordinarily, so low profile. SG had on the biggest-stoned ring I've ever seen on a man's finger & a fancy Rolex watch but when I made him walk 8 avenues on the cold streets of Manhattan, he did so with a charming smile on his face. I just love people like that! It makes me respect them... makes me look-up to them even more. If only I can remember his name... :/

The Big Apple, the Bull and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Ah! New York... still the best of times, but to my feet it's turning out to be the worst. The last time Karla was here, we'd always come home with very sore, aching legs from walking for 9-11 hours daily (insert extra weight from shopping bag*s* by the 180-minute mark). Yesterday, my Mom arranged for us to be pampered, and secured us a spot for the 6pm massage w/ mani-pedi ...  my nails are now in a gorgeous shade of OPI's Russian Navy and my limbs & muscles, relaxed as if they're on a marijuana high (note that I've never done nor do cannabis ... things just seem extra legit/extra dope when you compare it to drugs, lol).

When K & I had a Korean-slash-Brooklyn-themed day, the air was musky and there were gazillions of people in the streets. There wasn't an ethnic group, class, age or sexual orientation I could point out as dominant; which leads me to my next thought : being granted access to travel freely between two very distinct countries gave me an almost perfect opportunity to compare one from the other. And well, silly as it sounds, it's the smallest things that really differentiate each - people here have a really weird obsession with small talks! Whether it's waiting in line for the bus, to having your waiter ask "Everything ok?" in regular intervals or simply just passing each other on the street & complaining to each other about the weather ... the possibilities for casual conversation are just endless. youthology

To semi-end my gobbledytalk, let me share some photos from that day :-)

"Love padlocks are a custom by which sweethearts affix padlocks to a fence or similar public fixture to symbolize their love. They are most commonly placed on the railings of bridges."

"Koreaway" on 32nd St. THEY HAVE THE FACE SHOP HERE!!! (I got nail polishes & face masks <3)

My first Red Mango experience. I only get my froyo fix from Pinkberry! The verdict? Pinkberry FTW, hee.

We've been CRAVING for Japchae's & Bulgogi's since forever and a day ago and Miss Korea (restaurant) surely delivered! We ate A LOT A LOT A LOT and still ended up getting billed for only $50ish! Definitely coming back!

The next group of pictures were taken from the time we explored Lower Manhattan ... we didn't take much so I'm just condensing it in with this entry:

View from The World Financial Center where we had breakfast with Karla's Uncle (he works there and DANG IT I WANNA WORK THERE TOO! THE PLACE IS SO BEAUTIFUUUL!). Can you spot Lady Liberty? :P

"Charging Bull, which is sometimes referred to as the Wall Street Bull or the Bowling Green Bull is the symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity; leaning back on its haunches and with its head lowered as if ready to charge. The sculpture is both a popular tourist destination which draws thousands of people a day, as well as "one of the most iconic images of New York" and a "Wall Street icon" symbolizing "Wall Street" and the Financial District."

Lol, to end this, here's something cute and silly we saw at Dean & Deluca, heh. :P

Tales as old as Times Square.

Two of my closest cousins, my favorite Aunt and my grandfather are coming over to visit 4 days from now. They've been very adamant in asking me about what I would want for them to bring over / things they could buy for me from home, but I can't seem to think of any. Goods from the Philippines aren't as difficult to find here as one might think. All it takes is one trip to the oriental store! The only request I had for my cousin was that she brought me back some of my Sweet Valley books. I told her to gather up everything she could find in my old room and take pictures of them so I could choose what I'd like to get. I completely forgot that most of my collection was lost in the fire we had back in 2000 (*sadface* if only we had home security ridgeland back then / which reminds me, I need to check this site out : Localtv-Satellite.com ... anyways *end sadface*), so all she was able to retrieve back were the books I read during grade school (SV Kids, Goosebumps, Full House) and the silly ones I swore I could "relate to" in middle school - junior high (Love Stories <3, SV's The Unicorn Club), lol. football gift

I FEEL SO NOSTALGIC, HEEHEE! <3

Ooh, also, here are some more pictures from the time we went Karaoke-ing (with Kari, Hero and Bryan) 'til 4 in the am, chyeaaah. There are also some taken from when we strolled around Times Square and inside The Disney Store & Forever 21, and one stolen shot of me while we ate dinner at Tad's Steaks.

Sunday Fun Day

Guest post from: Kent Lara

My family and I go out for desserts every single Sunday, and we always try to change it up and go somewhere new. (We even like to take the short trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house, and when we do we always set our Security Companies.) The great thing about going out for desserts on Sundays is that it gives us one more chance to relax and have fun before the weekend ends; Before we have to go back to work and back to school we can all share some good food together, and talk about the exciting things that we did all weekend. If you are looking for a great way to spend some time bonding with your family, this is a great way to do it. No one is going to turn down ice cream or candy, and everyone is going to enjoy eating it together. Make Sundays fun days like I have and get your family together.

It's loud. It's really busy. There are cabs and bicycles zooming in to and fro, and pedestrians manifest rebellion by their refusal to respect the lights; "jaywalking ... what jaywalking?"

The last time we met with Mary before she left for the Philippines was when she had to come to the city to pick up her security deposit refund from when she used to live here. She used to go to NYU so her apartment was located at the East Village, or the epicenter of hipsterdom, as I'd always jokingly liked to call it.

Here's me with Karla. We were outside the renting office, waiting for Mer.

For a typical Spring weather, that day had been pretty warm. Perfect for walking outside! So after eating lunch at Cosi, we headed towards SoHo to check out the shops ... but not before stopping by Pinkberry first.

Karla, being the shopaholic that she is, had made a list of all the stores she wanted to look at. Among others, it incuded DASH, Longchamp, Uniqlo, TopShop, Muji, Tory Burch, Urban Outfitters and Cath Kidston.

It's so quirky, the things they sell at Urban, haha!

Mary still had to go back to Philadelphia so we needed to head up Midtown so she could make it to her scheduled train in Penn Station. Karla was sleeping over my place so after saying goodbye to Mer, we had some more cupcakes from Crumbs, ehe. treasure metal detectors

YUM! NOM!

The next day, it was just me and K so obviously it became a 'local-takes-the-tourist-around' kind of day. This time we focused on Fifth Avenue : Apple Store, FAO Schwarz, Bloomingdale's, The Trump Tower, Rockefeller Center, NBC Studios, St. Patrick's, Bryant Park (etc)

Madeline!

NAdeline! :P

The best thing about New York is that there's always something interesting, something different to look at. (Streets almost always congested that no velvet rope, crowd control, even barricades and stanchions can hold the public). It's full of women, beautiful, at all ages. Men, so metrosexual, I have no idea who's gay or not, lol. But srsly! It's still amusing to me how this city manages to completely sweep me off my feet. It's just so awesome, so electrically-positively charged that it pulsates me - tells me that everything is possible - and I believe it.

<3