Exploring The West Village On Foot

The best way to know a city is to travel by foot. Yesterday, I strolled through Chelsea, one of my favorite neighborhoods in Manhattan. 

The area was void of the usual Manhattan buzz. No blaring sirens and impatient honks, no random yelling, no crowds. It was so peaceful that I could actually hear the birds singing above me. Such a perfect Sunday morning. 

When brunch time rolled around, I met up with Jacqui and Erika at Tipsy Parson for one of the best brunches of my life. Jacqui had visited this restaurant a few months ago, and she kept talking about how awesome it was. And she was right, it was a great experience. Everything, from the quirky interior to the polite waitress to the delicious meal, was worth the try.

Fluffy Belgian waffle, lemon-cornmeal pancakes and a buttermilk biscuit... dee-licious! I sat down last night and blogged about my brunch, so feel free to read the review on my food blog :)

Erika

Jacqui and me

After a hearty meal, we walked a few blocks to the High Line (another one of my favorite spots in Manhattan). 

He sculpts fresh ice into popsicles and icees

Then we left the High Line and walked along Horatio St (still in the West Village) to look for Jacqui's favorite vintage boutique, Darling. After nearly 30 minutes of searching, checking Google Maps and pacing back and forth, we found it! 

I haven't visited a lot of vintage stores, but I like the non-mainstream sophistication that they emanate. Unfortunately, these clothes were pretty pricey even after a markdown. Most of them were previously owned, which summarizes the concept of vintage stores. One person's trash is another's treasure. 

Walked some more and passed Two Boots, the pizza parlor featured in one of the episodes of Sex and the City. 

Our next and last stop was Magnolia Bakery, an adorable cafe located on Bleecker & West 11th Street. I was so happy to see that the famous banana puddings were now available in mini cups, instead of the original big pints. Now I didn't feel so guilty.

Upon entering, we were greeted by the sweet aroma of cakes and and my heart literally melted at the sight of these freshly-baked cupcakes resting by the window. 

Situated across the street from Magnolia Bakery was Bookmarc, Marc Jacobs's bookstore. 

We bought banana pudding and ate at a park nearby, while being entertained by a jovial pianist with a strikingly good voice. 

Graced with a vintage appeal, the West Village is one of my favorite areas in New York. It was a joy exploring more of the neighborhood and discovering classic gems like Magnolia Bakery, Darling and Tipsy Parson with Erika and Jacqui! 

Relax, Take It Easy

I'm not a big Mika fan but that song is stuck in my head. It rained all day so I stayed in and edited photos from yesterday's photoshoot.

We found a row of abandoned chairs lined against a spray-painted wall and decided it'd be cool to shoot there. While photographing, an old Chinese woman came over and started asking a bunch of questions in Cantonese. Neither Stephen or Melwin could understand her, so I tried conversing with her for a little while despite my terrible Cantonese. I thought she owned the place, so I asked for her permission to photograph in that area. She didn't seem to understand me (and I didn't seem to really understand her either) because after several minutes of talking, I gathered that: 1) she didn't own the place, she was just a curious passer-by and 2) she thought I was asking to photograph her.

Okay, so Cantonese isn't my strongest language. Lol.

Minutes after she left, a random dude popped up and asked if he could join us for some photos. Talk about a very happening photoshoot! Definitely a photoshoot to remember.

For dinner, we dined at A Casa Fox. It was my first time sampling Latin American food, and I fell in love. The tapas were delicious. I'll have to write about this in my food blog... which needs serious updating. It's not dead, people. It's coming back to life in a few days. I promise.

Anyway, ever since Melwin and Stephen told me about The Doughnut Plant, I'd been obsessed. The donuts aren't ordinary donuts. They come in a variety of crazy flavors: creme brulee, vanilla bean, peanut butter & jelly, oatmeal, pistachio, you name it. The closest shop was closing at 8, and we left A Casa Fox at 7.36PM. I remember this because I glanced at the clock as we were racing out of the restaurant to get to the shop. We literally ran there and arrived just 6 minutes before it closed, and then sat outside and shared the donuts.

It was a nice end to my weekend. :)

Blessed

Last weekend, I headed up to the mountains of Poconos with a group of friends from Times Square Church to celebrate Mae's birthday. Mae organized the trip. It was a refreshing retreat away from the hustle and bustle of New York City, and into the peaceful realm of nature. The rental house that we stayed at was situated among the trees and beside a large lake.

We arrived at the rental house slightly after 10PM. The sky was illuminated by the silvery glow of the moon and a rich sprinkling of stars. As the chilly night breeze enveloped us, we sat around the bonfire that the guys had successfully created from the chunks of wood and branches on the ground. And for the first time in my life, I roasted marshmallows. It was so much fun! I kept thinking, "Oh, so this is what I've been missing." Glad I was finally able to put an end to that. 

One of my friends brought glow sticks! We had a miniature "rave" party around the fire.

SunYoung, Mae, Chloe, Adam, me, Joy, Sean, Helena and Kay

Sean and Kay brought out the guitar and we all started worshiping. There we were, in the middle of the woods, just singing praises to Him and thanking Him for His blessings. The best worship stems from the heart, out of earnest desire for His grace.

Jon's artwork was achieved by decreasing my camera's shutter speed.

When we returned to the house, we sang Mae "Happy Birthday" and brought out cake! But since it was way past midnight, no one was really in the mood for sugar so we packed the cake back into the refrigerator after the birthday song. Lol.

The next morning, we gathered around the balcony for breakfast and a nice time of fellowship. 

Adam, Jon and Kay

Despite the afternoon rain, we couldn't resist a good game of badminton.

Chloe's game face

Kay and Sean, the wonderful couple

Half of them were Koreans, so I actually got to learn a bit of Korean over the weekend :) My goal is to converse fluently in Korean at the end of the year. We'll see about that!

For lunch, my friends cooked up a feast! While Jon cooked curry in the kitchen, Joy and May roasted pork and shrimps on the grill.

And the rest of us busied ourselves with the preparations. My task was peeling potatoes and de-skinning shrimps. Lol.

While waiting for lunch to be ready, I snacked on some crackers and tortilla chips. I mean, they were right there and I was hungry. Haha. 

Finally, lunch was ready. We sat around the table in the balcony and enjoyed a delicious meal of rice and curry, roast pork, salad, hot dogs and spicy shrimps on sticks. My friends could really cook! 

The hearty lunch left us with swollen bellies. So we hopped on a boat and explored a bit of the lake.

Such a beautiful weekend with an awesome bunch of people. Celebrated Mae's birthday, took a boat ride on the lake, roasted marshmallows and captured a plethora of precious moments. Truly a blessing!