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Ashley’s Birthday July 2009

My huney was very sweet to take a day off on my birthday so that we could spend some quality time together. His project has been very busy and he had to work some very long hours. However, he wanted to make the day special for me. We started off with some breakfast in bed. Then we headed out to the Museum of Natural History on the Upper West side.  It was quite a neat place to visit. There were a lot of activities to do at the museum, including shows and hands-on experiments you can play with and learn from. We had lunch at the museum’s outdoor courtyard. Ray prepared a delicious and light meal that included some sandwiches, shrimp cocktail and a little bubbly. Yeap, we snuck in alcohol to the museum. Shame on us. But having mimosa along with shrimp cocktail for lunch? Hard to beat.

I couldn’t resist asking Ray to do the same pose as the bear in the display. Another funny moment. 🙂

Later that evening, he took me to a dinner for some fresh seafood, which is my favorite. We went to Aqua, a restaurant not far from the meat-packing district. The oysters were cold and fresh and once again, I had bouillabaise, a seafood stew in broth. Absolutely scrumptious. I thought dinner couldn’t get any better but it did. When we got home, he had dessert waiting for me. It was a decadent cake from Crumbs.

A few days later, Ray took me to see the Broadway show “South Pacific” at the Lincoln Center Theater.  We had seats close to the stage and it made the experience even better. The show was really good and the music sticks with you. We found ourselves buying the soundtrack later that night.

I feel so lucky to have a great husband who is so wonderful and never ceases to make me smile. He really made my day special. It made turning 32 a little easier to accept. 😉

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Our 2nd Wedding Anniversary – July 2009

Ray and I started off celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary by waking up very early in the morning and going to our building rooftop to enjoy the view. We established a little tradition that on our anniversary, we would watch the sunrise, get some coffee and and just savor the moment. This year, we went to our rooftop; last year, we went to Atlantic Station in Atlanta.

Later on that evening, we dined at Tavern on the Green.  It is located on the Upper West Side of NYC in Central Park and has been a landmark restaurant since 1934.  The ambiance was very romantic and the food was delicious.

Ray looked so handsome in his suit…

Lamb Chops…

Yummy dessert… key lime pie.

Huney got me some beautiful flowers… I love flowers. 🙂

Another great memory that we shared. It feels like it was just yesterday when we said our vows on the boat in the Bay Area and here we are, two years later, still feeling our marital bliss.

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Memorial Day Weekend

After a long two weeks I got a long weekend to relax and enjoy New York with Ash. The weather is really nice and we are both sitting in front of the New York Public library on a sunny warm and breezey Monday afternoon.

Ash is talking to me about fashion and what she can wear to work. She just got an internship for the summer working for the US Green Building Council of NY. I am happy she found a place to learn and hopefully she enjoys the job there along with all the new wardrobe opportunities. 🙂 (or the lack of – as Ash always complains to me. Just kidding).

So this weekend we went to Coney Island Friday night but boy was that a trek. We had been hyped up for the last month due to all these posters. However after about a 45min to an hour train ride we found “the most drepessing carnival I have ever been to” according to Ash. We did have some great tacos there though!

This weeked they also closed Tomes Square or partially closed off to traffic. There lots of people as always and Ash and I turned into good ol’ tourists and began snapping pics left and right!

We also went to a street fair right downstairs from where we love and had some great street food. Is it wrong to love street food?

Ok, that’s it for now, we are starting to get bit by Mosquitos and it’s time to escape.

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Hawaii April 2009

Our good friend, Jimmy Chang and his wife, Kat, got married in Hawaii in April. Ray and I wouldn’t miss that opportunity to attend the wedding as well as visit family and friends back home. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and Jimmy and Kat were a stunning couple. We were also able to see some friends from college at the wedding and it was a nice reunion.

During our 10-day trip, we were able to do a bunch of things, including spending some precious time with my parents and my popo (grandma). We had really good food, starting from eating Pok’e (raw fish with seasonings) for breakfast, to dim sum for lunch, to eating at Roy’s for dinner. Of course, these were on different days, but every meal throughout the trip was savored.

Shave Ice at Waiola’s was a must! We had the azuki bean, mochi balls, with condensed milk shave ice bowl.  Holy moly!!! We also went to the local institution, Zippy’s a couple of times. You haven’t been to Hawaii without going to Zippy’s. Zippy’s is a franchise in Hawaii that has all sorts of local food, ranging from its infamous chili to its plate lunches (always two scoops rice, one scoop macaroni salad).

Ray and I even spent a day on the Big Island, also named Hawaii. It was a short flight from Honolulu. We took a tour from HIlo to Kona and visited the volcano park and other various sites on the island. Ray was such a fun traveling partner. How can you not laugh when he does silly things such as the picture below?

Back on the island of O’ahu, we spent some time with my grandma popo and drove around a lot to do sightseeing. We went to do a little snorkeling one afternoon at Hanauma Bay but my snorkels were broken, so only Ray was able to explore in the water and find some interesting creatures.

During one of nights cruising around, we stopped at Kahala Mall to buy some things at Whole Foods. A few doors down, there was a smashing party going on and we walked over to see what was going on. There were cameras everywhere outside the door, as if people were waiting for some celebrity to come in and out of the joint. As it turns out, it was a party that included guests from the TV show, “Lost”, which was filmed on the islands.  Ray couldn’t resist the temptation and waited along with other bystanders.  His patience paid off, when Ben, from the show, came out for some fresh air.

The trip was great. Ten days were too little to do what we wanted and we hope to go back again soon. It was a nice little break from New York and everything in Hawaii was very laid back.

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Move to NYC March 2009

LIttle did I know that we would end up living in Times Square for the next year. This apartment was the most convenient one I could find closest to Ray’s work. With the long hours he had to endure, at least his commute to work would end up to be a 10-minute walk from home. Plus, it was one of the few that allowed 2 dogs.

One of our main concerns of living in Times Square was whether our dogs Pok’e and Cappy would adjust well. There were very little areas of green and they had to deal with doing their business on the street sidewalks. But thank goodness, our dogs cooperated and adapted quickly to their new temporary home and surroundings.  In fact, they somewhat embraced it and enjoyed all the different scents they got to smell on the busy streets of Times Square.

They even found their new favorite hangout spot in the apartment…