Thursday, January 31, 2013

365 Project

My third attempt to tackle the 365 day project. I'll do it one month at a time, starting with January 2013. So far it's been pretty good and hopefully I'll be able to find interesting things around my apartment, room, or Ithaca to take photos of in the next 11 months.

Here's the link: 365 Project

Sunday, January 27, 2013

January Snippets

After a 5 weeks of break and nothing to do, I'm finally back on campus in below-freezing weather. With school, there's not many chances to make use of my camera, but I'm working on a project. Don't wanna spill anything in case it doesn't get completed... But here are random snippets I took throughout this month.


Took apart my laptop to fix my fan.


My last night at home spent with these two little ones.


Apartment life = cooking.
 

So for Secret Santa I got an awkward dinosaur, Poop and T.P., and mini Bacardis. I like.


My new favorite mug and favorite class of the semester - History of Rock Music.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

I'm so full from dinner at Ruth's Chris. My family and I went for my last dinner before going back to Ithaca and also for restaurant week. I'm so bloated and in major food coma. 


16 oz NY Strip.


Chocolate Explosion for dessert. 


Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Chilly in the City

I decided to get a haircut on the coldest day of the week and my head had to freeze in the cold today. I had lunch with a friend at El Cocotero, a Venezuelan restaurant in Chelsea. The place was pretty empty when I got there, but the food was not bad. Afterwards, I walked through Chelsea Market, my first time in there. It's really cozy inside with a lot of small shops. The interior was very unique with a lot of old-fashioned decoration, but they looked really nice. From there, we walked up the Highline Park. I've been there a few weeks ago on a sunny day, but it was still pretty nevertheless on the cloudy day. Everything still looked nice, but in a different way. It was way too cold to be walking up the Highline today, so we cut it short and went to the 1 train at 28th Street.



Some Venezuelan sandwich with beef. Not bad.


It was really foggy and smokey in the city today.


Inside Chelsea Market.


Highline!


Up 10th Avenue.


18th Street.


Looks too cold to sit. 


I don't know why it's all taxis...

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Brooklyn Exploration

With everyone in other schools back on campus, Vinny and I explored Brooklyn today. We started at Green-wood Cemetery, a national historic landmark, and spent about an hour there. Today was cloudy and it felt kind of spooky in the cemetery. The place was huge, with a bunch of hills and a lot of fancy-looking burials. We also walked by a few famous people who were buried there, but I only know of William Tweed. Afterwards, we drove to Brooklyn Chinatown and ate at Lucky Eight restaurant there. Everyone in Brooklyn Chinatown was so fobby and so much more Asian than Flushing or Chinatown. There was not much to do there, so we drove to Williamsburg where all the hipsters were. The place was really nice and people were really pretty there. We went to a few thrift shops and wandered around the streets, stalking people, and trying to blend in. I like the place; it's small and cozy and everything's nearby. 


Green-wood Cemetery, a national historic landmark.


The place was huge. 


Creepy looking.


In one of the thrift shops at Williamsburg.


I really liked the houses in Williamsburg.


Pretty streets.


Bikes on every corner.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Ramen and Ice Cream

I had a really long day today, beginning with a 2-hour drive to Philly to practice at the indoor paddling pool. Having not paddled for over half a year made it really difficult and tiring today. The place was really nice and I guess is as close as it gets to paddling on an actual dragonboat. After another 2-hour car ride, I hung out with a few people in Chinatown before the paddling practice at the YMCA. I wasn't planning on going to that, but got persuaded. It wasn't any easier at the pool, especially since I was already sore from the morning. After the YMCA, the fun begins. Me and three other friends went to Minca Ramen for dinner, and I ordered the Minca Sio Ramen. It was delicious, and the pork was really good. Then we walked a few blocks to Big Gay Ice Cream Shop and I got the Salty Pimp (vanilla ice cream, dulce de leche, sea salt, chocolate dip) and it was also really good. A great way to end a day of hard work. I then met up with other friends at Times Square and wandered around there. Overall, it was a really productive day, if not the most productive day all break.


Minca Sio Ramen.


Very colorful logo.


Salty Pimp.

Friday, January 11, 2013

5 Pointz and LIC Piers


It was so cloudy and rainy out today. I made last-minute plans to eat lunch at Long Island City and went to 5 Pointz and LIC Piers. We ate at LIC Market and I ordered pork over black beans and rice. It was pretty good and the interior decor was very homey. 5 Pointz was more or less the same as the last time I went, just a lot of grafitti everywhere. LIC Piers was really deserted, probably because it's cold and rainy. Right when we got there it started to rain harder, so we only stayed for a little bit.


Grafitti everywhere. 


More grafitti. 


Grafitti on the entire wall. 



No trespassing.



Midtown Manhattan from LIC Piers. 

Big chains that pulled cargo onto the piers. 


Light Studio

I finally set up the light studio in my room. I've had it since a few years ago when my brother bought them from Taiwan, but I never had a use for it. Tonight I wiped off all the dust from the lights and played around with it. It's really small so I can't photograph larger objects. 


Light from above.


Light from the left side.
  

Light from the left side. 

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Brooklyn Adventures

I met up with Kelvin today and had lunch at Grimaldi's. It wasn't bad, but I didn't think it was as good as all the reviews made it out to be. If I had to wait for it I wouldn't think it's worth it. After that, we walked around the Brooklyn Bridge area, Brooklyn Promenade, Dumbo, and Downtown Brooklyn. It's really pretty there, not just the view of Manhattan but the streets as well. At every intersection you would see either the Brooklyn Bridge or the Manhattan Bridge at various angles. After walking around the quiet Downtown Brooklyn, we went back to Manhattan and wandered around Financial District. We visited the 9/11 Memorial and were able to get tickets on the spot since there weren't that many visitors. Then we made our way through Battery Park and came up by Stuyvesant. It felt really nostalgic and it's kind of shocking how I graduated from there three years ago. It didn't seem too long ago that I was still a senior in high school roaming the halls of the building. We tried sneaking into Stuy by saying we're going to the basketball game and wrestling match, but there were no spectators and the security was really tight we weren't able to go in.

Italian sausage and Mushroom pizza.


At the Brooklyn Promenade. 


Brooklyn Bridge and Freedom Tower. 

Brooklyn Bridge and Freedom Tower.


Under the Brooklyn Bridge.


Both bridges.


The pretty streets of Downtown Brooklyn.


Cables. 


So many lovers put locks on the bridge.


Symmetric. 


At the 9/11 Memorial. 

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Catch Up

Last night I had a good time catching up with a bunch of family friends and karaoked for a few hours. We hung out at my friend's house for a bit and decided to walk one mile to Taco Bell at 3 in the morning, but the stupid manager wouldn't serve us through the drive-through because we weren't in a car. We walked 2 hours in the middle of the night for no reason... 

On another note, I took some photos of Chloe!


 Chloe.


Chloe with a heart!


Bored at night...

Monday, January 7, 2013

Bokeh

I got bored and looked up how to make my own bokeh filter. It's pretty easy to make and works pretty well, but it's hard to get a nice background inside my house.


My filter made from construction paper. 


Best I could do from inside my house.