Birthday Bash!

OMG! Birthday Celebration was a huge success! Here's the wrap up:

My new and past NYC friends join me to celebrate my 29th birthday at a place fittingly named Therapy - a gay lounge and bar in Hell's Kitchen...



... Everyone grabs a drink to warm it up... group tequila shot #1... straight girl friends admire the bartender then start to harass him by taking multiple pics... Everyone grabs another drink... we head up stairs to dance... two guys decide to put on a bump and grind show on the center of the couches causing major havoc... the gays and girls scream and laugh... flashes and flashes (pictures are taken)... group tequila shot #2... more dancing... two other guys know the choreography to beyonce's Single Ladies and work it out!... the crowd goes crazy... more drinks... i'm more than buzzed and so is everyone else... tequila shot #3... drink #?.... dancing continues... more fun ensues... drink #?..... then....

pics to on their way. =)

Cuban/Chinese Food

I had no idea that this cuisine existed until a coworker let me know - and, it is ooooh soooo good!

A little bit of history of the origins of Cuban/Chinese food:

Chinese immigration to Cuba started in 1847 when Cantonese contract workers were brought to work in the sugar fields. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers were brought in from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan during the following decades to replace and / or work alongside African slaves. Brought to Cuba as laborers, these migrants developed a cuisine that blended Chinese and Caribbean flavors.

I had dinner with my friends Mary and Ngoc - fellow Oaklanders who moved to the East Coast. Check out the tasty food - yellow rice with a medley of seafood (calamari, shrimp, and scallops), fried plantains, black beans, and grilled steak. Mmmm Mmmm....

Spotted!

Look closely -- who do you see? If you squint your eyes just a little, you'll see the hot red glasses of Ugly Betty! No joke ya'll, it's really America Ferrera, and her co-star buddies Becki Newton and Michael Urie.

Just a few days after arriving into NYC, my research fellow colleagues and I decided to walk around our Grad School's neighborhood to get to know the area. Low and behold, we're crossing the street and notice a group of people looking towards a small, narrow street. As we get closer, we see lights, cameras, and.... The Ugly Betty cast shooting a scene for the show!

I've always been hearing that there are lots of actors all around NYC, but, I didn't believe it until this experience. I wouldn't have thought that I'd feel so star struck, but as an Ugly Betty fan, I couldn't help but feel super excited and gitty.

Check out the pics below for the few shots I was able to take of Michael Urie and the back of Becki Newton. America Ferrera had to shoot another scene on her own, and I wasn't able to switch my major zoom lens in time to catch her. Oh well, maybe another time! Or, maybe I'll find a way to be an extra for another show!

BRRR... It's Cold in Here!

Just overnight, I wake up and look out my window to see this...



As cold as it is, I couldn't believe how about 8 inches of snow has fallen. And throughout my day, though I had to trek my way to my first day of class in freezing cold, I'm amazed by how beautiful it is. Check out the winter wonderland that is New York. (By the way, the funny part of snow in New York is seeing people slow down at every curb and corner of the street to find a way to jump over or tip toe across the dirty water built up. It's tricky... what I thought was hard ice was really slush... and swoosh, my foot is soaked in water trying to get across the street).

The front of our dorm building -