Walking Around NY #1

I call this blog entry... "Walking Around NY #1" because a few days later, we come back to NYC and walk around some more. That entry will be called "Walking Around NY #2" :p

So, on 2/28, we drove from Stony Brook to NYC to hang out a bit. Bryan (aka Daddys) drove us to Chinatown in NY and dropped us off. He had to find parking and decided it wou ld be easier if he went straight to our last destination (Soh Daiko's practice space) and just hang out there to sleep get some work done.

First, we had to find our way to the restaurant.

So, we looked at maps...



and then Maz found the way!!



to Joe's Shanghai Restaurant! Yay!



It was so so so crowded in the tiny restaurant... and were told it would at least be 30 minutes...

Jason decided to get a haircut for $8 next door.







Jason came out looking fresh and clean!

The girls all got similar style hats, too!

see?



Then, it was our turn to sit down. Our turn to eat. Our turn to enjoy declicious shoronpo (I dunno how to say it in chinese, but that's what we call it in japanese)...



deeeeeeelicous!!!!!!!!!!!!!



everyone took pictures of it. :)




All we ate were the shoronpo's... the dumplings with soup inside. We were stuffed.

So, we decided to go eat some ICE CREAM!!!!!!!! YES!

I got the black sesame ice cream, but they also had almond cookie, durian, and ginger, too.



Tomomi, Maz, Courtney, and Jen enjoying their ice creams!




After some ice cream, we split off into two groups. Maz and Courtney went to the Sprint store because, apparently, Maz's cell phone had water damage and wasn't working. Jen, Tomomi, Jason, and I wanted to go to Times Square to get the NYC experience.... but it took us like over an hour to find the subway. grr.

We kept going the wrong way, but it actually ended up being kinda cool. Here's what we saw...


shops with colorful stuff..



A shot of the neighborhood.


Brooklyn Bridge







This is when we realized we were going the wrong way and turned around.








WE FOUND THE SUBWAY FINALLY!!!!! phew...

Most street performers were outside... this performer was inside where it was warmer.








We only had like 15 minutes to walk around Times Square (we woulda had more if we didn't get so lost).

Here's what we saw. :)













Here's us in the subway.




We met up with Bryan who was already at the Buddhist Temple that Soh Daiko practices at. It's incredible how much they did to their space in order to try to minimize the sound the leaks out while they practice. They built brick walls to prevent some sound and they also use drum pads ON TOP of their taiko drums. Space and sound is always an issue for taiko groups since the drums are just so loud.

We went out to eat with Soh Daiko folks and I had a chance to meet and get to know some of them. I've never seen them perform live and I hope that some day, I'll have an opportunity to watch them!

Anyway, that's what happened on 2/28!! :) Thanks for reading!!