NYC Waterfalls

M and I took a Circle Line cruise around the lower east side of Manhattan yesterday to see the NYC waterfalls set up by artist Olafur Eliasson (thanks KF - for the heads-up about the free tickets). I had ordered four complimentary tickets online a couple of months ago, with the expectation of bringing M's mom and my dad along. However, I called up my dad yesterday morning and he didn't want to go (says he sees them every day during his morning strolls along the FDR Drive). Then, in the early afternoon, M gets a frantic phone call from his mom while we were eating lunch at church, and apparently, one of the bird cages at his mom's place had fallen down, breaking the bird's leg. M's mom was very upset about it, and took the bird to the vet in the afternoon.

We ended up venturing off to Pier 16 by ourselves, and got there a little earlier to pick up the tickets, then loitered around the will call booth, trying to scout out two people to give the remaining tickets to. We eventually saw a couple that looked promising, so M went over to ask if they were on line to purchase tickets for the waterfall cruise. They said yes, and M ended up giving them the tickets. The guy wanted to give us money back (Circle Line charged $10/adult ticket), and was going to give us $10 for the two, but we refused to take it... didn't seem fair since I had only paid $1 service fee for the four tickets. He then offered us free Mets tickets for tonight's game that he wouldn't be able to use, but again we declined the offer... I told him we were Yankees fans.

The cruise itself was a little uneventful, especially towards the end when we were at a standstill just killing time, all the while breathing in toxic fumes from the boat. It definitely would not have been worth the $10 had we paid for it at full price, but I could live with the $1 service fee. We did get a good view of the falls, but with our new camera, we could have zoomed in on them just as well from the pier. At least it was a different experience and we got to take advantage of this summer event NYC is offering. Below are some pictures (one of each of the falls).

Underneath the Brooklyn Bridge:
By Pier 35 (or better known as the sanitation dump):

At the Brooklyn Piers (which we noticed they are finally renovating):
By Governors Island, where we just paid a visit to a few weeks ago:

And in case any of you are wondering, the bird with the broken leg is back home taking antibiotics, but may still be unstable. The vet said that if the bird stops eating or is acting abnormal in any way, there probably isn't much more they can do for it. At least M's mom seemed to be in better spirits after taking it to the vet yesterday.

A Fortunate Event

Earlier this week, I lost a screw on my Movado watch. I hadn't even noticed it was missing until I grabbed the watch from my dresser one morning, and saw it coming apart between the links and the face of the watch. I searched all over the dresser and carpeted floor for the missing piece, but had no success. M told me we'd eventually come across it somewhere at home, but with my own carelessness and absentminded head these days, I was convinced I had lost it outside the house and would never be able to find it.

On Friday, M took my watch to Tourneau to get an estimate of how much it would cost to replace the screw. They quoted him $55 plus tax and shipping, and it would take at least a month to get back since they'd have to order the part. Talk about highway robbery! Good thing M didn't leave the watch with them; being the cost-conscious person he is, he was going to pay a visit to Macy's to see if they still service Movado watches and if it would be cheaper there. Then last night, we finished dinner and as I was walking towards the couch in our family room, my foot landed on something hard. I looked down and saw a tiny silvery object. Much to my surprise and amazement, it was the missing screw from my watch! I can't believe it was found just like that! Talk about one of God's little miracles!

Some more good news... this morning, my sister-in-law called me up and put my nephew on the phone. The first words out of his mouth was "Goo Goo" (which means aunt in Chinese... for the past year and a half, he's been calling me "Doo Doo" instead). I was so excited that he said it! I have finally been upgraded from poop in the eyes (or at least the mouth) of this adorable almost 4-year old! That just totally made my day. Sometimes it's these little things in life that we have to cherish and be thankful for. He's growing up so fast. Hopefully we will be able to see more of him when his little cousin is born.

Eating For Two

It is a common belief that when you're pregnant, you ought to be eating for two. However, in reality, you only really need to take in 300 more calories in a day, which can easily be obtained just by having a cup of yogurt and an apple. I more than exceeded that amount during my first trimester, when I found myself constantly hungry. I still recall stepping onto the scale at the doctor's office when I was at 12 weeks, shocked at how much weight I had gained. Of course, it didn't help that the scale we had at home was flawed, convincing me I was still an unperturbed 105 lbs all that time. Well, reality hit during the doctor's visit, and I managed to curb my eating habits after that... although it wasn't very difficult since my first trimester was practically over at that point and the hunger pains had subsided. I have been gaining about one pound a week consistently since then (which is what the "experts" recommend), so I should be right on track.

Now what prompted me to bring all this up is what I got for lunch today. I had to attend a training session from 11:30am-1:30pm, so I went and grabbed a slice of pizza at 11:30am, thinking that would last me for the next few hours... only 15 minutes after wolfing it down, I found myself hungry again. The only thing I could think of throughout the training was what else I could get to eat, and whether or not this class would end early so I could make a trip to the cafeteria before it closes. Fortunately, it did, and I managed to get my second lunch for the day before the doors shut on me promptly at 1:30pm... this time I got a veggie wrap with chips. The chips were gone in about a minute's time, as was half the veggie wrap. I am finally full, with only half a veggie wrap left to show for it (which will no doubt be gone in another two hours). I can't believe I had two lunches today... I really am eating for two! So much for curbing my eating habits! Maybe all it takes is another doctor's visit and stepping onto that scale to stun me into eating normal again. My appointment is coming up quick next week, so we shall see then.

Garage Sale

I would say our garage sale this past weekend was pretty successful. Granted, we still have a lot of stuff piled up in front of our house (waiting to be picked up by the Salvation Army on Thursday), but the turnout was good. A bunch of people came to help out and sell their own junk. GC and family got here at about 9am and started setting up their stuff, then M's sister and the triplets came, and as expected, my brother and family were the last to arrive. M and I got up at 6am that morning to set things up and put some signs up around the corner. We had some early birds come at 7:30am (even though the advertised start time was 9am), and we were still in the process of setting up. I'm not complaining though... one guy actually bought a lot of things, including my keyboard from ~18 years ago with the plug that no longer works (battery-operated only). In retrospect, maybe I should've gotten more than $3 from him since I included the four D batteries that it requires (by itself worth more than $3), but oh well.

We started packing up a little after 1pm, even though people still came and browsed through the stuff, as if oblivious that the garage sale was over. GC and family and my brother and family went peach-picking afterwards. M and I were too exhausted, so we stayed home, chatted with M's mom and sister while the triplets kept themselves entertained on the computer and watching cartoons. After M's sister and the kids left, we went back to work and cleaned up a bit.

On Sunday, we didn't go over to the parent's for dinner, as is our usual routine, since we had leftovers remaining from the night before. Instead, we left Chinatown at a decent hour and paid a visit to Babies 'R Us to add some items to our registry, then made a trip to Ikea to pick up a bookshelf for the nursery. So much for getting home early!

I feel like I am still recuperating from this past weekend. Every night I come home, I am exhausted by 8pm and ready to go to sleep. I struggle to stay awake in an effort to maintain a normal sleeping pattern, but just end up dozing off in front of the TV, waking up two hours later, then going to bed (I haven't even managed to stay up to watch the Olympics in women's gymnastics!). We still need to sort out all the things to donate to the Salvation Army, since they informed me that they do not accept toys. Everything they do not take will require a separate trip to Goodwill. We also need to set aside all the books since we plan to donate those to the local library. Still more work to be done... and unfortunately, the back pain has kicked in once again (for both M and me).

More Chick Lits

My co-worker introduced me to a new author named Jennifer Crusie. She lent me a few of her books, and I've read four so far:

• Anyone But You: A 40-year old divorcee adopts a depressed dog she names Fred, and Fred somehow manages to bring her together with an ER doctor, her 30-year old neighbor from downstairs.
• Crazy For You: A high school art teacher is bored with her life, ends up adopting a stray mutt, and breaks up with her boyfriend. She suddenly finds herself attracted to a long-time friend, who also happens to be her sister's ex-husband. The plot thickens when her ex-boyfriend turns psycho over the break-up and starts stalking her.
• Bet Me: A woman gets dumped three weeks before her sister's wedding, and overhears her ex-boyfriend making a bet with a gorgeous hunk that he wouldn't be able to seduce her. Out of contempt, she agrees to go out to dinner with this handsome guy, planning to string him along and dump him right after her sister's wedding. They both end up falling in love with each other, but not before battling a series of mishaps caused by their respective exes trying to keep them apart.
• Strange Bedpersons: A free-spirited teacher raised in a commune recently gets laid off. She agrees to pose as the fiancee of her lawyer friend so that he can land a huge account and make partner in the law firm he works at. It's obvious that the two are in love with each other, but she refuses to get involved with him b/c all he's concerned with is getting ahead in his career. The plot itself doesn't sound very interesting, but the author has a way of getting you engrossed in the book and attached to the characters.

And I just started another one called Charlie All Night, about a radio producer who gets dumped by her boyfriend, resulting in her demotion at the radio station she works at (since he was also her boss). She is asked to work with a new DJ on the late night shift, and decides to make him famous... only fame and popularity is not something he wants.

I find Jennifer Crusie's books quite humorous. She's able to give personalities to all her characters that make them witty (not like some heroines that just annoy me). Apparently, Jennifer Crusie has been around for a while, so I have plenty more of her books to go through that'll keep me busy for the rest of the summer. In the meantime, I'm on hold at the library for some new releases by my usual authors: The Beach House by Jane Green, Sleeping Arrangements by Madeleine Wickham, Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner, and This Charming Man by Marian Keyes.

Governors Island

M and I took the free (yes, free!) ferry across to Governors Island yesterday (thanks for the info weeks ago, KF!), and had a really nice time. Governors Island was finally made open to the public this summer, with ferries running from the Battery Maritime Building in lower Manhattan every hour on the hour during the weekends. This piece of land used to be a military base from the 1700s until the 1960s, when it was transferred to the Coast Guard as a self-contained residential community and a base of operations for the Atlantic Area Command and Maintenance and Logistics Command. The Coast Guard closed its facilities in Governors Island in 1996, and in 2003, it was sold to the people of New York at a nominal cost to be used for public benefit.

Governors Island is a nice place to go if you feel like biking, setting up a picnic, and I think they even have special events like concerts at times. M and I didn't do any of that; we just walked around the island, grabbed an Italian sausage from one of the vendors (which surprisingly, was reasonably priced), and checked out the Sculptors Guild exhibit (available until October 1). I guess I just don't know how to appreciate "art," b/c a lot of the pieces looked pretty freaky to me.

Most of the buildings on the island appeared to be abandoned, padlocked with warning signs posted around them. If everything didn't look so worn out, this place could've easily passed as a college campus (or could be converted to one, but at this point, renovation costs probably wouldn't be worth the investment). If you're bored one of these weekends before October 12 (when it'll be closed to the public once again), I'd recommend making the trip there. Bring a nice picnic basket, a good book, comfortable walking shoes (or a bike -- you can also rent one there), and you'll be all set. Just don't expect tons to do there, otherwise you'll walk away disappointed.

Beijing 2008 Olympics

The Olympic opening ceremony officially starts tomorrow... which is kind of weird, b/c the soccor (or football, to the rest of the world) matches have already started yesterday. See here for the full schedule: http://en.beijing2008.cn/schedule/.

So much drama has gone on with the Olympics being held in Beijing (i.e., human rights violations, banning of the Internet, smog and pollution, etc) that I wonder if it would have been better for the Olympic games to be held elsewhere. Yesterday, I read an article where Joey Cheek, former Olympic gold-medalist, had his visa revoked hours before his flight to Beijing. Authorities told him they were denying him entrance into the country and were "not required to give a reason." That's the typical Chinese government for you. Cheek is the president and co-founder of Team Darfur, a coalition of athletes dedicated to raise awareness and end the crisis in Darfur, Sudan. That would have been the only reason why he was denied entry to China. But his visit there this time around would have been to support his friends competing in the Olympics, not to hold any Team Darfur demonstrations. Then today, I read another article that alleged the Chinese falsified the age of three of its gymnasts in order to allow them to compete in the Olympics. Apparently, some online documents were found that revealed the gymnasts' age to be younger than what was reported to the International Olympic Committee. The Chinese government denied any wrongdoing, but it would be so easy for them to falsify one's legal document -- I definitely wouldn't put it past them. I can't wait to hear what other news will come out tomorrow.

8-8-08

August 8, 2008 will be a big date for many. Not only is it the start of the Olympic ceremonies in Beijing (the date chosen obviously for its auspicious meaning to the Chinese, since the pronunciation of the number "8" in Chinese sounds like great fortune), but many couples have chosen to share their wedding nuptials on this date. In an article on Yahoo, "a reported record 9,000 Chinese couples plan to tie the knot that day... In the United States, the wedding and gift registry site WeddingChannel.com has seen a 213 percent increase in weddings for Aug. 8, 2008, compared with the same Friday last year on Aug. 10... Many marrying couples are carrying eight even further with eight-course dinners, eight bridesmaids, 8:08 p.m. first dances..." Heaven forbid! What if things run late and the first dance doesn't start until 8:09!? What is the world going to come to??

Okay, I shall refrain from further sarcasm. But seriously, other than having an easy anniversary date to remember, I personally do not see what the big deal is. Eight is just a number... one more than seven, two less than ten. There's no guarantee that having your wedding on 8/8/08 will result in a lifetime of marital bliss. I just don't understand what the hype is all about. To me, this Friday will be a day like any other, except I'll be playing hooky from work and hanging out with SW. What are your plans for 8/8/08?