It's been almost three weeks since I began staying home. I pretty much have rarely ventured out of my place except to get takeout on my block or groceries nearby. I've been able to get on with what I have access to in my area and with delivery, but I really needed to restock on Korean ramen today, along with some other Asian stuff. So my roommate and I decided to actually get some air and walk to the nearest H Mart in the Upper West Side. It was about 35 blocks each way, and we stayed 6 feet apart from each other and anyone else we came across on the sidewalk. When we got to the supermarket, we stood in the line to get in with everyone spaced out 6 feet. Every time a customer exited the doors, the person at the front of the line went in. And when inside, things were fine. I like how the aisles weren't crowded, and I could just get my stuff and leave. I'm not sure when I'll go anywhere that far from my place again, but it was great to go for a nice long walk today. The weather was gray with a slight drizzle at times and I loved every moment of it.

Here are some pics from today's Sunday stroll.

It was fun to dog-sit Oscar for a day over the weekend.

Happy Labor Day, America!

It's the unofficial end of summer this weekend. Goodbye hot weather and shorts. And hello to autumn and having to wear real pants again.

The summer went by so quickly. I can't believe I've already been back in town for over a month after spending two months away. Everything seems like a blur since returning. I was couch crashing and moving around the entire time. It was a lot of lugging my shit around, but it was also nice to see friends. Thankfully though, my wandering days are finally over because my friend Jess and I got a place uptown in Harlem. We've been slowly moving our stuff into the apartment and will be all settled in pretty soon. I'm excited to finally have a somewhere to call home again, it feels it's been too long.

I've been dog-sitting Oscar in the Upper West Side for the past few days. It's been great taking him for walks through Central Park and farther north. We took a long stroll through Morningside Park last weekend and that was really nice. There were tons of families and people there barbecuing and enjoying themselves. It smelled so good in the park.

It's Sunday afternoon right now, and I'm ready to head out soon. I've been sitting at Junho's place with the shades open and all of the lights off since waking up. It was raining earlier and is still a bit cloudy, but it's still a nice day. I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!

Leave it to the kind employees of an Apple Store Genius Bar to give you an ear complex.

Since the days of the original iPod, earphones that usually come with Apple products have never really fit my ears. Their design has always been too awkward for my natural shape, and would fall out or simply never felt right. This lead me to trying lots of different earphones over the years, but about a month ago I decided to give one from Apple a go.

I purchased the Apple-In Ear Headphones that come with silicone tips, which usually always work well for me. I was happy with the new pair, and everything seemed fine. I even noticed how different it felt to go about my day using white earphones from Apple like most of the world---it was like I was finally a part of modern civilization. But then a few weeks later, I began to have issues with the left side. Anytime I attempted to pull the earphone out, the silicone tip would come unattached from the wire, leaving it it sitting in my ear canal. After days of dealing with extracting it out with my fingertips, I decided to go to the Apple store to return them for a new pair.

I've been dog-sitting Oscar for the past few days, so I decided to exchange them at the Apple Store in the Upper West Side. When the nice associate at the Genius Bar began assisting me, I explained how the left side was defective, and I just wanted a new pair. Since the sound quality was still fine, I inquired if my issue was something he saw often, which he responded to as no. I demonstrated how the silicone tip would remain sitting in my ear when I pulled at the wire. But when he tested the same thing on his own ears, the earphones did not have the same issue. After a bit more assessment, he recommended a full refund rather than an exchange. When I pressed him for more info, he said that because of my ear shape, this problem would most likely happen again. And when I explained my history of having ill-matched ears for Apple earphones, the whole thing just made sense. It was then when I realized: Apple products and my ears just aren't meant to be.

I know there are tons of other earphone options for me to try, but I can't say that I wasn't a teeny-tiny bit bummed leaving the store. To come to the conclusion that this relationship will never happen, well, okay Apple, I finally hear you.

It's a clear sunny day here in New York City. I've been dog-sitting for the past couple of days in the Upper West Side, and will be heading out in a bit for a meeting in Union Square, and then dinner with my friend Judy.

Have a great Sunday!

It's a snowy Saturday afternoon here in New York.

I got to my friend Junho's place in the Upper West Side a few hours ago to dog-sit for the next couple of days. The view outside his window right now is a complete wash of snow and wind with a tinge of pink in the sky. It's nice to be indoors after being outside in the weather earlier though. I forgot how much of a thigh workout it is to try walking on snowy sidewalks during a storm without falling on your ass.

June is looking to be a good month.

While it was rainy, cold, and miserable today on the 1st, it still hasn't dampened my excitement for the next 30 days. The weather has been really summer-like the past few weeks, so I'm sure it'll be hot again in no time.

I'm going to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, next week and it's exciting because it'll be my first business trip with my current work place. It's going to be nice to get away from New York for a bit to spend time with my bosses and colleagues outside of the office. It'll be my first time going to Florida, let alone to a tiki convention. The week after Fort Lauderdale, I'll be going to Aspen, Colorado, for the best American culinary event of the year. This trip will be a bit sentimental because it's for the food magazine I used to work for, and at an annual event where I once helped plan and produce. The event has just continued to grow tremendously since I worked it years ago, which makes me all the more look forward to seeing everything in a few weeks.

My friends Jenn and Daniel will also be coming to visit in June, on top of some other guests. But I'm especially excited to see them because they're the friends I used to live with in Los Angeles, who so kindly allowed me into their lives out there and helped me out so much. I haven't been back together with them in New York since we were all roommates in the Upper West Side before I left for Asia, so it's going to be awesome to see them here. They've also had a beautiful baby son since we've last seen each other and there's much to catch up on.

I'd really like to just stay mellow and have a good time this month. Traveling and seeing old faces will be a great way to start off the season.

The past few weeks or so.

The weather today was so perfect. There was a cool breeze in the shade and it felt good to be in the sun. 

At one point I had to get from the Upper East Side to the Upper West Side, so I decided to walk through Central Park. From there, I helped my friend Grace bring her new statue purchases back to her apartment in Fort Greene. 

It was nice to finally meet her and Adrian's new dog Izzy as well---welcome to the family! 

a good friend of mine ended up moving into my room at my former upper west side apartment. even though she's been there since i left, my other friends/roommates are throwing her her welcoming party tonight. i wish i could be there but i guess that would defeat the purpose of having the event.

here are some photos in honor of my old room, which i miss dearly. i'm sure it looks completely different now since she's moved in, but this is how i will always remember it---empty without any furniture and with clutter kept to a minimum, just how i like it.

i'm confused.

if i'm walking down the street and some dude coming towards me grabs and shakes his crotch while he's locked eye contact with me for a few seconds, does that mean he's hitting on me or wants me to fuck off?

there's a bodega on the corner down my block and no matter how the weather is or what time of day or evening it is, there's usually always one or two dudes just hanging out in front of it. i don't go down that way that often so i never recognize or remember any of the guys' faces but i definitely notice other little things. it could be snowing or raining like fucking crazy outside but they're consistently there. sometimes they just stand there and the two guys don't even talk to each other but just seem to be waiting for something. in my mind it's pretty obvious that they're drug dealers and i've always wondered what they sold.

so tonight as my roommate and i were home and with the weather being really nice allowing us to open up all our windows, it's easy to hear all these voices coming from the direction of the bodega. the bodega is on the same side of the street as my apartment building and we live on the 7th floor halfway down the block so our view of it is made up mostly of people's heads and bodies. the details of the faces are hard to make but these kids look young. throughout the night i would get up and look out the window to see what all the noise was about, but it just seemed to be kids hanging out on the street. then one time when i looked to see what was happening, i hear this kid yelling "come on, let's go-let's go" as he walked down the block together with this dude who looked like a columbia student or something and then sold him drugs. throughout the night i saw all these other young people who seemed to approach the group of kids reluctantly looking pretty suspect, they all looked so guilty of something. the customers would be lead down the street towards the direction of my building to do the obvious transactions.

i was really interested to see what type of people the customers were. they looked like young kids who were going to go out and party or some shit who probably just wanted to get a little messed up. hey, if they have the guts to buy drugs from these dealers on a nyc corner at night, then i say let them have fun. one transaction that caught my attention was this girl and guy who were friends and they approached the dealers together. the first thing i noticed about them was that the girl seemed pretty stylish and attractive and looked liked she was going somewhere fun right after that. she's actually the one who did all the talking, too---her guy friend just seemed to be there to support her. i would never in my life be able to do buy drugs from a stranger on a corner because i'd probably think the dealers were narcs or that they're being watched by the cops and my transaction was the one that the cops were going to bust-in on or lots of other neurotic stuff like that. i'm really curious to know what the hell they're selling though, it's hard to tell by their client base. i'm thinking it's bolivian marching powder but that's just an ignorant guess.

so about an hour ago i peek out and see what the noise is about and there seems to be a few male customers who are just standing with the dudes. then another guy is walking across the street from them and walks past the point the dealers are at, but then turned around slowly and made a b-line for the kids with the stuff. wow, two transactions at once, i guess this must be the spot or some shit. so all the customers and dealers are there on the street and then a cop car slowly pulls up. then another one slowly does and that one's followed by a third, yeah oh shittt is all i could think. at this point everyone standing in that cluster of people on the street looks to be frozen and just waiting for the cops to make their first move. as the cops slowly got out of their cars and approached some of the guys, i noticed that four guys from the group started to very slowly distance themselves from everyone else and walked east towards central park. haha the funny thing was it was four dudes who were obviously the customers and they cautiously just started to walk away at a snail's pace, i bet they were all shitting bricks. the cops seemed to only want to talk to the dealer guys and just let the other four guys get away without giving them any shit at all. i'm hoping they learned a good lesson and will never risk buying stuff off the street like that again. as for the dealers, i can't figure out why but the cops just sort of left five minutes later and drove away in their cars without making any arrests or taking anyone away. odd.

now all i can wonder is where is that young ballsy girl who purchased drugs from the corner earlier in the evening with her male friend, and what is she doing at this very moment? i'm guessing she's probably fucked up at some club with help from the stuff she bought and is dancing with loud music surrounded by lots of lights and fog. thinking about what happened to her drug dealers or the street where she was just standing at hours earlier is on her mental list of things to ponder about right after thinking about how the plastic ends on shoelaces are made.

i don't know what the reason is but i haven't felt like blogging in a while. i guess we all just go through periods like that.

anyway after working the lunch shift at my job today in the east village, i decided to go to the angelika and watch a movie by myself. i walked over there and on the way in front of the block with that awesome new copper union building on the bowery, i saw my weed dealers walking down the sidewalk, coming towards the direction i was coming from. neither parties stopped but instead we all quickly waved and sincerely smiled at each other. i think because it's the first time i've ever randomly run into them on the street, we were all a bit surprised for a second but thought it was funny. then after the movie, i'm waiting for the b train at the broadway-lafayette stop to come home uptown and i'm walking towards the back of the platform and sitting on one of the benches is the guy i hooked up with last night (trust me, it had been a very very long time since i got any anything). he was reading and thank god he didn't see me and i was able to just speed walk my ass on by. haha i love new york, it's funny like that.

sometimes instead of riding the subway downtown for my daily commute, i'll ride the bus instead. it goes down central park west and has so many interesting things to look at. riding the bus around nyc is really a great way to see the city, if you have the time to do it i highly suggest it. most manhattan buses go in a straight line wether it's east to west or north to south. a lot of them run on avenues and since new york is pretty much designed as a grid with only a handful of them in comparison to streets, they avenues are really amazing. here's the american museum of natural history while on my way to work.

does the whole "what-the-hell-am-i-doing-with-my-life/i'm-just-living-day-by-day-with-no plan/how-do-i-get-control-over-my-own-life" phase ever end?

or is this just how people spend their twenties?

anyway, the new apt is great. having 4 new roommates (including madden, my friends' lovable dog) in a new neighborhood and a nice apartment is sort of fun. living by central park is just amazing and i especially enjoy walking madden there. i'm also by the northern end of it on the west side and there are some really quiet and deserted areas of the park here. i really like nature and being outdoors so i'm happy to have that little getaway when i need.

there's also some secluded streams up here, and i love just sitting there and watching and listening to the water. living in alaska as a kid for five years and doing lots of cliche but fun outdoorsy stuff was one of the best parts of my life and i will always love doing those things. something about the sound of a river or stream always relaxes me. i mean, who cares if this stream is no wider than two feet and there's cigarette butts and empty beer cans, left from who knows when, scattered around?

i will take what i can get---story of my life.

i'm not sure when this started, but i've pretty much always hated halloween. dressing up never really intrigued me, i think i would just not feel like myself if i did, i'm lame. i know some people really love it and have a great time so no offense to others though. but honestly, the name of the holiday should be changed to "themed-skank" day. don't get me wrong, i was born normal and dressed up as a kid (mostly just for the candy) a few times but i was too lame so i just wore my judo uniform out---it's hard being such a stereotype.

anyway, i usually try not to leave the house on halloween. i remember pretty much throughout my whole life, on halloween my family liked to turn of all the lights and we would just watch tv with the sound on low---oh yes, we were those people. kids really never came to our house in flushing, queens but when they did and rang the doorbell, we'd just get paranoid and put the tv on mute as we listened until we knew they had left. i'm very sad because this year i won't be able to continue on with that tradition since i have to work. thinking about dealing with drunks in power-charged costume mode is making my hair itch.

for some good news, i moved today. yay. i'm living in the uws and i can truly say that this is probably the first apartment that i've ever given a shit about. i have lived in some disgusting shitholes through the past few years so it feels so nice to have not just an apt, but a home. and central park is 1/2 a block away, fuck yeah. ah i love the smell of new paint.

i think i need to correct the way i walk because for as long as i can remember, i've always gotten holes in the exact same spots of my sneakers' soles after only months of wearing them---every pair of old sneakers of mine that had to be tossed away was for this reason only. the weather today in nyc is absolute shit with cold rain and wind, and my feet are soaked because of the damn holes in the soles of my sneakers. wet socks/sneakers can make anyone cranky.

some good news is i found an apartment and will be living with 3 of my good friends in the UWS. fucking yay.