I think I left it at the office… I hate retro-bloggin’ and this photo is actually from the day after leap day… This is a big crane I saw on the east side after meeting with my accountant 2 weekends ago. I can’t remember the exact location, but I remember admiring this colossal crane for about 10 minutes. So I suppose it is a little odd that this could very possibly be this crane. It creeps me out when I take photos of something that will be involved in something else totally weird later…

I am going to cheat and blog about weekend-before-st.p’s-day tomorrow… Some good things, I promise.

Note to self: buy a SD card reader.

On the way home last night, Gray’s Papaya on 72nd and Broadway… I am just not that into hot dogs.

*Photo above may or may not express the political point of view of this website and the blog administrator.

Asian Contemporary Art Week is now here in New York. Pretty neat things. Park June Bum, the artist responsible for this video, is not featured in this event. I just really like this piece and his work.

Feeling really guilty about eating that uni now… BBC - Shopping for Food

And it isn’t the first time… TIME - What the World Eats Part I,  What the World Eats Part II

I take my land-eggs over and easy and water-eggs usually raw and cold. Dinner from last night… uni served over a little bit of sushi rice.

The first time I had sea urchin eggs was in Palermo, Sicily when I was studying abroad. We all went out one night and ate tubs and tubs of mussels on the street by the ocean (we eventually got really really sick of them). The guy who ran the mussel stand also served us a few sea urchins with the spikes trimmed and cracked open. I don’t remember the Sicilian egg sacks being very big at all, but it was still pretty cool to scoop the eggs right out of the just-dead creature. The best uni experience after Sicily was at Otaru, Hokkaido during the summer after I finished college. I am not sure if it was uni season or if Otaru is well-known for the uni, but there were many restaurants serving up major uni dishes.

Uni is one of my favorite edible things from the sea. When I eat this buttery stuff, I get this silly grin on my face. I think it is because of the cannabinoid neurotransmitter anandamide messing with my brain. I’d like to try the sea urchin egg sandwich from El Quinto Pino sometime, too…

Besides sea urchin eggs, I also really like…

salmon roe - ikura, the big fish eggs
mentaiko - spiced cod roe
crab eggs - the yellow stuff inside mama crabs
karasumi aka. bottarga - mullet–not the hairstyle–eggs, eaten dried and/or smoked
squid eggs - the best is when the eggs are still inside the squid so you can eat the mom and the babies all at once!

Am I forgetting any of Nemo’s other buddies?

2 pairs for 28 bucks. 3 legged chopsticks.

Please, don’t.

UPDATE: Put all of your eating utensils away for doughnut burgers and more.

After spending all that time on the Chinese Consulate website and studying the Step-by-Step diagram, I still performed poorly when I got there today. By the way, did I mention that they won’t accept applications via mail, email or messenger? Yo, you gotta do it yourself!

The Consulate’s office is at 42nd and 12th Avenue, which is not very convenient whatsoever. I found it right away when I spotted the building with a bunch of Chinese people smoking and congregating outside. At the same moment, a white girl was getting out of a cab 10 yards behind me and she started to dash towards the entrance. Ok, she got inside before I did…

After the security screening and such, we entered a big room with A LOT of people. A LOT of Chinese people. I haven’t felt so overwhelmed with Chinese people since my experience at the Hangzhou train station in March 2007, an experience I am still trying to erase from my memory. Forget Chinatown, this is the real deal. I was so overwhelmed that I totally forgot about the Step-by-Step process on the diagram. After a little while, I was able to recollect my thoughts and got #341from the ticket machine. The 4 counters at the time were serving the 190’s… there were no more seats so I stood and waited. Finally, at about 210, I sat down in a seat and took a nap… I woke up an hour later and we were in the 300’s. When my turn came, it took 2 minutes to give them the paperwork. I looked around for the white girl from the cab, but I think she gave up. Yo, you gotta be patient!

Lesson to be learned: take your PSP/Nintendo, a book, magazine or be an awesome napper like me when you visit the Chinese Consulate in New York.

*The board displays the numbers that are being served. It also displays messages such and “Don’t be loud and keep it clean” in English and Chinese.

I left the office today while it was still light outside and walked up Columbus Avenue. The Christmas light snowflakes are gone, but there are still several trees decorated with the holiday lights.

Daylight Saving starts this Sunday… Losing time always sucks…

I am applying for a visa to enter China (even though I am Chinese… *_*)

If you live in New York and have applied for a China visa, you probably visited this site at some point. It is so painful to navigate through this site… So, if you are visiting (me) in China in the future, be prepared.

This is why I am showing you a step by step diagram of the process provided by the same site.

I don’t know how I feel about leap years, actually. The day after this February 29th, though, is pretty good.

I got my taxes done (my tax guy got my taxes done) this morning and I actually have some money back this year. Afterwards, I walked home from Tudor City and strolled through the park. There is something really beautiful at the Pond today. Is it ice? Watching ducks engage in duck-watching is probably better than watching people people-watching.