Jeckin and Pinal's Big Fat Indian Wedding

Great times.

Great food.

Great people.

Happy family.

Happy friends.

Happy lives.

NYC Armory Show 2013: Part 1: Intro

It's a pier that you pretend is an armory

for a few days

that houses a huge collection of art from

galleries all around the world and the country.

But here's a better explanation.

Jon and I went back in college and a few other times.

It never seemed as popular as it did today.

It was $30,

but since there were galleries from around the world,

it was like the best contemporary pop-up show

in all the world at that moment.

We could literally see our apartment

from the show,

so it seemed best not to waste the opportunity.

Every cube was a different country it seemed.

Instead of just a few people

who really seemed like ardent collectors,

there were all types of people

who were just interested in seeing new/classic modern art.

It's a nice change that they have real food options now too.

Swing Tree by Discovery

I heard this song on Pandora the other day.

(Sorry, guys, Spotify just doesn't know what songs I might like!

I need something that guesses right most of the time in my life.)

The song was so summery,

and it had the dubby beats that's

nearly the same as the Electric Slide,

which I associate with my Italian side's weddings/celebrations of all sorts.

And it's just fun and awesome--both Swing Tree and the Electric Slide.

This photo was an August sunset over the great state of NJ.

I miss sitting by the river and watching those like whoa.

Istanbul: Day 4

Tuesday, 2/19: It was beautiful and sunny, so we did a boat tour (Tyrol has tours that aren't as long as the official full-day Bosphorus tour--though note that the only toilet on the ship is a squat one that is basically a hole in the bottom of the boat), then walked to the Galata Tower, and up to Taksim Square along THE pedestrian street to walk up on. When we got to Taksim Square, we ate a sweaty burger and doner. Then we took a cab back. We wrote some postcards, had hotel snacks, then went to dinner at Turga at a palace. The traffic getting there was terrible. The place was beautiful, and we ate traditional Ottoman food including blue fish, which the restaurant had a special menu for because it was seasonal. It was great stuff. There was a Blackberry conference happening at the palace/nearby hotel, but there were a ton of dudes lounging about with little earpieces. Like they were all secret service types. When we left, it was raining--the first time we saw it rain since we landed, so that was really lucky.

Istanbul: Day 3

Monday, 2/18: 3 hour private walking tour and tasting lunch at Ciya (on the Asian side) with a really nice lady guide whose name we don't recall. We met her at the Spice Market. At the Spice Market, we ate cheese/a spicy cold cut; learned about spices from a very intelligent lady who let us sample a bunch of them. The spice lady had inherited the business from her family; went to college in upstate NY; is on Twitter and all. I'd def. go back there for spices. At a cafe nearby, we tried Turkish coffee and a sweet pastry that tasted like tiramisu mochi with pieces of chicken breast in it. I liked it. Then we took a ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul where we walked through the market and saw a sweets shop (beautiful marzipan), sampled pickles and pickle juice, and then to lunch. We ate a ton and took home leftovers. Then she showed us the outpost of the originator of the Turkish delight and escorted us to the ferry. The Asian side is the 'burbs (think NJ or the boroughs) to the European city's side (Manhattan) is what I gathered from her. We scaled the hill from the ferry to find the Cistern, but walked maybe 4 km in the wrong direction (uphill) before finding the place. And the Cistern was really cool! Then we got into a cab that basically tried to kill us. The cabbie tried avoiding 5:30 p.m. rush hour traffic by going up ridiculous hills (think of the steepest hills of North Bergen or SF or Oahu) in the WRONG direction. It was a little uncomfortable when we were pinned between a parked car and a gang of youths and had to back out; when we got close enough to our hotel, we walked the rest of the way. We ate snacks and room service.