A Saturday drive up to Black Rock Forest
Category: photography
Weekend Stories: Autumn in Prospect Park, 2020 |42
My favourite season
Weekend Stories: New brunch spots and a Sunday to myself|39
A normal, uneventful work week, although it did involve several outdoor errands in the evening, such as an unsuccessful trek to Queens to look at a bike, a Friday evening cycle back to Downtown Brooklyn to return keys and Verizon hardware. Towards the end of the week I was happy to stay home, which also called for banana muffins on Thursday.
Enjoying the sun in the afternoon on our balcony. Our new apartment faces west, thus we are entrenched with sunlight around lunch time. I finished the leftover salad and admired the evening sun filter through our kitchen and dining table.
Weekend was a quiet one. I went for a morning walk around Prospect Park, explored a new brunch spot with the husband and walked around the neighbourhood. There are Halloween decorations spotted around now! How time flies. Once Halloween goes by, it’s Thanksgiving, then Christmas – and before you know it, you’ve entered the new year.
Husband was out during Sunday and I enjoyed having the apartment to myself for several hours. With both us working from home since April, it did feel like a treat to have the place to myself, alone. I whipped up some kimchi fried rice for brunch, then for dessert I made a cup of tea, sliced an apple and had a portion of the walnut cake.
I finally got around to washing and scrubbing the balcony to install the wooden tiles, read my book in the sun and cooked a hearty curry chicken rice for dinner. I ensconced myself in the apartment for the day, so content and immersed in the moment that I did not take any photographs.
Weekend Stories: Last weekend in Downtown BK | 36
We are moving next weekend!
Our last weekend in Downtown Brooklyn – our home of three years – was spent walking around the neighbourhood.
Actually, on Sunday we were in lower Manhattan most of the time, frantically visiting home furniture stores to look for a sofa but to no avail. We’ll have to stick with our IKEA sofa couch for now. There are no photos from Sunday. Our apartment is in a complete mess with boxes everywhere. We sold a few items such as our bed frame, N’s desk and chair and my white shelf.
Weekend Stories: Birthday on Labor Day | 35
It was a long weekend and I took an extra day off the day after my birthday which was on Labor Day.
A low-key weekend, grateful for another year with loved ones safe and healthy.
A Reading Edit notebook as a birthday gift to myself.
Weekend Stories: Officially married|33
And we’re married!
With my family unable to fly over due to Australia’s strict quarantine rules (they need government approval to fly overseas, as well as quarantine for 14 days in a designated hotel upon return), we decided to keep our original wedding date and get married virtually. It was all last minute in terms of deciding on a Zoom wedding, albeit with many changes in between.
Overall, there were elements of regret and relief which I guess you’d inevitably have with an under prepared virtual Zoom wedding. I attempted to brush off the feeling of regret by reminding myself that all of this is a novel experience for everyone and nobody really has any expectations, hopefully.
In the end, the most important thing is that we got to share the very moment we became husband and wife with our loved ones live online.
The great thing was that when the ceremony was over, we had the rest of the day to ourselves. Our staycation honeymoon was at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge where we spent the next two days eating, lounging and swimming in the rooftop pool and treating ourselves at the River Cafe nearby for dinner.
We were back home on Friday night. We continued the staycation honeymoon by going out for brunch at Sonny Boy on Saturday and then dinner at Oxalis in Prospect Heights on Sunday.
20.8.20
A day I will cherish forever.
Weekend Stories: A surprise dinner and outdoor dining| 31
On Friday night, we ventured out to Midtown, specifically K-Town, and was pleasantly surprised by the outdoor dining scene. No cars, cleaner streets, music on the streets and the smell of Korean food. I kept telling N how I felt like I was in the streets of Seoul!
We had dinner plans on Saturday night at my friend A and J’s place for, at least we thought, was A’s last dinner before she goes to Sydney for two months.
We arrived at their door and it turned out to be a surprise dinner for us!
I had mentioned in passing to A that we might just get married on our original wedding date and apply for a marriage license to do so.
Knowing that she won’t be here for the ceremony and that I won’t have family or friends in Sydney coming, nor a bachelorette party, A, J and S had prepared a surprise wollamssam dinner for us! I was so shocked – my friend said they saw tears, momentarily, glistening :’) I got to wear a bride-to-be sash thanks to them.
Sunday was spent enjoying the flower bouquet they had made for us.
Always grateful.
Weekend Stories: Cycling to Coney Island on the long weekend | 21
I took the Friday off and had a four-day long weekend with Monday being Memorial Day.
It was a much needed break and I felt recharged after the weekend.
It was the usual routine on Friday and Saturday. I filled the day with things I wanted to do.
On Sunday, we went cycling to Coney Island and back.
We stopped by N’s childhood home and got to see the highschool he attended.
Brooklyn is such a huge, segmented area. When you cycle through it, you feel like you just passed through some imaginary wall. That’s how apparent the contrast is demographically.
We ate Nathan’s hotdogs and walked along the pier. We then cycled back, took a break at Prospect Park and had two other friends join us for Korean dinner. Our first reunion since the lockdown measure. NYC now allows up to 10 people to gather.
It was a very, very good idea to go on a Sunday to have Monday as the recovery day.
I will plan another long weekend, at least once a month.
Weekend Stories: Brooklyn Bridge Park | 19
I’ve gained 2kgs.
Help.
Based on the evidence above, should I even be surprised that I’ve gained weight?
I read an article that we shouldn’t worry about gaining weight during the coronavirus pandemic. It said that will only add more stress to our lives. That exercise doesn’t really do much (running 30minutes only burns 260 calories, which at that point you can cut down on a muesli bar). It focused on diet, health and portion control.
Maybe I need to start tracking my meals, eat no carbs for dinner and try to eat non-processed foods as much as possible.
Saturday was the usual – studying, reading, baking (banana bread again) and a trip to Trader Joe’s at night.
On Sunday we decided to go for a bike ride to DUMBO and have a picnic to catch some sun. We packed our blanket, books and snacks. It was chilly in the shade but warm in the sun. Our spot for the afternoon was at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 3.
Thoughts at home | 考えられる時間
もう５月になっちゃった。
2020年の新年会に戻ってみたら、みんなが新しい10年に入って心がワクワクしたのにこんなことが起きるなんて全然想像できなかっただろう。
まあ、それをきっかけとして、人生に何が本当に重要なのか、自分にとって何が必要なのか、考えられる時間ができたと思う。