JOURNAL

Weekend Stories | 5

Posted on by Hanna

Korean BBQ, yoga and the Super Bowl

Fridays are turning out to be our treat night to go out for dinner.
We went to Nonya, a Malaysian restaurant in SoHo, and had a feast.
At times the weekday feels monotonous, four days clumped into one,
consisting of the office, the subway and then home.

Saturday morning was slow and relaxing. I had leftovers for breakfast,
we cleaned the apartment and then I embarked on my loner hobbies.
My friend and I went to K-Town for dinner to satisfy our K-BBQ craving.
Baekjeong, I would say, is not cheap but definitely the best value,
out of all the other places around there for its quality and set menu price.
You know when you’re so happy you want to get up and dance?
That’s how I felt while I was eating there. It was the perfect Saturday evening.

I realised if I don’t do yoga at least once a week, parts of my body start to ache,
in dire need of a stretch. I booked my 9am Sunday yoga class the night before,
so that I don’t sleep in and hermit. It was studio I’ve never been to before nearby
and I really liked it. The instructors name was Hannah, a palindrome, and she was saying that it was an auspicious day for her because the date was 02022020.
According to the news, it was the first palindrome date in 900 years! Pretty cool.

Afterwards, I went to a cafe where I did some life admin, mainly wedding planning. Friends came over to watch the Super Bowl and the half-time performance
was so much better than the previous years’ (Adam Levine was so cringe).
We were all amazed how Shakira and J.Lo looked in their 40s and 50s.

What a creative name XD

Weekend Stories | 4

Posted on by Hanna

Rainy Saturday, late movie night, walks and cafes

When it’s grey, windy and raining on a Saturday, some may be disappointed; for some it is as though the stars aligned overnight and provided the perfect reason to stay indoors, without guilt, all day in my pajamas.

Sound on

Instead of just lying on the sofa, mindlessly scrolling on my phone or paying half-attention to whatever is playing on the T.V, I have mastered the art of hermit life with a jam-packed to-do list at home. You see, I am a very busy person at home (lol). I want to read my book (I finished one over the weekend), practice the piano, study Japanese, organize and edit my photos, plan out my posts on this site, edit my videos (see YouTube icon located on the top-right-hand corner of this page), take pictures and scribble down whatever I want on my notebook. It is fortunate that these hobbies do not require a lot of money or outdoor time.

Although, I actually did go outside eventually in the evening. I worked out downstairs at the gym and met my friend to watch ‘Little Women’ at the cinemas up the road. It was a 10.30pm session, yet given the late time, it was a nice, pleasant film to watch to end the day.

The next day, we had brunch at Westville for the first time and we most definitely will go back. We ordered the baked challah bread french toast and holy shiz it was delicious. The breakfast burrito and California benedict were solid as well.
After our very big meal, we walked around DUMBO soaking in the winter sun and blue skies, admired the New York skyline as we looked out onto the East River and then did some grocery shopping. We went our separate ways, where I headed towards White Noise Cafe to work on my hobbies as mentioned above. I ended up staying there for three hours! Who needs a social life right?


It’s OK – I worry too.

How Democracies Die

Posted on by Hanna

For anyone who wants to delve a little deeper into how and why America has become such a polarized country it is today, how a blatant demagogue currently sits as the President of the United States (spoiler: it began decades ago) and is perplexed as to how anyone can support such a repugnant person with an absolute lack of basic decency and respect (yes, I have strong opinions on said person’s character), may I recommend this book to you as a great starting point.



I say this as an outsider who moved to the U.S in 2016, utterly shocked by the turn of events, attempting to observe and seek answers. Although I did have a high level understanding, I also found myself sitting next to a senior, white, middle-aged man who, regurgitating the day’s tweet, tried to school me on the different “updated” methods of wire-tapping he believed Obama deployed when Trump took over the White House (I actually thought he was being sarcastic at first). From then on, together with my travels around the States, I knew the situation was layered with much more complexity

The book provides historical examples of other countries’ preservation or destruction of democracy, such as Europe in the 1930s and South America from the 1970s. Of course, it also examines America’s history and the political norms that upheld America’s democracy. As someone who did not grow up studying American history in school, it was also an opportunity to learn more about American political history. I feel like this book should be a compulsory read, especially for anyone working for the White House.

I am most definitely living in the States in a critical time of its history.
As the 2020 elections looms, all I hope for is a fair and just future for the future generations to come.

Weekend Stories | 3

Posted on by Hanna

First snow, brunch at Banter, spending the long weekend in Brooklyn

It snowed on Saturday, the first of 2020. It doesn’t snow as much now, well, compared to my first two years living in NYC when there were actual storms.
The first snowfall is always exciting, and there is an element of romance and charm as you walk through the city dusted in white.
We had brunch at Banter, one of my favourite Aussie brunch spots, as a reward after a deep clean of our apartment first thing in the morning.
Sunday and Monday was spent mostly at home, with friends and in Brooklyn.

I truly am a homebody, a happy hermit, as all the simple joys in life for me are found in the comfort of my own living room or a nice cafe – playing the piano, reading my book, drinking coffee from my Hasami porcelain cup, watching YouTube videos of other homebodies (Ondo and Hanaco are my top two channels), writing here or in my notebook and eating Nej’s homemade bread. That is how I spent my long weekend, just the way I like it.

Weekend Stories | 2

Posted on by Hanna

Spring weather in January, Persepolis and loner walks

Saturday was 22 degrees celsius, it felt like Spring in January and it was obvious at Fort Greene Park that no one was going to stay indoors on this unusually warm day in the middle of winter.

I decided to go for a walk alone and check out a secondhand bookstore called Unnameable Books in Prospect Heights. I didn’t buy anything there but I did get to explore the area, marking cute cafes on my Google Maps and taking photos.

I stayed home for the rest of Saturday and finished a graphic novel called “Persepolis” by Marjan Satrapi. It is about the author’s childhood in Iran during the years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the Revolution and the horrifying effects of the war with Iraq.
I finished this in one sitting. I could not put it down. I highly recommend this for anyone as ignorant as me on Iran’s political history, or anything on the region’s itself, as this book is a good (and easy to understand) starting point.

Sunday was spent at a cafe nearby, Skype catchups, a walk around the neighbourhood and then Pho for dinner.

It is a long-weekend next week! I have made no plans at all but hopefully I can get some life admin done that I have procrastinated on for the past two weeks and have a nice relaxing weekend.

Weekend stories | 1

Posted on by Hanna

Foggy Fort Greene Park, Olea and Book of Mormon

As we enter the new decade, I’ve decided to continue the “Weekend Stories” blog posts I used to write on my old blog when I lived in London back in the mid-2010’s (wow, why does that sound so long ago?).
It is nostalgic scrolling through those posts, to be reminded of the places and events that made up my experience living in London that I now seldom recall.

For the Weekend Series series, the number of photos will depend on what I like and want to show on here. I’ll not only write about the weekend, but also a retrospective of the week’s highlight overall.

The first weekend of 2020 started off foggy as Rosa and I walked through Fort Greene Park, after a morning workout, towards our brunch destination called Olea. It was also Rosa’s last day in NYC. It took a few days to adjust to the emptiness of the apartment since Angela and Rosa’s departure, heading back to their homes in London and Sydney. We spent Christmas and New Years together and it was a lot of fun having company, checking out new places in NYC, lazing on the sofa, watching random YouTube clips and K-Dramas (mostly Rosa’s) whilst admiring and praising Hyunbin’s perfectly chiseled face.

On Sunday, Nej made my favourite scrambled eggs that he always perfects with avocado and sourdough toast. We then made our way to Broadway to watch ‘The Book of Mormon’ that I got as a Christmas gift for Nej. Created by the South Park creators, it was hilarious, even for the second time – actually I think it was better. After braving the crowds of Times Square, we had tonkatsu curry at Go Go Curry for dinner and caught the Q back home.
I had bit of the Sunday Scaries at the thought of having to wake up before 9am (I was adjusted to my 9am alarm), however I did feel that I had a solid break by spending Christmas and New Years in New York City for the first time since I moved here in September 2016. Actually, it was really the best time to stay in NYC for the year-end, as I got to bring in the year 2020 in Brooklyn at Sofreh (a Persian restaurant which I highly recommend) with my closest friends and with my husband to-be.

The minute moments

Posted on by Hanna

I once named my previous blog “The Minute Moments” as a reminder to see the beauty in our everyday, perhaps mundane, scenery.

The reason why I bring this up is because I saw this article on The Guardian showcasing an exhibition in London called “Everyday Delights”.

The idea of focusing on very small, everyday moments that can be easily missed is the very basis of photography – the gift of observation is as important as that of creation. While working on my other series that focus on memory, loss and grief, I also look out for images that show the world in more optimistic, colourful way.

Zaklina Anderson

Looking carefully and finding beauty in everyday observations, trusting in serendipity, elevating the mundane or the transient, is something I have cultivated ever since I first picked up a camera. For me the magic happens as images are linked together and underlying connections are forged.

Ingrid Newton

Myka Baum observes the most beautiful and unusual things in her everyday life, and the joy of this is that she recognises these moments and shares them with other people. It’s an insight into her creative mind – reacting to the pattern, colour and form, but also the gentle appreciation of the natural world. Her images often show the deeply rooted connection between the artist, the environmentalist, and the gardener within her.’

Karen Harvey

I’m really into tiny portions of reality that encapsulate a much bigger story. These images are all of little things that have made me stop and look twice, having sparked that upswell of delight that transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary.’

Janet Lees

Know thyself, be thyself

Posted on by Hanna

“Authenticity (philosophy)”
– from Wikipedia

In existentialism, authenticity is the degree to which an individual’s actions are congruent with their beliefs and desires, despite external pressures; the conscious self is seen as coming to terms with being in a material world and with encountering external forces, pressures, and influences which are very different from, and other than, itself.

A lack of authenticity is considered in existentialism to be bad faith.
The call of authenticity resonates with the famous instruction by the Oracle of Delphi, “Know thyself.”

But authenticity extends this message: “Don’t merely know thyself – be thyself.”

Going into 2020, this is what I want to focus on, a personal goal, for the next decade.