Lacasapark is a Hair Studio, a Vintage Boutique and a Blog where we merge our creativity and experiences. Our extensive travels around the world and frequent visits to Italy allows us to breath, taste, collect and explore things and ideas. Lacasapark is our show case and your source to share our interests and passions for living a rich and creative life.
Bjork and the Choir from her home country, Iceland performing Biophilia: Live at NY Hall of Science, Queens, NY
It’s our 4th concerts of Bjork. I feel blessed to go see her. Her Freedom and Beauty Completely Shakes Me. Her Fearless and Honest Voice Makes Me Cry. She is Way WAY Ahead of Where We Are at Right Now. I Completely Admire and Am Deeply Impressed. She makes me feel Humble. Her Intellectually Genius Musicality. Her Desire and Curiosity to know Technology. Her Restless Research.
She Rocks My World. Now She Rocks the Universe.
It happens to be Gael’s Favorite Museum. Flushing, Queens.
At the venue. Architectural details remind me of Casa Milla and Sagrada Familia of Gaudi in Barcelona.
Bjork’s one of the most beloved instrument, Harp. The opening lines of ”Pagan Poetry” and her new song , “Moon” all starts with Harp.
Bjork singing to “Hang”. A new generation instrument that makes this sort of softly vibrating and echoing a monk’s Bell like sound. It makes peaceful and unbelievably beautiful sound.
Bjork is my Hope for the Future.
Architecture, Art, Dance, Design, Events, Music, NYC, Queens | Leave a Comment
MASS MoCA, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams town, MA
Just passed Martin Luther King Jr’s long weekend was a perfect time for us to finally visit MASS MoCA up in MA ( about 3 1/2 hour car ride from NYC). Emiliano has been talking about to visit up there and we have been looking up their website admiring amazing space of Museum which once has been industrial factory buildings occupying 13 acres of ground in North Adams town. Most of you must have visited DIA Beacon and MASS MoCA plays Art in similar setting but in much much bigger scale in their 26 industrial buildings with soaring sky high ceilings and envious grand scale of countless windows that allow beautiful natural lighting for the most important and prominent Art of our time.
We have planned to spend a night in the town to cover entire museum as traveling takes up quite a time. Early Saturday morning, with a small bag packed with couple things, we are ready to hit the road!
Getting out of NY state, it definitely gets colder and we were happy like little kids to see snow on the road! It has been unusually warm winter for us.
So beautiful…!
The parking lot is located right in the museum sight. ( when it gets this cold, BRrrrrrrrr, it’s helpful! 15 degrees F!) We are approaching to the main entrance.
Loving this simple Positive-Negative entrance sign.
The first installation Art, Geometric Death by Federico Diaz greets you right outside of the main entrance. The Snow adds extra effect.
Read about the Site Installation. Click here. And Do not touch this!
Gael and MASS MoCA!
Day 1. Gael was over the moon visiting Kid Space first. There’s ” Under the Water” exhibition and a work shop area.
PVC pipes, Garbage cans and more.
Gael, a Boy and the Ocean.
And now, Get Creative!
8 legged underwater creature. 7 more to go!
Woooooo, A scary Underwater Monster!
Emi’s super awesome Abstract mask and/or a hat. I see 2 eyes, a nose and a mouth. LOVE !
Gael’s spaceship!
Gael having fun! Ahhh so much fun. We All are having fun!!!
Day 2. The Workers exhibition on the ground floor. I definitely liked this exhibition, especially short films and documentaries speaking about social problems, economies in different Geographies in the Blue Collar point of view such as a great interview at street Bazaar in Armenia and Garment workers in LA. Is this world not fair? Do workers get treated fairly? The whole thing got me a chill.
A mini screen of collection of films on Blue Collars. These include my all time favorites, “Dancer in the Dark” starring Bjork ( I remember balling in Angelika movie theater watching Dancer in the Dark carrying Gael in my tummy..) and ” Red Desert” by Antonioni. Each film was numbered and had designated numbered headset for audio. Each film was repeating about 10 minute screening of same clips.
A must see. This film got me feeling all embarrassed that I am in Apparel business for the first time. This is a documentary film following real group of garment workers at Sweat Shops who were hired by the third party contractors who did production for ” Forever 21″. People. You need to ask when things are way too cheap. You know somebody is paying for that price either that is in physical labor form or that is in trashed pride and dignity for selves. Or both.
We didn’t catch screening for this. But we are going to watch it. You should too.
Then wonderful Sol Lewitt: A wall drawing Retrospective on the multiple floors. The exhibition runs through year 2033!
These pictures don’t do the justice to capture the vibrancy of these amazing colors!
I love this one so much. High shine black and Matt finished Black. A massive wall and soft glare of surrounding. It’s so cool!
OK, I’ll stop here . The Scale and amount of Wall drawings are huge and heavy weight.
Gael meditating in front of Penelope Umbrico’s wok. An avid collector of images through which she identifies strange phenomena and trends in online visual culture. Suns From Flickr assembles hundreds of photographs of sunsets found on Flickr. Each sunset, depicting a fleeting moment in time, becomes a timeless and universal pictorial structure. People with Suns from Flickr, her new work in Memery, looks at the online response to Suns From Flickr, presenting pictures that viewers have taken in front of the work as it has been shown in various international settings.
I do quite like it!
Now we are moving onto ” Mango Tourists” from Nari Ward: Sub Mirage Lignum.
They look like a gigantic rubber band balls from the distance, but these are strips of industrial foams, mango seeds and found objects.
Nu Colossus.
Something So beautiful about this.
Cold but beautiful MASS MoCA
What an amazing Space!
A Beautiful and creative place where you can have fun and learn. MASS MoCA offers concerts, dances, dance parties, Art performance, theater, films and many others through out the year. We will go back when weather gets warmer as surrounding areas also offer fun festivals and concerts. With loved ones and kids. You will have fun no matter what!
LOvE Art!
Architecture, Art, Design, Family, Travel | 2 Comments
Entering Big Apple Circus! Lincoln Center, NYC
Thank you Beppe and Dani for an awesome fun Christmas gift for us! Gael was already over the moon for the last 10 days to get to go see Big Apple Circus and I was secretly excite of course! Saturday 7:00pm, we had marked a big circle on our calendar and we were ready to rock and roll!
The big one we got!
Slowly but surely filling in ( because they are all in the line to get pop corns!) and getting one step closer.
Much inspired by Tim Burton, the circus is a big hit for all the kids. They were going nuts!
These awesome group of Asian Oompa-Loompa (just me calling them) were the one of my favortie. They are funny, fun, greatly flexible and entertaining!
Great outfits, aren’t they?
This is a taxi driver, Andre’ sitting on a imagination chair.
My Oompa-Loompa are back with the second outfit and more elaborate acrobatic!
This guy has the fastest hands in the world. 2 visible and 5 invisible.
Porcupine.
Pig.
OK, What’s this guy’s name?
It’s like Tim Burton for Comme des Garcons.
Always a highlight of any circus, Trapeze! Gael had taken a Trapeze class once, so he really related to this. Fun Fun Fun!
Finale!
Of course, clowns and much more are there and you should be there to see it all! Laugh and have fun with your kids, nieces and nephews. It’s a big fun time! Dani and Beppe, “Thank you again for a wonderful wonderful gift! Gael loved it!!!” and personally, I had a good kick out of groovy outfits of Big Apple circus!
It was a starry night in Big Apple.
LOvE NYC!
Quick drawing and Water coloring. Zazilkin beach.
Take out Ceviche on the beach from El Camello ( the best in town)
Twinkle moment with Gael and Sun.
The Kitchen at Mateo’s.
Pollo con Cille y Paprica verde in Horno at La Onda.
New Year’s Eve, Tulum Style.
Topes!
Feliz Ano Nuevo!
Viva Tulum!
Lady Gaga at Barney’s Uptown
Saturdays Surf NYC, Soho
Ginger Bread people and the home at Mulberry, NYC
Fresh off the mail from Philadelphia. Home baked cookies just arrived from Emi’s client Fina. So Fab. Thank You Fina!
A pre Christmas surprise for me from Emi and Gael. A little yet Sexy and Mega Mighty IPod Nano. And Extra Love.
And the favorite, Beanfield for my run and plus 1000 artists. Emi, You ROCK!
December 17 SNL hosted by Jimmy Fallon and a musical guest, Michael Buble
Gael Holiday shopping in a matching hat and a warm sweater.
Best Holiday Cheap and Cheerful eat at Christina’s Restaurant, Green Point, Brooklyn
Feeling cosy watching Emi and Gael… And those sweaters…!
At home!
Be Merry, Bright and Happy!
LOvE NYC!
Brooklyn, Culture, Design, Family, NYC, Restaurant, Street | Leave a Comment
Much anticipated De Kooning Exhibit at MoMa, NYC
LOvE ART!
Art, Design, Fashion, NYC | Leave a Comment
Gael and Emiliano, just about to step into Morimoto, NYC
It’s Emi’s Birthday and this time we decided to go to Morimoto for some great food to celebrate! It’s our very first time being at Morimoto and we are bit excite and but also nervous because we really would not like an Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto’s restaurant being disappointing. So many of these foodie places we find over rated. Not that great at the end…
Oh Chef, Please, you better be Awesome!!!
Chef’s cook books greet you the second you walk into the restaurant.
We get seated in one of the smaller section of the restaurant. Not so open, but then also quite intimate. We are quite happy so far. And the drink and main menu.
This is the very first dish of 7course tasting menu both Emi and I had chosen. All the On trays sound excellent in good range of fish and meat. There’s also a list of Sushi and Sashimi, but we pretty much knew we would go for the Chef’s choice 7 course tasting menu: Morimoto Omakase, a multi course tasting menu to allow you to experience the essence of Morimoto’s Cuisine. This first dish is ” Toro Tartar” on a bamboo plate over a sheet of banana leaf underneath with 6 small portion of garnish that were unbelievably flavorful. This plate is a size of any guy’s palm, so the portion is small but then perfect as a starter and it was absolutely satisfying with gorgeous flavors. THANK YOU CHEF!
You will scrape off bit of tartar with this stainless steel flat spoon sort of, then also steal bit of any garnish then dip the whole thing in the light Dashi in a small bowl that came together. It’s amazing.
While Emi and I are tasting Omakase, Gael’s having a hot stone bowl Yellow Tail Buri. A sort of Korean Dolsot Bibimbap but with Morimoto’s twist. No chili paste here. Fresh Shiso leafes and delicate and light sweet soy based sauce adds quite powerful flavor to this super fresh Yellow Tail Sashimi over the rice. There are some Japanese mountain veggies and toasted nori and raw egg to be all mixed together. The serving staff who was helping was friendly and casual.
Our turn again for the second course. The Yellow tail Crudo with Pea shoots, Mushroom and sesame infused warm olive oil and drop of soy and yuzu. It’s a perfection. It’s just so delicious. The first and the second courses were our two favorite. I can probably have this everyday.
The third dish. OK. Just OK. This one we didn’t care for much. We actually didn’t need this at all. It’s sort of ” Veggie” dish with dipping sauce idea. The anchovy reduction was just all right and veggie were not substantial enough. I would’ve rather not had this at all or maybe would’ve liked something very simple and refreshing salad like. Chef, Please don’t let us down for the rest..!
The fourth one. A fresh oyster accompanied by Foie Gras and warm drizzle of delicate Teriyaki sauce. This one was quite lovely. Emi liked this much more than I did perhaps. Still the first and the second course is lingering on the tip of my tongue….!
Too busy eating and chatting, forgot to take a snap of Course 5, a plate of assorted 6 piece Sushi. They were bit small at bite size with impeccable freshness. They were excellent!
Now the On tray, course 6. Surf and Turf. A lobster tail over a slightly fried sweet potato sticks and lightly seared Korean style marinated Yagyu beef accompanied by whipped up lemon mousse. DELICIOUS!!! It was quite satisfying as portion wise and the lobster tail was perfectly cooked tenderly with amazing seasoning and the beef just melts in your mouth… This On tray made our quite pricy Omakase experience all worth it!
The Lobster tail on the front and the Yagyu beef on the back.
The last course, Dessert. A cup of Sweet potato flan/custard sort of. With a soy stick, poached pear slices, black berry and dollop of cream fresh and an edible flower on the side.. The Soy stick I didn’t go for. I don’t know why. I love the potato flan! Ahh, It also had passion fruit syrup over the flan!
Thank you Chef Morimoto for a great experience! It was quite amazing!
and Happy Happy Birthday to you Emi! Thank You and Gael for everything we have together!
and….LOvE, NYC!
Architecture, Culture, Design, Emi, Family, Food, NYC, Restaurant, Travel | 3 Comments
A Beautiful grand view of Boom Boom Room, Standard Hotel, NYC
It’s a day before Thanksgiving weekend, Emi and I had met up in the city late afternoon to kick off our official Mental Holiday clock in our spirit! Let’s have a drink! So where is the perfect place to do it? Absolutely the Boom Boom Room at Standard Hotel!
It was then the Empire state building to steal the best view of Manhattan, then Brooklyn prominent looking over the East river admiring soaring Twin Towers then the little door open to the balcony outside next to the DJ Booth on the second floor of Tin Cup in Williamsburg for the Drop Dead Gorgeous Brooklyn Bridge in your face with undeniably amazing entire Manhattan’s skyscraper…. Then now, I would not hesitate for a second to call out loud the Boom Boom Room is definitely the Sexiest and Most elegant place to enjoy 360 degree of gorgeous Cityscape of Manhattan…!!
You just have to be there.
Hot Hostesses greeting us at Boom Boom Room. Tall, beautiful, lanky and friendly..!
Entering.
If I write up a recipe of Boom Boom Room itself it would be something like this: 1 part of James Bond, 1 part of Tom Ford, 1 part of Rainbow room, and a splash of lemon and 1 big solid Square Ice cube. Do not Shake. Just Stir! Very Elegant. Nothing trendy here.
Here’s my drink. ” Lady Lavender” with St. Germain. Nothing sweet or sour either. Just perfect and just an elegant smile of quiet lavender…
And a just right amount of nibbles to accompany my Lady Lavender and Emi’s manly Negroni.
There are 2 fire places: 1 on the northeast corner and the other one on the north west corner. So swanky..!
Leaving!
Going down in an awesome elevator. A moving images of Heaven and Hell, I would call.
Lobby.
A mini ice rink outside of Standard Hotel. Genius!
The Standard Hotel, Meat Packing District, NYC
Now buying Stakes and Salad at Chelsea market in full of warm and bit tipsy Holiday Sprit after a couple delicious cocktails and much chat with my Best friend, Emiliano!
Emi, I love you so much and Happy Begin of our Holidays together!!
LOvE, NYC!
Architecture, Culture, Design, Fashion, NYC, Street, Travel | 2 Comments
Aunt , Me and Mom in 1976, Korea.
Every time I visit Korea and my family back there, I feel like I am making up for something. It’s a real nice feeling. It makes my stomach warm. We have been always close to Aunt’s family when I was growing up and I had also lived with aunt, uncle and cousin Yoonhee when I was doing the first year at F.I.T as Uncle was in NY for his work. I was lucky to have them while starting my school years all alone but then it wasn’t actually as I was with aunt, uncle and Yoonhee. Then it has been many years we kind of grew a part but here now again we get to see each others whenever I go to Seoul for my business trips. It’s a nice treat to see everyone. There’s always good chatting over delicious hearty food and laughs. Just being together makes me feel very happy and loved. Aunt recently helped mom renovating her new little home and it was my first time to visit mom’s traditional Korean home as she literally just moved in. It felt extra special to be at mom’s new home as aunt helped with many good ideas and also it was right on brother’s memorial day.
Beautifully aging Mom in front of her house. It’s about 150 plus years old traditional home called “Han-Ok” that mom had bought and it’s a kind of architecture that dates back to more than 5000 years of Korean tradition.
Mom’s next project is to add these solid concrete cylinders to the outside fence/wall.
It’s called ” Ogapi” in Korean, a kind of berry. It is supposed to be really good for you. You will see all these sort of things being dried, getting pickled or soaked in the water at my mom and aunt’s place.
Chestnuts drying on a Pyung Sang ( a quite big scaled low wooden seating deck) in the garden… such a Korean scene!
These beautiful wooden beams were hidden and the ceiling was lowered when the house was purchased. Can you believe it?
Poured concrete floor feels very modern in contrary to house’s traditional details. And it has excellent heat conduction as most of Korean homes have heated flooring system.
Happy mom at her new home!
Now we are at Heyri visiting auntie!
Aunt with big big smile and Brandy and Tang right outside of her beautiful Heyri home.
Aunt is an well known fine artist already, Je-soon Kang and she has started making potteries at Heyri studio. Now mom had joined her a bit! Mom holding her very first piece! It’s so fascinating. Isn’t it? I would love to try it one day!
Cheese, no ” KIm-Chi”! Just like an old time. Only difference will be I am the tallest here. Sort of. Ha-ha!!
Beautiful aunt here for an early lunch with me. Mom went off to work. Next time mom!
We are at this Buckwheat specialized restaurant. Buckwheat dumplings, savory pancakes, cold and warm noodle and even down to this much flavorful Korean Buckwheat Sake! Sooooo delicious. Sooo amazing! Chat chat and Chatty Chat. Aunt and I ended up having 4 hour lunch catching up on everything. So much fun!
After a good sleep over at Aunt’s place, this hearty do-your-body -good Rice cake soup for breakfast! It was full of fresh oysters, seaweed, korean herbs and most of all, aunt’s love! So delicious and so good for you!
Aunt holding me for another snap. 1976, Korea
Aunt, thanks for everything and take care till the next time we see! And Mom, I am so happy for your new lovely home!
I love you both, you lovely creative strong sisters!
For more, just be there!
LOvE SEOUL!!!
Architecture, Culture, Design, Fashion, Food, Seoul/Korea, Shops, Street, Travel | Leave a Comment