Gael Lately
Filed Under Family, Gael | 3 Comments
It’s an annual “Crazy week” at P.S 11 this week. Preparing for the ” Crazy Hat day”.
Gael now approaching big 8 in this up coming June is getting taller and super skinny, loosing teeth, does better job tying shoe laces, so into dancing and singing is a best friend with Emi and the Wii world cup soccer match partner who always seriously gets upset when Emi makes a goal and a still my little not so little son. Gael takes 4 after school programs like Capoeira, Mad science, Hip Hop dance and his on going passion for Soccer. Gael’s developing his list of favorite & non favorites and also started faking speaking French all of sudden and enjoys imitating his friend Kofi’s Trinidad heavy accent! He totally is amazing and fluent in Italian that makes me nervous that I need to really bring his Korean up to the level so by the next summer We can keep up with Dad’s side of family!!!! (competition!)
I so don’t want to miss this time and this moment Gael growing up so fast so I thought I would pause a little and document what he’s into and up for right now.
The crazy battle field hat we are making! Gael was so excite confident about his would be the best one ever! Emi and I labored a couple hours picking things out and sewing them all up with Gael. It was a great fun project to do together.
Mastering Wimpy Kid. All of them and the Movie as well. He loves it!
A note maker. So these days, I find Gael’s notes left every corner of home including on the last page of my note book. He talks about concerns, upsetting things and simple facts just like this. His soccer shoes are too tight!
He has lost 4 teeth so far and got one set of new teeth.
Italian tooth fairy just doesn’t leave a dollar for your tooth. She takes your very first lost tooth away and put a gold crown around it and deliver it back! Fancy…!
Gael’s recent favorite Youtube watch is sophisticatedly shot beautiful 7 minute short film series of ” Original Skateboards“. Especially ones in shot in Puerto Rico. They are beautiful. You should check it out!
Brotherhood. Bonding with Marlowe, Philipp and Kit’s little baby girl. Gael loves her..!
More to come…
From Pretzel to Prada, NYC!!!
Filed Under Culture, Design, Family, Fashion, Film, For the Weekend, Gael, NYC, Shops, Street, Tokyo/Japan | Leave a Comment
Regardless you are Japanese or not, many NYC peeps were there to support to raise every dime to help Japan’s Tsunami relief. Union Square, NYC.
Last weekend, Emi was busy working with Beppe shooting Alegri’s Spring Campaign. So it meant a day date with Gael for me!
We were at the Union Square movie theater to see Johnny Depp’s Rango ( quite surreal for the 7 year old boy! ) then strolled through Union Square farmer’s market ( spring branches, tulips and all) and not to forget to donate for Japan’s Tsumani relief, then quick yummy Korean lunch at Manna! It was bit windy but beautiful as sun was shinning and quite lovely to have a small walk down to Soho. We also checked out great Prada store on Broadway as I wanted Gael to know ” What a great shop means” pointing out at amazing murals in the store, the fab transparent cylinder shaped elevator, fabulous Spring 11 line of acid Bananas and Monkeys that takes you back to the 70’s swanky sea side Castiglioncello or Porto Fino in Italy ( just imagine Sofia Lauren and Marcelo Mastroianni sipping on chilled campari preferably listening to her own song ” Soldi Soldi Soldi from Boccaccio 70″ despite their kicking Super modern Spring Campaign… And the fab custom jeweleries in bright colored resins of everything you can or cant imagine!! KidRobot is always a must stop as Gael just absolutely loves the place and he gets to pick a small something. Then stop at the corner of Prince street to watch a street band singing Motown songs as munching on pretzels then the last stop at Pearl river! When was the last time I was at the Pear River?!! As much as I love nick nacks and all that chachkis, Pearl river can absolutely satisfy you on a dime! Hopefully Pearl river will never close down as my beloved Canal Jean has long gone from Soho since when…? Ahhh I ssssso miss my Canal Jean filled with the best everything from vintage army pants to $10.00 wool coats! Hip. Cheap. And understated Massive Hit! I just found out that Canal Jean had re opened up on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn, so I must check it out and I hope it will not disappoint me… Anyway, it’s always a big fun to walk around and do “me and Gael thing two of us together” in the city. Go shopping, movies on a shared kids’ package, street food, fancy shops, spoil him a little with sepecial purchase then stop and watch oh so amazing break dancers on the street of NYC. And what else… oh and just chatting and catching up hand in hand and it just feels so right to spend some descent time with my little cool son on the weekend… Love you Gael and love you NYC!!!
And… the pics!
Proud Gael after a small donation for Japan.
Beautiful colors of bundles of hanging wool yarns.
Is spring here yet…????
Gael inside the Prada store, Soho.
Prada Spring 11 !
Watch this!
The absolute reason why you love NYC! Prince street.
At the shop, KidRobot, Soho.
And the NYC babes.
A street band, Soho.
MAC meets Wonder Woman, Spring street.
And… Mommy and Gael… Cheeeeese!
Flying Gael!
Filed Under Family, For the Weekend, Gael, NYC | 6 Comments
Gael approaching the board where the instructor Henry awaits, Trapeze School of New York
Today the Saturday, 26th of February, It was a very special day for Gael as Emi enrolled Gael for a Trapeze class at Trapeze School of New York located on 518 West 30th Street, NYC. Gael was the youngest and the only kid in this total 9 student class and he did an excellent job and was super brave! The 2 hour long class starts with putting on this heavy duty belt where you hook the ropes, then quite quick demonstration from 3 instructors regarding general posture, ways to handle the ropes and finally the simple gymnastic movements that will help you to get you swing and do back flip sort of fancier tricks while you are on a flying Trapeze.
Instructor Laura and Henry takes turns on the ground and up on the board. Laura helping Gael to put quite a belt. And we like those carpets duct taped to make the mega carpet!
Gael looks extra kid here today but also a super kid! Students are learning how to hold the Trapeze bar. Notice Gael’s miss matching socks as always. Or “Mix and Matching” as it is his signature style. Ha-Ha!
Gael volunteers to be the 3rd guy to go on the Trapeze.
All students get to do one on one low bar exercise on the ground in between the turns with Henry.
Make sure to put chalk powder on your palms before you get on!
Slowly but surely, Gael’s on the top.
Ready to hold the bar and launch!
And… Watch the Video of Gael Flying! He did an awesome job!!! Even the adults were getting tired to resist and keep up! Instructors were friendly and clear, and the class is well organized with plenty of time to practice. If you buy a bunch of classes at a time, of course there is good saving there and if you do the full course, at the end of the course you can be a shining star performing in a professionally put together mini circus by the School with costumes and lighting and all! Hmmm… Do I want to be a star..? I was bit tempted to try it today regardless. It’s an exciting and different kind of experience. I may go on it one day!
Gael, Mommy and Dad are so proud of you ! You brave son! The BEST!
Valentine morning was unusually colorful. Or was it just me up earlier..? Beautiful Sun rising. Getting into a week long of Holiday presentation at work, honestly there’s no room for me to think about Valentine or anything else really, and Valentine is not a day that is on my list of things do in general. Chocolate? Naaaaaa.
But guess What I Get from my 2 coolest men!! The sweet smart free standing Robot Trophy, The LOVE!
Here’s the better picture of him. Isn’t he so cute? He’s heavy as I always like with anything. I Always associate the weight with the quality. So Emi and Gael did an awesome job by choosing my kind of heavy materials to create the robot!
The heart in magic clay was Gael’s contribution and his power to bring this robot to a life. I just can’t get enough of this! And his sweet and numbered face!
Robot’s awesome legs, two feet and adorable little bum!
His feet. Check out the cool studs under his right foot.
And the proud and happy winner!
And the Feast follows!
Fresh Salmon and Tuna Crudo with Lime Lemon Cilantro Rock salt dipping. It melts in your mouth. Soooo Goood!
What do you call it in a fancy way, the palette cleanser sort of. Truffled Honey and the Truffle Pecorino., the Double Truffle!
Followed by Truffle gnocchi with Enoki mushroom cream sauce. Creeaammyyy.
Gael’s Duct taped Valentine card for us. The main middle area design is a bird with dotted feathers… Rocking and Rolling Gael!
Now the after meal dessert!
Emi, You are the best father Gael can ever have and You are THE Love of my life.
LOvE you both So Much!
Thank you for the best Valentine I ever had!!!
A little Paradise, Lagoon Yal-Ku, Akumal, Mexico
Filed Under Family, Friend, Mexico, Travel, Tulum | 3 Comments
Yal-Ku Lagoon, Akumal, Mexico
It’s a hidden gem. We realized not that many people know about this spot. The spot maybe the one of the most beautiful one on the Riviera Maya. We’ve traveled around quite a bit of Tahiti, Hawaii and Virgin Islands but Yal-Ku feels quite special from anywhere else. The perfect intimate size that does not feel too small to feel it crowded. The shallow water is silky and warm from the sun. There are ton of beautiful fish that you would not expect to see in such a shallow water. It is absolutely crystal clear with softest white sand and pockets of chunks of limestone to attract all the fish you want to see. There is even a small piece of beach. Yal-ku is where clear salty water of Caribbean Ocean and the sweet fresh water of Yucatan peninsula meets. It’s perfect. I’ll call it a little paradise!
It feels like you are invited to a small private snorkeling party here. It’s a perfect spot to go with your kids, nieces and nephews or hang with your best friends. You can explore the water or park yourself somewhere and just read and sunbath. It’s quiet and lovely. Everyone behaves here. Maybe because the Lagoon guides you to do so…
Gael really had well learnt swimming and snorkeling. I couldn’t swim until the 4th grade. What a wimp I was! I missed out so much fun thinking back. I mean look at him he does so much!!! We have met a wonderful family Bork this trip. The owner of Posada Yum Kin where we like to stay often in Tulum village. Owner Dan and BV’s 2 amazing kids, Sam and Andrew were down in Tulum , so Gael had the blast with them! The 3 little gangs below snorkeling together. 3 of them can rock the world!
Sam, Gael and Andrew looking for a Barracuda! ha-ha!!
This pic is only taken by me standing outside of the water. The Yal-ku lagoon is sort of a natural aquarium.
The mangrove island.
Peaceful Yal-Ku end of the day. So gorgeous , isn’t it…? Perfect natural pool with ton of beautiful fish in nice shallow water…. Wooo. I want it!!
Yalk -Ku is raw and well kept it that way. No sunblock is allowed and a tee shirt is encouraged! It opens everyday 8:00-5:30. Adult $9.00. Kid $6.00. 25Km from Tulum. Go have fun, relax, sun bath and don’t forget to respect what the nature offers us!
Familiar Faces: Back home in Tulum
Filed Under Family, Mexico, Travel, Tulum | Leave a Comment
We thought of so many other places for our last minute decision to leave the town for Christmas and New year’s. Nicaragua..? Brazil, Chiapas, Guatemala, somewhere warm and a place we haven’t visited. Honestly the last minute tickets were impressively expensive and we decided to turn to Tulum again where it feels like home and now we even have local friends we keep in touch. But we will be adding a nice twist to this trip! Such adventurers as we are even including Gael, the normal Tulum visit is never the same for us by exploring different parts of Tulum and the surrounding towns and nature, but this time we would like to do something also very much cultural by visiting Merida ( 300km from Tulum toward the west) , the capital of Yucatan peninsula where Tulum is resting. Also I am patiently anticipating to experience some sort of event as religious or traditional performance specially designed for Christmas time in Merida and we are also super excite to stay in one of colonial homes of the town and also to do ” Hacienda Hopping” in and out of area of Merida. ( There are countless numbers of traditional Haciendas in this area and we are about go visit a few prominent ones that will take our breath away! I would be sure a Christmas gift for us!)
On Tuesday, arrived at Min’s ( A friend and a owner of Villas H2O Living and Pro diving in Village of Tulum) and it’s lovely to see her and the business partner and the pro diver Marco again. We chatted over a bottle of chilled prosecco as soon as we arrived at their nice and modern bed and breakfast. The next evening, we go for a easy dinner in town and Edgar ( at Coldwell bankers) pops out from a Boulangerie in village spotting us in the car to say hi. I see him hurt his hands and it concerns me and also it’s so nice to see him again. It is so lovely to see people here in Tulum again. The nice guy at El Tabano ( our favorite restaurant) says ” Hi ” to us. He literally recognise us by reading our blogs. Ha! It’s a great feeling and it feels home being in Tulum again.
The small bodegas, the cloud, the quiet ocean and clear breeze, beautiful palms, hippies on the beach, bicycle riders, cabanas, the sugared doughnuts at the Tulum supermarket, the supermarket helpers, the sun and Casarosas back here again…. It’s all great familiar faces and it all feels like home again!
14 days to Christmas!
Filed Under Family, For the Weekend | Leave a Comment
Gael pointing out the tallest one…!
Emi started feeling better. Slowly but surely I see the changes here and there and it was a quite lovely day on Saturday, so we wrapped ourselves in coats and hats and went out for a tree hunting. It’s always nice to see “Tree People” starting gathering their handsome trees up and all proud ( especially when it says ” Vermont” , I kind of envy that they are from Vermont always thinking it must be a lovely place to live and raise the trees and horses and all). And… wreaths and garlands…! I always get tempted get these and decorate the stoop cases in very fancy way like those Brownstone veterans do in this neighborhood. They always look so quite rich and it always makes me think of either Dr.Huxstable in Cosby Show and his family or the lady in that cooking show, Bare foot contessa, sure she will have some sort of thing for her porch. Then we always tend to go away around the Christmas, so I give up on it again this year. But one day! I’ll sure practice!
We stopped by at a few spots and again this year, we ended up buying one from the guys on the Myrtle Avenue ( Corner of Myrtle Avenue and Hall Street). They always have the most varieties and the best prices we believe and it feels more local than going across to the Atlantic Avenue. We got a 7 foot tall beautiful one for $45.00! Not Bad. This year, the guys had built this cool little shack to escape the cold wind and it looked quite awesome I thought. This kid delivers for free there, so we had him do it with nice tip on his hands when he arrived at our home with our tree. It sure feels like Christmas already tipping a kid trying to make some money around the holidays. He may want a pair of cool sneaks or a game sort of, or he may need that money to support the family even..? Anyway, the tree is up and it definitely makes our weekend at home much cozier…
Our tree getting wrapped. A simple cool way to do it!
We browsed end enjoyed bit of Holiday decorations at shops and houses in the neighborhood. There are inviting signs and all quite simple but it’s enough to make us think about the Christmas already.
Not sure what this plant is but sure it belongs to Christmas Spirit. Fuzzy like sweater yarns…
And here’s our Tree!!!
Early Merry Christmas to you all!
And this just out beautiful Annie Lenox’s traditional Pagan style music video of God rest ye Merry Gentleman ( Thanks Beppe!)
Booooooooooo!
Filed Under Family, Friend, Halloween, Street | Leave a Comment
Booooooooooooooo, Clinton Hill!
Autumn in New York : Patrick Dougherty’s Natural History.
Filed Under Architecture, Art, Book, Brooklyn, Family, For the Weekend | Leave a Comment
Japan Garden at Brooklyn Botanical Garden: I totally had Monet moment here…! All the beautiful leaves…
Ahhh, It was a beautiful sunny autumn day to stroll around Brooklyn. We had visited Brooklyn Botanical garden to check out an artist, Patrick Dougherty and his work, “Natural History“: a first site specific art project that was done for Brooklyn Botanical Garden for garden’s 100 year anniversary, an amazing stick work that Dougherty had done for 3 weeks time period back in August this year. It’s a beautiful work and I’m just about to share some pics and my thoughts with you, but also please enjoy the peak of beautiful autumn in right here in Brooklyn, NY! It is almost a privilege to be able to see seasonal changes of the mother nature around us in a big city like NY. Gorgeous Autumn light and colors…
Patrick Dougherty’s woven-wood sculpture in honor of Brooklyn Botanical garden’s centennial.
The woody materials come from Ocean Breeze Park on Staten Island. The harvest site was chosen of garden’s director of Science because of its proximity to the Garden and it’s large population of nonnative willow, which is designated an invasive species in New York State. The exhibition will run for a full year.
Weaving, snagging and flexing sticks into nest-like architectural forms evoke themes of shelter, habitat and sustainability. Created of organic matter, Dougherty’s works have a natural life cycle that changes over the time as the sticks settle and decay, eventually returning to the earth where they came from…
The sculpture gives you endless possibilities of new shapes and angles. Honestly, I felt like I could stay at the site forever. It was hard to leave. Look up, look down, go in, come out, follow the surface in circle… I kept feeling like my hair will start swirling with curved sticks. I can’t pinpoint out what exactly it is but it almost gave me a bit of butterflies in my stomach. I felt like I was a little kid and envied and imagined what if I had such a thing in our massive garden….
Gael mingled with bunch of excite kids for a while… If you only had a furry costume on, it could instantly turn into “Where the wild things are…”
Here we have a book purchased at Storm King Art Center: ” Natural Architecture“, The cover work is by Patrick Dougherty.
The Artist above and more shots from the Garden…
Get out there and Embrace this beautiful Autumn!
Back to Heyri Art Valley, Korea: It’s family time!
Filed Under Architecture, Art, Book, Design, Family, Food, Seoul/Korea, Shops, Travel | 1 Comment
This trip is coming to an end and actually I am not feeling so great, so staying at Aunt’s home for a day with family feels priceless. Aunt and uncle have been living in Heyri Art Valley now for a few years and I think that is so great and am very happy for them to have such a beautiful living space in this artistic community sharing all the creative thoughts and life style. So excite to have really hearty good home food after the 2 weeks of trip on the road!!
A fine artist ( oil painting and pottery), story teller, farmer, amazing organic home cook and my aunt chopping and cooking. These leaves( Sorry, I do not recall what this was at all! Aunt had used maybe good 10 different kind of herbs and some kind of leaves from her garden to cook with) are going into her steamed rice with shitake mushrooms.
Sauteed home grown squash: Cut them in chunks and start them with olive oil in a hot wok, garlic, fresh red chili chunks, salt cured baby shrimps… And Mom helping!
Oven broiled herring; Aunt poured over soy sauce with chopped green scallion right before serving it and below is quickly blenched calamaris on the bed of fresh baby sesame leaves and mixed green from aunt’s garden. You dip them in the vinegary chili sauce. Delicious!
Dinner table is coming together! Sliced cucumber dressed in chili paste and vinegar, baby radish kim chi, mountain vegies steamed and dressed in sesame seeds, garlic, onion, olive oil…
Yeah, dinner is on the table! Steamed vegie rice, Kim chi soup, calamari, more kim chi Broiled herring, steamed squash leaves for ” ssam: wrap”, and many more. And a glass of red… Happy Happy! Cousin Yoonhee on the left and her hubby, Sanghun back in the kitchen area. That was the most amazing Korean food in a long time! We chatted, laughed and ate again and again. It was so nice to have everyone together in one place and enjoyed each others…!
The next morning after another big morning meal ( ha!), Aunt, Mom and I went out for a stroll around the Art Valley. There were quite a few exhibitions including a famous Korean singer, Jo Young Nam’s Solo exhibition at ” Hangil Gallery” right by the Aunt’s place.
These plastic pieces with design are called ” Wha-To”: pretty much Korean ‘Cards”, like Poker in a sense. The artist had used wha-to in such a clever way. Wha-To is such a gamble that is beloved by entire nation for a longest time and also a national issue since people over do this down to loose their homes and family. Some people get so addict to this… like any other gambles out there.
Oh The Artist loves, the poet ‘ Lee Sang’..!
And again, the whole culture of architecture in Heyri Art Valley is quite innovative. Every building in the valley needs to be consist of using Metal, Glass, Wood , Rocks and Concrete as main materials with no pointy roof and painted exterior. It sounds bit limiting yet also it harmonizes the valley as a whole and also I believe it pushes the architects to be creative in different area such as shape, light and space.
The ” Book House”, a book store above the Hangil Gallery.
Underground level of Moa Gallery is just as bright as or even brighter than any spaces on the ground level. Smart usage of minimum amount of glass panel allows to have maxim effect of enough natural light for the space.
Outside of “Ssamji” galley and below: the stair case to the gallery space.
4 very different Rooms to crash for rent with organic cooking classes and a small roof garden growing greens then 2 gallery spaces: all with peaceful hearty and artsy farming and nature in mind. It’s called ” Field Art School” ( Non Baat Art School). They are not just fully opened yet. The rooms are available for rent already though. Below, the cooking class schedule.
The cooking class room and dining room.
The outdoor lounge: a part of lobby/cafe’ they are building. We have the same lamp in our kitchen!
Cool outdoor passage way. The natural wall-field I like to call it. Love it!
The roof top green garden.
One of the 4 room to rent. Each room is completely different in sizes and layouts. 4 different artists were hired to design each room.
Above and below: 2 gallery spaces and Mom and Aunt…
By the way, I picked out this book ” Seoul, have you ever been places like this? 100 spots you want to check out!” at Hangil Book House. (Aunt’s treat) This book excites me so much!! Beautiful pics and interesting places!
It’s so interesting to me to see all these great movement and ideas at Heyri. Ideas to be closer to the nature in style and a peace in your mind, I feel everything here feels modern yet peaceful but not trendy or fast. Maybe forward and ahead but not fast.
Hopefully Heyri Art Valley will be always the leader of the pack showcasing what you can do with your finance and ideas. A forward thinking that is good for your body and soul!
VivA, HeYri!!!!!