Archive for 2013

Wednesday 20 March 2013

How To: Walk the Brooklyn Bridge

"How To" videos or blogs are quickly becoming famous today. There's a How To Jailbreak Your Own iPhone, How To Make Your Own Collars, and so on. They are called DIYs.

So, to get in on the wagon, I found a video called "How To Walk the Brooklyn Bridge" for those who don't exactly know what to do when to get to the bridge and how to survive walking that humongous thing. I wish I have stumbled upon this prior to my trip.

Enjoy the video!


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Saturday 16 March 2013

Mint Velvet Vintage

Sadly, our three days in NYC had to end. However, my trip was not over yet. We drove more our to go to Corning, NY and we took a little shuttle bus ride to their downtown area. I loved it so much, the atmosphere was very vintage-like. All shops were all private-owned, some are started way back, when I wasn't even born yet. It was very beautiful.

 Desire, Irene's sister, and I walked around the little historic part of the town and were very thankful we did because we found this amazing vintage/second hand store called Mint Velvet. Both being in love with anything vintage (granny advocates), we were in awe the moment we came in. This was our EB Games to gamers, Canada Computers to geeks, Las Vegas to gamblers, Oscars to actors. We were shrieking at everything we see because it was absolutely adorable, vintage, thrifted, everything.

 Mint Velvet sells everything from vintage clothing, accessories, house decor, furnitures, and antiques. I did not want to leave. Everything was beautiful, did I mention that? 


This place had two storeys of good stuff. I had a chance to meet the lovely owner, Rochelle (I hope it really is Rochelle, I couldn't remember its been months!). She recently just opened this store and we could tell because upstairs, on the second floor, it wasn't as filled as the first and it was just clothes in a rack. Some of them didn't even have any price tags yet.


 According to Rochelle, she decided to open up this store because she thrifted way too many things! So all of the items in the store are thrifted. I really admire this woman because of her great eye in good, cute things and because she is down-to-earth, kind, and very welcoming (she complimented my mint green shorts from Zara kids, yes). She allowed me to take pictures of things in her store. We told her we were visiting from Canada and coincidently, Tommy Hilfiger in Yorkdale Mall bought two pillows from her store to re-decorate their store! So, she gave us her business card so we can contact her and take pictures of where they put the two pillows. Up until now, I haven't visited but I've been meaning to, I promise! It's just, it's a two-hour ride from where I live. 

 I wasn't going to leave the store without any souvenirs! Here is what I snagged from the lovely antique store. Remember, this was nearing the end of my trip so my cash was not as flexible as when we were grabbing everything in the Sanrio store in Times Square. So here's what I got:
  1. A vintage scalloped handbag - $15
  2. A chunky and comfy cable knit sweater - $10
At the end of the day, I was very happy with my purchases. These two remain to be one of my favourite items to wear when I'm out and about to go to school, run errands, or even going out to go skating. 

I recommend everyone to pay a visit at Mint Velvet because it's just lovely. Such a lovely ambiance, especially when you're coming from a city with mostly rude people. I would definitely come back to get feed my vintage fix.

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Thursday 28 February 2013

The Dark Knight Rises

In addition to my previous geek mania, I have spotted numerous Batman ads for Christpher Nolan's third installment, The Dark Knight Rises. This made me feel (somewhat) like I am in Gotham City although I am pretty sure Bruce Wayne would not advertise Bane and Catwoman.

At the time, I haven't seen the movie so being teased by these ads everywhere I look really really made me even more excited to see the movie. (I am reading my sentences while I type in a British accent for some reason but it's quite entertaining.)

 Advertising really does work (only if bombarded) because as soon as I got back home, I went to see it twice (both in IMAX), with my rainbow splashed friend, Tanny, and the second time with my brother and his wife, and two other sisters. 

 It's probably not smart if I confess that I cried when *SPOILER ALERT* Bruce "died". I cried mostly at the fact that Alfred was bawling his eyes out and he is going to be alone forever. If Crying Alfred was put beside a dying puppy, I'd be more heartbroken for Crying Alfred than the dying puppy. I don't know, it's just me.

 Back to business, NYC ads are amazing and effective. I could go on and on about how it's effective but this blog is about my travel to New York not why ads in Times Square are so effective. 

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Friday 22 February 2013

Times Square

Night #1 in New York City (we were somewhere else in the state two days earlier):

Walking towards Times Square was very exciting! Especially as an Advertising student, can you imagine the thrills and enthusiasm I felt for the amazing Out-of-Home ads, the digital boards, superboards, everything! The craziest (in a good way) ads are in Times Square. They were very entertaining, kept my eyes busy, and dreamed for a second, hoping that one day, I'll see my own ads somewhere there.

The Amazing Spider-Man has just been released for over a month when I came down to NYC and obviously they are everywhere! Which I absolutely loved! I felt like a 5-year old boy who's in love with Spidey! My spider senses were tingling the entire time. Also, I was hoping that I'd run into Andrew Garfield (or any actors I love such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt!) 

Look at this amazing bus wrap of this Spiderman play happening! Check out their website to book tickets!

The first thing I said when I spotted a New York Police car was, "NYPD OPEN UP!" Basically, everything in New York humoured me, from street signs to city lights. And the police department got me jumping up and down as well, it was sort of embarrassing. 

 We were dropped off by our tour bus near Times Square because it wasn't part of the tour so we had to go home by our own. The New York Times (!!!) office was right in front of the bus terminal and I got excited (again)! At one point of my life (maybe grade 5), I wanted to be a journalist which explains my excitement. It would be pretty amazing if I worked/interned at The New York Times!

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Saturday 16 February 2013

Hotel Empire


I should probably warn readers before I go on. Warning everyone, this blog post will mostly be about me fangirling and freaking out. If you ever get bored or get annoyed or if one slight eye roll, don't say I didn't warn ya.

 Alright, so here it begins.

 Hotel Empire.

 THE Hotel Empire, where Chuck Bass of Gossip Girl lives. Or lived, since the whole show ended, I am in deep grief. (I also get attached to my tv shows and incorporate them in my life.)

 I was in our tour bus, and the tour guide decided to pass by and have a little tour of Manhattan before getting dropped at Times Square. And in the corner of my not-so-small Asian eyes (oh wait, I'm not Asian. Filipinos get a separate box to check off. We were not in the "South East Asian" category), I got a glimpse of this! I grabbed my camera like a mad man and took a shot, not caring what the ISO levels are. I just needed proof that I saw it with my own eyes and that I wasn't hallucinating or lucid dreaming. 

 I was freaking out the entire time, thinking maybe Chuck Bass/Ed Westwick was walking around right now and that I should get off the bus!

 But I used my brain and stopped and calmed myself down. They were probably done shooting episodes. I was sad, but thought about paparazzis and how they have an amazing job. If advertising does not work out for me (it will, i know), I will become a paparazzi. 

 That is all.

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Monday 11 February 2013

Tiffany & Co.



We're still in Wall Street, and while walking I spotted a Tiffany & Co. store (?) I don't remember but most likely, it's a store. I'm not a huge fan of Tiffany & Co. other than their cute packaging and the cute ads they run on newspapers. I honestly don't get girls' addiction to Tiffany. I mean it's jewellery, they're all the same. 

Actually, I get why girls are obsessed. It's all part of the branding scheme companies pull, and soon I'm going to be a part of it. 

Take my grocery shopping last Saturday (it was crazy with all the Chinese New Year shenanigans) with my mom and sister. 

So, we enter this asian supermarket and every corner of it is occupied by food sampling booths. We approached the hummus one because who doesn't love hummus, especially if it's chipotle flavoured? So we tried it with the tortilla chip and the sample guy told us their promotion. Poor guy, he did not know who he was dealing with. My mom can be a stickler with promotions, I now know where I get my skeptical side from. She asked him why they are doing a promotion and poor guy did not know why. He simply just stuttered and muttered things while I chuckle quietly to myself because I know why companies do these sampling things. And then my mom rambled on how at work she has to know these things because people asking is inevitable. 

Okay, what does this have to do with Tiffany & Co.? Well, nothing to be honest. It was just great looking up tall buildings in New York City. I sorta wish music was playing in the background while I walk around and snap a few pictures. I don't get out of the country that much, heck, I don't get out of my city that much.

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Saturday 9 February 2013

Geeked Out


You live in a cave if you don't know what this is and which movie this place appeared in.

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Friday 8 February 2013

The Amazing Spiderman


At the end of the Brooklyn Bridge was this vendor, selling metal frames of retro graphics. I am kind of obsessed - okay, I'm really obsessed/in love with Spiderman. So, when I saw that he had a Spiderman one, I almost broke down and cried right there. 

 No, just kidding. All I wanted to do was take out my American dollar bills and purchase this amazing metal frame. I was already planning where to put this beaut up in my head. Thinking about putting things up on the wall makes me want to re-decorate my room and no, my picture-filled wall will not change.

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Sunday 27 January 2013

Brooklyn Bridge




Oh look, I'm about to walk the Brooklyn Bridge.

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Saturday 26 January 2013

MORE FOOD!



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This drink right here is iced tea believe it or not. Except they sweetened it with this sweet cream or whatever. EDIT: Irene said it's condensed milk.
Who is "they"? They are the great people of Thailand who came up with this drink. It is pretty tasty,actually but if you had too much it gets too sweet and you just feel all sweet-y. I don't know. It was gross. 
I got this drink from a Thai restaurant somewhere down in New Jersey called Ploi Thai (no clue where accents go).

Prior to our lovely evening at Ploi Thai, Irene, Desire, and I had no plans to go for our free time. So we went down the hotel lobby to figure out where we can eat dinner. This asian guy (let's name him Juan) approached us and invited us to go to a Thai restaurant with other people from our bus. We were so excited because we got invited by a real person to go someplace real and nice, not some sketchy place. (It's not like we never get invited by real people in real life, it's just that we're a tad bit antisocial and we were surprised people were aware of our existence in this trip.) 

We were carried to the restaurant by a white rape van (the real ones!) and got lost for about 50 minutes. We passed by the place like 20,000 times and did not realize it was right there. Bunch of tourists, pft. The food was amazing, the thai tea was sweet, and until now I can't find that stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts and that sweet sauce anywhere in Canada. Maybe because I live in Narnia, but I can't find it.

And this thing right here, this mouth-watery thing is a...wait for it...a deep fried ice cream! Believe me, it was the most delicious thing I have ever tried in my entire life. It was warm and cold at the same time and the batter tasted like heaven was raining gold and rainbows filled the earth with unicorns. That did not even make sense but that's because that's how this deep fried thing tasted like! 

If you ever find this thing anywhere, I recommend you to order it! 

Another thing I learned is that feeling of when going back to your hotel room you, your parents are nowhere to be seen because they're miles away from you, in another country. It's not sadness or homesickness, but somewhat freedom because for once, you feel independent, really independent, like a real adult.

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Friday 25 January 2013

You're Not You When You're at Walmart


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So i was just on my Tumblr dash when I tumbled (haha) upon this gifset. No, not really, it wasn't accidental, I was looking for Poughkeepsie tags hoping I would find a picture of the Walmart we were in.
If you read my previous post about our first stop and facing our epic journey in Poughkeepsie at a Walmart then I TOLD YOU SO. Remember I said Poughkeepsie could've been where the Texas Chainsaw Massacre guy was living? Yeah, I have evidence he does! 

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FOOD!


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Hungry yet?
This is probably the best-tasting lasagna I have ever had. We ordered this along with my Disco Fries and devoured it in like, 3 minutes. It probably should’ve been faster since there were three people sharing it. This was at the I-84 Diner at Fishkill, New York - our first stop before New York City. We had a lot of fun in this town. I will never forget this day, and I will tell all my grandchildren about my epic day in some random town in New York that might’ve been the place where the Texas Chainsaw Massacre guy lived (obviously, it’s in Texas). This lasagna was the start of the amazing things we ate in New York.

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I ♡ NY



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I know, the title is very cheesy. But it pretty much sums up my one week trip to New York City. As you've probably read from my description on the left side of your screen, my name is Valerie and one week of my Summer 2012 was walking around busy and crowded streets of the Times Square area. 

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