BBG Sakura Matsuri Cosplay Fashion Show

Brooklyn Botanical Garden hosts a cherry blossom festival every spring and usually garden visitors will see cosplayers gathering and hanging out during the popular event as well. I have been to the festival a few years in a row and got a chance to see the cosplay fashion show this year.

Since there is a limited number of spots on the fashion show and requires an application process, only the best get to be part of the cat walk! Since I was way too short, I missed most of the poses on the stage. Luckily, I happened to be standing near the exist and snapped these photos.

Kitana from the video game series Mortal Kombat. She was actually part of a trio of Mortal Kombat group cosplay. The other two were Sonia and Scorpion. The three of them managed to increase the tension on the stage with their deadly entrance. Don’t mess with Mortal Kombat… just saying.

I do not know the characters but the credits mention they are from the series Black Butler. I know it’s usually not fair to base my anime watching habits on cool clothes… but I may have to check this series out since the art style is also up my alley.

Disney princess remix (Belle, Elza, Snow White, etc. Genius!

One of two Attack on Titan cosplayers from the fashion show. I couldn’t figure out which character this was until the credits noted it’s Jean. The gear on this is just hotness.

Yes, the garden has a variety of tulips. I like the orange ones and also a few varieties that have a difference color edge than the petals themselves.

Magnolia plaza lives up to its name. I took a pic of the yellow magnolia because it’s one of the few trees that didn’t have pink blossoms.

More cosplay photos from the weekend on Gothamist: http://gothamist.com/2015/04/27/cosplayers_brooklyn_2015.php#photo-1

Holiday train show in NYBG

I went to the NY Botanical Garden (NYBG in the Bronx) Holiday Train show this past weekend with J. This is our first time attending the show and we enjoyed all the miniatures that were made with more natural materials (tree bark, flowers, seeds, etc). Check it out this holiday season! Show ends Jan 19, 2015. 

Public transit options: The show is a short metronorth train ride away from Grand Central Terminal. There is also a "getaway" combo for metronorth + holiday show admission. http://web.mta.info/mnr/html/getaways/inbound_botanicalgarden.htm

If you don't get a chance to trek away on metronorth , take a look at the train show in GCT (ends Feb 22)!

NYPL (the one with Lions)

Grand Central Terminal

Manhattan bridge soaring above

Skyscrapers Chrysler and Empire State

a train in front of the stock exchange

Collage art and inspirations

Last Sunday I took a collage class at Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. I can't remember the last time I made a collage although I vaguely remember using magazine cutouts and funny letters. The collage I made at BBG was different because the instructor prepared a lot of materials, including flowers and leaves picked from the garden. I also learned some cool tips that will come handy in future collage projects and perhaps even artist trading cards (ATC). 

To me, collage art is the ultimate "process-oriented" work. The end product looks cool but the process was the most interesting. I enjoy the creative process and journey that come with arranging of different items / colors / styles. It's both organized chaos and not. Although I did a bit of "planning" and "brainstorm" for my project, it came out a lot different than I had imagined. I also loved figuring out what to do with scraps that I took home with me. They ended up looking great as decor and gifts for friends. 

The collage

close up of the colorful rays radiating from the sun

close-up of a flower which had felt middle with cross-stitch of leaves/stems. Then then the flower petals were from paper with torn edges. the paper actually came from some old BBG calendars featuring autumn. 

Flower arrangement

A bunch of hydrangea arranged with some ivy, bamboo leaves, and maple leaf on top of some tree bark. I had one piece of bark that had a small opening so I was able to just stick the stems of leaves/flowers in there. Silver card stock is just from my stash of card stock around the apt.

Fun Decor

Scraps of felt, magazine clippings, card stock, tree bark, and hydrangea petals made for nice gifts for friends. The petals don't last long but still very pretty for the next few days.

Materials

• watercolor paper - since it's stronger and able to hold all the various mixed media objects. for stronger hold/backing, cardboard is also recommended.
• heavy gel (semi-gloss) GOLDEN gel medium - used for gluing different objects to the paper. for things like flowers, make sure to apply this to the bottom, then also apply a top coat.
• wax paper - used as a mixing surface for acrylic paint (genius!)
• natural objectives - flowers, leaves, stems, grass, bark
• more traditional collage materials - magazines, calendars, card stock paper, felt
• colors - acrylic paint, acrylic crayons, colored pencils, etc

Tips

• background - color in with acrylic (spread with paper towel if you don't have a big paint brush), use a background image, layer different pics, etc
• cutting out objects - straight scissor cuts, torn edges, patterned edges, using a stencil to cut out something, repeated shapes with different patterns/materials
• drawing objects - regular drawing, stencils, carbon copy paper for repeated patterns (I loved this!), acrylic crayons 

Additional Resources: 

BBG Classes

https://classes.bbg.org/ShowSchedule.awp?&Mode=GROUP&Group=:FULL&Title=Classes+and+Workshops&Order=begins

Long Weekend Boogie

Memorial Day weekend is the official start of summer fun. J. and I spent most of it exploring the city and trying different food places. It's pretty amazing how much the city has to offer besides the normal BBQ and beach activities (not that there's anything wrong with those, gotta love both). A sampling below:

Lincoln Center / NYPL 

Besides the wonderful NY Philharmonic concert with Szymanowski Violin Concerto No. 1 and Prokofiev Selections from Cinderella, we also walked around the area and checked out fountains and sculptures. For library and music lovers, the NY public library performing arts library is also just across the plaza. I'm always impressed by their sheet music section and of course the expected large collection of music recordings on various forms of media.

Passport to Taiwan Event 

A few weeks ago I attended a Japanese culture event in Central Park [see blog entry]. This past Sunday was the Passport to Taiwan event in Union Square. The event featured a number of yummy food stands, fun arts/crafts tables, and of course a stage area. Next year I hope to try out the "bamboo tamales" and "stir fried vermicelli" booths. There were also a number of public art that are good photo ops (see below) and poster boards with relevant stats of Taiwan. I didn't stay for all the performance but I think the band I saw near the beginning of the festival is Takao Run (打狗亂歌團). Facebook page here. I enjoyed their acoustic style songs. Check them out on this youtube playlist. 

Governor's Island

Opening day was Saturday and this year the ferry ride is free on Sat/Sun mornings and cost $2 on all rides week days and afternoon weekends. If you plan on going there often, $20 for a season pass (until end of Sept) helps you avoid lines etc. You can check more info on official site. 

J. and I rented a tandem bike which was hilarious as always. Food truck-wise, I enjoyed the pork belly and chicken buns at Momo and Buns. J. found a vendor (forgot name) that sold flaky pastry covered Shepard's pie. I'm also happy to see that Veronica's Kitchen is back this year, even though they changed location to a newly developed food area, close to the strange fire hydrant and telephone sculptures.

BBG various 

Brooklyn Botanical Garden had more blooms this time of year. While some people prefer High Line and Central Park, I like that BBG crowds is a bit more manageable (except during the annual Sakura Festival). Lunch offering is pretty good too.

Learn more about field of bluebells here on the garden site. 

field of bluebells

snowballs

lily flowers

Wisteria Sighting

When the Met Museum held a Louise Comfort Tiffany exhibit several years ago, I was impressed by all the works on display, especially the works not related to the often pictured lamps. The American wing with various Tiffany pieces also became one of my favorite places to hang out at the Met. There was this particular stained glass window featuring wisteria that made me wonder about this flower. I had not seen wisteria before so filed this image away for future reference.  http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2006/louis-comfort-tiffany

This past weekend I found myself gazing at some lovely wisteria in Central Park Conservatory Garden. The pergola (framing device) is just as significant as the flowers themselves.

Thank you Central Park Sketch and Art Meetup Group for introducing me to this part of central park! Check out event photos here.

Another place to catch wisteria is Brooklyn Botanical Garden. http://www.bbg.org/discover/gardens/osborne_garden Maybe I have seen wisteria there before but they most likely looked different without the pergola.

More photos from Garden and Japan Day.

Click here to view these pictures larger

Two gardens two weekends

Brooklyn Botanical Garden

Magnolia

Cherry blossom http://www.bbg.org/discover/cherries

Duke Farm http://www.dukefarms.org/

Orchids

NYBG Orchid Show 2014

If you are in the NYC area, you are probably getting cabin fever from staying indoors most of this winter season. For some of us, outdoor gardens like BBG is a fun way to watch early spring flowers bloom and trees under a blanket of snow. For others, I recommend the tropical garden show for some warmer weather and nice colors. Every year, New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx puts together a fantastic orchid show. 

The show opened a week ago and will continue until April 21. This year's theme is Key West, FL.

http://www.nybg.org/exhibitions/2014/orchid-show/index.php

Besides the obvious stars of the show, there are also other events like music and poetry. I caught a bit of the performance by Jimmy Kenny and the Pirate Beach Band and it's inspired me to look into more tropical tunes. 

Beat the winter blues, check out the orchid show!

There were four statues representing four seasons between the conservatory and the dining pavilion. This particular one is summer, as represented by many different types of summer blooms.

More BBG

Garden walking tours in the winter are good for the soul. 

New year and new discoveries

It's been a good start to the year and I wanted to write a quick note (via phone blogger app) before the next proper update.

I've been discovering good tours this year, all from places I've been to before. 

For some reason I've never taken a tour from the following places until this year. How wonderful to climb a castle (in Central Park), recognize tree types (in Brooklyn Botanical garden), learn about Islamic art symbolism (in the Met), and hear about the diorama process (in the Natural history museum), just to name a few. 

All of this makes me feel like a student again (explorer, creator, and researcher, all rolled up into one). 

Central Park

Brooklyn Botanical

The Met

Thanksgiving 2013 in Photos

2013 marks the first time my parents joins J’s family for Thanksgiving. We all had a good time.

My favorites were all back. In order: zucchini quiche, sweet potato with marshmallows, turkey (cranberry not pictured), and corn bread.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic of L’s deserts. She made tarts and pies and all kinds of goodies.

After dinner we didn’t do a lego set or music but had a juggling contest. Pretty impressive.

I didn’t do any black Friday shopping but did make the two following investments over the weekend: Crunchyroll Anime Account and Brooklyn Botanical Garden Membership. On crunchyroll I binged on the entire season of Madoka. When I went back to NY I had so much cabin fever that I joined a walking tour at the garden. It was a sunny and crisp day and no crowds. I highly recommend it. Below are some pics from the garden, featuring trees with interesting barks and a bonsai plant with autumn colors!

After spending a good amount of time in the cold outdoors, decided to call up my friend Wes and splurge on ice cream at Ample Hills. Sadly we ate all the ice cream before taking pics. Tip: they also have amazing coffee and hot chocolate if you don’t want ice cream in the winter (blasphemy!). Line isn’t as long as warmer weather times and of course there is plenty of seating. Our orders were:

salted crack caramel - this was a crowd favorite when we first went with origami group post cherry blossom festival at BBG in the spring

stout chocolate Guinness –  amazing dark chocolate with Guinness flavor. goes super well with caramel.

honey – this is so tasty, I don’t know why more places don’t have honey flavored ice cream?!

cookie au lait – coffee ice cream with cookies (think fancier oreo ice cream!). can’t go wrong with this.

Hunting Cherry Blossoms in Snow: DC Trip

While most people are satisfied with photos from their trip, I like to write about it. This means that after I finally uploading photos, I’m still not done. Taking trip notes helps this blogging process but self-selection and editing renders most of those notes useless. Similar to my IndieCade blog write up (link here), I’ll capture only the highlights. What better to represent highlights than my single sighting of a cherry blossom tree! Since I booked my trip before the cherry blossom forecast, I was in DC too early to see proper peak season around the Tidal Basin. Peak season this year is April 3-6.

Day 1: Monument Walk

J. and I stayed at a place within walking distance from the National Mall which meant we were also quite close to the monuments and main cherry blossom walk around the tidal basin. We passed the Washington Monument (still under construction after last year’s earthquake), World World II Memorial (fountain was off), and Martin Luther King’s Memorial before reaching Jefferson Memorial. Below is a photo from across the Tidal Basin. It was a warm day and we were able to walk around the monuments and memorials without the usual crowd. Mostly likely everyone was more on top of the cherry blossom forecast than I was.

There were also a number of treasures inside the Smithsonian Castle. My favorite item is the cup&saucer set designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Day 2: Catching Up

B. moved closer to the metro recently so of course we had to crash his place. We browsed through the Netflix selection and watched Thor (with snarky commentary of course). Overall it was a decent movie and makes me want to read more about the series and find that children’s book on illustrated Norse Mythology. Prior to this, my only exposure to Thor was through reading Marvel Civil War. His character didn’t really make an impression on me (not going to spoil it for the rest of you). Most of the other highlights of Day 2 were food related so I will leave that for later in the post.

Day 3: Sculpture Garden in the Snow

I’ve been to the National Gallery Sculpture Garden (see my fav sculpture) and the Ice Rink but somehow missed the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden all these years frequenting the National Mall. While I was waiting for the museums and galleries to open at 10:30am, I wandered around the mall and found this sculpture garden. Perfectly timed with light snow falling. Most of the signs indicating artist names were snowed over so I will have to update this next time I get the names.

Food Round-up

We ended up going to eat in Gallery Place / Chinatown several times.

• Gordon Biersch http://www.gordonbiersch.com
  Long wait for dinner but once you get going, great food, drinks, and service. I wasn’t crazy about the Miso Mahi but J’s Märzen burger looked good.
  Märzen: our favorite beer (I found this while my family tried the beer sampler at another location).
• Crepe on the Walk http://www.crepes-a-gogo.com/Menu.html
  We fought over dessert for a while but really enjoyed this place. I got the strawberry, lemon, and sugar. J. got something with nutella. The real issue with crepes is that I haven’t been to Café Bonaparte [old review] in a while and I miss it. Next time I will need to make a trip over there.