Saturday was another warm day, and I loved the mellowness of this holiday weekend. We took a bike ride down to the Imagination Playground at the South Street Seaport. I didn't notice before, but this time the air quality was so noticeably bad most likely from all the tour buses idling near by. But of course Taiyo didn't care. He got very focused in the sandbox scooping up sand into a bucket. I brought a bucket and a scoop just in case, but this is another very nice thing about this playground-there's always plenty of tools to play with in the sandbox. Older kids were building some very interesting structures on the other side with large form blocks. Later we met a boy about a year older also named Taiyo, also half Japanese with a Japanese mom. When I heard her calling his son Taiyo, I had to exclaim, "Your son is Taiyo? Mine, too!" His mom said she never met a boy with the same name. Well, I hadn't either. Taiyo followed the other Taiyo, calling, "Taiyo, Taiyo!" but he was pretty much ignored. On the way out we saw caroling older men by the tree. It's Christmas all over town already.

We stopped at Keg No. 229 on Front Street for lunch. Among the few establishments on Front Street, this was Taiyo's choice. It was like a stylish sports bar, that didn't look kid-friendly, but we were offered a high chair immediately, and Taiyo gladly settled in one. Bench with nice cushy pillows was comfy, too. It was three in the afternoon, but it had a small group of young people gathering at the bar. The ambiance was kind of loud, which wasn't a bad thing for a toddler who wants to scream for no reason from time to time. The bathroom was the darkest one Taiyo was ever been to, and he was a bit scared. It was also scary for me too since I really couldn't see how clean the bathroom was. The food was pretty good- crab cake eggs benedict with breakfast potatoes. Potatoes were seasoned enough but Taiyo carefully dipped some ketchup to eat them. Eggs benedit was tasty although I wished the crab cakes were thicker. They have nice list of beer and the staff were very nice and friendly to Taiyo. Recommended.

In the evening we went to the New Victory Theater in Times Square for "Untapped!" It was Taiyo's first real theater experience. In the elevator an old lady asked me, "Isn't it a bit late for him?" The show was on at 7pm. "Oh, no. He's up until midnight regularly." Oh, yes, he was so excited to be seated right by the stage. They offer a booster for little people in orchestra section. The show was actually recommended for age 6 and above, and we were the only stroller parked downstairs, but Taiyo was of course totally into it. He loves tap dancing himself! We watched five cute aussie boys tapping(too bad they are gay, I was thinking), mixed with beat-boxing and rock music, and Taiyo screamed here and there, which made the performers chuckle sometimes. First 30 minutes weren't too bad, but the next 30 minutes got a bit more stressful for me. Taiyo started jumping from his seat onto me, then climbed back onto his seat, and started all over again. He also turned around and tried to get attention of the boy behind him, who ignored him. I asked him if he wanted to leave, but he shook his head. He also kicked the man next to him numerous times, who didn't seem to mind too much- he got three kids next to him. Anyway, we survived the show and ushesr by the door said, "He was so cute!" Well, this was the theater for kids, and his behavior was all acceptable. We'll be back for more.

The restaurants around there were too crowded after the show, and some had only revolving doors indicating "no strollers." We weren't going to wait for a half hour for a table at Ruby Tuesday, so we went to Burger King instead. He was happy enough with the bourbon burger with sweet sauce. At least we got very fresh french fries, and of course Taiyo dipped them carefully into ketchup. I said we are taking a cab! after that, and Taiyo went yay! The traffic was everywhere and it wasn't easy trip. Taiyo was so hyper jumping around. We were stuck for a while on Houston and I realized that I should've told the driver not to take the Second avenue down to Houston- he doesn't live in the neighborhood! Taiyo was still jumping around when we got home and I was truly exhausted. So the next day spending most of the time at home wasn't so bad for me. You can't see it in this picture Taiyo took at the laundromat. Do I look kind of tired? Or I'm just getting old.

My Thanksgiving tradition started Wednesday, making a trip to Union Square greenmarket to pick up some fresh herbs and vebetables. Taiyo slept through the whole trip in comfy sports utility jogging stroller. Late afternoon, we met up with Lynne and headed uptown to see the balloon inflation for Macy's Thanksgiving parade. We saw Snoopy, Spiderman, Hello Kitty, and some other bunch. It was so crowded we had enough just going through one block, half of the event.

We stopped at Cafe Con Leche on Amsterdam between 80th and 81st. It's a cute small latin joint. We were offered a table in the back with a bench, which was of course great for Taiyo. They also offered us a high chair, but Taiyo was already stretched out on the bench to check its comfort level. Taiyo's mind was all set for rice and beans. They brought his water in a paper coffee cup with top with a straw, which gets high points for being a kid-friendly restaurant. I settled on pork stew. It tasted pretty good, but pork was too cruncy and chewy for stew- the lighting was too dark to decide it was actually grilled pork with sauce or meat was simply dry and tough. But otherwise, service was friendly and Taiyo was happy with his rice and beans. He also chugged down more than half the plate of plantains Lynne ordered. The restaurant is pretty small and tables are close together- strollers may have hard time manuevering or finding a spot, but over all nice place to dine with a kid. Fairly recommended.

So it was Thanksgiving day. My plan was to do much of the cooking while Taiyo takes nap- we walked out early afternoon to pick up a few more things from a store, and he seemed pretty much ready for a little napping. But after half an hour I realized I'd better get back first and put my turkey in the oven. Then Taiyo was super upset that we didn't stop at the supermarket. While I threw turkey into the oven, he sat in the stroller in the doorway and kept screaming "SOOOOPER MAAARKKEEETTTT!!!!" into the street. Finally we rolled out again but Taiyo was super upset and kept screaming. When we got to the Chinese market on Clinton, the guy at the fish deparment gave him some chocolate and finally Taiyo stopped screaming. He held two chocolate, one on each hand, and sobbed for a while then fell asleep. I ran back thinking that I got two hours to get most of cooking done. So I thought. But only one hour late Taiyo woke up, and he was very needy. He had to sit on my lap, and wouldn't let me get up and cook. So until Mark and Steve arrived to distract Taiyo I wasn't able to get much done and it was a bit stressful after that trying to get everything ready in two hours. But all was well in the end with roasted turkey, cranberry sauce, my famous stuffing with cashews and sausage, garlic mashed potato, caponata, roasted zucchini and turnips, pumpkin and corn salad, and yuzu-tuna wrap. Taiyo made a mistake stuffing himself too early with cheese and crackers, but he still enjoyed turkey and cranberry sauce. Then he went totally high after green tea cheesecake and went running outside, taking hands of my guests one by one.

We enjoyed sleeping late today. It was a beautiful warm day and I took him out to Guitar Center on 14th Street. This place is a heaven for him with all kinds of music instruments! He went crazy in drums department, then we picked up a new uklele (on sale for $30!). Last one was broken after being banged around in his rock'n roll action.

We lunched at Japonica on University and 12th St. The bench was confortable with a pillow and Taiyo immediately jumped on it for a while, but he decided to take a chair on the other side of the table. They brought him a plastic cup and a straw with a tiny pinwheel, which was of course a high point for a kid-friendly restaurant. It kept him in the seat for a while. There was too many things on the menu, but I settled on lunch special box with eel and avocado donburi and shrimp tempra roll, and steamed shumai appetizer. The box was not quite impressive with mixed green and pinapples, and I felt there should've been just a little something like hijiki instead of edamame, but overall it was a great value. Taiyo immediately cleared eel- he couldn't wait for his fork to arrive and started grabbing it by hand. Then he of course enjoyed nice big shumai and finished all the pinapple. Dining room is fairly spacious and strollers should be able to find a room to park. Recommended.

Taiyo is turning into quite an entertainer. The other day he put on Dora's mask to crack me up. Later when my staff arrived he continued to wear the mask and greeted everyone with "Hora!"

As a single mother who works too much, I normally devote sundays as the day to do stuff out there with Taiyo, visiting zoos, parks, or museums, and trying out some restaurants we haven't been to. But yesterday, I couldn't convince him to leave the house. He just enjoyed hanging out in the house despite of the construction noise outside. Continuous playing of kids DVDs was annoying but I didn't mind hanging out insdie all day- maybe the first time since hurricane. Taiyo played his guitar, keyboard, danced around, wore his penguin hat and danced around some more. We briefly left for grocery shopping late afternoon, and I was hoping that he'd take a long nap. He fell asleep only a few blocks away on the way back, and woke up when I carried him upstairs. We decided to order in for dinner.

Last week I tried GrubHub.com for the first time to order. My order from Moustache on 10th street was estimated to be delivered in one hour. It was delivered in hour and a half, and soup was hot but "pitza" was cold. The next GrubHub asked for the first time review, so I told them what happened. No, I would not recommend it to my friends because it wasn't a great experience. They were sorry and send me $25 gift card. So I tried again yesterday. This time I went for Goodfella's Pizza on Rivington and Orchard. It's only four blocks away, and was expecting better result. Estimated delivery was one hour again. Hour and a half later, I was beginning to wonder where my food was, so called 800 number for GrubHub. I was holding for five minutes to speak to a rep, then finally the food arrived. You'd expect to have the pizza hot from a pizza restaurant, expecially when the rest of the order was a salad and garlic bread. Not this place. It was just kind of warm. Salad was rip off for $12, mesculan green and some sliced strawberries. It was supposed to be served with balsamic reduction, but it was just plain balsamic vinegar that came with it. Though it was nice to see Taiyo discovering strawberries and arugula together was a great match. The goodfella pizza was supposed to be the popular item, but it had too many chunks of too raw garlic and we couldn't eat half of it. The garlic bread was more like some bread with cheese on top, and guess what, they weren't hot either. Food was terrible, and expensive, and it came so late. Nothing good about this restaurant.

We finally made it to the 'Bring Your Own Kid concert' at TribecaY sunday morning. The place was packed with babies, toddlers, and mommies and daddies for Brady Rymer and The Little Band That Could. Their music was fun and rocking, and the little girls first occupied the floor. Taiyo was serious observing and studying the band. Then he was jumping around with the other kids for a while and then started snapping pictures of the band. Yes, the above picture was one of his shot. But because of not having enough lighting he wasn't able to snap good photos and he was frustrated and threw the camera on the floor. I took it away from him and he started screaming. The music was loud enough his loud scream wasn't that noticeable- also it was getting close to the end of the show there were other kids screaming here and there. So I just let him have his fit. I shook my head and said, no, I'm not giving you the camera. He was finally through by the time the band finished. We watched some artworks in the lobby before heading out. It was pretty cool beginning of the day.

We stopped for brunch at Josephine on Greenwich and Harrison. It was spacious and sure enough, almost every table had a kid or two or three. We were not offered one, but they had high chairs. The nice leather bench was comfy and easy to climb up for Taiyo. Immediately Taiyo took a picure of a little pumpkin on the table. We went for french toast (oh, yes, we were in a French cafe, oui, oui) and corn soup. French toast was of course big hit for Taiyo, and it turns out a perfect finger food despite of almond slices and powder suger on top. He ate pretty much ate the entire plate, and finally decided to try the soup, which was almost gone. "Yummy!" he exclaimed, and finished the rest. It was comfortable dining experience, and food was very nice. Recommended.

Just down the street we found this amazing playground in Washington Market Park. Three gyms with interesting designs, a wooden choo-choo train, and a tunnel. Taiyo ran around the park, made some friends, and truly enjoyed every corner of it. He protested when I finally grabbed him to head home after two hours. But within a few blocks he was sleeping in the bike seat.

I was feeling a bit burned out. I lost a staff (again!) and last week some very inappropriate candidates showed up and I was totally discouraged. I just couldn't deal with this process of interviewing, and then training whoever I get. I decided to take a few days off. It was a great little break- since it's the most beautiful time of the year. We went up to the Central Park Zoo, biked around aimlessly, took a long train ride to Hall of Science, and cheered for runners of NYC marathon. It was a bit too warm for the marathon yesterday, but neverthless, it is the greatest street party this city offers. As soon as we got off the bridge, Taiyo started chanting, "Go runners! Go runners!" Then he blew his whistle. For ten years I lived for this race. It was never easy, but always fun. Since the opening of SOY, I always ran with "SOY" headband- people cheered for me "Go SOY!" everywhere. I feel that I need some cheering again these days.

We stopped for lunch at Dokebi on Grand between Bedford and Driggs in Williamsburg, right by the marathon course. Taiyo was immediately comfortable in this Korean joint, climbing up on the benches here and there. It was fairly quiet when we walked in, but more families with little kids and strollers walked in after us, proving that this is a kid-friendly establishment. Spacious dining area has lots of room for strollers, plus room for them to run around- which they did. Taiyo soon joined two other toddlers running around the restaurant, and they also enjoyed climbing up on hays and slapping big pumpkins here and there. They had interesting fusion brunch options, but we went for bibim bahp. It was delicious, although Taiyo only ate rice from the bowl. Nighttime would be a different scene there, but for a brunch it was very accomodating for a little one. Service was moderately kid-friendly; Taiyo got a glass of water with a straw immediately, but I had to ask for a bowl and a utencil for him. Overall, it was nice experience, in a sunny restaurant. Recommended.

A few days ago we had lunch at Souvlaki Gr on Stanton near Essex, where my old laundromat used to be. It's a cute restaurant with interesting Greek themed interior. They were established as a food truck first before they settled at this location not long ago. Taiyo just woke up from unsatisfying nap when we got there, and was rather cranky, but soon felt comfortable with the presence of owner's young boy in the restaurant. They did have a high chair, but Taiyo decided my lap was a better seat. We ordered Greek fries and a bifteki sandwich. I wasn't sure if Taiyo would like the greek fries, topped with feta cheese and oregano. He loved them and didn't ask for ketchup - it was salty enough and tasty! The sandwich was fairy small- which was good actually since fries were a big plate. Taiyo only ate the pita bread, which was fresh and tasty. Well, the sandwich was indeed fresh and tasty. Just a little tricky to enter with a stroller, but yes this place is recommended. Easy on the wallet, too.

On sunday morning, we finally got it together to head out to attend "Bring Your Own Kid" concert at TribecaY. Or we thought. It was cancelled due to yesterday's early snow of the season, since the band was coming from Pennsylvania. Bummer. So we headed a few blocks up to the Children's Museum of the Arts, and did some drawing and drumming at the music time, which I think is the best thing they offer. Taiyo always goes fot the real djembe drum, not a kid drum. The museum was way too crowded with west side brats, as our first visit last earlier this month, and Taiyo was ready to head out again sooner than I thought. I was happy enough to leave the crowd.

We went a few blocks up on Hudson and found EN, Japanese Brasserie at Hudson and Leroy, open for brunch. This was the most chichi restaurant we've been to. Interestingly, this kid-unfriendly restaurant (spacious but no high chairs) had many tables with families with babies or kids. They did bring Taiyo a plastic cut with water, but didn't have any wooden bowl or smaller utencils- they gave him a nice ceramic bowl and large silverware neatly placed in a wooden box. Taiyo did enjoy looking around the pretencious interior, and didn't feel totally out of the place with the presence of other small people, so he comfortably and happily screamed in his highest pitch that echoed in the place. When I mentioned the red bean pancake on the menu, his mind was so set for the pancake, so that's what we ordered, along with o-banzai, kyoto style little dishes. When the plates arrived, he snatched up strawberry halves off the plate, and started digging into the pretty pancake. I cut up some pieces for him because it was really tough. Oh, boy, it was the toughest pancake we were served anywhere. It surely looked pretty, but the pancake was this dense blob- obviously they didn't know who much baking powder to add to the batter. Taiyo spit out some of it, but ate alot of it. Small dishes were wonderful and delicious- Taiyo enjoyed sweet potato shira ae, and I truly loved yuzu-flavored mushroom ohitashi. But I could not forgive them for serving us that most horrible pancake for $15. Service was also terribly slow- not recommended.

Later for dinner we tried the fairy new Japanese place on Clinton and Rivington, Hachenber. It's more like a drinking place than a restaurant, but Taiyo got comfortable stretching out in a booth. Service is pretty friendly, and it was pretty low-key on sunday night. They also had a pre-fix offering which included a drink for mommy, assorted appetizer, a choice of entree and ice cream for dessert for $15. Good value. Although the shumai on the starter plate was strangely tough and crusty (shumai is supposed to be steamed and soft!) Taiyo ate it. Peppered edamame was too cold for my taste, and scallion salad was tasty but too strong (left onion taste in my mouth for hours!). Our choice of entree, okonomiyaki (cabbage pancake) had too much sauce on but Taiyo liked it for the plenty of tonkatsu sauce and mayo. Service was friendly, but I didn't enjoy the food too much. Not recommended.

Halloween was low-key for us. Yuka was dressed up as a cute Big Bird, and Taiyo with Elmo hat. This year I felt this is a holiday a parent can fear for- your kid can collect as many candies as he wants! I was happy that Taiyo didn't want to dress up to go trick-or-treating. How am I supposed to keep him away from his winnings? Without a costume, he still scored a lollipop at the Chinese market and licked it for an entire hour.