The air was dump from early morning's rain when we left the house Sunday morning. The sun was getting strong, but we head out on our impulsive bike trip. Taiyo was letting out his funk reserve this morning after a week of excellent behavior. He cried and screamed that he couldn't wear his shoes (and he would not let you help), screamed as if I left him in the middle of a desert when I had to put him down to open the gate of the store downstairs, and fussed around that I wasn't putting him in the bike seat immediately when we walked into the store. So I was fine slowing down a little when he decided to just stomp around in a rain puddle making his little footprints at the Seaport. It's so beautifully fascinating how this little person can discover and enjoy simple activities. He jumped around a while, then of course complained that his feet were wet. So we got on the bike again and I let him go bearfoot. We continued to the West side but the air was getting really hot. We decided to take a refuge in the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center. Oh, yes, this is like the greatest indoor playground with shiny floor and big trees and so much space above and all the stairs to climb up and down and escalators to get on and off. This time he also tested the echo by shouting some amazing baby prophesies into the air. (No, I didn't understand what he was saying.) He ran around, danced around, and got some more pictures taken by strangers.

We enjoyed viewing the drawings of Jules Feiffer at the Couryard Gallery. The spacial gallery was pretty empty, and the drawings of dancers inspired Taiyo to do some more dancing around. After 15 minutes of dancing around, Taiyo go to the corner and poo. Fortuantely the gallery was empty, and we found a changing table right downstairs in the restroom. However, it was a real baby size-one and Taiyo's head laid uncomfortably on the edge. After cleaned up Taiyo danced around the restroom some more.

Next door, we stopped at Yushi for lunch. This was just another overpriced fast-food sushi takeout kid of a joint. They also offered hot food, but I just felt like grabbing a quick bite, so settled for a maki-sampler, sitting ready in the refrigerator. The rolls looked pretty, but rather tasteless. After just a little bite, Taiyo decided that looking around the ceiling was more of interest to him. The booth was clean and comfortable, and food was nothing impressive, but edible. It's not the best choice but not the worst. Having so many chopsticks to mess with is a plus.

Before we left we had to have a treat from Ciao Bella. A bunch of indecisive tourists hovered around the showcase that contained douzens of colorful gelato choices, but I quickly made my aim and called out, "Green Apple!" The heat was much more bearable with a little cup of gelato outside. To my surprise Taiyo let me finish half of it. What's wrong with this gelato, Taiyo? He fell asleep on the bike seat just as we left the Battery Park City. I was hoping for a few hours of downtime, but my day was doomed to be the long one. When we got home and put Taiyo down on the bed, he opened his eyes. I told him I had to go take a shower, and he quickly decided to go into a tantrum, so I offered him beautiful golden yellow watermelon I just picked up at New Amsterdam market on the way home. He happily accepted the bribe. It was amazingly refreshing fruit. Just sweet enough.
Two hours later, we were back out in the heat. This time I was ambitious heading to 'MoonDance' at Piar 84- this was the last one of the season already! Taiyo fell asleep before we hit Union Square. My plan was to have a bite before the dance, but I decided to keep on riding in the heat. Because he was asleep, I took my bike helmet off. It was just too hot. I went past Intrepid, Trump Place, and wanted to stop and relax a few minutes myself, but realized stopping was even hotter and uncomfortable. Eventually reached Riverside Park. I was tired. I was sweaty. Taiyo was finally kind of waking up. We headed down back to the MoonDance by Intrepid. When I took Taiyo down from the bike seat, he was just in the funkiest mood. He decided to fuss, whine and cry, not wanting to watch the dance lesson that was just starting, not wanting to get down on his feet, not wanting to sit on my lap on the lawn. He twisted around on the lawn crying for 10 minutes. I had to give up. I put him back on the bike, and he calmed down. Just at the end of the Pier, he began chanting, "Gohan(food)!" And right there, it was PD O'Hurleys.

No, I didn't think we would find decent food there, but it was just too conveniently located with outdoor seating and even an entertainment- a guy with a guitar! Of course Taiyo wanted to take a seat and I ordered $13 cheeseburger. When my beer arrived, Taiyo proposed a toast with his water. The singer was not horrible, doing John Denver, Eagles, Tom Petty, and such, and I liked it when a kid shouted out, "Star Wars!" when he asked the audience what he should play. Taiyo rocked to the music and made him happy. The burger that arrived 10 minutes later was just as sad as I expected. A slice of cheese was kid of dried not melted on the also quite dried out piece of meat. Did they just recover this sad item that was sitting under the heat lamp for 30 minutes? At least the fries were done to the right crispness, and Taiyo did eat some of the burger. He was totally out of the funk at the end of the meal, we went back to the MoonDance and he enjoyed seeing and listening some more music. The ride back home was still too hot and long and heavy. I realized we didn't see fireflies anymore. Only three more weekends left in August.

Sunday morning, the heat finally subsided and we went out for our usual aimless bike ride. I was thinking of heading to Governor's Island, but when we passed by New Amsterdam Market at the old Fulton Fish Market by the Seaport, Taiyo urged me to stop.
It's a nice little Sunday market where you can find local produce and artisanal food products. We went around and sampled cheese and bread, but this week the market seemed a bit smaller than usual, maybe because of the heat, or we are in the middle of the summer at high vacation time. We couldn't find his favorite focaccia, so we settled for a crabcake slider by National Crab.

The cute little slider was whopping $10, but it was solid crab meat with no filler. Quite tasty. But Taiyo only had a slice of tomato and bread. Then he kept asking for more bread. So we went around looking for more bread. This market is another wonderful outdoor eating option for the summer, but there's no place to sit! Last year they had benches but this year they decided to have only high tables, which Taiyo enjoyed to climb. But it was impossible to eat at this table with him. We sat on the divider around the lot, which I would not recommend to any other little people. Other option would be to just walk out and sit by the water, although right now there's construction along the path and not very appealing surrounding anyway.

There's a few more options for street food across the street at Fulton Stall Market. But there's no bathrooms at these markets. I guess you can go to the pier at the Seaport. Later Taiyo led me to Gap where I ended up making unplanned purchase of his shirts and pants. Then we went just another block down to the beautiful Imagination Playground.

This fabulous little playground has great blocks, cool fountains, large sandbox, fun slope to run around and a tower to overlook everything. And even a spacious bathroom with a changing table. We always love hanging out there.

Beautiful summer morning- the air was still cool and dry when we left the house. Since there was no uptown train at Delancey street, we hopped into a cab to the Central Park. Our first stop, an African drum and dance workshop at Tavern on the Green. It was just fantastic 'little' event, since main participants were little people. They practiced playing djembe drums and doing african dance moves in relaxed and intimate atmosphere. This was just a great place to hang out, because there were nice food trucks right behind. There, I found mommy's dream food.

Pera Turkish Tacos at Tavern on the Green
Among the few 'gourmet' food trucks there, this seemed the most interesting. Turkish tacos? They even offered alcoholic beverages! We had eggplant kofte & squash taco. Taiyo sat down at a table, and immediately began to devour the taco. It was the perfect size for him to hold, and when I realized that he wasn't let go of the taco, I went back to the truck and told the guy "I have to get another one, because he's eating the whole thing." This was magical food. It was delicious, healthy, not messy plus we were outside. Then we enjoyed more music wondering around the park. He really liked the lady with the violin.
On the east side we came upon this great band with fabulous name: The Dirty Urchins. Being an urchin himself, Taiyo very much enjoyed the music. Line was too long at the zoo and we gave up on the idea of seeing the penguins. We passed by the amusement park at Wollman Rink, but didn't investigate because they charged fee just to enter the park. Taiyo was too tired anyway. He was fast asleep by the time we left the park.

Evening outing on the bike: we headed to the west side and decided to stop in at Merchant River House. I was pretty sure this can be moderately kid-friendly because of the location. Surely, they offered a high chair immediately, although Taiyo refused to sit in it, and gave him a packet of crayons. We did like our table right across from the kitchen window. Most of the plates coming out looked nice and fresh. Our waitress wasn't very firendly, but this place seemed quite adequately staffed, things were pretty smooth. Our dinner: Merchant River House Pizza, and warm spinach and artichoke dip. The cheezy and rick dip was a big hit for Taiyo. He fussed having to have to wait a bit since dip was piping hot. He didn't care to touch pizza, which was a sad item. It was edible, but totally overbaked and crunchy. Taiyo was shouting jibblish in between, but staff were busy enough he went pretty much noticed. Then he began to run around a little, but his behavior was well tolerated and the manager trafficed the waiters off the little urchin runing by their feet. Overall it was fairy positive visit. I would just not order pizza next time. The rest of the evening, Taiyo seriously ran around like a bouncy ball here and there across Battery Park City for two hours. Finally I put him back into the bike and we biked through Battery Park to admire fireflies. Then he was fast asleep again.

Taiyo woke up with a serious funk. He cried because I wouldn't carry him while getting his milk together. I cried for milk and me at the same time. He had to have them both. I said I have to put him down to get his milk ready. He screamed and screamed. I ignored and put our breakfast together. Raising a child is a game of tolerance sometimes. I'm getting better playing it, but I still lose it here and there and scream back at him.

He wanted to go to the market, but we were going to see our dear friend Lynne, or Lakshmi, in her new free Little Movers Yoga movement class at Hamilton Fish Library. She just started offering this class at the library on Fridays at 10am. Little ones 12-36 months are welcomed. Taiyo loves running around the room, and going up and around the stage.

Taiyo slept three hours in the afternoon to get out his summer funk. For a few days the people from Love A Lot are bringing toys and it's been like Christmas for him. Today he woke up to a tub full of blocks. "Wow!!" He was just as excited to see his lunch bowl. It was vegetarian Friday for us, with fried tofu, avocado, and fresh mozzarella cubes, seasoned with balsamic vinegar. He loved the tofu, rice, and some avocado, but wasn't really fond of cheese to my surprise. He decided to get down on the floor and started running around, but every few minutes he came back to the table and asked for another bite. Also miso soup with daiko and napa never dissapoints him. It was definately like Christmas for him. After meal, he asked for his guitar and started singing stomping his little feet, providing live entertainment for customers.

Another muggy warm day, we headed out early to Chinatown. At 10am, streets were already full of Chinese people and other people and weaving through the crowd on East Broadway was like a playing a video game. Do I get a point if I run over that old man with a cane? I will make sure to step on it if a fruit comes rolling across the sidewalk. When we got to Columbus Park, the hip-hop party for kids was already on, and Lynne was waiting for us. Upon arrival, Taiyo thought it was cool and immediately started texting his friends (above.) We danced to the music by "Secret Agent 23 Skidoo," which was Dad, Mom, their little girl, and a tall black dude. It was an awsome low-key event. Then we walked through another video-game crowd of Chinatown and went to have lunch.

Lunch: Wild Ginger at Broome and Mulberry.
Small and cozy atmosphere. We were one of the first lunch guests. We were offered a high chair and the waiter promptly brought a plastic cup with a straw for Taiyo's water. These are good signs of 'child-friendly' restaurant. Taiyo sat down and first worked on his chopstick skill. But when Yaki-udon arrived, he had to switch gears with a fork. Then he went crazy over fried oyster mushrooms. He ran around the restaurant laughing out loud looking up at the ceiling. Food was very good, and it was comfortable dining experience but somehow it was very hard to get the waiter's attention, and cutest Taiyo's behavior running around playing a waiter at times went unnoticed. Because he ate so much, Taiyo had to poo before ice cream arrived. But now it was too late. He didn't leave the table until we licked the bottom of the dishes. Bathroom was clean but dark, but I managed to change him with him standing up. Do Taiyo and I recommend this place? Yes, fairly. Access is fairly good, just a little step up at the door. Not too much room for a larger stroller. We were there when it wasn't busy, so it wasn't much of a problem.

Next door at the candy store Papabubble we happened to walk in to witness the candy making session. Beautiful string of candies came out the little canding cutting machine right in front of our eyes! That was a real treat, and the owner let us sample the freshly made soda pop candy. Must visit with a little one, although they really don't have any planned candy making time. If you're lucky, you'll see it. Of course he fell asleep on the way home.

When he woke up later afternoon, I wasn't able to convince him to go to the pool. We did the usual walk around the block, then headed out again on the bike. At East River Park, we went to the running track and kicked around a soccer ball in the field. It was still so hot in the sun, so I suggested to retire to more shady area. Then he got busy walking up and down at the bleacher by the track. It's amazing how a toddler can be so obsessed and content in doing some task. I tried to be patient and let him do his activity, but after half an hour I was pretty bored and hungry. We headed out again in search of food.

Dinner: Cafecito Ave C between 11th and 12th Streets. The awning "Authentic Cuban" caught my attention, and the interior of the restaurant had the authentic Cuban feel. Taiyo was immediately comfortable and relaxed on the floor, which did not impress the staff. Mojito was fresh and delicious, and Ropa Vieja, beef stew was also very nice, but Taiyo seemed to only care for the rice. I loved the very garlicy sauce that came with tostones. Bathroom was clean and spacious, but the service for the little one was non-existance especially with a young waitress who didn't seem to notice this cutest bouncing ball. Recommended? Maybe, because I love Cuba and food was very good.

It was muggy and hot 4th of July. I was unable to convince Taiyo to get on the boat to go to Governor's Island, but after a going around the block on his ride-on bus, I managed to put in on the bike seat to head out. There was no baseball game going on at the East River Park, since everyone was out for a cook-out. We settled for a near-by attraction of South Street Seaport. Taiyo danced around in the square, then walked up on the pier, lounged with on the chairs watching and waving at the boats going by. He seemed content, but I was getting bored. So we walked into the food court.
Today's Dining: South Street Seaport Food court
He immediately spotted the arcade rides before I did, and went crazy riding them. A car, a train with Barney, a helicoptor, an ice-cream truck; he didn't need any coins to enjoy them. I went down to the closest food vendor "Simply Seafood" to get our lunch- seafood pasta, fish & chips, and a small beer for $13, which wasn't a bad deal. Taiyo continued to ride the incredible vehicles, while I was able to enjoy a slow meal. Too bad not many restaurants have an arcade ride so parents can enjoy some quiet eating time. Downside would be that it maybe harder to get the kids to sit down to eat.

Eventually he came down for a while to munch on 'fish & chips,' because he is Taiyo. He can't just forget about eating. He thought tartar sauce with the fish was rather tasty. Later we stopped in at the christmas store, which I've never walked into. He behaved quite well, not touching too many things although this big store (actually much deeper than you'd expect) was literally filled with millions of fun looking ornaments and other little goodies of every kind. Just one downside of the Seaport pier is that their bathroom- many stalls, but overall they were nasty. We didn't hit it that day, but there's another great attraction for a little one across the street: Imagination Playground it's a beautifully designed little playground with lots of foam blocks and fantasctic fountain. Today he was fast asleep as soon as we hit the road.

After a long nap, we head out to West Village to visit Orly and Jed's lawn party. So many of their neighbors were having a gathering around the courtyard and Taiyo was adored by adults and kids all across the yard. More eating 'out' that's so great for me; I don't have to clean up after him. Little food crumbs he was dropping here and there wasn't a big deal. On the way back we saw an amazing sky behind us on Houston.

We watched fireworks on TV but he was not terribly impressed he asked me to put on 'Elmo.'

Last year on 4th of July, Taiyo stood on his own for the first time. This year at 21-months, he's singing ABC's. I've been trying to start this new blog for a few months- Dining with Taiyo- because he just loves eating. He loves eating good food with other people. Is that because he's growing up in a restaurant? SOY blog has been pretty much Taiyo blog for two years now. I decided that I officially transform it into Taiyo blog. We'll be chronicling about our dining experiences in and out, just for the fun of it.

Today: Pulino's Bar & Pizzeria
282 Bowery at Houston
It was a dump day all day with drizzling rain. My plan was to walk up to Minca on 5th street for ramen noodle soup, but rain discouraged me and I pushed the stroller to the west along Houston because I had to pick up something at BestBuy on Broadway. We passed by a few places I was thinking about, but they seemed to be a little busy even though it was only 4pm in the afternoon on Sunday. We finally stopped at Pulino's at Bowery. This was our first visit there. Their sister restaurant Schiller's around the corner from us is fairy kid friendly- they will give Taiyo a set of crayons as we sit down, and there's always a very friendly waitress who would come around even if ours wasn't her table. Pulino's didn't have the crayons for Taiyo, but high-chair came right out for him, and access is nice and easy with the door wide open (thanks to the warm weather), plenty of room by the outside door to park the stroller, and Taiyo was happy looking around hipster interior with liquor bottles nicely decorating the walls. He also liked the view of the pizza oven behind him. Service was smooth and quick, and Taiyo liked their pizza very much- we had Bianca and he ate almost half of the pie. The table next to us, with older couple and their son, was quite amused with Taiyo. He really likes to entertain others. After he decided that he was through, Taiyo tried to run out to the street, but the staff there was quite aware of this little person and tried to stop him. That gave me more positive impression about this place. I say recommended. Sorry no pictures- Taiyo destroyed only a year old camera and I was on the way to pick up a new one.

Old blog is found here: http://archive.soyrosendale.com/weblog/