Air was crisp and sky was blue. We headed to the west side to Children's Museum of the Arts at their new Charlton Street location. The bright room was full of great art activities for little people. Taiyo immediately got busy with markers and brushes. We enjoyed music time where Taiyo got a chance to practice some drumming. The place is beautiful, but it was way overcrowded. And probably because of the location the crowd was too Tribecca- so many pushy brats! Exhibit about Public Art was pretty cool but I felt I wanted a bit more out of this place. Even though it's a longer trip, we'd rather frequent Brooklyn Children's Museum where there's so much more than we can explore every time. We thought the coolest thing was the pedal operated water fountain (above) that was just a beautful piece of art. Taiyo marched out of the museum chanting for gyoza, but he fell asleep on bike again only a few blocks away.

Lynne joined us for Indian dinner at Raj Mahal on 6th Street Indian row. We picked this place for a Sitar player in the window. It's hard to get in with the stroller with steep stairway down to the half basement restaurant, and there was not much room inside. The hauler outside told us he'd watch the stroller under the awning. Upon entry, the waiter immediately placed Taiyo on the musician's lap but he was more scared than thrilled. "Help." He extended his little arms to Lynne to be rescued. We took a table right next to him, and Taiyo was soon enchanted with the music. He also enjoyed all the food, mixed vegetable pakora fritters, chicken tikka masala (although he wouldn't touch chicken), rice, daal, and fluffy poori bread. It was definitely the most food he ate in a restaurant in a while. In my opinion, the food was ok, not bad, but nothing special. But for the music and kind of funky decore including chili pepper lights on the ceiling and poster of Cuba beside our table, it's super recommended. We were having a great time until this older couple seated behind us and before they ordered the meal, the man said to Lynne who was sitting facing their table, "Are you staying?" Taiyo was sitting next to her at the time. "Are you talking to me?" she replied. "We'd rather be close to the music but if you're staying there we'd rather move to another table." Seriously? "We're staying," she replied, even though we were pretty much done with our meal. Oh, yes we were staying here for the long time! They stood up and moved to the far back of the restaurant. How rude those people were! Taiyo may have shrieked once or twice, but did they really have problem with this lovely child? Or did they think we were lesbian couple and they had a problem with that? Either way, that made our heads shake to know how hostile this world could be, even for Taiyo who gets picture taken by strangers everywhere we go. But otherwise we had a great time. Staff were very much amused by Taiyo, and the Sitar player encouraged Taiyo to sit next to him so he can watch closely, but Taiyo was still a bit scared maybe because of his beard and turban. At the end they brought us free dessert of bright orange goo with coconut. Taiyo spit it out. Yet this place is recommended overall.

Taiyo woke up early cranky, and he had to sit for a while on my lap to calm down before I was even fully awake. Finished laundry first, and we were ready to head out under gloomy sky. Union Square Greenmarket was full of beautiful fall colors- pumpkins, mums, all kinds of delicious grapes, but Taiyo fell asleep on the way. This was a tricky situation. I wasn't able to complete our mission of shopping and having lunch. If I headed back home, I still won't be able to move him to bed to let him nap longer, since he pretty much always wake up these days. I just rode around Styvesant Town, and an old lady yelled at me, "Excuse me, but look at him! He's sleeping!" Oh, yes he's sleeping in the bike seat and this thing is not quite designed for a child to sleep in. Taiyo looks like he's falling over. "Yes, I know he's sleeping! What am I supposed to do?!" I yelled back. Should I wake him up and make him upset, or go home and remove him from the seat to wake him up and make him cry? Meantime I got a text from Fairycon that it will start at Thompkins Square Park. Of course these strange things always happen around there, as I expected. I headed to the park and Taiyo woke up in time but there was still no sign of fairies- unlike Santacon, when the streets are filled with hundreds of Santas bar hopping, this event is still new and probably fairly small. Then of course Taiyo started asking for gyoza. It was time for lunch.

We settled at Ichiraku on First Avenue near St. Marks. It used to be another Japanese ramen chain, and since the name was changed, I supposed it may be a bit different. Now it was another ramen place by Korean people- it seems many more Japanese ramen places are run by Koreans now, at least in this neighborhood. The young Korean waitress spoke fluent Japanese and she was very nice to Taiyo. She brought him a high chair from the back restaurant, Bibim Bar, but the counter was too high it didn't make it any better. Taiyo was able to handle eating on his knees, as he usually do these days, but the stools have no backs and there's no low tables and it will be difficult to have babies and toddlers who may not be able to handle stools. The waitress gave him a fork and a small bowl, but apologized that she had only large forks and it may be dangerous for him. He was fine with it, but he utilized more hands. Food was ok, and he ate all the gyoza skins and slurped good amount of noodles. It was 'no surprises' meal that was prepared according to the manual, good price, friendly service, but unfortunately the seating situation do not make this place kid-friendly. And I was disappointed by gyoza not having any chives in it!

After the super exciting weekend, Taiyo has been tired and irritable for a few days. I've been tired also, and this morning he let me sleep in for a bit after I turned on TV for him. It's our precious mid-week off on Wednesday, until my cooking class in the evening, and we enjoyed walking around the neighborhood under the gloomy sky. We had lunch at Congee Village on Allen right below Delancey. It's a spacious restaurant with lots of distractions for a little person- water fountain, flowers, sculptures including a statue of an Italian chef, TV monitors, and so on. There's plenty of high chairs, since big Chinese families often include little ones, and staff are pretty kid-friendly. They immediately brought him a styrofoam plate and plastic utencils. The place was rather empty for lunch, but the service was super slow. Taiyo got busy playing with little tea cups and bowls for a while. They have pretty authentic food, but many of items on the menues are a bit hard to understand for non-Chinese people. I just settled for seafood noodle soup and gyoza dumplings since Taiyo always asks for them. Taiyo ate the noodles but nothing else in the bowl. Then he was too bored to sit at the table and decided to explore around the restaurant. Somehow it took such a long time for sad looking dumplings to arrive. I was already done with the soup, and Taiyo already lost interest in any food, since he found some Japanese girls to talk to a few tables down, so I asked for a check. It took another five minutes for my check and we were so ready to go. We didn't hate this place but it's much better for a larger group and during busier dining hours perhaps the service is quicker. Mixed feelings about this place but definitely feasable with a small person and do not order the pan fried dumplings.

It was the best birthday ever for him, or it was simply the best day ever in two years of his life. Saturday was his 2nd birthday, and he was already too excited with the balloons in the morning, I was worried that he would crash before his birthday party at noon. But he kept his high energy up through the afternoon, enjoyed tearing open presents, running around with his little friends, doing his birthday gig on the sidewalk, blowing out the candles, chugging down a big piece of cake, and so on, and on. His happy spirit was contagious and everyone seemed to really enjoy celebrating with him. Party continued later in the evening, when my staff and his babysitter arrived. He asked to blow out the candles over and over and over and over. Each time he received applause and he was just the happiest being ever.

I thought he might be still too tired next day, but no. His energy was still up. We headed to Dumbo Arts Festival and and saw some coolest exhibitions. Then we found enormous tent lined with paper, providing the largest canvas for little people. And Jane's Carousel, beautifully restored on the scenic waterfront was now up and running! This is going to be the must-visit spot for parents or non-parents alike. The setting is stunning, the old carousel is amazing, and to top this experience there was no wait at all. Followed by the last weekend's Makers Faire, Dumbo Arts Festival is going to be our must-attend event of the year, but without it, Jane's Carousel will be the
destination for us.

Before heading home, we stopped for lunch at The Gallery on Jay Street at York Street. It was not so crowded being off from the center of Dumbo, and it had ocol and hip interior but casual enough atmosphere for us to feel comfortable. The menue is described as (new) American, which includes sandwiches, burgers, and such. Nothing really struch my eyes, but I settled for roasted vegetable panino and the soup of the day: carrot-ginger soup. The panino seemed to have no seasoning at all, which was actually nice to taste just plain roasted vegetables, but Taiyo only cared for the crispy fries that was lightly battered to have the crunchy coating. Carrot-ginger soup was a hit for him, especially he had it with the fried pastry thing that was floating on top. It was an interesting dining experience- we didn't think it was exciting menu, but the food was quite fresh and decent. Staff seemed pretentious, and they didn't offer a high chair even though they had one available. But I think we had pretty good service and nice dining experience. When we checked out the spacious and clean bathroom, I thoguht they would get a high points for installing a changing table, which they had more than enough room for, but I guess the architechts and designers hardly think about that kind of functionality. I would highly recommended it if they had a changing talbe in the bathroom. Overall, it is still recommended.

Then we hit San Gennaro Festival on their last day in Little Italy in the evening. Taiyo just loved riding in the teacup, and I couldn't remember the last time I had so much fun riding in one. It was just an amazing weekend, for both of us.

Taiyo was up early in anticipation of our big trip to Queens. The sky was blue and air was cool. We went to check out World Maker Faire at Hall of Science. It's a festival of creativity, celebrating the Do-It-Yourself mindset. It was this amazing fair, crazy mixture of circus, arts, music, crafts, and science and technology geeks. There were also hands-on experience to aquire useful trade skills like hacking and lock picking. We saw coolest sculptures, musical instruments, drumming robots, a car covered with singing and dancing fishes and lobsters, rode on solar-powered carousel.

Most of the activities were not for toddlers, but Taiyo was still able to find enough things to mess with. He was so fascinated with a little electric circuit he built and kept pressing the button to shoot up a little propeller into the air for half an hour. This is going to be our must-attend event every year. Highly recommended for anyone, kids or adults. Hall of Science itself is the best place for kids. We didn't have the time to explore the regular exhibit, but they have the coolest mini-golf, where Taiyo went crazy running and climbing around. It's a big trip from our place downtown Manhattan, but it's always so worth it.

Back in the neighborhood, we went for an early dinner at Minca on 5th Street between A and B. Soon after we sat down, the place filled up, even thouth it was only 5pm. If I ask him what he wants to eat these days, Taiyo often says, "Gyoza." So I knew he was going to love this place. The space is tiny, and there's not much room for strollers. There's no high chair, but they are pretty kid-friendly- the waitress promptly brought Taiyo a glass of water with a straw, a small bowl with plastic fork, soup spoon, and a pair of chopsticks with plastic holder to help him use them. Taiyo ate all the skin from gyoza (that's what he cares for most of the time, anyway), and slurped ramen noodles. He loved the food enough that he didn't mind not having the room to jump around in between his bites. Considering the small space and the fact that they get pretty crowded, it's probably not the great choice to dine out with kids, but the food is darn good. I think they got the best Japanese ramen in town.

Afterwards we hit Tompkins Square Park playground. Maybe he was inspired by the Maker Faire earlier, Taiyo sat down in the sand box and worked on his twig installation for quite a while. He didn't even notice lots of sand were going into his shoes. He nomally freaks out if a little bit of it gets into his shoes or clothes. Creativity overcame his fear.

It was a hot sunny day. On September 11, 2001, I came back from a workout at the track, took a shower, and turned on TV, like any other morning. The World Trade Center was burning. I grabbed my video camera and headed out on my bike. At the corner of Delancey and Suffolk, we could see the smoking tower. Within two hours, I witnessed both towers collapse in front of my eyes only blocks away on the West Side Highway. It is the hardest thing to remember in my life. Not just that day, but days, weeks, and months to follow. I didn't really want to do anything to remind me of that time. Taiyo was too young to acknowlege this past event. So we just headed out, like any other Sunday. Just for fun.

We crossed Manhattan Bridge to the Brooklyn Bridge Park. Last weekend on the ferry I noticed the old carousel on the water and wanted to check it out. It was still not open for public, but there were plenty for us to explore! Taiyo ran around the playground, climbed up on a sculpture, and threw stones into the brown water of East River with other kids. Helicoptors circled around above to remind us what day it was.

Across from the kids' playground was Bubby's. I figured this cannot be a kid-unfriendly joint because of the location. Sure enough, there were many families diningn with kids, but we were still offered a low table, upstairs, but away from the window by the waiters' corner. Did they know that we were not from the neighborhood? They gave him some crayons but Taiyo didn't like the sheet they gave him for drawing. Dumbo became such posh new neighborhood quickly, it's still beautiful but I probably wouldn't care for the neighbors even if I had that kind of money to live there. So the food arrived, and I was like, this is $20 omlette? It wasn't bad, but it was kind of sad: nothing special. Just little omlette with over toasted toasts and cheese grits they charged me for another dollar. Really? Pancakes from kids menu looked pretty sad also with a few silver dollar pancakes with just bananas on top. Taiyo enjoyed it anyway, but I thought some additional berries would've been nicer. I give credit for them though for having a changing table in the bathroom. I would go back there if it was half the price. Recommended if you have some money to waste.

After lunch we continued north on the park and found the little playground perfect for the littlest people. It was also great for parents since if you park yourself on the comfortable bench, the whole park was still within your view- you'd always be able to see your kid without getting up and following them around.

Then we had to make a stop at Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory at Fulton ferry landing. They seem to have a great review for ice cream, but it was just some ice cream for me. Taiyo of course loved it, but only had half of the strawberry ice cream. There was a wedding phot shoot going on outside, and Taiyo provided them background music with his harmonica.

In the evening I watched 9-11 documentary on TV and cried and cried. Remembered the candles that were lit on every corner, faces of missing persons posted at every bus stop, train station, and hospital, downtown streets covered with white dusts, and strollers abandoned by waterfront. One good thing that came out of it for me was that I decided to open SOY, a place where you'll get good food and nourish both your body and spirit. Here I am, ten years later, still providing Japanese comfort food for the neighborhood. One day I wish to tell my son all about it.

Already our last staycation report! The rain was stopping in the morning, but day ahead looked miserable. So our choice today was one of the best places to spend a not-a-great-day-to-play-outside day: Children's Museum in Brooklyn. It's actually one of the best place in New York for a little one, period.

This is a beautifully designed museum that provides hours of interactive and educational fun. From our first visit early this year when I immediately purchased a membership, we truly enjoyed coming here every time- on snowy day, rainy day, cold day, steaming hot day. Taiyo has many favorite activities- playing with sand, (but he doesn't have to step into the sand box!) answering the phone, (there's hundreds of phones in this place!) driving a bus, working at a cash register at a grocery store, making a pizza, riding a Vespa, and so on. Another thing I love about this museum is that they provide lots of culturally diverse elements of the city, and visitors totally reflect that. You always see a great mixture os people from different culture. Taiyo was over-stimulated and super tired by the time we finally fled between rain.

We stopped at Melanie's by the subway at Fulton and Nostrand.
Their catch on the sign is: For Healthy Eating Experience. They have smoothies and vegetarian options, but they serve plenty of meat. It's plain spacious ugly interior, but we're dining with kids! It serves the purpose. There were two mannequins in the window that looked like just dropped off from a trashy langerie shop. But for $7, they give you so much food that you cannot finish. Rice, two sides and choice of meat. Unfortunately being late for lunch, some of the veggies on the steam table seemed too dry, but that shows that they are following the health department code of temperature requirement. Taiyo basically only cared for rice with bits of beans, but I also enjoyed stewed chicken, cooked spinach and chick peas. Food is fair. Double doors, but easy entry with a stroller. Recommended.

Late Caribbean lunch was sitting heavy on my stomach. Taiyo wasn't even asking for gohan, but when I suggested, "Pizza?" of course he didn't object. We headed to Nonna's right behind us on Clinton. It's just another neighborhood pizza joint, but fancier pizza! Some people claim this is the best pizza in the city. Their recutangular Nonna slices come with various toppings- Taiyo's favorite is vegetarian, although he shakes off most of the topping, and I got one with grilled chicken, arugula, and balsamic reduction. Yummy! It's another easy quick dining option that's also easy on the wallet. $8 for these two slices is a great value. We've never been there with a stroller, but entry is probably ok. There's some room for a stroller in the small dining area. Recommended.