All day solid rain. We spent much of the time indoors. We've been doing so much in the past few days both Taiyo and I didn't mind the slow down. This morning he was up before 7am and discovered that Barney was on PBS. He let me sleep in another hour. It has been so hard to fight with a cranky angry toddler, so I decided to surrender today. I decided to tend to his requests as much as I can. He asked me to pick him up, before I feel fully awake, and I did. He fussed that no pants were good to wear, so I let him go out with no pants. Eventually he decided overall was cool to wear, and I was able to go to the laundromat with him clothed. He was happy to ran around the quiet laundromat- what better to do on such a miserable day. He scored three candies from Agnieszka, his favorite lady at the laundromat.

He knows that a rainy day is perfect for riding the comfortable jogging stroller that gives him nice space under cover. So later we got out and went for pizza, per his request, at Rosario's at Orchard and Stanton. It's a plain old pizza joint with no frills. Many people claim that this is the best pizza in town, and I surely am glad to have this place in the neighborhood. Their plain slice is just delicious, and Taiyo agreed. He fussed if I didn't tear him a piece quick enough. Not the most nutritious meal, but super casual easy dining option, and terribly easy to your wallet. No high chairs, but entry is easy with a stroller. Recommended.

Taiyo is swiching gears lately- he's getting up significantly earlier, taking less naps, and as a result there's often cranky toddler for me to deal with. Although he still makes me laugh a lot of times, there's numerous moments throughout the day when I really want to shoot myself. But I don't have a gun to shoot myself with, so I have to come up with something to distract him. "Let's go outside." He nods. "You want to go on a subway?" "Yes," he nods.

First stop: High Line. We got on High Line at west 16th Street- the elevator was out of order, but Taiyo happily walked up the stairs. You see many strollers up on High Line, but stairs are steep and you need two adults to rig up one with a child in it. 23rd street and 30th street elevators were working. It is a really cool park but there's nothing more than to walk around. Artsy environment and interesting perspective to the city is definitely interesting. It's also very white, I found. If you're in a minority group, sometimes you feel that kind of environment. But it's still so beautiful and cultural: it's a dilemma. The new upper part of High Line was just a walk, anyway. I think the lower portion is more interesting to do. Before we hit 30th Street, Taiyo was asking for gohan(food) again. We came down but the beer garden underneath was not open yet. I couldn't find anything decent inland, and Taiyo went for an early nap. I kept walking. Reminiscence on 23rd Street, a must-stop with a kid, was unfortunately closed. They have great selection of little toys that won't hurt your wallet.

I entered Madison Square Park, since I thought he would have a ball under a giant white sculpture of a obscured head. This is a very kid-friendly park with a nicely designed kid's playground. They also hosted many free kids concert which we missed through the summer.

I walked through midtown, Times Square, then he finally woke up near 8th Avenue. Since he asked for gyoza, we stopped in for lunch at Yum Yum Bangkok on 8th Avenue between 45th and 46th streets. There were three Yum Yums almost next to each other- you think they must be pretty good to have three locations. The entry was easy with a stroller, and they immediately offer us the darkest back corner away from the crowd. Dining with a baby, they often treat you as a third class citizen, but I take it as they expect us to be noisy and messy. Fine. But Taiyo behaved so well, using his plate, and although it was so dark to access the food, Taiyo liked the plates we ordered- curry puff, steamed dumplings, and pad thai- and they tasted all right. But curry puffs were greasy and mushy, and so was pad thai. Kids would still always like the sweetness of Thai food. You have to beware that some dishes can be spicy. The waitress warned us our first choice, seafood soba, was spicy, which was a nice consideration. It was an easy choice of dining, but food-wise, there must be better choices around there.

Then we hit Intrepid, a museum where I may have never visited if I didn't have a little boy. Even a little girl would enjoy getting on a little helicoptors and boats, and seeing all kids of military planes on the upper deck. It's a small museum, and the tower is hard to deal with since they don't want the little ones to touch things up there, but the exhibition space has good number of stuff to get on and mess with. It was still a hot summer day, and after Intrepid, we jumped on a Water Taxi that was just docking outside of Intrepid. It was hop-on, hop-off boat tour ship, although it was too late for us to get off the boats- they were almost making the last loop. Taiyo loved running around the lower indoor area, which was nice and empty because most of the people were on upper deck. The guide on the upper deck was pretty lame, but this was a tourist ship after all. After one loop we continued on to their final stop at South Street Seaport and Taiyo was freaking out again because I won't let him push the stroller around the floor. I let him scream for a while because this is a tourist ship after all- don't they expect tourists to be noisy?

When we got off the boat, of course it was time for "Gohan." Taiyo urged us to stop at Johnny Rockets at the Seaport. When I was 18 working in Tokyo, Johnny Rockets was a cool hangout with old-fashioned American decore and yummy hamburgers. They let Taiyo pick a talbe- which was a little table by the window for two, appropriately. He got a pack of crayons and a paper to color. A casual restaurant in busy tourist area cannot be kid-unfriendly. They have a kid menu like a mini hamburger, but I knew he wouldn't care for it so just ordered one for myself and sweet potato fries, which was done right, nice and crisp. He was totally happy with that, beside the napkin dispensor and the old-fashioned little juke box with buttons to press and panels to flip on the table. Run by mostly minority teenagers, the service was a bit slow, but they all liked Taiyo, and it was nice experience and my hamburger, Rocket single, was pretty good. Recommended.

Our staycation day 2: we finally got to the beach- kind of. We took a train ride down to Coney Island. My plan was to hit the Aquarium first, but as soon as we got off the train, Taiyo started chating, "Gohan, gohan!" for food. So we went down to the boardwalk and hit the first stand- which is actually my favorite spot. Just ordinary hot-dogs and burgers joint, but they got nice fresh clams. Taiyo ate all of outside of his corn dog. He didn't care for the dog itself. I asked him if he wants to down down to the beach, but his answer was firm "NO." He still dislikes sand, and he mostly avoids sand box in every playground. So this enormous sand box in front of him was probably the most fearful thing.

We went back to the aquarium and of course he had a blast! This is the must-visit place for kids, especially very small ones. There's so many little fishes they can see up close, or giant walrus who'd rest right against the glass, some knobs and buttons to mess with close to the floor- I often don't even notice them but of course Taiyo finds them. It's small enough and not overwhelming, and being indoor is also nice in cold weather or hot summer day like today. So we wandered between the tanks for almost an hour and half, observing many, many fishes, jelly fishes, turtles, eels, frogs, sharks, even a little aligator, then we decided to check out the sea lion show. It was so hot out, and the show was kind of sad with just one sea lion, and Taiyo was not impressed. He wanted to go. So we hit the boardwalk again.

There's another must-stop in Coney Island for little kids- Deno's kiddie park! Last time, about six months ago, Taiyo go on one ride, and he looked like he had mixed-feeling about it. But this time he ran right up to the carriage ride and said he must get on. Then one by one, he pretty much got on every ride he was allowed- a fire truck, choo-choo train, three different kinds of boat, a motorcycle, a jeep, an airplane, and of course the carousel. I asked him again if he wanted to get down to the beach- "NO!" In three hours we had the best of Coney Island, and by the time we reached the train station he was asleep.

We kicked off our last summer weekend morning in Bryant Park on 42nd Street. This is a beautiful oasis in the heart of manhattan, filled with such calmness, especially on weekend morning. Taiyo first got busy siting alphabets with the box of wooden magnetic letters. He quite accurately sited most of them. Then there was a dance movement workshop on the lawn, which we joined in briefly, but Taiyo noticed the carousel and ran screaming toward it.

He did three rides on a white bunny- he simply refused to get off and I had to keep running back to the booth to pay for another. It's a cute little ride for $2, or $15 for 10 rides. When I went back to the booth the third time, the lady said I should've gotten a 10-ride card. He could've ridden the whole 10 rides. They played French chansons when the ride went around. Something you wouldn't do if you're not with a little kid. I enjoyed the lovely ride. There were children's books to read by the carousel but if stayed around he would've wanted to go back to the ride. So I snatched him to Kinokuniya, a Japanese book store, across the street. There, of course he went crazy grabbing cute little books and tiny stickers.

I thought maybe we could lunch at a Korean place on 35th street, but he suddenly started demanding food right in front of Pax Wholesome Foods on 6th Avenue. Entry is easy, but there's only four little tables downstairs, and it will be tricky to go up the stairs to more spacious dining area upstairs. We left the strollers downstairs and Taiyo happily walked up. I wished they had larger windows, which would've made the dining area more airy and pleasant, but hey, this is a fast food. They probably don't like people to stick around too long. Maybe that's why they make these chain stores a bit unattractive. There's no high chairs, which is fortunately no problem for us. Food was actually pretty fresh and good, although pre-made sandwiches are usually not attractive for me. Taiyo very much enjoyed Mozzerella Pesto Melt Pressata sandwich, and of course loved the fresh orange juice. Taiyo kept checking out the Korean girl behind him, but he didn't get a responce so he flirted with a young black girl a few tables down. It was good casual dining option.

Later in the afternoon, we took a ride up to 34th Street along the river and visited Glass Garden at NYU Medical Center. It's a beautiful little indoor and outdoor garden with a pond and birds. I used to live only a block away from there and never knew about it! I only heard about this secret garden on some kids activity listing on internet. I must say this is truly a best kept secret around town. Taiyo of course enjoyed meeting all the birds in cages, and this guy even saidi hello to him.

There was also wonderful children's playgarden right outside, where Taiyo was greeted by a naked girl. Of course he loved the place! I must say this was the most well-designed little public playground in the city for a tot with lots of different activity- little house with doors, little sandbox, little slide, a hammock where the naked girl's father was sleeping, musical tubes to bang on, with a rocking horse, several wagons to push around, a scooter and a trike, and it was so relaxing and beautiful with flowers and herbs all around. This is going to be our new favorite spot.

We headed downtown on second avenue and stopped at Shima, a Japanese restaurant at 12th Street. Twenty years ago I lived a block away from there and I worked at the spot when it was a different Japanese restaurant. Interior was completely different, and it was just I thought it may be: rather uninspired Japanese restaurant with exactly the same menue with 300 other places around town. They offer all the basic "Japanese Food" Americans expect to have in a Japanese Restaurant. But the place was spacious, and staff were all friendly, food was nicely presented according to the manual, and Taiyo very much enjoyed shrimp tempura, rice, miso soup, and shumai. The bento box was good value, and this is definitely no surprise dependable dining option. Recommended. They also have outdoor tables on the avenue, but the traffic is steady and felt a bit noisy and dusty to dine out.

To top our busy weekend, we stopped at Toy Tokyo on Second Avenue at 5th Street. Of course Taiyo went crazy checking out little toys on very isle. The place is full of tiny fun things that you cannot leave without spending a few bucks. I got him a tiny kewpie doll, which he lost on the ride home. We have to go back there to get another one.

It was the last day of August, a hot summer day, appropriately. We headed on bike uptown- it was nice to see the green bike lane extending all the way up to near the park on First Avenue. When we got to the Central Park Zoo, it was already full of kids and mommies and nannies. Taiyo of course had to first go check out the penguins, then polar bears, snow monkeys, sea lions, and coloful birds and lemurs in rain forest. He loved watching the musical clock by the zoo, then we went feed goats and sheeps at the Children's Zoo. Taiyo just wanted to keep feeding the animals, but I talked him into feeding ourselves. Time for lunch.

I wanted to go for a better dining option, but Taiyo insisted going into the Zoo's Dancing Crane Cafe as we were passing by it to get to our bike. He was already so tired, cranky and loud, I had to give in. Fries and ketchup was all he needed to be content. I bumped it up with a pack of apple juice. Well, it's not great food or selection, same as most other cafeterias in children's venues. Fries, chicken strips, pizza, burger, sandwich and maybe some salad, all not so appealing to me and also pricey, but it is so conveniently located. We stopped in a bunch of times here before when dining out was not so much of option, because Taiyo wouldn't be able to sit still and wait for the food or grab everything on the table or his eating skill was not developed enough it was always so messy and stressful for me. It is no worry busy noisy cafeteria with bunch of kids running around and screaming, and there's plenty of tables inside and outside, plus plenty of high chairs if you need one. Recommended for practical reasons. Taiyo of course slept through our ride home.

After getting our laundry done, it was time for dinner again! Taiyo's mind was already set for pizza, so we headed to Lil' Frankie's on First Avenue and 1st Street. The hostess set up in the dark dining area by the bar. Ok, I felt that we were offered a low table but it was still cute setting, right in front of the old pictures of Lil Frank. Taiyo did like the pictures on the wall, and he laid down to check out the comfort level of the plastic covered bench that we were sure not going to worry about staining. When the waitress came over, she exclaimed, "I know you.. you're the kid from SOY!" She said she came over to pick up food one day recently. It was nice to be recognized and we felt quite at home. We ordered too much food- Margherita pizza, that was just so perfectly done and simply delicious, fried zucchini because I thought Taiyo would like it, and Fava bean soup, which wasn't bad but not necessary. Of course, Taiyo, the little happy diner, charmed people around the bar, and it was just wonderful pleasant dining experience. Very much recommended.
After dinner, it was so beautiful out I took a long ride home going through East River Park. Newly finished section on promenade with lights was nice, but Taiyo was sleeping again.

We had some natural disasters last week, but it's the best time of the year right now. The air is cool and pleasant, and sun is bright but just comfortable. This morning I said to Taiyo, "We have to go shop in Chinatown," then he said, "China, Chinatown, Ni Hao, Ni, Hao.' Thanks to Kai-Lan, he's already learning his fourth language, Chinese!

After shopping at our new favorite Chinese supermarket on Mott Street, we stopped for some crepe at La Crepe C'est Si Bon on Eldridge between Grand and Broome. This bright little creperie may not be easiest to enter with a stroller with two steps up from the street, but the door was wide open and I let Taiyo out on the street and he happily walked in and climbed up on the bench. Although space is small, there's room for parking even a big stroller inside. We had a plain crepe- without any sugar sprinkled it was rather salty but Taiyo really liked it and chugged most of it by hand. It's super toddler friendly food that is easy to eat by hand, which is fortunate because the cute wooden utencil is not easy to use. When he finished the plate he asked for more. Recommended.

Early afternoon when Lynne started cleaning the window, Taiyo decided to join in to help. Even before he was walking, window cleaning was his favorite part of being a restaurant. Now he skillfully sprays and uses squeezee, which makes people passing by smile. You can see how seriously he takes this window cleaning.

By the time I woke up, I was expecting more dramatic weather. Eight a.m., it was a bit stormy with steady rain, but it didn't seem so bad. I thought it would probably get worse later when the storm passed. On the contrary, rain subsided within two hours. Oh, well. I still opened the bottle of wine I stocked up yesterday. "Come on Eileen" 1982-hit by Dexys Midnight Runners was ringing in my head all morning. It was my brother's favorite song. But yes, I was singing "Come on, Irene." So really, come on, but nothing happened, at least around here. By 11am rain stopped and sky brightened up even. That was it? But Taiyo happily indulged on Dora over and over, now that he know to hit the play button on remote. I did some cleaning, while feeling like an underachiever. I thought I could've done a lot more during the storm- we were supposed to be locked in until later in the afternoon. It was already over.

At one o'clock we finally got out of the house. When I pointed at the stroller Taiyo said, "Walk!" and marched out swinging his little arms. On the sidewalk, he immediately picked up a fallen tree branch and happily swang it around. Maybe some fallen branches and extra leaves, but the storm seemed to have left no damage in the neighborhood. Within two blocks, Taiyo got his feet wet, so he decided to climb up in the stroller so he could go barefoot. He hates to get his feet wet! The air was pleasant, a bit windy but at comfortable level, and people are wondering around the streets not knowing where to go. Not everything was of course back in business, and a few places open were pretty busy everywhere. Bars were packed, and the pizzeria on Rivington was already serving full tables. I was happy to see the pet shop was open on Avenue A, since I was almost out of Coco's food. We continued up on Avenue A, but Thomkins Square Park was still closed. Some businesses had tapes across their windows, and one place was even boarded up. I guess it was better to expect the worst, but wasn't it just kind of disappointing that nothing happened?

We wondered around some more and by the time I found a crowd taking pictures in front of a garden on Avenue B, Taiyo was asleep. I looked over, and there was a big fallen tree in the garden! Well, this was the most exciting damage Irene has caused that I saw in the neighborhood. There was smaller tree knocked over by the synagogue on Clinton Street.
I succeeded to lay him down when we got back, and after two-hour nap, he woke up in a rotten mood. So we went to visit Kathy down the street and there he happily went through her stuff, which she has many. Then another favorite aunt of his, Lynne came across town to join us for dinner at Cibao on Clinton and Rivington.

This is small neighborhood family-run Dominican joint, casual and reliable with good food and value. Entry is easy with a stroller, and spanish people are very kid-friendly, someone always talks to Taiyo here and there around the floor. Waitress acted indifferently in the beginning, but brought him a paper cup and plastic utencils, and later she was charmed with the jumping toddler. When the big plate of rice and beans arrived, Taiyo immediately drew it close to him and started feasting. Broiled chicken was nice and crispy outside but tender and moist inside. Today he decided ketchup on rice and beans was the thing to die for. He kept asking me for more ketchup on his rice. I like the low-key atmosphere of the place that reminds me of the good-old Lower East Side, and this is one of the place that hasn't changed all these years since I moved in the neighbhood 17-years ago. Baby pictures by the cash register prove that they don't mind a presence of one. Recommended.