Foot and Fire

  Having a selfie with the unfinished Cyclamen of French artist Henri Matisse, just to mark the fact that I had been to MoMA or the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in the early week of September this year. Actually, I am no admirer of this particular exhibit called The Red Room, a collection of Matisse's paintings and other articles related to the house where he painted most of his works.  I think this is the main exhibit the time I visited with a friend (We went there for Van Gogh's Starry Night).  As I walked through the gallery of Matisse, I could not help but only ruminate on a question my nephew asks me every time I tell him about art. Why is it so expensive? I would tell him, it's a property of the humanity already, it is invaluable. The money tag is not what matters anymore, it is the passage of time and the inspiration it could give the new generation at present and to come.  But, honestly, seeing the style of Matisse, I just could not r...

I am sharing to you today my Top Three Favorite Noodle Houses which happen to be all located in New York and all deserve a rave review from me, and one flop in Washington DC as it happens to be the only one I went to which has to be called out by me (haha!) for them to improve.  TOP THREE: VIETNAMESE PHO IN QUEENS There is this Vietnamese Pho in Queens, NY which serves a big bowl of noodle soup with a very simple broth which I could not detect if there's some fish sauce in it, fresh ingredients of mung sprouts, herbs and beef pieces, and with the usual flat rice noodles we associate with Vietnamese Pho.  The sauce is sweet and spicy and are served for the optional drizzle by the customer which I find weird because Vietnamese Pho is just simple. But I believe the resto served Thai dishes too, thus the Sriracha.  Hunt for this Vietnamese and Thai noodle house and you will never say no to their piping hot bowl. Check my video here . TOP TWO: K...

Well, you already felt the vibes of Strand Bookstore from the outside in my first blog post. Review it here . This is the second installment. Just telling you enough to make you visit this charming old old bookstore. Here are the breakdown of my four interesting finds: FIND #1  LEATHERBOUND BOOKS. Who wouldn't faint or salivate with these leather-cased books of our favorite classics and modern as well. A dream collection or bookshelf for every TANGIBLE BOOK lover. FIND #2 SIGNED COPIES of books. That is an icing on every booklover's cake! A signed copy always make a book extra special especially if it is signed  by a favorite author. Hurry, visit Strand right away before the icing melts. FIND #3 BANNED BOOKS. Found The Satanic Verse by Salman Rushdie who was then recently attacked on stage in a lecture he gave. I have not read that particular book but I read one book by him, Haroun and sea of s...