Brooklyn Walking ブルックリンを散歩

I went to Brooklyn and took a walk today. This was my first time to visit Blooklyn. I got off the sabway at Jay Street Borough Hall station. Walking up to the ground, I was surprised at a lot of people coming and going around the station. I didn't know how urban Brooklyn was . The place was the center of downtown Brooklyn. Since I went there only with a simple walking guide which I printed from an internet web site, I couldn't tell where I was exactly. Fortunately, I found a Barns&Noble Book Store and found a nice guide book called "NFT (Not For Tourist Guide)". I think this is good for tourists too. This shows each map of the neighborhoods and detailed information, for example landmarks which are good for finding sightseeing spots, bagel stores, supermarkets, restaurants and even farmer's market information.


Blooklyn Heights Promenade

Blooklyn Heights

I walked to the Dumbo area to visit the Empire Fulton-Ferry State Park. Otherwise checking in more detail after my trip I found that the place where I went was a different park which doesn't have a name... From this park I could see Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge but from the Empire Fulton-Ferry State Park only one bridge can be seen because the park is between Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge...



Then I went to Brooklyn Heights Promenade from where I could see the East side of Manhattan beyond the East River. Then I walked downtown to Fulton Street. I saw many more black people and I felt Brooklyn's atmosphere was a little bit easygoing.


Fulton Street Market, downtown Brooklyn

Super Japanese Guide in The Metropolitan Museum メットの達人

I tried to go to The Metropolitan Museum of Art(The MET) on the Upper East Side in Manhattan alone. To go to the Museum, I got on an express bus near my apartment to the Port Authority at 42cnd St in Manhattan, and got on the E line uptown bound and transferred to no.6 line uptown bound at Lexington Av/53rd St and got off at 77th St. It took about 1 hour. Then I walked to the Museum in about 10 minutes. I joined a Japanese guided tour from 11:15 am. They offer this tour 3 times a week at 11:15 am for free. The Japanese guided tour in the museum was the first challenge for me. It was really good for my understanding of the key points of each representative work of art in the MET. After the tour, I took a light lunch and watched the special Rembrandt exhibit.

Then I walked around the MET. When I was thinking of going home because the MET is too big to look at everything in a day, one boy whom I watched on the Japanese tour asked me very slowly in Japanese " Are you Japanese?(Nihon jin de su ka?)" Then he showed me the magazine in Japanese. Looking at the magazine, he himself was in the magazine SOTOKOTO. The article was over 5 pages and the title was 'Voluntary life special feature'. It said his name was EndoYuki and he has been a unofficial voluntary Japanese guide of the MET for over 10 years!!! He came to NY in 1996 with his mother when he was 10 years old. He was born with a rare chromosome disorder that left him disabled and makes it hard for him to speak clearly, etc. He pointed out the article with Tiffany's gorgeous silver trophy, " Do you want to see this?" Yes, I asked him to take me there.


He started to walk quickly and took me to the place, waking through the art spaces where I had never gone. Everywhere he guided me was interesting places I had never entered in the MET, even when I have visited the MET 3 times up to now, so I didn't know the places even existed. The places are open to the public but the MET is such a big and complicated museum it's hard to find places. Though they are like hidden spaces, he could go so smoothly and fast. We also took a hidden elevator, which is like a part of an art room but is really an elevator. Tiffany's arts space was so interesting and I could see the founder of Tiffanys, Charles Luis Tiffany's son, Luis Comfort Tiffany's stained glass art etc.

Then he guided me to a rooftop terrace where I could see Central Park and the Upper East Side. Furthermore he also took me to the castle in Central Park, 'Belvedere Castle'. Then he let me know how to get to the Port Authority from there and took me to the subway station. Unexpectedly I had a very enjoyable and exciting time. He showed me a lot of things I've never seen but also showed me vitality and courage. Here in the US, I often hesitate to speak to strangers. Otherwise, he is trying it everyday in the MET and NY city, and this is not Japan but a foreign country. Because of his character, all the staff at the MET are his friends. Each staff member gives him a high five and says something in a familiar way. I received power from him. I'd like to emulate his action.
Thank you again, Yuki!



These are articles about Yuki.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
SOTOKOTO

ESL offered by University - the first day

Today is the first class of Mont Clair University's ESL(English as a second language) class. Since the location is very near my husband's company, we decided to study there 2 hours 2 times a week in the morning. Starting the class, there were 18 students in one class, such a big class! Each student introduced themselves. Almost all of the students are Au-pair girls from 20 to 24 years old, who are from Europe and Latin America. There were only 3 Asian students, one Japanese woman who has 2 children, my husband and I. Our age is much higher than the girls. The girls can speak English fast. I didn't know about Au-pairs until I met them. Au-pair is French and describes a young person living in a host family's house in a foreign country, helping the family with childcare. I think au-pair is the way to live in a foreign country, which has an element of homestay and working holiday. They have free time to study at school when the host family's children are at school. The host family offers a car, room, insurance and feeds them 2 meals a day. It seems their work is not so hard. Otherwise one girl said that she is in a Jewish host family's house and doesn't have Internet nor a car and furthermore the host family has Shabbat(ANSOKUBI). I don't know any detailed situation about au-pairs yet. I'll interview them if I have chance.

Chipotle

Where's taco shell? →→→→→→→→This is the one of 3 pieces!

Chipotle's crispy tacos are the best tacos I have had in the US so far. As you see on this picture, the amount of ingredients is so large! The order system is like a Subway. We choose a taco shell and the ingredients. The topping, guacamole, is so fresh and good!
Chipotle is a fast food chain of Mexican food, which is all over the US. You can also find a lot in Manhattan. The design of the inside of the restaurant is stylish and modern using metals and seemingly there is nothing about Tacos, but there are Mayan and Aztec cement decorations on the walls. I found a fun site. We can find the recipes of Chipotle's food.
http://www.chipotlefan.com/

Niagara Falls & Toronto

We visited Niagara Falls, taking my husband's summer vacation. It was a 3 day trip from September 13th to 15th. Normally Americans go to Niagara Falls by car, but we heard that Niagara Falls on the Canadian side is more dynamic than the American side and we also wanted to visit other place along the way, so we flew to Toronto and rented a car and visited Niagara Falls and Toronto City. To Toronto from Newark, it took only 1h 40 minutes. The first day in Canada, We drove the highway about 1 hour from Pearson International Airport to Niagara Falls. On arriving at the Falls, we saw the big Falls from a wide-angle viewpoint and felt the mist from the Falls. Hearing the sound which was made from the falling water, I felt refreshed! It was a fine day and the temperature was about 20 degrees. When I felt the mist of the Falls, I felt cooler. We tried the attraction, "Behind the Falls". We walked through the tunnel that is made behind the Falls. On the way through the tunnel, there were holes to see behind the Falls and we could go very near the Falls. We felt the strong spray and got wet even wearing the plastic ponchos which the attraction gave us.

To go to Toronto City from Niagara Falls, I drove a car! It was the first time driving in a foreign country. In the US., I haven't driven because the details of my car insurance are not sure yet. This time, I was sure that the rental car's insurance covered my family, so I tried. The Canadian highway and roads were very wide, so I could even drive left handed.



The second day, we walked around Toronto City. The roads are very wide and each building is very big, so we got tired going to every sightseeing place. We visited the CN Tower and walked around the Financial & Theatre District and the Harbour front area. Here, we could see almost all things from the US., American fashion brand stores and American large scale retail stores, for example Sears, Best Buy, Staples, Whole Foods Market, Seven Eleven etc. Also American TV series can be seen. On the other hand, we also found many different things; English pronunciation, the attitude of the people etc. It was difficult to hear what Canadians were saying and I thought they were not friendly like Americans. (I'm not meaning anything bad.) The most impressive thing was that the food was more delicious than the US. Breads were good and vegetables were fresher.


The last day we drove around Toronto City and visited St. Lawrence Market. They sell fresh meat, fish, breads and prepared foods. We had a bacon sandwich for breakfast which is advertised as traditional canadian food. It was simple and delicious. Near the market there was a farmer's market and street stores. It was good to walk around there. After that, we visited Casa Loma ,had lunch in Chinatown and went to the Airport to return to the US.



↑Newark Airport's huge parking!

Blue Note Jazz Club

My American friend invited me to her friend's guitarist, Vinnie Zummo's show, at the Blue Note Jazz Club NY. The show was so cool and his wife who is a singer sang very nicely. There are some Blue Note clubs in Japan too. NY is the original one. I felt a difference between the original one and the one in Tokyo where I've been before. NY's Blue Note is smaller and cozy. We can go relax. I think that the Japanese one aims for a high-class image.

On my way to Blue Note, I watched a parade in the street from Port Authority to Greenwich village. There were many people in wheel chairs and people wearing fire department T-shirts. It seemed that they were victims and family members of the victims of September 11th.

Joe's American Bar & Grill

We had dinner at Joe's American Bar & Grill with my husband's co-workers celebrating 1 month in the US. This restaurant serves American food as it's name suggests. We often didn't choose American food restaurants except for fast food, but this restaurant was rated as good on another person's blog so we tried it.

I ordered "Fillet Mignon" which was good! The beef was not so hard as other American steaks and the sauce was good for me. I ate all the meat which was 10oz(280g). I changed the baked potato to french fries.

Food Court

Sarku Japan

Chiken Teriyaki

Sarku Japan Sushi Bar

I was at Garden State Plaza Mall during the daytime today. I had lunch at a food court. I had Chicken teriyaki from Sarku Japan. It was the most popular. The other delis were not crowded but only Sarku Japan had a line. The chicken was soft and the taste of the teriyaki sauce was good. Of course the portion was too big for me as you can see in this picture. The deli, Sarku Japan, also has a Sushi Bar. Here in the US, we can find this kind of sushi bar at every food court. Otherwise workers of sushi bars are always Korean.. The sushi cooks are waring white uniform and making sushi and sushi rolls without saying a word like Japanese sushi cook. I guess this is one of their performance...

By the way, I hear Spanish much more than English at the mall. Everybody speaks Spanish, clients, fast food workers and department store clerks. I think the person who works at hospitality needs to speak Spanish and also there are a lot of second or third generation Spanish speakers. I also saw on TV that the Mayor of Newark was speaking fluent Spanish and I thought that the leaders need to speak Spanish. I can't tell what percentage of Spanish speakers are around here.

Orange County Choppers / オレンジカウンティーチョッパーズ

We went to Orange County to visit the Orange County Choppers'(OCC) showroom. It took about 1 hour from Bergen County where we live. We often enjoyed their TV program on the Discovery Channel in Japan. I'm not interested in motorbikes, but the conversation of each member of the factory on TV is really fun. In the showroom we saw some unique motorbikes which they had made. Otherwise we did not meet any OCC members. Maybe they are somewhere in Orange County but there is no information about the factory's exact address.

Short Trip to Manhattan 2 - Eco Bag

We visited the Whole foods Market which was opened this year on the Lower Eastside where we lived 2 years ago. I had been waiting for the opening because the market was advertised as "Coming soon," but it had never opened during our stay. I can't understand that "soon" means 2 years!?? On the second floor of the new Whole Foods Market, there is a cafe space and the clothing department which sells clothes made from organic cotton. I was looking for their green Whole Foods' Eco bag as I couldn't find one in the market in New Jersey, but it wasn't there. Otherwise I found another design. It was the big size and had two type of handles. It seemed very useful. I thought that it would cover Japanese long leeks and Japanese radishes. Also it had the logo " NEW YORK CITY" and " MADE IN THE USA ". Hearing from the cashier, the regular green bag was out of stock as it sold out this summer and they are producing more now. Also he mentioned the long line in July caused by Anya Hindmarch's I'm Not A Plastic Bag caused by . ( The bag was sold at another Whole Foods Market in Manhattan on July) I took the newly designed Whole Foods' Eco bag but he put the bag into their plastic bag for me...

Short trip to Manhattan / マンハッタンに行ってきました

↑Skyscrapers of Manhattan seen from the New Jersey side

August 31st to September 3rd is Labor Day holidays here so Manhattan was very crowded with tourists. To go to Manhattan from New Jersey, we can use a car or take a bus across the George Washington Bridge or pass through the Lincoln tunnel or the Holland tunnel, or take a train or ferry. We used a ferry, the NJ Waterway, as it was a very fine day. We parked our car at Port Imperial on the New Jersey side and took the ferry. It took about only 10 minutes to cross the Hudson River. The view was completely beautiful!