Flushing Meadows in Winter

Well, long weekend is here and we didn't plan to go traveling around thanks to the weather! We have been browsing around and the surrounding states are freezing as well. So, we're just sticking around the city.

Instead, we went to enjoy the snowy day at Flushing Meadows, before hitting the Queens Museum, which I will write in another post :).

Winter at Flushing Meadows

Remember this place? 
I wrote about it once, about missing the aliens at Flushing Meadows :)
And of course, the unisphere will catch our attention instantly. 
How I love to see the snow around it..
And it was minus 8 degree Celcius at that time...
But Bo et Obi seem to have no problem at all with the biting cold :)

Even the kids were jumping around :)...

enjoying the snow...

Well, since we have no better choice but embracing and enjoying the snow,  we then just enjoy the cold and winter...

the unisphere...

Enjoy the snow, people...and stay warm :)

cheers from the 3 of us...

#Bo-et-Obi@NYC: Astoria Park's Eagle...

I have been wanting to share this photos for some times
And it has been staying in my draft for too long :)

I have to admit, these photos were taken on those last warm days before winter is coming..
And we do miss those warm days..
I know...Spring is just around the corner :)
Can't wait...

Aaand, as the temperature in New York is again nose-diving to minus double-digit, let's 'torture' ourselves with these oh-so-warm photos taken in Astoria Park, just two blocks from our house.

Stretching out from the Southern part of Triborough Bridge to the northern part of Hell Gate Bridge, Astoria Park surely has cast its charm spell to everyone. Come down here and enjoy the breathtaking panoramic background of Mid-town Manhattan.

Well, we keep coming back..and it's even more beautiful in winter :)

But on our previous trip, we found this mural on one of its walls.

Then you know what's next :)...

cheers from Astoria Park...

Bo was wearing Hard Rock Cafe NY kids' t-shirt, Oshkosh B-gosh short pants and Nike shoes

the mural..

shy Obi..with a tick on her hand :)

Obi was wearing Disney's princess series, Circo's purple frills skirt by Target, floral pants by Oshkosh B'gosh and Geox shoes.

So once again...wishing you all a great day...

Join us on skywatch Friday :)

Obi and kain tenun :)

I guess Obi starts developing her passion over my growing collections of Indonesian traditional fabrics. 

A few days ago, I woke up finding Obi was playing around my gawangan, where I display most of my kain collections. 

She even tried to wrap around one of my Timor's tenun on her waist, just like the way I put it on my own. Well, I haven't taught her to do so but she seemed to know exactly what to do with it :).

Obi pakai kain :)

In many occasions, Obi loves wearing Indonesian batik and other traditional fabrics..

wearing batik Jakarta..

both in batik :)

this time it's balinese ikat :)..while mama wore purple Tais :)

and  traditional attires as well...

Muli lampung....or lampungnese girl :)

Way to go, Obi...

I sincerely hope you will grow up loving all our traditional culture and heritage, including those fascinating Indonesian traditional fabrics. Our beautiful Indonesia :).

How about your kids? Do they start building some particular passion over something?

The Cloisters and Fort Tryon Park, New York City

Well, while being grounded as the blizzard hit New York City since last night (although things look much better today), I finally get a chance to finish this one draft. It was my note from a few weekends ago :). How time flies :)...And it's the 4th week of 2015 already!

Now that the winter is here to stay, we kinda miss the warm weather we had in the last weeks of 2014. It was cold but not cold, biting, cold :). And we managed to pleasantly enjoy some outdoor activities. 

One lovely Saturday, we were once again blessed by lovely weather.

The weather was forecasted to be 8 degree C or around 48 degree F. Yaaay..We have clear blue sky but for me, it was still freezing, thanks to the wind :).

So we decided to go around the city again. As it was too late to go upstate, we were searching for a nice place not far from New York City. And the choice we have is the Cloisters and Fort Tryron in the upper part of Manhattan.

Have you heard of it or been to this place before?

We were  enjoying our leisure walk around the Cloisters,  a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of the Art. 

What so special about this place is that it is devoted to the European medieval art here in NYC. It's obviously seen from the grand architecture. Kinda remind us of our days in Switzerland and the surrounding countries. Sweet...

We took our time walking up on its path...

heading up to the Cloisters

Bo and his scooter :)

quite an eerie setting :)

Looking at those pillars, it didn't take long for us to just pose and take pictures :)..

cheers...

The Cloisters is situated on top of the hill of the Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan. 

So, we enjoyed the city from above as well...

Manhattan afar..

As it sits next to Hudson River, the wind is unsurprisingly chilly. But we were ready for that and bundled up already, especially considering that we would spend so much time outdoor.

the path near the Cloisters..

We didn't manage to get inside the Museum as it was a bit late and Bo kept dragging us to browse around the park with his scooter. 

We arrived almost at 3 pm and the Museum closed at 4.45. 

So, we decided to walk around the garden and the building before heading to the Fort Tryon, not far from the Cloister.

The Fort is not that big, perfect for a stroll with two kids like me. So Bo was enjoying his time with his scooter, while Obi was jumping up and down with mama :). A spacious public park where you can simply relax, enjoy the view of Hudson River, have a lovely picnic, and take tons of pictures like me :).

love the blue sky...

on top of the fort...

This area was gifted to the City of New York by John D. Rockefeller in 19107 and later built by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr, who happened to be the son of the famous architect of the Central Park, in 1935. 

It is such a peaceful place, with beautiful chirping birds and munching squirrels freely roaming around, unafraid of the presence of humans. Precious...

It has beautiful benches, lovely view overlooking the Hudson river, jogging path and even dogs' run. Perfect for everyone...

clear blue sky...

So to those who are looking for a great place to relax and enjoy beautiful Hudson scenery near Manhattan, the Cloisters and Fort Tryon Park can be a fabulous choice! 

The address is Riverside Dr To Broadway, W 192 St To Dyckman St, Manhattan..or you can easily type Fort Tryon on your google map or waze for direction :)! 
Check out its website as well here.

Enjoy the green face of NYC :)

Bo et Obi's Story: homework time #1- purple home..

Needless to say, my kids are having fun at school here. And they have many home works and project to work on as well.

A few weeks a go, Obi, my daughter, started learning about family and home. After a fun session learning about family members and making family tree, Obi was assigned to make a house. Well, it proved to be a fun project as we are free to make whatever house we have in mind. Soon this work involved everyone in the house, including mama, Bapak and Bo :).

We used the shoe boxes and cardboard to create a two-story house comprises of one living room and one bed room ( no kitchen and no toilet, as complained by Bo et Obi :) ).

With the help of construction paper, some gift wraps, crayons and markers, plus glue and a huge amount of enthusiasm, voilaaaa....our purple (surpriseee surpriseee :) ) home was ready!

here's the 2-story house :)

Obi was so eager to work on the details as well...
We taught her how to use the scissors safely and she seemed to enjoy it. But for some tiny pieces, Obi let mama do that :)

Wanna see some details? Here they are...

First, here's the living room, where we have 4 chairs and coffee table and some pictures on the wall...

We have lovely paper rocking horse that mama got from Pinterest :). Just click the link, follow the steps and you will have this beautiful bright-red rocking chair. Obi loves it :). 

Then we have our pictures on the wall. Well, knowing how we love posing in front of the camera, it shouldn't be surprising to have this section in our cardboard house :p.

Mama, Bapak, Bo et Obi :)..

On the second floor, we have one bedroom, complete with the cupboard, and TV in the corner :). Aah, and one greeny table as well :p.

Well, well...that's what we have for a 3-hour work as a team, although it was Obi's homework :). Obi was so happy to bring this labour of love to her school that day. Enjoy your purple home, Obiiii :)