Ranee’s Baby Bump
While I was in New York, I had a portrait session with Ranee and Jamie. They’re expecting their first child in December! Ranee had asked me to take some baby bump photos and I was more than happy to do it. So, I stopped at her apartment last Friday and as we waited for the sun to come through her apartment, we went outside to shoot some photos near the building. I managed to get a few nice shots and the happy couple was more than excited when they saw the final results. Phew. This was my first maternity photo session and I’m glad it went smoothly. I also gotta say that Ranee is one brave mama to be showing off her tummy out in public. Props to her!
Here’s one I took of her belly out by the pier. She was bummed that they didn’t have any beaches nearby but was happy to have a shot with some water in the background. This was my attempt at getting a silhouette with some highlights on her curves.
Here’s one that I took of the two of them just outside of their lobby. They have a more modern-looking brick wall that was perfect. I thought they looked really sweet in this photo.
We took a bunch more inside the apartment but they were a little more revealing. I won’t post those. Overall, it was a fun session and so nice to be a part of this special time in their life together.
On Friday (9/30), I met up with Ranee and she took me on an epic grub crawl for my birthday.
We started at her apartment and on the way to Madison Square Park, we found a CoolHaus truck and picked up an ice cream sammich for breakfast. Hee hee.
Once we arrived at Mad Square Eats, we picked up a Connecticut-style lobster roll from the Red Hook Lobster Truck. It’s not the same kind I’ve had before since it’s just lobster poached in butter and stuffed into a bun. It was so yummy!
For dessert, we picked up a liege wafel with fresh strawberries on top from Wafels & Dinges. It was so crispy and chewy at the same time and with just the right amount of sweetness.
On our way to Chealsea Market, we stopped at Financier Patisserie for some choquettes. They’re basically hollow cream puffs with sugar crystals on top and they’re so light and yummy!
At Chelsea Market, we browsed the bakeries and shops inside. Eventually we made it to Lobster Place for a Maine-style lobster roll. It’s the usual kind with mayo and came with potato chips. Mmm…just as tasty.
Afterward we hopped onto the subway and headed uptown to Levain Bakery. They make the most amazing chocolate chip cookies that are the size of scones and come out warm and gooey. It was the perfect end to our grub crawl. Thanks for the tasty tour, Ranee!!!
After the grub crawl, I headed back to Jason and Jia’s apartment to rest and digest a bit. Eventually, we decided to leave for dinner and I got to try Shake Shack for the first time. Luckily we decided to check out the newest location in Battery Park where they had indoor seating and we didn’t have to wait in a long line. The burger was yummy but pretty greasy. It’s good but not as good as In N Out.
After dinner, I got to see the new World Trade Center tower that is currently under construction. I also got to see where Jes’ office is when he comes to New York for work. It’s the building to the right of the World Trade Center.
On our walk back to the apartment, it was sprinkling and we had just enough time to open our umbrellas before it started to POUR. It lasted a good 15 minutes and we hung out under the Burger King awning with a bunch of the protesters that were congregated at the park nearby.
On Thursday, Jason had no class because of the Jewish holiday so he took us to 
Makes me wish we had one of these near our home.
I loved the display of handmade fresh pasta and of the pre-cut cheeses that were packaged like slices of cake.
After we did a little bit of shopping in SoHo, it was time for dinner at Ippudo. It’s ranked as Jes’ #4 Ramen Place and it had a 2-hour wait. Sheesh. Jia met up with us and after putting our name down on the list, we walked over to a French bakery for a pre-dinner snack. 
We finally got seated around 9 pm and enjoyed some tasty pork buns and then a big bowl of ramen. The air conditioning vent above our table was leaking little drops of water so they comped us two desserts at the end of the meal. Sweet!
On Tuesday night, Jes and I took a red-eye to JFK and we celebrated my 36th birthday in the Big Apple. Jason had to go to class and Jia had work so Jes and I went exploring and found the halal cart that we went to 2 years ago.
It was just as delicious as we remembered with the cream sauce AND the extra-spicy sauce. Mmm…
In the afternoon, we stopped at Jia’s office to get our eyes checked and I got a pair of new birthday sunglasses! Woohoo!
Afterward, we got some ice cream from Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. I love this place.
For dinner, we took the train to Brooklyn for a delicious steak dinner at Peter Luger. 
We ordered the bacon with tomato and onion along with Steak for Two. It was a huge slab of meat and enough for the 4 of us since we also ordered two baked potatoes.
For dessert, I was treated to a key lime pie, shlag (the whipped cream), and their famous gold coin chocolates.
I was happy happy happy on my birthday.
Sunday started out pretty gloomy and it rained just before lunch. We were supposed to go to AT&T Park to watch Turandot but it wasn’t looking so promising. Luckily, the rain stopped early enough and the sun came out to dry up the field. The Agustins came over and we headed over with 40 Chicken McNuggets, fries, a bunch snacks, and two liters of wine in a box (snuck in of course).
We got there early enough to catch a spot on the field just behind 2nd base. We laid out the picnic blanket and chowed down. The sun came out for brief moments and it even got pretty hot at certain times. 
The opera was just as good as it was last week and the cast came out wearing Giants gear at the end to take their final bows for the audience.
I love Opera at the Ballpark. It’s free and when the weather is right, it’s a great way to spend an afternoon or evening.
There was a lot of stuff going on this weekend. One was practically in our backyard and the other was halfway across the bay. On Saturday, Cal played a homegame at AT&T Park and as we were walking the dog, we saw guys in McCovey Cove playing a game of waterpolo.
It was Cal versus the Olympic Club team. It was funny that they weren’t bothered by the cold and nasty bay water while wearing speedos.
On Sunday, we drove to Treasure Island for the Dragonboat Festival. There were high school teams, college teams, and corporate teams competing.
It was fun to watch the races and I got some fried pickles with two dipping sauces and a lychee boba drink.
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