[Week 23] The bus rides to church.

All my 5 years in the U.S., I have always been a commuter, traveling from one place to another using public transportation. It is hard to wait for a ride when there’s storm, snow storm, when it’s too hot, or when it’s too cold. For a church-goer like me, it was specifically hard waiting for the bus just to hear the one-hour mass. But we do it. Sometimes, good Samaritan would offer us a ride and for those times we were thankful.

In 2013, we were blessed to get a car (for free). Oh, how we felt the difference of getting to church easily. No more numbing feet while waiting for the bus when it’s below zero outside or no more shoes drenched in water when it’s raining. We were grateful. Relieved. Although the car is old, it is serving its purpose bringing us from point A to point B conveniently. We do still take the bus and trains to work (in Manhattan) but Sunday is different because of the bus schedule.

Last Sunday, after a year of not taking the bus to church, we had to take the bus again. Again, oh, how we felt the difference. It was a good feeling having to feel the way we felt in those years that we were taking the bus to church every Sunday. It’s always good to look back, I say, and remember how it was to have a hard time then and realize how lucky we are to have easier commutes now even just on Sundays.

This Sunday, Sky, the car, is serving another master again but one of the doctors at the animal hospital that we work in would drop us off to church then we would just have to take the bus home.

It’s almost summer and the weather is good. With or without a car to drive, this kind of day is better.

 

Have a blessed weekend, everyone!

 

 

[Week 19] Central Park. I don’t think I’ve seen it all.

“Around 1,600 residents occupying the area at the time, were evicted” [Wikipedia] just to provide a park to the growing population of New York in 1857.

843 acres and the most visited park in the United States. I have yet to discover every corner of it. There is this urge to learn of its history, the sculptures, the castle, and all.

It’s warmer now and the days are getting longer. I think it’s the right time to start walking again in Central Park.

Whereto start?

[Week 16] It’s Finished.

Church of St. Paul the Apostle (Manhattan)

On Good Friday, I was on my knees when a train of thought rushed in my head as if they were guided there.

If I was feeling something that is missing in my life that day or feeling hurt or sick on some ways, the thought of Jesus being crucified changed it all. I am a Roman Catholic through and through.

Jesus’ physical pain when He was crucified and the emotional pain when all His friends have betrayed Him was unimaginable.

Mama Mary’s emotional pain when she witnessed everything that her son had to go through was unthinkable.

Everything was done just for us.

Unconditional love.

God knows what we need. God knows what we want even before we ask for it. Jesus has already done what should be done. Then why do we still ask Him for more? I asked myself that on Good Friday.

Why do I keep a black book with people’s list of prayer requests and intentions? Why do we ask? And why did God say, “Ask and you shall receive…” (Matthew 7:7)? Is there really a need to ask when you have the faith that everything will be all right? Should we just say praises each day and give thanks for every single thing (good or bad) that goes our way because we know they all happen for a reason?

That thought about asking never stopped me from praying for my (and other people’s) intentions. But the Holy Week has taught me two things– One, I learned to be more grateful for whatever the day has brought me (joyful or painful, hard or easy, hopeful or disappointing, I know God was there all throughout my day). Two, I learned that I can never give up meat because I discovered (before the Lenten season) how good lamb BBQ tastes.

[Week 15] Hearst Tower in NYC

Hearst Tower (NYC)

I look up to this building literally and figuratively. Everyday I pass by, I am amazed by its beauty. And learning how it was built and the environmental considerations the builders have put into it, makes me more amazed. It is not an ordinary building.

Hearst Tower is the first “green” high-rise office building completed in New York City, with a number of environmental considerations built into the plan. The floor of the atrium is paved with heat conductive limestone. Polyethylene tubing is embedded under the floor and filled with circulating water for cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. Rain collected on the roof is stored in a tank in the basement for use in the cooling system, to irrigate plants and for the water sculpture in the main lobby. 85% of the building’s structural steel contains recycled material. Overall, the building has been designed to use 26% less energy than the minimum requirements for the city of New York, and earned a gold designation from the United States Green Building Council’s LEED certification program, becoming New York City’s first LEED Gold skyscraper.

The atrium features escalators which run through a 3-story water sculpture titled Icefall, a wide waterfall built with thousands of glass panels, which cools and humidifies the lobby air. The water element is complemented by a 70-foot-tall (21 m) fresco painting titled Riverlines by artist Richard Long

Wikipedia.org

I took two photos because I wasn’t sure how the lenses of my camera would work. Because the lens of  Fujifilm Instax is slightly located to the left of the camera and the viewfinder on the right, it is hard for me (a beginner on Instax) to know where my subject would be. Obviously, I still did not get it.

[Week 14] Tony, The Two-Dollar MUNY Performer.

“Hey! Hey! Give me two dollars if you want to take a photo!” 

“See, you don’t give money to black people!”

Tony “Pots and Pans”

Can you see him? I can’t. Well, at least in this photo. He was sitting against the light. But I have something to say about him. Yes, he is black. That shouldn’t matter. But I guess it mattered to him.

He is one of the performers that Music Under New York (MUNY) has and he was assigned to play at Times Square (4nd Street) subway station. He is the first MUNY performer that I found odd. He asks for money. 2 Dollars to be exact. You have to pay before you can take a photo or a video of him. I do that whenever I take photos of these subway performers but I give wholeheartedly. I felt weird giving money to Tony. For me he was rude. But I gave him two dollars, anyway.  And because there were a lot of people (some tourists) who wanted to take a photo/video of him, he ended up shouting at them and not playing music, the reason why he was on that spot.

This is him shouting:

[Week 10] Wasted.

“I think you should be serious about what you do because this is it. This is. This is the only life you’ve got.” — Philip Seymour Hoffman 

I found this on the sidewalk of 57th Street between Broadway and 7th Avenue in Manhattan. Hoffman was found dead in his New York City apartment on February 2. He died of acute mixed drug intoxication (heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines and amphetamines).

How many more of people’s lives should drug addiction take?

[Week 9] Doing what she loves.

Marcella Louise, opera singer

I like watching Music Under New York (MUNY) perform. I usually see them at Times Square/ 42nd Street subway station. Last week I had the courage to talk to that week’s performers, The Park Project. This week, I watched an opera singer perform. It was very cold and she seemed new. Marcella Louise.

She kept on apologizing for her beautiful voice. But she’s right. It is hard to sing when it’s too cold. People were just walking in front of her. Everyone was in a hurry because of the numbing cold in that place. But she carried on for the two or three people who stayed with her to watch (that included me).

While she was singing, I signaled to her that I am going to take her photo using my Instax, which she gave an approval. I gave her a copy and she was glad to accept it. I learned that MUNY assigns these artists to some station. And she was assigned at Times Square for a few days this week. I learned that she’s from the University of Texas, SA. Bravely, she went to NY. She loves what she’s doing. It was obvious as she talks. I met a lot of people this week who are her opposite. And it’s a breeze to have met her by the end of the week.