We've Got a Crush on Lego

Fine. Maybe just me. But Charles started it. (here - the title of “most childlike”)

故事是這樣開始的: 

Built-in Bench in Progress

連續幾個禮拜貪玩 "不務正業," 該是好好待在家收拾收拾, 繼續專心打造客廳... 

猜猜他在做什麼?

先前想像中的 Built-in Bench 終於有了新的進展, Ikea Besta 系列比想像中的小, 得買下兩套長47.25 吋的矮櫃; 由於門的設計緊貼著邊框, 查理斯做了一個基底墊高, 防止開關門時與地板磨擦, 同時可以把櫃子固定起來, 成為名副其實的 Built-in!

另外一個長形的 Besta 則是用來當收納櫃使用, 也是要來藏接受器和雜亂電線的地方; 於是查理斯使用小型電鋸, 精準地切割出插座的大小; 就是這麼一切, Ikea 又露餡了...

雖然矮櫃剛剛好是窗檻的長度, 卻也不是那麼剛剛好能延伸到牆壁, 距離旁邊的收納櫃還缺了這麼一小節, 還得另外買材料補起來...

另外, 查理斯想要的大螢幕送達!! 利用兩個托架把它給吊起來~

和想像中的模樣又拉近了一段距離~

from this...

to this!

Travel | Heading to the Big Apple

2013.05.25 - 2013.05.28 New York, New York, United States

Day 3: 9/11 Memorial → Wall St. → Lunch at Kat’s Delicatessen → Off-Broadway Show, The Fantasticks → Rockefeller Center

 

Most Worthy Dollars Spent: Intercontinental Ambassador Membership, which I purchased for our Tahiti Honeymoon. It gave us additional buy-one-weekend-get-one-weekend-free coupon so we got to live in the midtown three nights for two nights’ rate! Plus the late check-out at 4:00PM.

Day 4: Metropolitan Museum of Art → Central Park → Lunch at Gary’s Papaya → Grand Central Terminal → The New York Public Library → Top of the Rock → Dinner at The Halal Guys

Most Amazing: Finding Love Taza in Central Park!! It’s like winning-the-Lotto chance to find someone you follow in the Internet IN PERSON, in the heavy traffic New York City, in the crowded Central Park, and all these happened when the first time I traveled to the East Coast!! Amazing!

Biggest Smile: me and my high school buddy Annette, who is now studying in NYU Law School.

Best View: Top of the Rock. We purposely purchased the late afternoon admission so we could get both views at day and night. Astonishing!

Photos by Charlies

Most Applause Received: Jason, who successfully won the lady’s heart and had her wear the big rock on the Top of the Rock.

Most Yelp-Trustworthy Food: The Halal Guys. After the disappointment from Junior’s, Kat’s Deli, and Gary’s Papaya, The Halal Guys finally proved the reliability of Yelp’s 4.5 stars.

Day 5: FAO Schwartz → Lego Store at Rockefeller Center → Uniqlo 5th Ave. New York → NBA Store → Lunch at Shake Shack → Home sweet home

Most Childlike: Charles, holding his new purchase LEGO® Kingdoms Chess Set so tight, looking all happy...

Most Enjoyable Shopping: Uniqlo 5th Ave.. Not only they did not jack up the price on 5th Ave but also offered this photo booth free of charge! 

Previous Stop: Boston

Travel | Just Keep Walking Walking

Oh darn... Starbucks is launching its “You Are Here” city mugs collection, which means the old “Global Icon” series will be gradually fade out. I wish our collection could be uniform but it seems pretty silly to go back collecting what we already have (Los Angeles, San Diego, Taipei, Seattle and Vancouver) Oh well, the good thing about this new design is that it is cuter, more colorful and less fragile!

2013.05.24 - 2013.05.25 Boston, Massachusetts, United States

First Stop: Boston. It is indeed the Walking City. We took the red-eye flight to Boston so we started walking from 7:30AM to the evening. So did the second day, we barely stopped walking until we took the Amtrak to New York.

Day 1: Massachusetts Institute of Technology → Harvard University → Boston University → Dinner at Legal Seafood

Most Money Saving: Thanks to Chase credit card. We used a good portion of our points to redeem $700 worth round-trip flight tickets for two. And we swiped the card for every transaction whenever we can, even $2.50 every time we took the T subway so that we can continue collecting more points for our next trip.

Happiest: Me. I got to see my old old friend from junior high in Taiwan! He just graduated from MIT Architecture a few months ago (way to go man!!) He became our local tour guy taking us here and there, including Harvard University.

Saddest: All of us when standing here, where the campus security of MIT was shot dead in the tragedy of Boston Marathon bombings.

Biggest Liar: Statue of John Harvard. We all heard about this statue of three lies: 1. This is not John Harvard 2. John Harvard was not the founder of Harvard University 3. Harvard was not found in 1638. Anyhow, I found the biggest lie was people rubbing its left shoe for luck because rumor has it, don’t be the first few, or you'll get the urine on your hand...

so Charles touched Joseph Story's left shoe in Harvard Law School instead

Most Long-Time-No-See: Charles. I met my junior high friend a few years ago when he stopped by LA, so this title goes to Charles, who had not visited his college, Boston University, since his graduation in 2001!! 

he even prepared his 12-year-old T-shirt for this day LOL

Day 2: Freedom Trail → Lunch at Quincy Market → Heading to Manhattan → Dinner at Junior’s Time Square

Most Iconic: Statue of Paul Revere, which is the icon of city of Boston.

Most Wikipedia Searching: All of us when walking along the Freedom Trail. To be honest, except for Benjamin Franklin, I had no idea who Paul Revere, John Hancock, Josiah Quincy and Samuel Adams (who Charles strongly believed that he has something to do with “beer”) were.

Next Stop: New York