Recording

Recording with Gary Shimabukuro of Sen Studios. I'm sure pros get more than three takes, though the last time I recorded with The Birdbrains, we blasted through eight songs in one take each.

Taiwanese shave ice

Great for a hot summer day, had Taiwanese shave ice, noted for its brown sugar syrup, at City Cafe on Makaloa Street.

Leeward traffic

Haven't driven through pau hana Leeward traffic in about 20 years, but had to do it to pick up my birds from my mom's.

On the table

Had dinner with friends at SHOR Grill, which had some of my favorite dishes in New York, steamed mussels and a lobster roll.

The cheesecake arrived

I wasn't going to lug two omiyage cheesecakes home, so I had Junior's ship them. They arrived in a day!

Eating like a bird

Ringneck parakeets, cardinals and java finches were making pigs of themselves at feeders on the fence at Oahu Cemetery. A couple of people take turns filling the cups with seed everyday, so the birds know where their next meal is coming from.

Back to work

Left New York at 7 a.m. and at 7 p.m. I was back at work, documenting the revelry at the American Heart Association's annual "Black Tie and Blue Jeans" fundraiser at The Waikiki EDITION. This was one group of friends posing for a 7-second video that would be converted into a flip book during the event, with a social media theme.

Part II: New York treat

On my last day in the city, I introduced my sister Natalie, who lives in Queens, to The Chocolate Room in Park Slope, where we shared a chocolate brownie sundae with fresh mint ice cream and had the best chocolate chip cookies ever. I also had a root beer float. Then two hours later met designer Ivy Higa and Joey Caldarone for dinner at Cafeteria.

Part I: New York treat

I read about the pop-up restaurant What Happens When in the May 23 issue of The New Yorker and it was the one restaurant I wanted to visit. Alas, it closed the week I arrived due to liquor license issues. Happily, the chef John Fraser is also the proprietor of Dovetail restaurant on the Upper West Side and I enjoyed his wonderful tasting menu there. Some of the dishes included lobster prepared two ways, and a salt-baked onion brought to the table before it is taken out of its encasement and prepared with mushrooms, truffle sauce and frisee. Yum!

Lobster roll!

After seeing a brief write-up for a lobster roll in a travel mag, I got a craving for lobster roll. Never had a good one. I went to Chelsea Market with my friend Lynne where The Lobster Place offered boiled lobsters and other seafood, and a crab that wanted to attack my camera. Lynne said I should try Pearl's Oyster Bar. After studying candidates for best in the city, I settled on Luke's Lobster and at the one on Upper West Side I wasn't disappointed. All claw meat, butter and a bit of Old Bay. Yum! After finishing, I wanted another!

Super recycler

In SoHo, spotted this guy picking up empty bottles and cans from vendors. Later, saw a woman with five such bags pushing a cart in traffic. It looked like she couldn't see where she was going so she was walking into traffic and drivers were honking.

Park Slope visit

Visit to Park Slope started with a trek through Prospect Park, one place to get a tan on a week day. A squirrel looked like a mix of red and gray species. Afterward, there were any number of small cafes for lunch. We ate at Alchemy, then stopped for housemade ice cream sandwiches at The Chocolate Room. The window at Moutarde showed what eclairs are supposed to look like. Then, returning to the city, spotted what I believe is a peregrine falcon above Washington Square Park.

Shake Shack

Chris wanted to go to Shake Shack so after shopping at Century 21, we headed to the one at Madison Square Park. There was a slow-moving line of about 100 people when we got there, but chocolate malt shakes, burgers and sweet corn frozen custard were worthwhile. Chris rested while I waited in line. Afterward, saw fireflies (identifiable by the neon green light squiggly line in photo) lighting up the grass—they're smaller than the ones we saw in Connecticut—and admired Jaume Plensa's 44-foot "Echo" statue. On the walk back to our hotel, spotted the strange ornamental lighting outside the Gershwin Hotel.

On to Brooklyn

Visited the Brooklyn Flea and afterward, its culinary off-shoot, the Williamsburg Smorgasburg.

Steam rises, Chelsea

Walking back to the subway from the restaurant Sala One Nine, saw other pedestrians walking through a cloud of steam rising from the subway vents.

Dinner at Fig & Olive

Another great dinner, this time at Fig & Olive, began with a Jamon Iberico degustation platter that included manchego, olives and tomato bruschetta. We were there shortly after they opened as a small olive oil tasting kitchen seven years ago, serving just crostini and salads, and my have they grown, to five locations, including California. Because we were so nostalgic, the manager, who was also there from the start, sent us home with bottles of 12-year aged fig balsamic vinegar and their signature first cold press olive oil.

Riding the rails

Caught the Metro-North train back to NYC.

Mooo!

Last day in Connecticut drove past Chris's sister's house and saw these lovely creatures:

Happy 4th!

Strolled past a farmhouse in Lakeville, CT.

Fireworks at Limerock

A fireworks display was held in advance of July 4 at Limerock, Connecticut. Getting in and out was a tight fit for cars, such that some drove in reverse for half a mile to get out of the one-car lane.

Hay bales and clouds

More sights of Lakeville, hay bales popped up where there were none yesterday, and cloud formations over pines and other trees. Chris said the hay bales were small and square when he was growing up, probably because they had to be managed by hand, not massive machinery. I like the way they look like someone left their giant toys spread out on the grass.