Blog Category Events Tuesday, April 19, 2005
 Don't forget to get your free ice cream from Ben & Jerry! Saturday, April 16, 2005
International House, located at 500 Riverside Drive, provides housing to students from all over the world who are studying in New York at Columbia and other nearby schools. During the 81 years of its existance, it has hosted many cultural events in which the sudents of all nations can participate. Three times a year (Fall, Winter and Spring), I-House hosts the balls which are held at the spacious Davis Hall inside of the I-House building. The students and guests can have a chance to practice their ballroom dancing to the sound of live band. There are also performances by professional dancers as well as amatures who take the ballroom dance classes that are held at the I-House every Wednesday. Today was the I-House Spring ball. Click on the picture for more photos and check out the videos below.
Today I went for my first professional shave done at Art Of Shaving. This was my birthday gift from Kerrie. The whole process took about 40 minutes. Never thought that shaving could take that long. I definately can't afford doing this every morning. I was put in a chair in a position resembling the one at the dentist. I was staring at the ceiling and at some point just closed my eyes and relaxed as the barber was working on my face. He put burning hot wet towels, oils, and shaving cream several times during the procedure. He used the straight rasor - the kind that I've seen used by my grand father. At the end he put a "mask" on me which was supposed to rejuvenate and purify the she skin and replentish nutrients lost during the shaving process. As it turned out he used a brush to put it on. It was a very relaxing experience and I came out with a face as smooth as butter. Tuesday, April 12, 2005
The cool thing about working on Broadway between Houston and Prince is that there are tonns of modeling agencies. Todoay as I was walking down Broadway right outside my office I saw a truck parked next to the curb. The truck's trailer was made of clear plastic. Inside the trailer there was a photographer taking photos of this young woman. Sunday, March 27, 2005
Today I was able to see my Viennese Opera Ball partner Abbey perform something other than Viennese Waltz. She and several other people I know - Heather, Jamie and Emily are part of a dance troupe called Gehring Dance Theatre. They had a show at Teatro La Tea called "Anything Goes". The show was cool! The title definately justifies it. The choreography included all kinds of dance styles: ballet, modern, jazz, ballroom, hip-hop, breakdance, and others that I don't have a name for. I was impressed with some of the physical abilities of the dancers ( here is an example). But unlike the acrobats that you can see on the streets of Manhattan, these moves were part of very creative and elegant choreography. Most dances were performed to recorded music, but some were performed to the accompaniment of a live trio consisting of a piano player, bass player and a vocalist. Click on the photo to see more pictures from the show. Some of them look really cool from the artistic point of view.
Check out www.gehringdancetheatre.org for more information about the troupe, the upcoming shows, workshops and other. Saturday, March 26, 2005
It's that time again to get into the Easter spirit by having the 2nd Annual Easter Egg Painting Party. We had all kinds of guests: from Bunnies to Fred Astairs. Everyone had fun being creative with their egg designs. After we ran out of eggs to paint we decided to start a revolution - karaoke revolution! Congratulations to Kerrie for winning the game. Click on the eggs to see all of the photos.
Videos: (The first two are made to be funny!)
Easter Egg Painting Party 2004 Sunday, March 20, 2005
Meg was in the city this weekend so I met up with her and Chi for brunch and then did some singing. Here are some video clips:
Photos Saturday, March 19, 2005 Today I went to the Hungarian Spring Ball held at the Union Club located at the corner of 69th Street and Park Avenue.
My Photos
More Photos Friday, March 18, 2005
Today was my colleague Shawn's last day at my company as she ventured to greener pastures. She is one of the few people I've worked with who also likes partner dancing. So as she was walking around the office saying goodbye to people, I said good by in my own way - Salsa followed by some Swing. Thanks Randy for taking the photos. Thursday, March 17, 2005
Today Christine treated us with the Irish soda bread which she could not resist to get while she was on line paying for her morning coffee. What a nice start of St. Patrick's Day!
Unfortunately no one in the office wore green except me. Come on people, get in the holiday spirit!
|
Wednesday, March 16, 2005 Saturday, March 12, 2005
Today I hosted a DDR party. This was the first party where I actually had a competition going. Unfortunately I did not keep accurate track of scoring. Also for next time I will take into account several nice suggestions from Kerrie how to improve the scoring system. But anyway, for this time, congratulations to Joanna for taking the first place out of 10 people who came. As a prize she got the mysterious box. James took the second place and Kerrie took the third.
Below is a short video clip of DDRing:
After several hours of DDR we broke into karaoke. Here is a clip of James and I doing the Russian classic Podmoskovnye Vechera (Moscow Nights)
PHOTOS
|
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Since the Plaza is closing in couple of months, a group of Quadrillers met up for the traditional Afternoon Tea at the Palm Court. This was my first time experience. It costs $35 for a kettle of tea and a couple of trays full of sandwiches and deserts... for six people. The service was lousy too. I guess since they are closing soon, they don't care to maintain good reputation. But still, it's nice to be in a sumptuous place like this and listen to the sounds of a live harp player.
Oh, and I recommend to make a reservation to avoid waiting in line.
Saturday, February 26, 2005

Serena is the "godmother" of bellydance in New York. She has been teaching and choreographing bellydance shows for more than 35 years. Kerrie used to perform with her dance troupe and today we went to a show put together by its current members. Unfortunately I could not take pictures or video during the show to capture a great exhibition of middle eastern dance and costumes. However you can get an idea from these videos taken at the Plaza Hotel Grand Balloom a while ago:
During the intermission we took some photos with Kerrie's former "co-workers".
Show Brochure:
I highly recommend to see this show. Check out Serena's Website for more information. Friday, February 18, 2005
Kerrie's "Velvet & Silk" Birthday Party 2005
Once again Kerrie threw another fabulous party for her birthday. Just like last year, it took place at a Waldorf Towers luxury suite. The dress code for the party was "Velvet & Silk". All gentlemen had to come wearing something made of velvet and ladies had to wear something made of silk. Thanks to Kerrie's party, I got my first velvet jacket in my waredrobe.
Kerrie served hot and cold hors doeuvres as well as a veriety of juices. The complete menu of what was served at the party is here.
Pop Quiz
This party was yet another proof that you don't have to have alcohol to have fun. Kerrie has carefully planned all of the party activities. The first one was a quiz testing the guest how well they know the birthday girl. If you did not go to the party and know Kerrie, you can still take the quiz. Among all of the guests I got the highest score of 16 points My prize was an amazing box of chocolates.
Charades
We then proceeded to play Charades. If you don't know what that game is, you can click here for the description of the game that Kerrie put together for her birthday party last year. Kerrie had chosen a specific Charade title for every guest based on some characteristic of the guest. She put them in fancy golden colored envelopes sealed with hot wax. Everyone did an amazing job guessing the titles. The fact that the titles were specific to each person actually helped. I guessed James' song as soon as he specified the category :).
Birthday Dance
Then it was a time for the traditional Birthday Dance where several people cut in to dance with the birthday girl. This year Kerrie chose Tchaikowsky's "Sleeping Beauty Waltz" as her birthday dance song. Several guys who came to the party had taken Kerrie's waltz class that she tought to Quadrille Ball dancers. Now was the time to test out their skills. Traditionally dancers just randomly cut in to dance with the birthday girl, but this time Kerrie had preassigned the order of all dancers. Some people violated the order though trying to cut in by bribing others. Kerrie also choreographed the opening of the dance with some nice lifts. I was put at the end of the line up to hopefully come up with a grand finale. We did not rehearse anything prior to the dance, but I was able to dip her right on the last beat of the song, although it took couple of extra spins...
Birthday Cake
After the dance we worked up the appetite for the Birthday Cake. Concurring to the theme of the party, it was the "Red Velvet" cake from the famous Magnolia Bakery. With all of our fun and excitement, we managed to have the neighbors pound on the wall, so we decided to sing "Happy Birthday" in the bedroom which was further away from the annoyed neighbors.
How Well Do You Know Kerrie's Legs?
I've heard a saying "Legs are a woman's passport". This next game was about to prove it. We had all girls (and some boys) sit on the bed with their skirts/trousers raised up. A blindfolded guy had to identify Kerrie's legs by touch. He could not go above the knee though.
Twister
The remainder of the party we spent playing Twister. For those who don't know, here is the description of the game that Kerrie came up last year.
Kerrie and Yan were the most flexible. No matter what combinaions were called out, they could do it.
Miscellaneous Photos
Here are some miscellaneous photos from the party. All of the guests walked away with a party favors bag. One of the items was a Kerrie's favorite songs CD.
|
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Finally New York Dialy News published the article on the 45th Annual Quadrille Ball which took place 4 weeks ago at the Plaza Hotel. The article appeard in February 13, 2005 issue of 25 Hours Magazine which is included with the Sunday edition of the paper. On the left is the photo of Kerrie and I that was published with the article. The photo is Copyright 2005 by Trackstar Photography LLC.
Entire Article
|