A Quote Today

I came across to a line by Warren Buffett today -- risk comes from not knowing what you are doing. 

A Bit of Exhaustion

Sometimes you get home and feel exhausted. Even though you see the ones you love who are waiting for you to come home and they make the food you like to eat, what you want to do is not talk, be quiet, do nothing, and plan to go to sleep till the next morning.

I believe you have been there like this before. Perhaps you want to turn on the music, or turn on the TV, or read a bit, or do something you personally prefer to do. Whatever it is, I know you just want to cheer yourself up and recharge yourself to the full capacity of energy. Then you can continue to do what you like to do, talk to someone who you love, continue to work on something you want to succeed in, and go somewhere you are passionate about going.

Yeah! Just a little bit of exhaustion, we all have been there experiencing it.
Eat a light meal,
take a hot shower,
have a good night sleep.
Let's hope for a energetic day tomorrow!

Florida Trip - Day 5

On the last day of our Florida trip, we took Greyhound bus from Key West back to Miami via the
Overseas Highway (US 1). And from Miami, we took a flight back to NYC.

It was a fun trip and I spent treasure times with my girlfriends throughout the journey. Not only did the trip deepen the friendship among three of us as we shared our personal stories and experience with each other along the way, but also it developed my leadership skill as I led the way and made sure everyone was happy and got what they expected from the trip.

I hope I will go back to Miami and Key West in the future to explore these wonderful places even more.

Florida Trip - Day 4: Key West

We were just 90 miles to Cuba!



We decided the 4th day in Key West to be a fun play day. And we picked 2 water activities to do during the day time. The first one was parasailing. We took the 9AM hotel shuttle bus and arrived in downtown around 9:20AM. After we took off, we took a short walk to the harbor and waited for the 10AM boat to take us out to parasail.

 

Although you may be afraid of the height up in the sky, however, parasailing is highly recommended if you really want to enjoy the view above the sea and the chill with the breeze over the sea. The crew staff would give you a life jacket just in case and you would be fine even if you drop into the water and cannot swim. The captain would change the speed of the boat which drags the parachute from time to time so that the parachute will go up and down constantly. Trust me, this is really fun!



On the way out to the middle of nowhere
in the sea

Getting ready in life jacket

We were high up in the sky!

 

When the parasailing was done, we treated ourselves a big brunch! 

Crab cake benedicts

banana foster French toast

The restaurant we had our brunch is called Bagatelle on the Duval Street. It is highly recommended!






In the afternoon, we sailed on the boat and got into the sea again to snorkel!



Relaxing on the boat

Captain on the boat

 



 

Key West is also well known by its breathtaking sunset. 

 On the last night we were in Key West, we picked a seafood restaurant called Half Shell Raw Bar. And it is highly recommended!!!

Sea food platter

Make it more fun!

Scallops crossover fries

Raw oysters

 

As we finished the 4th day of our trip, we looked forward to take a bus going back to Miami via the Overseas Highway - US Highway 1.



A Nice Friday Noon at Bryant Park, NYC

Happy Friday!

In case you haven't noticed just because it is still a bit cold in NYC in the morning or at night, spring is here! We have been waiting for it for so long.

I was feeling tired this morning due to hard work for a week. However, when I passed Bryant Park at noon, the nice weather and the crowd made me feel refreshed and energetic!


If you feel tired or lazy, please come out in the sun and infuse yourself with energy from the solar system.

If you feel lonely or depressed, please come out to the city and the nice sunshine and pleasant breeze would make you feel so hopeful.

If you feel sad or blue, please come out to the park and look at the people. The happiness reflected on their faces is so contagious.

Wish you have a great weekend!

Florida Trip - Day 2: Key West

Day 3 - I woke up in Key West. :)

Same as the second day, I woke up with the excitement of swimming.
We stayed in the Key West Marriot Beachside Hotel and they had nice pool filled with sea water (well, I knew that because the water in the pool tasted salty...) And as you can see in the picture below, right beyond the pool in the view came the sea. The view is  gorgeous, isn't it?

 

After the morning exercise, we took the hotel shuttle bus to downtown Key West, where all the fun things take place.

Right after we reached downtown, we went straight to a restaurant for the energy spent in swimming. We to a waterfront seafood restaurant called Conch Republic Seafood Company. The food over there  was fine but it was not in my recommendation list. And right outside the restaurant, we saw fish that just got caught from of sea.

I am not sure if you know this already. Key West is where the writer Ernest Hemingway wrote his great work Old Man and The Sea and where he spent the rest of his life in. The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum is right in downtown Key West, which attracts hundreds of fans of Hemingway or literature lovers visit. However, I passed without visiting the museum this time. Even though I do reading every day, literature is not my favor type of books at this point. I did not visit a museum of literature, but I appreciated all the marvelous work the best writers have contributed to our society.

While I was exploring downtown Key West...

Ride a book  on the Duval St in Key West



Huge cookies

Cock - A symbol of Key West

A toy shop

Interesting wooden architecture

A huge sculpture in front of a cultural museum

Live music performance you can find anywhere in downtown


 

An open restaurant bar along on the ocean

Triple scoops ice cream

A street show

Key West Aquarium

 



Bake grouper with Dijon mustard sauce 

Raw oysters

Caesar salad with snapper 

At night, we chose a hidden restaurant right on the main street Duval Street, which was called smokin' tuna saloon. The food was good and the price was affordable.





Florida Trip - Day 2: Miami

South Beach, Miami

Since we stayed the South Beach, there were beautiful beaches right outside our hotel.

I woke up at 8 o'clock in the morning while the rest of the city, including my girl friends, were still sleeping (and probably recovering from hangover.) It was a great day in Florida. So I swam in the hotel pools for approximately half an hour. While the pool assistant handed a towel to me, I asked him about the direction to the beach. I knew the beach should not be too far away, but, to my surprise, the assistant told me that I would be right on the beach when I just got out of the hotel via its back door!

They say early bird eats the worm.
I say early girl gets the whole pool! :)
While the whole hotel were still dreaming in their beds, I was having a great time swimming by myself. What a spoil!

 

 

What a nice view on the beach:



 



I was doing selfie and giving myself a sunbathing.

Around 10am, my girls finally woke up and found me on the beach. As we walked out the beach to

the street, the beach was still quiet and looked peaceful.  

 

Right outside the beach, there are a lot of interesting architectures in the South Beach bay area.



After we took a shower and got ready for the second half day in Miami, we took a taxi (the fare was around $20) to the Bayside marketplace, which was recommended by the receptionist on the other day when we arrived.

Take a look at the beautiful skyline:

The Bayside Marketplace is really a busy place and it definitely attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world every day. You can walk around in the market to find your favorite souvenirs; or you can take a boat trip on the water to enjoy the skyline in more detail; you can pick a restaurant or bar in the water front to feed your stomach while looking around what is going on in this amazing place; or you can visit the galleries and buy a masterpiece of art. The only thing you won't do here - you won't get bored! ;)

Here are some of the pictures we took in Bayside Marketplace:

 

 

The place we picked to feed ourselves was called Tradewinds Bar and Grill, a waterfront seafood restaurant. They had a lot of interesting dishes in the menu. And after "careful consideration" and "fierce discussion", we decided what we ordered. And the Crab Pot is highly recommended.

 



After the wonderful lunch we had, we took a bus (the fare was $2.25 per person) back to the National Hotel and took our luggage and backpacks back. Then we were on our way to Key West!

The departing time of the Greyhound bus to Key West was 5:45PM. We spent approximately 4 hours on the road and it was almost 10PM when we reached Key West.