Why do we need to study design? Why do we need to hire a graphic designer when you can just download a template online? It’s comparable to making your own cake versus buying from a boutique confectionary shop. There’s just something in their cake that you can’t put your finger on and you can’t recreate.
With anything — cooking, trimming the hedges, playing an instrument, or animating a cartoon — it’s all in the details. This is why I love this video so much. Sure, anyone w...
2022-11-10 15:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
How do you pick a restaurant in NYC? That’s easy. I look at pictures. I look at pictures of the restaurant and pictures of the food. If the food looks good, chances are it will probably taste good too.
What about restaurant reservations? If online booking is completely full, 75% of the time I can get a reservation by calling. Some restaurants save seats for callers since some customers might not be able to access online booking.
2022-11-08 15:00:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
I had a pretty good streak publishing every week. I was consistent all throughout summer. But I've come to realize it's simply not sustainable. I do it all myself... the research, writing, graphics, and editing. The entire week gets dedicated to creating a video and that's it. There are other things I want to have time for such as:
- Focus on community building by composing a proper social media plan that goes beyond YouTube
- Experience with the "rinse and repeat" process to find...
2022-11-03 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
Time goes by so fast! Summer just flashed before my eyes. But that doesn't mean the end of free things to do. Here's the November edition.
2022-10-29 14:10:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
Enjoy!
2022-10-29 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
I'm publishing early (instead of posting on Nov 1). I didn't realize that Halloween weekend is this weekend. Oops.
People always talk about the Halloween Village Parade, but not a lot talk about Clinton Hill. And I purposely didn’t talk about this in my October video of free things to do. It’s a local thing I like to keep to myself.🤫
During this time, Clinton Hill is filled with kids trick-or-treating from house to house. Streets are closed off to cars and lots of people ar...
2022-10-28 15:41:39 +0000 UTC
View Post
In a job interview once, I was asked: “What are your hobbies?” This is also a staple question I used to ask interns when I was in charge of hiring interns in my department.
While the answer to this question is telling of someone’s personality and potential cultural fit for a company, the real kernel is determining someone’s creative outlet and influence. Because creativity can’t grow in a silo. And a person with diverse interests brings different perspectives to the table.
...
2022-10-27 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
If you have a group of people and want an extravagant meal, I recommend one of the large format meals by Momofuku Ssäm Bar.
Momofuku is the restaurant brand established by the popular Chef David Chang. He became popular from the PBS series Mind of a Chef (BTW I highly recommend this series).
With the large format meals, they cook an entire dinner specifically for your party. Parties can be as small as 3 to as large as 8 people. It has to be “large format” to make the...
2022-10-25 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
Most 15-minute cities are in Europe and Asia. Not many parts of the US embody this concept, but you see it all over NYC.
2022-10-22 14:15:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
2022-10-22 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
As mentioned from last week, this was the second video published on YouTube.
2022-10-20 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
The whole time I’ve been in New York, my observation has been that it’s easier to be vegan than sober in this city. Alcohol has been the social glue from parties to work to hanging out with roommates. Alcohol is a whole other topic on its own.
Since plant-based eating has gotten mainstream, purely vegan restaurants have been popping up. A hip and chic place that I visited this summer was Public Records in Gawanus (borderline Boerum Hill) in Brooklyn. Their entire menu is pl...
2022-10-18 15:00:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
Every wonder what I first published on YouTube? It was about how passwords get compromised. I’m a big advocate for security and personal privacy. When I was in the military, I worked in intel so this is something I take seriously.
My second video was on how to make rice without a measuring cup. 🍚 Perhaps I’ll share that video next week. 😉
And my third video was on the Manhattan grid. From then on, I continued to make New York City videos.
But before even publishing...
2022-10-13 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
New York knows how to make coffee.
Seattle has Starbucks, but NYC has the love — in the form of small cafe owners and baristas that pour their souls into the cups. Ok, not all baristas are like that. Some just show up for a paycheck. BUT, I think coffee is still better in New York.
And my favorite is…. Devoción. They have three branches in NYC and I’ve been to all. When I was working in Downtown Brooklyn, I used to “have a meeting” mid-day and worked on my lapt...
2022-10-11 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
It's that time of year when NFL is in the air! In this week's video, we are going to talk about how to take the bus or train to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
2022-10-08 14:15:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
Happy New York-ing! Go Giants! 🏈
2022-10-08 14:00:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
Every quarter I make it a point to review the channel. This is a time to see what's working and not working — for the audience, the algorithm, and myself.
So what do I do during this time?
I review analytics, re-read comments, re-watch videos, review the mission and vision, review the 5-year and 10-year plans, gather inspiration, and experiment with new ideas or techniques. Then I make necessary changes based on what I've processed and how I feel about everything.
2022-10-06 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
The way New Yorkers brunch is very particular.
The Time
In other places, brunch is defined as eating food between breakfast and lunch. In NY, it’s defined as eating breakfast food at lunch time. Most New Yorkers brunch between 1–3pm. 11am (right when the restaurant opens) can be too early for a lot of folks.
Location
Very neighborhood-oriented. New Yorkers don’t like to travel during the weekends. So they usually...
2022-10-04 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
Happy weekend! In the spirit of the recently published video on how to rent a Citi Bike, here are two sets of wallpapers — one with a bike and the other with a bike and avatar.
2022-10-01 15:44:49 +0000 UTC
View Post
Learn about New York's bike sharing program.
2022-10-01 14:15:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
Here’s a treat for you all today.
This was a video I created earlier this year but didn’t publish. After this post I’ll be adding it to one or two playlists so some people can watch it.
At the time this was created, I simply wasn’t happy with it. Looking back, I should have just published this video. I was just too hard on myself. I’ve learned that it’s better to publish something that's imperfect than to not publish at all.
2022-09-29 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
Shake Shack
I’ve mentioned Shake Shack a few times on the channel. Their burgers are super delicious and their fries are on point. On my birthday and New York anniversary (the day I moved to NY), I always celebrate with a Shack burger, strawberry shake, and fries. I’m a big fan of their brand and I love their history. Shake Shack is near and dear to me.
Also, fun fact: the Shake Shack logo was done as pro bono. Last I checked, the company is now worth about $2...
2022-09-27 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
New video is out! Things to do for October. Happy Fall!
2022-09-24 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
Fall is finally here! So are pumpkin spice lattes, muled cider, muled mead, Oktoberfest, and pumpkin ale!
I'm redoing how I make wallpapers. This collection should cover most screen sizes. If there's a screen size you are looking for, just let me know for which device and I can resize.
2022-09-24 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
My most favorite part of a movie is the title sequence. I love watching title sequences so much that I once wrote a 5000-word paper on it paired with a slide show presentation.
The title sequence is a very subtle way of setting the tone for the entire movie. There are entire teams whose sole job is to create the title sequence of a movie. And there are even awards dedicated exclusively for the title sequence.
Off the top of my head, here are some unforgettable ones:
- Co...
2022-09-23 02:01:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
New York City is full of all sorts of stories. Every time you go out, you’re bound to come home with some sort of interesting observation to share. The best collection of New York stories that I’ve found is Metropolitan Diary by the New York Times. Since the 1970s, people have been submitting New York anecdotes to this column. And a lot of them just leaves you smiling.
Since this is a column in the New York Times, it’s only available to subscribers. But non-subscribers can read up...
2022-09-20 14:01:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
Part of the NYC commuter rail series, here's a video on how to head north of Manhattan on the Metro-North Railroad.
Videos on other commuter rails:
PATH — https://youtu.be/W18JJvYw2TY
LIRR or Long Island Rail Road — https://youtu.be/o-o2ydWLiFU
2022-09-17 14:05:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
All aboard the Metro-North!
2022-09-17 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
Here area couple of maps pulled from the Metro-North YouTube video. The first one shows the zones of the trains. The second map shows the equivalent in terms of prices.
Since prices are based on distance, Zone 41 doesn't necessarily mean it's a lot more expensive than Zone 6. In fact, they are about the same (maybe a difference of $0.50).
2022-09-17 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
West Anderson is an idol. You don’t even have to see the credits to know if a film was produced by him. His fingerprints just stand out in the set production, color grading, and dry humor.
I’m mentioning Wes Anderson because I pick up a lot of inspiration from his work. Whenever I’m stuck, sometimes I just turn on one of his movies to get some ideas flowing. Inspiration comes from storytelling, scene composition, humor, or even just a slight artistic interpretation of an idea.
...
2022-09-15 14:01:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
