Some say love it is a river
that drowns the tender reed
Some say love it is a razer
that leaves your soul to blead

Some say love it is a hunger
an endless aching need
I say love it is a flower
and you it's only seed

It's the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance
It's the dream afraid of wakingthat never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken
who cannot seem to give
and the soul afraid of dyingthat never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely
and the road has been too long
and you think that love is only
for the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winterfar beneath the bitter snows
lies the seed
that with the sun's love
in the spring
becomes the rose

I recall the day I was walking around w/ my bro at UNIQLO, Hong Kong... Found some cheap cashmere/cotton mixed clothings - I was surprised to find that they actually have a store here in Manhattan, NYC~ Right next to the only MUJI store here also ---

Anyhow, another Sunday here in Fishkill. Need to study harD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UNIQLO Opens First Global Flagship Store in Downtown Manhattan

Bringing Japan's Most Popular Casual Wear Brand into the Hands of Fashion-Savvy New Yorkers With a 36,000 Square Foot Store in SoHo, New York

After much anticipation, the wait is finally over. Today, UNIQLO, Japan's most popular apparel retailer and a worldwide leader in casual wear, opened its first global flagship store and the world's largest UNIQLO in New York City, the fashion capital of the world. Located at 546 Broadway, the 36,000 square foot UNIQLO SoHo NY features the very best of UNIQLO - stylish, high-quality and affordable clothing and accessories, complemented by an unparalleled modern Japanese shopping experience in a stunning architectural landmark.

"It is fitting that New York City is the home of our first global flagship," said Tadashi Yanai, chairman and CEO of FAST RETAILING, the parent company of UNIQLO. "Not only is New York City the international fashion capital of the world, but it is also where the original idea for UNIQLO came to me while visiting as a young man in the late 1960's. I was inspired by the bustling energy of the city and how some retailers were able to create a seemingly calm and organized environment that allowed shoppers to explore and experience at their own pace. Since that time, UNIQLO has grown into one of the largest apparel retailers in Japan and the first major Japanese apparel brand to go global. The UNIQLO SoHo NY global flagship store is the cornerstone of our plan to develop a strong presence in the United States by offering consumers of all ages the perfect balance of fashionable, basic casual wear at the lowest prices in the market."

The look and feel of the UNIQLO SoHo NY global flagship can best be described as "functional beauty," featuring meticulous organization and streamlined design embodied in the iconic store architecture and fixtures. Designed by the renowned architect Masamichi Katayama, the global flagship authentically recreates the unique and pleasant experience of modern Japanese retail culture, offering an environment that is beautiful, clean, well-lit and organized and in which every customer is greeted with true Japanese hospitality. The look is simple, allowing the products to speak for themselves. However, in keeping with UNIQLO's appreciation of heritage, this sense of modern simplicity is juxtaposed by the presence of key architectural elements of the original space, such as exposed brick walls and large white columns.

The completion of the UNIQLO SoHo NY global flagship is the inauguration of UNIQLO's plan to transform into a global retail brand - becoming more than a company with stores around the world, but rather a company that transcends cultural boundaries, appealing to customers around the world. To best reflect this new stage in UNIQLO's evolution, the UNIQLO SoHo NY flagship will feature unique products and styles only available at this location.

"In Japan, UNIQLO is best known for two key attributes, quality and basics. But the sheer size and scope of the new global flagship allows us the opportunity to experiment and to evolve the brand both here in the US and throughout the world," said Nobuo Domae, CEO and president of UNIQLO USA, INC. "Consumers should expect the unexpected from UNIQLO in New York, meaning that the UNIQLO SoHo NY flagship will offer an impressive array of fashion-forward, on-trend pieces along with our signature items such as 100 percent Mongolian cashmere sweaters, fleeces and Japanese denim."

Modern Japan in NYC
"Modern Japan" is an integral inspirational theme for UNIQLO's global flagship. Creative Director Kashiwa Sato was charged with expressing the atmosphere of today's Tokyo throughout the retail space. To bring this theme to life the flagship will feature a large gallery space to exhibit limited edition and exclusive t-shirts designed for UNIQLO by top Japanese artists, including Yayoi Kusama, Nobuyoshi Araki, Takashi Honma, Osamu Tezuka, Godzilla, among others. There will be a total of more than 100 different t-shirts designed by 40 renowned artists. The T-shirts will be sold exclusively at the NY store during the fall/winter 2006 season. Beginning in spring of 2007 they will be sold in UNIQLO stores around the world.

A Global Brand with a Global Style
The UNIQLO SoHo NY global flagship will initially feature UNIQLO's fall/winter 2006 collection, the first collection to include the participation of UNIQLO's New York City design studio. Formed in early 2005, the New York design studio is part of a Tokyo-led project to capitalize on the wealth of creative talent from around the world. Design teams working collaboratively in Tokyo, New York, Paris and Milan developed UNIQLO's fall/winter 2006 collection to express the brand's global aesthetic and style. The international design team is headed by Yuki Katsuta, senior vice president of global research and design, who came to UNIQLO after serving as the vice-president of men's merchandising at Bergdorf Goodman.

UNIQLO in the United States
The UNIQLO SoHo NY global flagship is located at 546 Broadway, between Prince and Spring Streets.

Store hours:
Monday - Saturday 10 AM - 8 PM, Sunday 11 AM - 7 PM.

In addition, UNIQLO now has three other permanent stores in the U.S. and two temporary stores:
--UNIQLO Menlo Park Mall - Edison, NJ
--UNIQLO Rockaway Townsquare - Rockaway, NJ
--UNIQLO Freehold Raceway Mall - Freehold, NJ
--UNIQLO Rockefeller Temporary Store - 30 Rockefeller Plaza on the Concourse Shopping Level
--UNIQLO Upper West Side Temporary Store - 2231 Broadway, between West 79th and 80th Streets

About Uniqlo
Clothing says a lot, but can say it better. UNIQLO designs, manufactures, markets and sells casual wear that can be worn by anyone, any day. Rather than dictate a look, UNIQL provides people everywhere with the piece they need to create their own style. And style comes from within, which is why the UNIQLO logo is nearly invisible, tucked away inside the garment.

This concept, along with an unwavering focus on quality and value, has guided UNIQLO's actions since the establishment of its first store in 1984 Hiroshima, Japan. Today UNIQLO has grown to over 760 UNIQLO stores worldwide and is household name in Japan.

From t-shirts and sweaters to denim, outerwear and trend items, all of our clothes are made according to exacting Japanese standards for quality and come in an astonishing variety of colors and styles. UNIQLO is committed to providing customers with true excellence and innovation in casual wear, from the design and functionality to the fit and color choices. As a company, UNIQLO controls every stage of the creation of its products-from the fabric used to the stringent production control program at the factory and finally to the display at the store. We use the world's best resources to give customers something better every time.

UNIQLO is a brand of FAST RETAILING and among the top 10 specialty apparel retailers in the world. Other group companies include Theory in the U.S., COMPTOIR DES COTONNIERS and Princesse tam.tam in France, and g.u., CABIN, ONE ZONE, FOOT PARK, VIEW COMPANY and ASPESI in Japan. For more information, visit http://www.uniqlo.com or http://www.fastretailing.com.

Ha ha - tried making this tonight and with almost no effort ==> success!!!
Recipe ....1 banana (ripe) ,  3 strawberries, a cup of frozen blueberries ( can use fresh ones) , 1 cup low-fat milk, and 1 cup of vanilla yogurt ~~
Put everything in a blender and BLEND!!!!  ==> The essential thing about this smoothie is that it is very healthy. First of all, banana gives you lots of insoluble fiber --- hmm, good for... U know what I am talking about. The active ingredient in yogurt also promotes intestine activities. Blueberries are a lot of fiber, plus elements key to retina building and nutrition for the eye. Not to mention milk, which is a source of Vitamin D and Calcium~~~

Finally, I'm back to US - this place named Fishkill, New York. Don't be confused - although it is called New York, it doesn't mean it is a city.... As a matter of fact, New York City (NYC) is only a very small part of NY ~ and most of the time I have been in the States, I have been outside of the city (i.e. Cornell U was in Ithaca ...and IBM now is in Fishkill - both are non-cities).

What does that mean to not be a city? It means that you have to DRIVE to get to anywhere -oh yeah there is transportation but there is only ONE single bus (the name is 'loop bus') in the whole town! So, forget about taking it... There are cabs - but you have to know the phone #s to call them to the specific pick up place. Also, there are zero to only one single mall in the whole town. You have to drive at least an hour to get to the next biggest mall. Okay Cough cough...digressed a little

So here I am, I'd better write this down before I forget (these days I have short-term memory loss) ...I hate to admit but I miss HONG KONG!!! It's more like I miss my dear family and friends so much~ This weekend, since Park is not back from Korea yet, I have a lot of time for myself. It turns out to be very busy and insightful - I shopped at the Galleria Mall and did a lot of reading, and comtemplation (I should be doing more studying actually... =P )  Hong Kong is a dangerous place - it made me addicted to shopping!! It totally made me feel like a consumer - to be more precise, a female consumer. Spent way too much $$$ ever on Clothing + Cosmetics.   So yesterday I spent 5 hours at the Galleria Mall by myself going into every single store I could. The stores were not bad actually, at least they had Banana Republic, Gap, V Secret, Macy etc. Too bad, the new pre-make up base that I found from Shiseido White Lucent line is not sold here in US ... (GiGi - the one I showed to you at Shatin, remember?)

Anyway, the trip this time to HK was WONDERFUL - Thanks my dearest brother for preparing the cellphone for me once I got off the flight - and I still remember my brother and sixth aunt standing at the busstop waiting for me at the Ma On Shan Hoi_Park station! Even though I was pretty tired the moment I got off, we went immediately to dinner. Bro- thank you for preparing my cellphone and all those little things to welcome me back~~~  Then the next morning, I went to see grandpa, who is now 92 already and still kicking! He has very good memory still, although his hearing got deteriorated a bit... We have to shout sometimes on the phone. But when talking face-to-face, he is doing fine. Then what followed were mornings/afternoons of shopping/meeting old friends like gigi, hung hung,  Hang, PKers and 5Bers. Actually this time I didn't meet as many friends as I wanted to. Sorry ah Miu and Shirley, couldn't meet you girls this time. The only time I had dinner outside this trip was with PKers at TST...other than that, I basically had dinner w/ my aunts and mom and family.  It was a lot of good time..... Just wandering around and chatting about anything was what I enjoyed the most - Some highlights here:


  me and my bro Adrian~ don't we look alike?












me and mommy~~~ (L)

  Me and my 6e
Stephanie and 3e
   my 92-yr-old beloved grandpa the 4e's family!!! (Betsy is not here)   Wing Wing is getting prettier each year! :)




ah there you go! Here's Betsy!













Of course I cannot miss seeing Hung Hung la.... We went Sing-K and almost couldn't meet for da day because some kind of interview (u know what i'm talking about! :) )


















And there are the 5bers~~~ how many times have we met at Shatin like this? is this the 3rd time? Next time we should do something else!!! =)













God damn it the hair 'cut' took me 7 hours!!!! I missed the horse show tim ah!!! Ding....

hmm...GiGi looking at the bubble tea with contempt... ^_^



And finally... my family



















March 26th - 29th, Busan, South Korea















While waiting for the flight to Busan (Dragonair) at the HK airport...I had lunch by myself at 'hang-hung-chan' and I had the most wonderful 'Dam-Dam' noodle ever!!! At first I was only having this noodle, but then because I was greedy, I also ordered a 'chong-you-bian' (green onion cakes) and finished half of it!!! Woosh... I carried a full stomach onto the 3-hr flight to an unknown territori - Busan.





          

Hong Kong~~~ family and friends : be there 3/17 Mon - 4/1 Tue!!!!