christmas in chinatown yet again. this time we went in a little

earlier to secure a good chinese dinner to save ourselves from

expecting mediocre meals every year.

luckily we broke the bad spell this year, and had a great meal at

shanghai cafe deluxe, where we had xiao long bao's (look at the

juiciness!), snow pea leaves, and squid over rice - ending with

some red bean ball (not pictured) and egg tarts for desserts at

fay da bakery.

and doing other touristy things, just because we can :

impressive little straw sculpture animals on bayard & baxter.

one of my favorite parks in the city, columbus park, in lower chinatown,

where older chinese people congregate and play cards & games around

the sun yat-sen statue.

merry christmas to all!