Right out of the box, it pretty simple to use. It comes a docking station, the unit itself and a couple of manuals. It’ll require an initial charge of about 2-3hrs right out of the box before it’ll be ready to vacuum your house.

Overall, it did a pretty great job vacuuming. It covered ever square foot of the house and the floors feel… a whole lot cleaner. After 3 rounds around the house, the amount of dirt it collected started to decline in the trash bin compartment. The best part of the whole unit is that it returns back to its charging station after its done! It’s completely hassle free. The only thing you have to worry about is scheduling the vacuuming cycles and emptying the trash bin after each vacuum.

But i will advise you to tidy up the house and pick up any socks or toys off the ground before it beings its cycle. And the vacuum does run a bit loud. So it’s probably not best to schedule the vacuum while you’re watching football or baseball. you can set it clean any area around the house instantly by double clicking the start button and it’ll be off in its way.

I found it vacuumed a 50×60 living space with 4 rooms of furnitures in about 1hr or so. It’s pretty efficient i might say!

Here are some video of unit in action :

Here’s another video showing the various obstacles Neato had to surmount:

I was heading to my physics class and between Laguardia Pl and Washington Square S when i saw the second plane hit the other tower. Everyone was out in the streets in disbelief. People were on the phone calling their love ones. The phone lines were absolutely jammed and it took myself a couple tries to reach my own parents.  From then on, i knew i had find my own way home. All the subways, LIRR and PATH trains were shut down. The only options were to find a place to live in the city, walk across the bridge, or wait it out at Penn Station. So i walked all the way up to Penn station from 4th West Street.

While walking back to penn station,  all i thought about was, “This was absolutely THE worst time to transfer to NYU,” especially since it was my second day. The streets were absolutely void of cars. And the only cars you did see were the black SUV racing down towards WTC in blazing sirens. everyone else with me were heading north to get away from the mess. i think everyone was told to stay above 14th place because of all the air pollution.

People were also scrambling to get any news possible of the crisis unfolding. The only thing that worked were short wave radios. the TV gave no receptions at all. There were rumors flying around that other places got hit — like dallas, florida, washington dc, etc. And that all commercial air flights were grounded. was it possible? could the US be under a full scale attack? one of the mightiest countries out there? and the biggest question, who was attacking us?? we did hear that the pentagon was hit too. it was such a bold and audacious move, but who was behind it all?? why didnt we see it?? so many questions, so few answers.

upon arriving at penn station, we found out all the LIRR service were cancelled. Only a couple minutes later, i found out that the Ronkonkoma branch was coming into service. Luckily, that was my ticket out. They packed us like sardines in those trains. i think everyone wanted to get home to their love ones. you can feel the silent mood in the air on the ride home. some people were covered in dust from being close to the WTC. i remember one young man that was standing less than one block away when the towers got him. all he recall was the hysteria and mayhem going about. he recalls seeing people jumping to their deaths. others recalling seeing bits and parts of the airplane on the ground. one saw part of the landing gear and others saw bits of the engine. i dont think there was a dry eye in the room…

I still remember as if it were yesterday. I cant believe it has been 9 years…

She’s 15 months old.

One of the greatest companion a boy could ever asked for

For many, especially me, Weddings and Engagements are special time in our lives. I can go on and on describing the occasion, but i’ll let the photographs explain themselves. But if i have to describe them in one word, it would be “timeless”.

These photographs were practice photo-shoot done by my uncle. All done with Canon 5D MII with ES 70-200 IS AF2.8 lens.

~I love you Amy~

well…that’s not the real USS Intrepid…lol! just a model inside the real thing! a box within a box!

an actual propeller wing

Score card….pretty impressed i’m still standing on the Intrepid.

it was actually raining that day…so i didnt get many out door pics

i believe it cost around$21-22 dollars to actually enter the museum. ehh it was kind of pricy. i was expecting more. ….more like firing one of the guns into New Jersey {har har har i know lol}. i cant imagine what it would be like on a modern day aircraft ship carrier!

Anyway, i drove there saturday morning bright and early at 6 am. traffic was light till i hit the maryland / DC area. Apparently there was an accident on the route i was taking. anyway, i made it there safely. Parking was kind of hard to find. But to my surprised there like thousands of people there when i got there around 11ish.

here’s some of the photos of the cherry blossom area in the tidal bank:

you can see the washington monument in the background in this photo

here’s the iconic photo of the thomas jefferson rotunda juxtapose to the cherry trees.

Walking around the halls of the Thomas Jefferson Rotunda

These are some of the variations of the cherry blossom trees:

they’re actually quiet stunning to see.

anyway, i decided to tour the Washington, DC area with the remaining time i had left. why not?? i’m in the present of history. our great fathers walk down these same street. i felt it was just a honor to be here.

the reflecting lake. at the end is the lincoln memorial. it’s actually quiet a long lake….

WOW..completely. iconic image. i’ve seen this building on the back of millions of pennies, and i cant believe i’m before it. i cant tell you how historic this building is. many many famous leaders have been before these steps.

here’s the man himself…god blessed him for all he had done for our nation

the famous gettysbury address. i swear to took a few minutes of my time to slowly and carefully read this address to myself there…it just completely moved me.

the whitehouse…look above it and you can see snipers…

I also went to see the House of Congress, House of Judiciary, Library of Congress, Botanical Garden, and the  Smithsonian. That was like over 7hours of straight walking. There were a couple places that i still wanted to see, but i guess i’ll have to put that off till next time. my feet felt like cement blocks.

anyway, i manage to get home with only $3 dollars left in my wallet!! The tolls were more costly than i expected. I didnt have one of those Ez-pass devices, but i put an order for one now lol. I was telling myself, if i bought one more ice cream pop from those vendors, i would have been trapped on staten island! and i was hell no! of all places to be stuck in..not staten island. well i guess there could have been worse place….NJ.

Overall it was a fun experience. quiet beautiful. i was impressed by the whole DC experience. perhaps next time i’ll commute by train.

just one of those days? lol no worries. they were kind enough to let us through anyways lol. i think i could have been like 2hrs late and they would be “oh you can take the next boat out” lol. anyway, i borrowed Lisa’s camera, so thanks so much! Oh since only NJ was offering the monument pass (allows you to walk inside the statue of liberty), we had to go to NJ…(no comments).

that’s the liberty state park ticket office. It looked like a run down old penn station/ferry service. it looks like it was renovated for these statue of liberty tours.

this is one of the docks at the liberty state parks. in the far distance is manhattan. cant really recognized without the missing twin towers.

Ellis Island from the ferry boat

Main Entrance of the Ellis Island

This building is nothing short of history. The remarkable undertaking to transform this monument into a historical landmark was incredible. If you went to the third floor, you’ll realize how run down Ellis Island had become. You can probably spend a whole afternoon here reading and examining all the photographs and souvenirs left behind.

DAMN…i left my brick at home

The second floor of Ellis Island…the Registery Room. The plaque in the bottom right corner said that nearly 5,000 ppl arrived daily to the island to be process. talk about dealing with ppl!

there was one more floor that i didnt get to pics of cuz we were running short of time. i think we only spent like 1-2hrs here. wished i had more time lol.

the iconic touristy photo…i so looked i was high on something lol

to the left is the old flame torch that use to sit on top of the statue of liberty. It’s pretty ugly imo. to the right is a replica of the actual face of the statue of liberty. i can probably fit this in my room. This is probably what the statue of liberty looked like before the oxidation.

This is, if anyone doesnt know this, is Colossus of Rhodes. one of the old ancient wonders of the worlds. but there’s something so wrong about this pic……

Outside of the pedestal of the statue of liberty. this is about as high as anyone can get to since 9/11. To the left is NJ and to the right is NY.

This is actually the interior of the statue of liberty looking upward from the pedestal

overall, for $12 for a boat ride and visit to both island, it was well worth it. defiantly recommend seeing this place to anyone. thanks again to Lisa for providing me her camera!

Background information of Cherry Blossum Festival:

The blooming of the cherry trees around the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. has come to symbolize the natural beauty of our nation’s capital city. The famous trees, a gift from Japan in 1912, signal Washington’s rite of spring with an explosion of life and color that surrounds the Tidal Basin in a sea of pale pink and white blossoms. Thousands of city residents and visitors from across the nation and around the world come here to witness the spectacle, hoping that the trees will be at the peak of bloom for the Cherry Blossom Festival.

2009 Bloom Watch

Average Peak Bloom Date: April 4
2009 Peak Bloom Date Forecast: April 3-9, 2009
2009 Blooming Period: To be Determined

Exactly when the buds will open is not an easy question to answer. It is pretty much impossible to give an accurate forecast much more than 10 days before the peak bloom. National Park Service Horticulturists monitor 5 distinct stages of bud development and provide forecasts and updates as needed.

The Peak Bloom Date is defined as the day in which 70 percent of the blossoms of the Yoshino Cherry (Prunus x yedoensis) trees that surround the Tidal Basin are open. The date when the Yoshino cherry blossoms reach peak bloom varies from year to year, depending on weather conditions. Cherry Blossom Festival dates are set based on the average date of blooming (April 4), but nature is not always cooperative. Unseasonably warm and/or cool temperatures have resulted in the Yoshino cherries reaching peak bloom as early as March 15 (1990) and as late as April 18 (1958).

The Blooming Period is defined as a period that starts when 20 percent of the blossoms are open and ends when the petals fall and the leaves appear. * The blooming period starts several days before the peak bloom date and can last as long as 14 days; however, frost or high temperatures combined with wind and/or rain can shorten this period. During the blooming period, the National Park Service conducts annual Cherry Tree walks and bike tours around the Tidal Basin. These park ranger conducted programs present an interpretive look at the historical and cultural influence of the Japanese Flowering Cherry Trees in our Nation’s Capital.

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