Chinatown Empress

Finally, the semester's almost over and I just thought it's about time to dig in to my Chinese roots and recognize my granddad's heritage. For over 5 months now, I have been working in a Chinese-concentrated community in Brooklyn and this is what made me appreciate a little bit of my blood origin. The speakers there are mostly Cantonese and it's such a delight that my co-workers are kind enough to teach me few simple phrases and the basics needed for physical therapy. I'm actually a fast learner and sometimes I hear them giggle. I earnestly ask why, they reply "Because you say it with a correct accent, Gaby!" Lol

In New York, whenever I get the chance to have conversations with new friends or basically small talks with random people in general, they may sometimes ask where I'm from and I would always politely say that it would be interesting if they could guess where it is. Most of their answers, would either be China or Japan. Their look of disbelief is remarkable when I reveal that it's not an East Asian nation and that I'm actually Filipino.

So to celebrate that, the following are a few shots taken near Canal Street, Chinatown in Lower Manhattan wearing a popular Chinese color that symbolizes luck, joy and happiness because throwing on some red means good times ahead. Also the sheer fabric of the jumpsuit complements the gusty breeze of that windy November day.