Hyomin Kang and Daisuke Itoh from Tulip Co. shared a quick visit in NYC before they returned to Hiroshima

Saturday was a gray and hazy day. MetroNorth's Hudson line train to Grand Central passes by Bannerman's Island and I snapped this with my iPad as we sped by. The day's weather made for a cool looking shot.
On Hyomin's previous stays stateside on Tulip needle business, we have enjoyed meeting at Lily O'Briens coffee and chocolate shop as I've shared with you in previous posts. This time we find they have gone out of business. So, we met at Kinokuniya Bookstore around the corner...and also across the street from Bryant Park.
Bryant park was bustling with shoppers enjoying the holiday markets and skaters waiting to enjoy the rink that temporarily occupy the park this time of year. Add to these the Christmas trees and holiday lights and I'll tell you, it was quite romantic.
We had a lovely visit catching up on the last 6 months. I asked if it would be okay to share on TulipBeadingNeedles.com I'd asked if it would be okay to share some of my tour of Tulip this year. For example, pictures of Mr. Manube, the man who helped create the machine that ultimately makes the size 12 needles possible; and Masami Oda, one of the three Tulip staff responsible for handwork involved in setting the eye, polishing and inspecting the size 13 needles; and Takasaki Shinichi who gold-plates the eyes of the needles... Now that they've given the green light, I will have to get to work on this. We shopped a little in the park, enjoyed dinner together before Hyomin and Daisuke had to head back to their hotel, in preparation for an early flight in the morning.