Monday, January 22, 2007

Hello New York!

First visit to New York ever - I got to be a New Yorker for a week. I got up, dressed and walked to work. I ate with the lunch crowd and rushed the streets with commuters in the evenings. The one difference was I ate out every night and I slept in the hotel.

I also played tourist after work. Most of my memory of New York was night scenes because it was dark by the time I started my little walking tour. In a way it was good because the lights at Time Square were more brilliant at night anyway. Chinatown was bigger than the SF Chinatown. So many jewelry stores. Where did all the gold come from? Mulberry, main street of Little Italy, was quiet the night I visited. Where was everybody? I didn't smell any food!!

People in New York do walk fast and most move in one direction. Must be careful when walking opposite of the flow. You will feel like a fish swimming upstream.

I went through the Grand Central Station everday. I learned quickly that it was the short cut from Point A to B. After going around in circles few times, I think I got my directions figured out for next time. Great place for people watchinng.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Happy Year 2007!

Here we are, third day into the new year. So far so good. What awaits us this year? Only time will tell.

The new year began damp and cold. A typical cold winter day and a great day for HOTPOT. It must have been a good idea because lots of our friends had hotpot dinner on New Year's Eve.


Mom and I decked the table with pretty plates, matching bowls, chopsticks, spoons, ladles, wine glasses, etc...It looked very festive. Halfway through, power went out. A big section of the neighborhood went pitch black. What timing! But, power or not, we were having our hotpot. At least no electricity required. Mom got spare cans of gas, and we had plenty of candles. It would have been cool if we got hats with top-mounting flashlight. We ended up with a lovely candlelight dinner - couldn't call it romantic because RK wasn't with me. It was quite fun as we fished food in semi-darkness and strained to see what we put in our mouths.

Lesson learned: improvise! It just might turn out much better than the original plan.


Happy New Year!