Grandma and Grandpa dropped me off at the airport, and were gracious enough to give me some cash for my taxi ride to Hell's Kitchen, the district where my good friend Kathryn lives. The plan was to drop off my things, then head out maybe to a museum before Kathryn got off work. Thus returns my motto: Be flexible.
It was raining, and there was an accident. So I actually got to the apartment (she had sent me her keys beforehand) right about the time she was getting off work. This worked out for the best, as the keys weren't exactly functioning any way. But I successfully lugged up my life, aka two suitcases, a backpack and a saxophone, four stories to an apartment only slightly bigger than my parents' former abode in Germany. (Kathryn was quite happy to hear that her apartment was comparatively "big.")
We then headed out for dinner at a local place, as Hell's Kitchen district is the home of every type of hole-in-the-wall restaurant you could ask for. We had some delicious Thai where I tested out my taste buds on some of the spiciest they had. Mmm!!
Walked around to Lincoln Center, which is a beautiful little square of high art performances. I hope she posts the pictures from that time soon, so I can share with you. Then a graceful walk to Columbus Circle, at the southwest corner of Central Park (also a location from the movie Enchanted :). Ooh, but the highlight of the evening was the bomoboloni from A Voce Columbus in the Time Warner Center. Holy smokes!
If you can't tell, Kathryn is a food connoisseur. She used to say in college, "I should weigh about 300lbs with the amount of food I eat, but I just happen to have a high metabolism. Don't worry, it'll catch up to me." She's so funny. And yes, I'm working very hard not to gain that much while on this trip--bombolonis are to die for!
The next morning, I awoke in order to meet up with a couple more Northwesterners:
I dunno, I just told them, "It's my favorite Asians!" And this is how they posed..We walked around. Mainly because I insisted so, considering how pleasant the weather was today, as well as enjoying the view of walking through a big city that does situate everything fairly close together. How else could we have walked right by the Chrysler building without noticing it? I must thank the cop from whom I had asked directions, since he responded by pointing in the wrong direction (through a building the opposite direction in fact!). No worries, we found it on our way back, only to find that we can't even go to the top. Lame.
Next came the New York Public Library (Ghostbuster's anyone?), Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and lunch at Gray's Papaya. Scratch that. Lunch on the steps of the US Post office, facing Madison Square Garden. I was very happy, as the place served Pineapple juice that I just so happen to love (no reference to Psych involved here).
We then walked to High Line Park, which is a renovated rail junkyard basically, that has some decent foliage but more importantly, halfway comfortable benches where all three of us took a very necessary power nap. I awoke to the sound of firetruck sirens. Ah, New York..
Followed this up by, gasp, taking the subway. Admittedly, my first time for NYC, as I had just walked around my only other time here 9 years ago, as well. Yes, I looked for the Cash Cab before heading below the streets. Nada. We ended up at MoMA--the Museum of Modern Art. The free ticket Friday starts at 4pm, so since we were early, and I was loaded up on pineapple juice, I requested we find a bathroom first. Josh took us to his place of work close by, but as we were in our street clothes, we couldn't see his cubicle. Dropped by a belgian waffle stand on the way back, but by this point I was full, so I didn't even bother. The line around MoMA wrapped almost all around the block, yet was surprisingly fast. I have Target to thank!Although the crowd was hard to weave through, I about lost it when I realized Van Gogh's The Starry Night was here. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It's gotta be one of my favorite pieces. Tears certainly crept up, but stayed inside. It is not a very large piece, but I still love the curves and dents of the thickly laid paint. I was happy to see much of Picasso's cubism works there as well; not so pleased with Mondrian or Kandinsky (secretly proud that I knew who these people were. That art class in elementary school paid off! Just kidding, father ;)
We then met up with Kathryn at a great little diner called Trailer Park Lounge. This place is decorated with all the RV specials: a velvet Elvis, paper mache lights, vinyl chairs. They serve delectables like hamburgers, sloppy joes and tater tots. Of course, I went all out by ordering the quesadillas. haha. It was a great time had by all, and the joke about the possibility of yours truly being a robot continued on. They are ridiculous I tell you! 00101101001010.. I mean...
Rojas and Josh had to go their separate ways, unfortunately, but I was so glad to see them. Kathryn and I on the other hand, went on to the Upright Citizen's Brigade, an hour-long improv comedy show. Hee-larious. That was some amazing talent. I'm talking, I hardly wanted to laugh, because I wanted to catch everything, and I was just so impressed by their talent!Not too bad for a day and a half, huh?
As for the title. Rojas, Josh and I were walking through the city and we noticed some filming occurring in an office building above us. So a bunch of trucks for lighting equipment were parked on the narrow street, when a food truck of some sort tried cutting through. The driver calls out to another sitting in a lighting equipment truck, "Yo cheesecake, where's my coffee?!" In the best NY accent you can muster. I can do it for you if you'd like (I love assimilation). Any way, we chuckled about it in mild confusion.
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