On an early rainy Friday morning I took the train to NYC. It was still dark outside when I boarded, but luckily I grabbed a seat on the quiet car and went back to sleep.
It rained the whole way up and was still pouring when I got into the city. I hailed a cab and got to my destination and dropped off my bag. The rain wasn’t going to stop me; I can always go shopping. As the afternoon grew the weather cleared and at that point I was ready to enjoy the fresh air. Later that evening I met up with friends. We went to an Afghan Restaurant and caught up on each other’s lives while sipping wine and smoking seesha. After stuffing ourselves completely we headed to the Bourgeois Pig for dessert and more drinks. Slowly, everybody started to make their way home. I surrendered to my food and drink coma around 2am.
The next morning I woke up to the sun peeking in my window. I headed to the High Line. Once railroad tracks several stories above ground, then abandoned now an amazing park. Sipping my tea I enjoyed the beautiful views of the Hudson River and the architecture of the Meat Packing District. I started to slowly make my way to Bryant Park to meet up with Kain with one stop along the way for a slice a pizza. They don’t make pizza like this in DC. We took the subway to Queens to meet up with Hevan, Alicia and Hevan’s daughter Alex. We went the Museum of Moving Image. Starting on the top floor and made our way down. There were six interactive instillations. The one that I spent most time with was “RealTime UnReal” by Workspace Unlimited. The piece took architectural spaces displayed around the museum and created an abstract world. I put on my 3D glasses and walked along the line of tape; motion sensors picked up on my movement and gave me the illusion of traveling through this abstract world. I made my way down to the next floor to enjoy the history of film. Old cameras are displayed in a long corridor, props from the popular movies, and the face of the Exorcist made me jump about 10 feet out of my skin. Alex enjoyed dubbing her voice over the Wizard of Oz, “There is no place like home”; I enjoyed changing the sounds in popular action packed films and creating a comedy. The next floor reminded me of my childhood with popular movie memorabilia. I stared at the glamorous movie portraits lining the walls, the outfits, lighting and contrast were amazing. We made it down to the bottom level and to the end of the exhibit. It left me feeling inspired.
After the museum we headed to Long Island city where we walked along the waterfront enjoying the spectacular views of the New York City skyline. We played in the park until the sky went dark and the lights came on then it was time to break out our tripods and try to capture this amazing city. After a while my fingers grew numb as the cold wind got stronger. We headed for dinner and came across a Thai Place called Tuk Tuk. We warmed up with some wine and spicy food. I had the Panang with seafood which just took me back to Thailand. It was one of the best Thai restaurants that I have been to in NYC. After dinner I said goodbye and headed back to the Lower East side for a night of drinking and hanging out with other friends. Before I knew it it was 4am. Wow, what a fun night! The sun was starting to rise as my head hit the pillow.
Five hours after falling asleep my alarm clock went off. As much as I wanted to stay in bed and enjoy my hangover I got up and met up with my friend Sylvie for brunch. We talked for hours over the most delicious food. The day was sunny and windy as we walked to Soho, where we shopped. We found ourselves walking all the way to Chinatown, where we snacked on yummy fruit and enjoyed all the street vendors selling fake designer purses, to earrings and bizarre toys. I said goodbye to Sylvie as she was heading to work. Sunset was coming and I needed to get across town. I flagged a taxi and went to Rockefeller Plaza and I bought one ticket for the Top of the Rock. I arrived an hour before sunset; the crowds were already starting to gather. People were quickly getting off the escalator and securing a good spot to watch the show. I on the other hand couldn’t stay in one place. The view was spectacular and I just wanted to see it all. I wandered around from view to view, snapping a bunch of photos, the sunset was hidden by clouds moving. The weather had been amazing all weekend and now it looks like the rain is back.
Once again I had lost track of time. My train departed in hour. Luckily I got across town picked up my bag and made it to the train station. I had just enough time to get one more slice of pizza. The train was packed but I found my favorite seat in the quiet car and slept the whole way back to DC.
