Friends and Autumn in New York

I can't really describe how gorgeous fall in New York city is. The leaves have all changed to red, yellow, and orange and though everyone says its a short-lived phenomenon, it is beautiful nonetheless. The weather is perfect too--comfortably chilly. This is how fall is supposed to be! Its supposed to have pumpkin pie and cornucopia colors! Mmmmmm.... pumpkin pie. This is me, Andrea, and Ann at Central Park. We think that people whose names start with 'A' are way cooler than anyone else. Just kidding. But really.

Andrea, Miguel, and Ann

Good ol' Bethesda Fountain

At the park, there were people practicing parkour. People jumping on park structures, running around. I saw these young children trying to imitate them after they had gone. Their parents were horrified as they witnessed their one son almost crack his head open after falling off a concrete structure.

I am going to do this before I leave!!

Miguel and Mohan

So, you may (or may not) be wondering... what the hell am I doing to keep myself occupied here? Well, too much. Too much. Anyone who knows me knows that food is an essential part of having any kind of fun. So naturally, I've been doing a lot of that.

Hot Pot in Chinatown with (fittingly) China Center folks! (well, ok only 3 of us work at the Center on US-China Relations: Leah, Andrew, and me but we make up the majority anyhow)

left to right: Andrew, me, Alex, Leah, Jason
Side note: Will someone tell me why I always seem to be wearing that same shirt in all my pictures??

If you are craving filling, hot, and spicy Chinese food its gotta be Sichuan hot pot. A boiling pot filled to the brim with red chili peppers was placed in front of us and we went to town-- dumping in spinach, tofu, mushrooms, potatoes, beef, winter melon... good god I can't even recall how much we ordered. The best part about it was that it was so cheap!! Apparently New York prices just don't apply in Chinatown. All of us can speak Mandarin (to varying degrees) but unfortunately Jason's rendition of "Can we have some iced water" left the waitress looking not only confused but perhaps even offended?



The place we went to was called Famous Sichuan (the white banner in the middle) In Chinese its probably translated to something like "Sichuan cuisine outside of Sichuan" (a pretty unsexy English title)

Rogue Wave at Bleecker Street's Le Poisson Rouge

Someone I've gotten to know quite well these few months I've been here isMohan Kanungo who I met through a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. Oddly enough, he knows Katelyn as they were both in Key Club together at the same high school. It is a small ass world and I blame facebook.

Anyway, Mohan had tickets to see Rogue Wave for free since the club he worked at, Drom, gets free admission to live shows. Le Poisson Rouge is a really cool venue with décor inspired by 1920’s Paris. Its got fleur de lis patterns on all its red walls and right when you enter, theres a giant fish tank chandelier suspended by metal chains from the ceiling (red fish of course!). They had Jack Daniels specials that night. Hmmm....

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), one of the members of the band got injured and had to cancel. So instead we were treated to a performance of Mini Kiss. Thinking it was just some lame name for a band, we decided to watch it anyway being as we were already there.

We were not expecting an all-midget Kiss tribute band.

The People's History of the United States: Remixed
So, remember Howard Zinn's book "The People's History of the United States"? Its essentially about how the marginalized fought for their rights in American history; African Americans, workers, the urban poor, women, Native Americans, homosexuals and others. It tells a history of the US through their eyes starting with the bloody massacres of the natives when Columbus occupied Hispaniola. It is a depressing book, but it is also a truthful side of history which I believe everyone should know about.
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Hip Hop Theater at NYU decided to put on a show where famous actors and spoken word artists performed the speeches of great orators who led the the fights for greater justice. Among the speeches performed were ones by Frederick Douglas, Martin Luther King, Eugene E. Debs, and Malcolm X.

Of note is Tim Robbins sitting in the 3rd seat from the right. I thought his rendition of Deb's speech was phenomenal. Next to him in the tan jacket is Black Thought from The Roots. It goes without saying that the performances were wonderful. Kudos to Mark, who is a grad student in education at NYU who convinced us all that this was a thing to see. After the show, us girls (me, Andrea, Ann, and Naomi) headed home while the guys (Van, Mark, Miguel, and Mohan) partied with Robbins at the nearby pub. In defense of myself, I didn't know he was going to be there!

Urban Picnics, another Moth Storyslam, and more food

Since Mohan lives where I work (the Upper East Side, where all the rich white people are), he suggested we do an "urban picnic lunch." Here is our spread at Hunter College:

Basically it was leftover Vietnamese noodles, salad, spring rolls, carrots, hummus, homemade pizza, and crackers. A weird combo but great nonetheless.

At "The Bitter End" bar, Mohan tells a story for the Moth Story Slam. The Topic? New Beginnings


Another event I've gone to twice is a Writer's Performance group type deal where aspiring young writers and spoken word artists showcase their talents in front of a small audience. Jhumpa Lahiri started in this group.

Congee Village, in the lower east side has a gaudy las vegas front but it is a haven for New York Chinese people (packed!), features a full bar (lychee martinis!), and most importantly has scrumptious congee. Oh congee...

I went last weekend with Andrea, Mark, Kristine, and Ann and I think we all considered it the biggest accomplishment of the day. Ordered three types of congee plus vegetable and fried squid plates and still the total came out to be $7 a person. I should write a book titled "New York in less than $15 a day." To celebrate that, we went to Chelsea's Karaoke 17 where we drunkenly sang Journey and Kelly Clarkson songs. Loves it.

I've also been seeing my cousin Stephanie (a nice change to seeing her only like twice a year). Pizza with her and her boyfriend Tim and Tim's friend in Murray Hill.

After that, it was to the West Village for some hookah at "Horus." The venue was a little jank, but ehh... couldn't really complain too much. I got a Casablanca beer.

Chester's Visit

So Chester decided to man-up and visit me. We had lots and lots of fun and I won't bore you with the details though the details are all on his site: Chesternet.org
Here are some pictures I stole anyhow because I want them on this blog:

At Central Park

Getting our favorite dessert in C-town

Bacon-infused vodka (I kid you not) Chester had a bacon martini topped off with a Slim Jim twist.

Miscellany

Some fountain dedicated to some Italian-American politician


The annual Polish parade on 5th Ave. This thing was HUGE.

Imposing buildings

RAWR!