Wish me luck, tomorrow (Saturday) I am giving notice. So no more relaxing in Federal Plaza after work...and back to the job hunt...
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New York can at times feel like a small town. Because there are fewer trains per hour, the likelihood is greater of seeing the same people repeatedly in the same train carriage, sometimes even on the way home. I've seen at least 10 so far.
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Last Sunday I went to dinner with Chris, Vera, and Vera's father who was in town for a couple of days to see her before she flew back to France.
Vera's father escaped from Berlin when the wall went up. Since then he has lived in Barcelona (where Vera grew up with her mother), NYC, and Houston, where Vera lived for a few years and where we went to university together. He has a very German way about him, although his three wives have all been Hispanic. I was rather amused at the end of the evening when I shook his hand, he did a little German bow and clicked his heels! I tried to see the similarities between the two, but although Vera looks German, she has a Spanish soul and has little in common with her father.
Photo taken by a helpful NYC cop
We met in Chinatown and ended up at a Malaysian place where the service was silly but the food was awesome, so good that we actually decided to return regularly. It was a veritable feast where Vera's father ordered about 6 items for the table and then told us to order what we wanted too. There was loads of food but all so great we finished it between the four of us!
After that we rambled through Little Italy during the last night of some saint's festival, so the streets were lined with food and fairground stalls. The restaurants are very reminiscent of Italy, with the covered terraces as extensions of the inside, the placement of the menus in glass cases outside the awnings, the little tables with those Italian woven round-backed chairs. We stopped at a Franco-Italian style patisserie where we had coffee/tea/hot chocolate, biscotti/rum baba/gelato/granita. It looked like any I've visited in Paris down to the repousse tin ceiling and high counters.
This is what I love about NYC. Every day I can feel like I'm in another country...
St Stephen's Episcopal Church uptown east which reminds me of a Greek Orthodox basilica or somewhere like Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome
St Paul's Chapel near World Trade Center downtown, built in the 1740s as a relief chapel for residents who could not walk to Trinity Wall Street. Although unstuccoed it resembles any one of Sir Christopher Wren's neoclassical churches in the City of London.
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One day after work this week, a coworker and I went to a Japanese market in SoHo where I picked up spicy seaweed strips, crispy tofu, some yellowtail sushi maki, and daifuku for dessert (which I usually call mochi). I had enough energy to lay it out on my roomie's Japanese platter and was pleased with the result:
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Today roomie and I spent the day in our jammies, surfing the net on our respective computers, feeling a little blah because autumn arrived in force today. The leaves are starting to change, that's one thing, but we have swapped weather with London! Today was like summer in the UK: grey, rainy, and breezy - although a few degrees warmer than it usually is there. 21C (65F). Not complaining too much.
In the evening, we squeezed our summerized feet into autumn boots and headed out for dinner at the Chip Shop here in Bay Ridge. It was founded by a Brit who sounds like he's from oop north so next time I may ask him. My poor roomie had a bad experience with fish n chips in London a few years ago, but we ordered some excellent cod and haddock in light crispy batter, and her faith is restored - they even have Sarson's vinegar, a staple of any British chippy. We started with a delicious salad of mesclun leaves, granny smith apples, walnuts, crumbled stilton, and a simple balsamic vinaigrette - definitely going to make this again at home. Roomie boldly ordered the ball of battered deep fried macaroni - so bad it's good. And she managed to choose one of the 30 British beers on offer. Stuffed to the gills, we enjoyed a brisk walk 30 blocks home, which really only takes 10 minutes.
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On the way home we walked through the traditionally Irish section of Bay Ridge (I am told we are in the Italian part). Lots of pubs with names like Mooney's or O'Sullivans. Ironically, while waiting to cross the street an older gent asked us to guess the distance to Tipperary. We guessed 3,000 miles, but then he laughed and started singing "It's a long way to Tipperary" because he had got us on that one. I guess he needed a listening ear and that was his way of breaking the ice because as we crossed the street, he went on to say that he is a widower attempting to get back into the dating game, and that tonight he has to go to a singles event at a nearby restaurant. He sounded genuinely frightened and I felt sorry for him. He said it was easy for young people our age or his grandkids, but it's too hard for him, so I wished him good luck, he wished us a good evening, and went away. Roomie and I thought that was the most random encounter we've ever had, but so typical of this city. We also thought that he had probably imbibed some liquid courage before attending the event...
Yep, that's me - wiped out. My limbs don't work today. Worked soooo hard this week, didn't get time for lunch most days (and I'm hypoglycemic), and hardly sat - except chairside. I definitely know the difference now between sitting to relax and sitting to work.
As it is, no matter how hearty my breakfast - I've tried bran cereal, oatmeal porridge, egg and sausage in a bun, even switched to whole milk - I still get shaky by 11.00, and when that happens I can't retain anything and have to start writing things on scraps of paper, and past a certain point I may even develop a headache. Not one of those people who can function without food. So I need a midmorning snack, a bit of lunch, and possibly a midafternoon snack depending on what I ate for lunch. I wonder...is it because I didn't eat anything when I was a child that I have created this lifelong problem for myself?
Anyway, I've had more assurances that my workload will be halved when the new assistant arrives on Monday, and that I will have more time to learn. Plus, the office will close an hour earlier soon. So, hangin' in there! But still, I am sad to lose real weekends. I get Friday and Sunday. Not two consecutive days...
Last night I fell asleep in the subway on the way home from 22.00-23.00 (had gone out to buy some chinos and long sleeved t-shirts for the days when I will need them under scrubs, plus underwear - I'm learning that you can never have too much underwear or too many socks), ate dinner (roomie made salad and left me some), fell asleep on the sofa from 1.00-2.00, washed up and went to bed, then woke up at 13.15!!! That is over 12 hours of sleep! I checked my clock, gasped "Oh my gosh!" and immediately tumbled out and tripped over everything on my way out the door, giving my roomie a crooked and drunken smile as I passed her with all my curls sticking up. She had woken up at 10.00 and been in and out of the house 4 or 5 times, made an omelette, and I hadn't heard a THING.
After work I usually walk out into the Federal Plaza, a large area cluttered with federal, state, and city buildings, and sit in the park to rest, have a drink, and maybe a snack. I don't know what I will do when it snows, although as I said, my workload will be lighter. City Hall is sort of at the crossroads between Chinatown, Tribeca, and Little Italy. I could walk a few steps in any direction and be in any of those neighborhoods.
This is what it looks like to my right from the bench where I usually sit:
This is the side of City Hall.
Centre Street runs past the State Supreme Court...:
(I work in the brown building you see on the far right side of the frame)
...Towards City Hall:
Went on a walk one day after work:
This behemoth loomed up in front of me somewhere in Tribeca, so I asked a passerby what it was and she told me it is an AT&T telecoms switching station, then she said she used to think it was a prison, which is what I was thinking!
Passed a yarn store in SoHo on Wednesday during a makeup and facecare run to the Origins store. I immediately thought of Jo!
I've been looking for a backpack for weeks, but they all seem to have gotten bigger since I last owned one at college, plus the V where the padded straps sprout from the top irritates me - they didn't used to do that so it must be some newfangled ergonomic feature. When I used to carry 40 pounds of books, which is actually the weight used on basic military training runs, backpacks were much simpler. So I love this cotton canvas bag I found at Paragon Sports off Union Square. It's lightweight, won't show dirt, fits my back like a glove without all the annoying bulky padding. It's also soft, unlike the hard, unyielding, abrasive nylon surfaces of the usual suspects.
Look how green I am - with my neutral colors and natural fabrics and recycled paper and organic products :)
Vanessa arrived early Thursday afternoon (having departed Houston at sunrise). We grabbed a Chinese lunch round the corner from me and just spent time with each other, in fact I even gave her some of the dresses I've grown out of. In the evening, we headed into the city to meet one of V's friends from tango who happened to be in town (happens every time that someone somebody knows is always in town), and then back to Laguardia to pick up V's boyfriend Pierre.
Home
Most NYC subways are filled with mosaics, each stop having its own theme. This could be a blog post in itself.
City of contrasts (between 5th and Madison)
Apple and Bergdorf Goodman
On the way back through Manhattan to Brooklyn we got out at Union Square and went to the University Diner (near NYU). At 10pm we had a salad Nicoise and some REALLY good handmade pasta in a pink (between red and creamy) vodka sauce with zucchini and portobello mushroom. It really was deliciously yummy and I can't wait to eat it again. I've never eaten such tender, springy pasta - maybe THAT'S what al dente means...
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DAY TWO - BROOKLYN WANDERINGS
We were a bit useless, despite waking up rather early, we only managed to make brunch (my now famous scrambled egg in a wrap with sausage patties), and left the house in the afternoon! The afternoon, I tell you!
Going up a few stops into another part of Brooklyn, we got out at Union Street subway and explored Park Slope towards Prospect Park (there's even a mini-movie), where we saw Grand Army Plaza and the Brooklyn Public Library.
No two houses are alike in this city...
Fairytale alert!
Grand Army Plaza, in memory of those who died to preserve the Union (Civil War, 1860-1865)
A gazebo at Prospect Park
The Brooklyn Public Library (wiki), built between 1912-1941 (no typo here). Brooklyn borough is the fifth largest public library system in the USA. Apparently from above it resembles an open book, with this face being the spine All variety of symbology and literary figures cover the doors. All three entrances are flanked by excellent quotes carved in stone
If I had to choose, I would be Athena, and I like owls
We kept walking and saw some of the park. It is an intriguing park. After entering between two columns you find your way to a sort of keyhole tunnel, which transports you into a rolling meadow filled with ancient trees. It felt a bit like English countryside and we wanted to explore more. There is a lake, a boathouse, a Quaker cemetery, a Dutch farmhouse, the Botanic Gardens, and and and....but it was nearly 4.30pm by the time we'd snapped a few photos, so we legged it to the Brooklyn Museum (website) and had about 20 minutes to breeze through the decorative arts and room displays on the 4th floor.
The Brooklyn Museum (wiki), opened in 1897, is the second largest museum in NYC and one of the largest in the USA.
The Jan Martense Schenck House, built in the 1670s when Brooklyn was still Broekelin. Dutch houses abound in this part of the city and I would like to explore them.
Half is laid out in the original Dutch colonial style of Jan Martense and the other half in Nicholas Schenck's 18th century style.
This exhibition, which has travelled far and wide, is over 30 years old and represents many of the most powerful and influential females of history - warriors, rulers, writers, poets, innovators, activists. This one is Boadicea. Emily Dickinson's setting is pink and frilly and her embroidery more delicate.
Rodin's Burghers of Calais
Rodin sculpture gallery in the lobby
Inside the lobby at closing
In the Museum Plaza after a surprise sunlit rainshower
We ate hot dogs at the ubiquitous Sabretts stand outside the museum, then walked back into Prospect Park where we attempted to rescue a giant lost caterpillar on the pathway that refused to stay on a tree, so we abandoned him to his fate. But at least he was on the grass by then.
We returned home where we ate leftover egg rolls. Pierre stayed to take a nap (he was fighting a cold) and Vanessa and I walked to Shore Park to see the sunset. We went all the way to the veteran's memorial/POW-MIA pier at the top of the park, then into the pharmacy to pick up some meds for Pierre, and then took the subway two stops back home which saved about 20 minutes.
We were hungry again, so we went down to a sushi restaurant that I love. Had crispy tofu, seaweed salad, three types of sushi maki ($2.50 gives you 6 rolls); Pierre had beef teriyaki.
It was a pleasant stroll back home as we were very full.
..............................................New York sunset
[P.S. cross your fingers - I have an interview at an animal hospital on Monday.]
I had such a busy weekend that Monday felt like a Saturday.
On the real Saturday, I met a couple of friends at the MoMA. I never thought I would say this about a modern art museum, but I think I will have to go back. You can't see everything in one afternoon, and I've just found out I missed a lot of stuff I would know about from my art history course, including Dali's Persistence of Time, and Oppenheim's Fur Cup.
On the top floor was a special Dali and surrealist film exhibition, so five sections were showing screenings of:
Un Chien Andalou - the famously weird one where the cow's eye is sliced open, the ants crawl out of a man's hand, or the man hauls two priests (Dali and Bunuel) attached to two pianos with two bloody dead donkeys inside. Seriously. The music gets a bit stuck in your head too, and like any of Dali's paintings, it leaves you feeling unsettled.
l'Age d'Or - a longer film by Dali and Bunuel, slightly erotically charged, and with a plot.
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Spellbound - a Dali/Hitchcock collaboration starring Ingrid Bergman and a young Gregory Peck. One of the backdrops was on display, along with Dali's sketches for scenes.
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And Destino, a short from the Disney studios chock full of iconic Dali imagery. Imagine, back then Walt Disney was so cutting edge that Dali chose him to bring his works to life:
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After the museum closed and we were ushered out, we had dinner at a Thai place. I had never tasted plum wine before, but it was delicious. The color of tea, it tasted like sherry and pecans.
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On the way down to Times Square later on:
Walked into the NBC store for some quiet during a phone conversation
Public concourse on the ground floor of the Rockefeller Center (GE Building).
A really nice staircase and floor. This (like the Empire State Building) was one of the large public works projects enacted during the Great Depression to give men jobs. In my opinion, it was the last time things were made to last forever - they really knew how to build 'em back then. Black granite and brass everywhere, and great murals too.
*************** And that's not the end of Saturday:
After dinner, I parted with Dan and Laura, and met Chris in Times Square to see Dark Knight. It was sold out again, so we got tickets for The Stepbrothers, which was good for a wicked laugh. The theater was so full at 10pm that we had to sit on the second row and gape upwards.
When we left near midnight, people were still going in for more shows and the streets were full of people of every description. This is indeed the city that never sleeps.
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On Sunday, I met friends in the East Village for brunch at a little Ukrainian spot called Odessa. There was the original little cafe with tiny booths and red bar stools, which is where we met. The newer and larger restaurant next door was packed, but we opted for authenticity.
The East Village is just as you would imagine: tree-lined streets of character brownstones including little old Catholic missions behind ivy covered walls, lively little walk-down basement shops (which I am sure appeared in You've Got Mail) offering vegan food, tattoo parlors, vintage clothing, etc. I saw a few punks but I guess being right next to NYU, more numerous were young intellectual types who wear hats, glasses, waistcoats with t-shirts, and sit and read poetry on doorsteps or under trees. They exist!
Anyway, at Odessa I enjoyed the Chef's Special as my intro to a hearty Yiddish breakfast: a sweet cheese blintz, four assorted pierogies, and a potato pancake, served with a side of sour cream and apple sauce. You also get a choice of coffee or tea (I chose the latter), plus a mimosa, screwdriver or bloody mary. I chose the mimosa. The staff look Mexican and are very polite and careful, and when you say "thank you" they say, "my pleasure".
After that satisfying lunch or even early dinner we walked around the farmer's market in the park across the road. Pretty soon a storm blew in so we legged it to the subway four blocks away and made it in time, but I stood outside taking in the wind which nearly knocked me backwards, but boy was it fresh! While waiting to cross the road it was blowing so hard there was dust sandblasting the back of my legs.
Then the sky came down and I spotted a Kmart-Sears so ran across to buy a hand drill because Chris had suggested that before he starts work on Monday he would like to help me assemble my bed which has been sitting in its lovely flat pack IKEA boxes for the past month. And I keep complaining about it. My friends are the BEST.
Because of the cooler weather, roomie wanted to cook some fresh fish she had bought. Pollock, the new cod. Americans are much more familiar with pollock, which comes out of the Alaskan waters. I've noticed some fish n chip shops in London are trying to phase it in during the critical cod shortage.
So, while Chris and I did the building - which according to the instructions needed 3 people after all and we could have done with 4 - roomie helped when needed and the rest of the time prepared dinner.
The pollock was grilled with olive oil and black pepper, and topped with an Italian salsa of diced tomato, chopped garlic, basil, and black pepper. Very yummy. We also had a spinach and rocket (arugula) salad with feta cheese, avocado, and papaya dressing.
No carbs, but we were satisfied and felt better for eating such healthy fare.
