Twas the day after Christmas...
Twas the day after Christmas and my true love said to me, "we're going to have a very busy day". We started off at 7am on the LIRR carrying bags of cookies, cakes, and pears, and first headed to the big heavily discounted opportunities that apparently awaited Kathy at Saks 8am to noon sale.
We made it to 50th and 5th just in time. I declined to enter and went to a nearby coffee shop with the packages while Kathy joined the lined up multinational crowd of people who had been sharpening their elbows for hours. Camera crews were there hoping I guess for one of those break the doors down trampling incidents, but while not especially orderly the crowd squeezed their way in at the appointed time without incident. The ninth floor shoe section was the prime target as reported to me and somehow did not turn out to be a success, although some lucky tough shoppers must have benefitted. Kathy returned to the coffee shop an hour or so later packageless but not deflated. She's a shopper and would have regretted it if she had not made the effort to find some great bargains for our daughters.
Then it was nine blocks up, two avenues east, to Bloomingdales to exchange a watch that had been bought as a gift for a daughter at a certain price and that had just been marked down by 25%. She wanted the new price and that transaction was successful but a bit time consuming. I sat on a sofa in the women's department that I am familiar with and did some reading. Then it was on the subway over to Macy's for one more brief errand and my real participation in the day could begin.
We left Macy's at 7th avenue and 34th with the goal of walking one block to the R train at 34th and 6th avenue. At that time, around noon, the sidewalk so crowded that it was almost unwalkable. 90% tourist or outer borough or suburban who don't regularly venture into Manhattan is my guess. They walked in groups in stops and starts, strolled focusing on their texting paying no attention to others, and clustered at certain points forming blockades. I felt like Ladamian Tomlinson, with a goal but somewhat diminished skills, as I looked for openings up the middle, sidestepped cell phone gazers, moved right and then left, hit the sideline near and into 34th street at times and then cutting back through the crowd to get to the subway stairs. Kathy was always somewhere in the vicinity but it would have been impossible to walk as a pair with any kind of acceptable New York speed.
We made it down to the R train and my presumption was definitely correct. The car we were on was only half full and the seat and space were so welcome. Those not so familiar with Manhattan don't do subways in mass.
Our destination was to visit K's more or less invalid parents and their caretakers with our packages of sweets and fruits, and just hang around and be with them for awhile. Their apartment was also the distribution point for some of the bounty for an elderly aunt and uncle that live nearby as well as a cousin who helps out with the management of K's parents caretakers and their purchases. These latter three only made it to the U.S. after living through Mao's various reigns of terror and, as formerly privileged members of Chinese society, these gentle people went through a lot... but that's another story and like many WWII or other war vets, they have little to say about those times.
This was a really nice visit. I go regularly with K or on my own. At first blush one would say correctly that it is really depressing to see. Somehow there is a value to it that feels right. It's hard to describe. This too is another story, but our visit was successful and a good break from the streets of the city.
It was a cool, windy, but sunny day and we left to walk down Mott Street to go to a favorite restaurant for take-out fare for the evening as well as a street walking snack. The name of the restaurant is "Big Wong", a name that is probably not replicated in many U.S. cities but it is well known in Chinatown. Always crowded, but it's a great advantage to be six inches taller than most of the others in front of the counter, and they do recognize me at this point. I bought an order of Spicy Fried Beef Chow Fun and another of Singapore Chow Mai Fun with Curry. The take-out portions are large enough to feed two very hungry adults each and still have leftovers. Added to the order were four spring rolls as the street walking fare. Total cost - $18.75. The food is great.
We could not slow down and headed to the newly opened REI store on Lafayette, the first in Manhattan. This was my interest as well as K's but I truly underestimated the distance of the walk. 100 Lafayette is a building that we know well for family reasons and it is two blocks south of Canal so I assumed that 303 Lafayette would be across Canal and a few blocks up. Big miscalulation as it was at least 12 blocks up, maybe more and at that point I was getting a bit tired - lucky I had those spring rolls.
The REI store is a really well done huge installation in the famous Puck Building. It was built in 1885, huge by that era's standards, in the "German Romanesque Revival style" whatever that is. I just looked it up on Google, but it is an impressive bit of architecture. After sitting on a bench for a few minutes I joined K surveying all of the sportsware merchandise from multiple global brands, much of it discounted, some not but good quality stuff. Most immediately we were looking for a warmer coat for her father, both for his wheelchair pushes around his neighborhood and more importantly for those trips to the hospital that are completely unpredictable. Most of his clothes were taken by another family member... again another story.
We identified a coat but decided to wait until I was headed back in later in the week rather than carry it out to Long Island and then back in a few days later. My observations of the store were positive but my personal shopping interest was nil. That's often the case but at this point of this day it was nil squared.
Finally down to another subway, back up to 6th and 32nd and the crowds had been reduced to sane levels, walk a block to Penn Station to get our train ride home. With the Times already consumed and the WSJ sold out, I bought a holiday issue of "The New York Review of Books", one article previously posted, a bottle of water, and a bag of popcorn. Our train was called and though somewhat crowded we got a three seater and could relax. That bag of popcorn during the 28 minute ride seemed like it was the best $1.50 I had ever spent in my life as we passed it back and forth.
Yesterday yes, it was the day after Christmas and it was a very busy day.
We made it to 50th and 5th just in time. I declined to enter and went to a nearby coffee shop with the packages while Kathy joined the lined up multinational crowd of people who had been sharpening their elbows for hours. Camera crews were there hoping I guess for one of those break the doors down trampling incidents, but while not especially orderly the crowd squeezed their way in at the appointed time without incident. The ninth floor shoe section was the prime target as reported to me and somehow did not turn out to be a success, although some lucky tough shoppers must have benefitted. Kathy returned to the coffee shop an hour or so later packageless but not deflated. She's a shopper and would have regretted it if she had not made the effort to find some great bargains for our daughters.
Then it was nine blocks up, two avenues east, to Bloomingdales to exchange a watch that had been bought as a gift for a daughter at a certain price and that had just been marked down by 25%. She wanted the new price and that transaction was successful but a bit time consuming. I sat on a sofa in the women's department that I am familiar with and did some reading. Then it was on the subway over to Macy's for one more brief errand and my real participation in the day could begin.
We left Macy's at 7th avenue and 34th with the goal of walking one block to the R train at 34th and 6th avenue. At that time, around noon, the sidewalk so crowded that it was almost unwalkable. 90% tourist or outer borough or suburban who don't regularly venture into Manhattan is my guess. They walked in groups in stops and starts, strolled focusing on their texting paying no attention to others, and clustered at certain points forming blockades. I felt like Ladamian Tomlinson, with a goal but somewhat diminished skills, as I looked for openings up the middle, sidestepped cell phone gazers, moved right and then left, hit the sideline near and into 34th street at times and then cutting back through the crowd to get to the subway stairs. Kathy was always somewhere in the vicinity but it would have been impossible to walk as a pair with any kind of acceptable New York speed.
We made it down to the R train and my presumption was definitely correct. The car we were on was only half full and the seat and space were so welcome. Those not so familiar with Manhattan don't do subways in mass.
Our destination was to visit K's more or less invalid parents and their caretakers with our packages of sweets and fruits, and just hang around and be with them for awhile. Their apartment was also the distribution point for some of the bounty for an elderly aunt and uncle that live nearby as well as a cousin who helps out with the management of K's parents caretakers and their purchases. These latter three only made it to the U.S. after living through Mao's various reigns of terror and, as formerly privileged members of Chinese society, these gentle people went through a lot... but that's another story and like many WWII or other war vets, they have little to say about those times.
This was a really nice visit. I go regularly with K or on my own. At first blush one would say correctly that it is really depressing to see. Somehow there is a value to it that feels right. It's hard to describe. This too is another story, but our visit was successful and a good break from the streets of the city.
It was a cool, windy, but sunny day and we left to walk down Mott Street to go to a favorite restaurant for take-out fare for the evening as well as a street walking snack. The name of the restaurant is "Big Wong", a name that is probably not replicated in many U.S. cities but it is well known in Chinatown. Always crowded, but it's a great advantage to be six inches taller than most of the others in front of the counter, and they do recognize me at this point. I bought an order of Spicy Fried Beef Chow Fun and another of Singapore Chow Mai Fun with Curry. The take-out portions are large enough to feed two very hungry adults each and still have leftovers. Added to the order were four spring rolls as the street walking fare. Total cost - $18.75. The food is great.
We could not slow down and headed to the newly opened REI store on Lafayette, the first in Manhattan. This was my interest as well as K's but I truly underestimated the distance of the walk. 100 Lafayette is a building that we know well for family reasons and it is two blocks south of Canal so I assumed that 303 Lafayette would be across Canal and a few blocks up. Big miscalulation as it was at least 12 blocks up, maybe more and at that point I was getting a bit tired - lucky I had those spring rolls.
The REI store is a really well done huge installation in the famous Puck Building. It was built in 1885, huge by that era's standards, in the "German Romanesque Revival style" whatever that is. I just looked it up on Google, but it is an impressive bit of architecture. After sitting on a bench for a few minutes I joined K surveying all of the sportsware merchandise from multiple global brands, much of it discounted, some not but good quality stuff. Most immediately we were looking for a warmer coat for her father, both for his wheelchair pushes around his neighborhood and more importantly for those trips to the hospital that are completely unpredictable. Most of his clothes were taken by another family member... again another story.
We identified a coat but decided to wait until I was headed back in later in the week rather than carry it out to Long Island and then back in a few days later. My observations of the store were positive but my personal shopping interest was nil. That's often the case but at this point of this day it was nil squared.
Finally down to another subway, back up to 6th and 32nd and the crowds had been reduced to sane levels, walk a block to Penn Station to get our train ride home. With the Times already consumed and the WSJ sold out, I bought a holiday issue of "The New York Review of Books", one article previously posted, a bottle of water, and a bag of popcorn. Our train was called and though somewhat crowded we got a three seater and could relax. That bag of popcorn during the 28 minute ride seemed like it was the best $1.50 I had ever spent in my life as we passed it back and forth.
Yesterday yes, it was the day after Christmas and it was a very busy day.
posted by John Borden at 11:05 PM
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