One Week in New York

I've tried to reflect on my stay here in North America in contrast to life there in the Philippines but alas my discourse has yet to come full circle. So just indulge me into writing about a week I spent in New York injected with some reflections.

It's always exciting in New York city. Being my fifth time, i've started to question why this is so. Perhaps because of the unfettered liberty that i have in roaming around the city and sample the plethora of food characteristic of New York's myriad of adapted cultures and nationalities. Yet this reason might not be appropriate considering that Manila is quite similar to the vast stew of cultures celebrating through food. Manila comes out on top even, shit, there's no substituting a special chelo kebab from Mr. Kebab at Quezon Ave. to a 4 cheese potato gnocchi dish in little italy for a 2am meal even if the italian place has a good zagat rating.

So is it the character of New York then? The hardass workaholic demanding, no-bullshit character. Even so, the people are still nice enough to greet with a hello and answer if you ask for directions. But in a certain respect, Manila is also like that, even heightened as the hardass workaholic culture of ours is always accentuated with frustration of an undeniable doom, thanks to the media and the church with poster girl Cory Aquino. (side note... stupid bitch)

Perhaps i am still incapable of specifically understanding the allure of the city thus am resigned to sucking in as much as i can of the New York experience, this is an account of such

Wednesday

I decided to try my luck at broadway, as it would have been inhumanly pathetic if i walked around central park by myself. Wicked wasn't available at TKTS so i had to resign to hairspray (so gay a decision). it was enjoyable, Diana de Garmo was in it. Later that afternoon, in what i thought then as the dumbest decision i made in my life, i asked my mom if she wanted to watch avenue Q. We actually got good seats, Avenue Q was really good and beside the segment when the lead puppets of the show were having muppet sex on stage, my mom actually liked it. Oddly enough, she was humming "everyone's a little bit racist" on the way home. My penchant for prejudice apparently is in the genes.

Thursday.

Carnegie deli. The one stop in New York that i absolutely have to make everytime I'm visiting. it's a really old delicatessen with characteristically strong willed and demanding waiters serving sandwiches. The sandwiches were more like three inch piles of meat with a novelty slice of bread. It was glorious as usual. The beautiful thing about carnegie deli is that it's supposed to be a flop if you ask management teachers (especially the idiot management "teachers from ateneo) The food is drastically expensive with no presentation to speak of, the interior's cramped, old and questionable. The owner and the waiters are rude if you don't follow their system, they get pissed if you don't order fast, eat fast and get out. but whatever they're supposed to lack in "sound management principles" they overcompensate majestically well with character.

We spent the afternoon walking around the city and tiring my mother out so that i could have a night all to myself in Manhattan. it succeeded and she opted to stay in the hotel room. I fell in line for chance cancellation tickets for wicked. they apparently sold cancelled tickets a couple of minutes before the show opened and lines usually started around 4 hours before curtains rise. the hours of wait were well worth it. Perhaps i have a preference for strong-willed social outcasts wanting to do good but Wicked's story really hit me, the music was really good at elevating the experience by drawing the audience closer into their world. Wicked was just exceptional. I don't know what it is with musicals that attract some part of childhood back into dreaming and being happy and that sort but Wicked did that for me, I was honestly dreaming and imagining all sorts of stuff. Maybe my tendency for theater and music isn't over yet, hopefully anyway.

Friday
My mother wanted to try the restaurant of the French culinary arts school. It's this beautiful place in SoHo called L'Ecole and we got reservations for lunch. Always follow the michelin stars. Michelin stars, not similar to the tires, are ratings given to restaurants that really surpass expectations in terms of taste, presentation, service, and everything else you'd expect from a restaurant. L'Ecole had them and there was a reason why they did. The food was nothing short of fantastic.

I got to shop around new york for a while. I even tried to get into Late Night with Conan o Brien. Apparently to get in as an audience member, you have to write a letter to the producers telling them you want to get in, they'll give you a date when you can get into the show. Usually the date's around two months later so you either have to live in new york or plan ahead. Another thing you could do was to fall in line for cancellations which they give out at 9am on the morning of the taping. This was the procedure for all comedy shows that had audiences. This was Friday afternoon and people were already camping up for SNL cancellations. Before I die I have to watch Conan.

Saturday - Wedding day

The wedding was slated at 3 but there was an 11am tea ceremony at the houses of the bride and groom's parents. I never got to understand why tea ceremonies are held, judging from how it's handled, i guess it's supposed to pay homage and show service (by serving tea) to the people who have taken care of the bride and groom, traditionally, the parents and the first born of the siblings. The wedding was quiet and clean, which was a direct contrast to the reception.

An American wedding at a Chinese restaurant. The system apparently in North America is to have a the couple do their first dance, then the groom with her mom and the bride with her dad. Then the dance floor opens to all couples before you eat. Ideally it's a very elegant ceremony. Imagine a fast rapping white DJ host the whole ceremony, now that really sucks out the elegance in anything. But he was able to carry it out, instead of the elegant wedding, it turned out to be a really big party which one should enjoy. That is prior to the dancing... They opened the dance floor after the lauriat and things started getting interesting. Perhaps it's because of the age difference of the people there (most of my relatives present were from my mom's generation and age and skips to the age of my grandmother) but it really turned out to be a memorably odd night. See, when you see your grandmother, grand aunts and uncles, your mom and her sisters dance to lyrics like: "it's getting hot in here so take of all your clothes" it's not really something you forget easily, even if you attempt to drown the image away with alcohol.

So there's New York. I think the fun thing about New York is you see so much semblance to Manila, the crowded streets, the density of the buildings and the commerce. Manila is so far behind but honestly, it's really possible to achieve something so beautifully complex as New York. It's all a matter of demographics, economics, and time. Maybe that's why i love New York so much (and I'm speakig in terms of me wanting to become president one day) it's always fun to see something so flawed, rough and even to an extent dangerous get by and be regarded as the greatest city on Earth on culture, character and hardwork. It's an inspiration.