Mouse and Marmot

Travel Quote: The Mountains Are Calling - Muir

New York: December 2010 - Day 4 Details

DUMBO

We took the Subway to the DUMBO neighborhood, which is not related to the elephant, but is Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass. This part of town was very livable, with small shops and grocery stores. It reminded us a lot of Seattle.

We got breakfast at the Yelp recommended DUMBO General Store, a small restaurant that uses organic ingredients grown from either its farm or places nearby. The building seemed to be an old garage and had a very down-to-earth homey feel. The long wooden tables had heavily worn wooden benches, and the chairs were eclectic and all different. Ryan had a breakfast burrito with delicious cheese and Kelly got a breakfast platter with pancakes that were second only to the amazing vanilla-y maple syrup. At FORAGE, a grocery store next door owned by the same man, we tried to buy the syrup. We weren’t sure we had the right one, but it was pure maple syrup, which is never a bad thing.

Brooklyn Bridge

From DUMBO, we were able to gain easy access to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was still early for a Sunday and there  were only a few tourists on the Brooklyn side; however there were also ugly scaffolding. A bike lane runs down along half of the wooden walkway, creating a hazard for unaware tourists (and probably great frustration for the bikers).

We stopped at the first pylon, and snapped a few pictures of the superstructure. It is a beautiful bridge, with cathedral like arches and a spider web of cables. A lot more tourists had stepped onto the Manhattan side; however the views were better too. Getting outside of the city is the only way to appreciate its cityscape and overall size.

At the other end of the bridge we walked down to the Woolworth building, where a sign told us the lobby was closed to visitors. (It would have been so much more satisfying if they had quoted Oh Brother Where Art Thou - “And stay out of the Woolworth!”)  St. Paul’s Chapel was open. This pre-Revolutionary War church was built in 1766 - the oldest church in Manhattan. It was modeled after St. Martin in the Fields in London, only instead of being painted white; it was made up of locally quarried ruddy brown-colored stones. Alexander Hamilton and George Washington once attended this cozy church, the latter's pew is still on display.

More recently, the church played a big role by housing the rescue workers during 9/11. Some make-shift displays showed how the rescue workers slept, and rested between shifts, and examples of the memorials that were spontaneously created. Once again this was a busy church with a mix of locals, sightseers and those visiting Ground Zero.

Chinatown and Little Italy

North of the Brooklyn Bridge was Chinatown. Both of us having traveled to Asia, it was like a little piece of Hong Kong landed in NYC. All the signs were in Chinese, and most of the people were speaking Chinese. We walked through the “Bloody Angle”, the site of gang wars between the Hip Song and the On Leong Tong gang wars in the 1920’s. Now it sat surprisingly empty and quiet. We had lunch at Great NY Noodletown, a busy little place on Bowery St. With the typical picture menus we selected two entries which came out to about about $10 total.

After lunch, we walked up Mulberry Street, through Little Italy. Only a few blocks long with just a few restaurants, it felt dressed up and in-genuine compared to Chinatown. Stray a block left or right and we were back in Chinatown.

Broadway

We got to the box office of the August Wilson Theatre about an hour early to pick up our will-call tickets. We used our time to share a giant white chocolate and marshmallow covered cupcake from Crumbs, and sipped hot drinks.

When the time came, we took our seats which were 9 rows back, front and center. Really, we couldn’t have gotten a better view. Most of the people sitting around us seemed to be Italian. The “Jersey Boys” were all Italian-Americans, and there were many Italian phrases used in the show. The lady behind us quietly completed the phrases under her breath...“anche questo deve passare.”

Jersey Boys is a musical about the formation, rise, and eventual break-up of the 60’s band, The 4 Seasons. The play was broken up into four parts, each associated with a season, and each narrated by a different member of the band (Tommy DeVito, Bob Gaudio, Nick Massi, and Frankie Valli). The singing was fantastic, and Jarred Spector (who played Frankie Valli) had an awesome voice (maybe even better than the real Frankie). The acting was so natural that it didn’t feel like acting at all.

The set was simple, but did everything it needed to do. Three dropdown LCD screens showed Lichtenstein-like illustrations that went along with the story. During a few scenes, the band played on American Bandstand in front of a TV camera, who’s black & white video showed on these screens live during the performance. One memorable scene was when they performed facing away from the audience, simulating a backstage feel. Flash bulbs and lights simulated the distant “audience, while stage-hands worked “back-stage”.

It was technically a musical but not in a traditional way. Instead, the plot was about the music which was already well-loved and woven in seamlessly. Unlike most musicals, it didn’t feel like reality had been put on hold in order to fit a song in. When they performed the songs, they performed to the audience and reacted to our cheering and clapping as if it were a live concert. “Was that like a f-ing time warp or what?” the actor playing Tommy DeVito said after the show.

Dinner in East Village

We had reservations at Euskara, a Basque restaurant in the East Village. It was quite a few blocks away from the subway station, but we still had plenty of fuel from the giant preshow cupcake. The restaurant/bar was cozy and sleepy on a Sunday night. Basque posters hung on the walls and cave paintings reminiscent of Altamira adorning the ceilings. We ordered three tapas…the bread with olive tapenade and tomatoes were the closest thing to San Sebastian that we have tasted so far.

In the end, we were glad we saved the Broadway show until our last night. It was the highlight of the trip. We left New York the next day feeling like we had seen a lot - and excited to return.

New York: December 2010 - Day 3 Details

Saturday
TriBeCa & SoHo

We started the day in TriBeCa on Canal Street. The tourist groups had arrived and it was impossible to get around them. This touristy part of Canal Street is overcrowded with immigrants selling cheap wares. Just like the cliche, a man with a long trench coat offered me some Rolex watches.

We turned up Broadway and headed toward SoHo. Most of the trendy little boutique shops had been pushed out by chain stores. One expensive shop called Allsaints (which has now made it to Seattle), had row upon rows of black antique  Singer sewing machines. Other bits of antique or (psuedo-antique?) machinery was used for shelving and display. Instead of store catalogs, they had iPads sprinkled throughout the store.

Ryan bought a raccoon hat at Urban Outfitters to keep his head warm, and we visited a cool store called SuperDry, which I guess is a UK brand that features fake Japanese typography (however at $42 a t-shirt, it was a little out of  my price range. This year, we found the same shirts in Turkey for about $12).

The cast-iron architecture in Soho is beautiful, however nothing was more striking than the Little Singer Building. It had frilly Parisian-inspired cast-iron balconies with red accents.

NoHo and Greenwich Village

We stepped out of the cold into Dean and Deluca to get some warm drinks before continuing on through NoHo to Greenwich Village. Because I love When Harry Met Sally, we had to go to Washington Square Park with its imposing white marble arch that is featured in the movie. Inside the arch was a yet-to-be-decorated Christmas tree. The fountain was dry so some street performers were turning it into a makeshift amphitheater by hauling a piano. A concerned artist making designs with colored sand watched nervously from across the other side of the fountain. We peeked at the bookstore from When Harry Met Sally, and headed toward the East Village.

Back on Broadway stepped into the WIRED magazine shop. It was full of the latest gadgets, from fancy refrigerators to 3D HDTV. All the gadgets were real and available on the market, not conceptual. Refrigerators held free drinks and everything was mean to be played with.

In the back corner, there were some art displays, which included a giant electronically actuated “piano” that some 15 year-old put together in his parent’s garage in 3 days, and a post card maker and music video maker from the band “Arcade Fire”. Another displays consisted of a flock of electronic birds that would fly down towards your shadow if you moved. Downstairs there was a “Geek Dad” event, where fathers and their kids were making digital comic strips from Lego action figures, playing foosball and ping pong, and generally having a good time.

East Village

We walked along Houston and passed the graffiti wall, which is painted by celebrity graffiti artists. The current image, brightly spray-painted globs of crazy faces all mashed together, had just been finished the previous week by Kenny Scharf.

A few blocks farther was Katz’s Delicatessen, another famous location from the movie “When Harry Met Sally”. Unfortunately, we were starving and the line was around the block. Instead, we opted for a quirky Turkish place next door. Evidently it’s a favorite hangout for cops, as there was a traffic police officer there, and the counter was covered with police and detective business cards. The food was delicious, even if the presentation didn’t exactly match the pictures shown on the menu.

Top of the Rock

We took the subway directly to Rockefeller center, and surfaced inside 30 Rock. The line seemed long, but it didn’t take long to tickets. The tickets had a time stamped on them for 30 minutes later…evidently they want you to spend some time in the gift shop first. Instead we went to Anthropology, and looked around. One poor husband sat on the steps outside the store, staring unresponsively under a Christmas display with strands of paper icicles lying on his mostly bald head.

Back in line at Top-of-the-Rock, we took the elevator up 1 floor before being shuttled to an escalator that led to another room with some historical displays. After that, we were forced to watch two 4min. movies about Rockefeller Center and Swarovski crystals before being allowed to go in the elevators to the observation deck. The elevator had a transparent ceiling with lights that lit up the passageway as we zoomed up 60-some stories to the 70th floor.

The Top-of-the-Rock arguably has better views of the city than the Empire State Building because the Rockefeller building lets you actually look at the iconic Empire State Building. The three viewing levels had no protective iron bars to block the view and allowed people to spread out more.

We arrived right around twilight. The temperature had dropped with the sun and it was very windy, but the views were fantastic. The first and second levels had protective glass, which although good for blocking the wind, were bad for taking pictures. Fortunately there were gaps between the panes of glass just wide enough to fit a DSLR camera lens. The third level was set back, and did not have anything blocking the view (or wind) at all.

Menorah Lighting and Chanukah Mitzvah Parade

It was still early (6pm) so we decided to walk around 5th Ave again. We went back to the Anthropology store and bought a few things from the sale section (the sale section itself was almost as big as some of the Anthro stores in the Seattle area).The poor, bald husband was still there under the paper icicles, despondent. We passed Cartier, with its building wrapped in a giant red Christmas bow to Grand Army Plaza.

A small crowd had gathered here, most of them dressed in black. A huge menorah (the largest permitted by the Torah…according to the presiding Rabbi) was being lit. A cherry picker lifted the Rabbi to the top of the menorah, where he gave a small speech (the most memorable line being, “We will not negotiate with terrorists”) and lit the menorah.

A steady stream of vehicles streamed passed the menorah, and then turned down 5th Avenue. Small RVs cruised with open doors handing out donuts. People blared music from their stock speakers and danced in the street. They all had homemade light-up menorahs - PVC pipe and 1x4s held bulbs tied to the top of minivans and passenger cars. Many of them had their window rolled-down…asking “Are you Jewish?” to everyone. We were asked, said “no” and were told, “Oh well. Happy Hanukkah, anyway!”

New York: December 2010 - Day 2 Details

Central Park

We started early, and arrived at the 86th St station near the famous Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Guggenheim Museum before heading into Central Park. The paths contained only  joggers and dog walkers straining to control half a dozen mismatched dogs.

 
We walked south through the quiet park to Belvedere Castle. This weather observatory was constructed around the turn of the century and still functions as a meteorological station. From several stories up, we were able to take in some of the best free views in NYC. Ducks paddled the turtle pond in front of the great lawn. A wooded area juxtaposed trees against the tall skyscrapers. In The Rambles, a forest with small streams running through it,  a small “Christmas” tree was decorated with personal pictures and holiday ornaments of pets.

 
We continued on to the Ice Rink, which was full of children skating. A group of girls were crashing and falling into a huge heap on the ice. Their laughter carried loudly through the cool crisp air until it hit the massive apartment buildings rising dramatically behind the rink. As we approached The Mall, the winter activity was picked up by the resident squirrels. Some were digging for lost nuts, others gathered leaves for a nest, but all were fluffy and fat. There were even some black squirrels running about, remnants of a time when the forests were denser and darker.

The Mall was a wide walkway leading away from Bethesda Terrace, surrounded on both sides by grand rows of American Elm. The fountain was dry for the winter. In front of it, a man with a saxophone played Christmas songs.

Zabar’s

We walked to the Upper West side to Zabar’s, a grocery store that is supposed to be a foodie’s paradise. On the way we passed a Christmas tree lot on the sidewalk (just like the one in When Harry Met Sally!) and beautiful apartment buildings.

Zabar’s is a modest 2-story brick building. “Foodie’s paradise” conjured an image of something upscale, fancy and expensive. However,  Zabar’s was small, fair-priced, and personable. And crowded. A loudspeaker continuously announced the current specials. Between each special was the announcement, “Nothing says New York like a Zabar’s gift basket! Send one to...”

After a quick lunch at Zabar’s café on the corner we went into the store. The already narrow aisles were filled with shoppers, making it difficult to move around. There was fresh meat, a wall of cheese, and many other specialty items. There were easily 40 kinds of olive oil. The store clerks had definite opinions on what oil we needed. We left with a practical grapeseed oil and a fancy olive oil for salad dressings. We decided that, for us, nothing says New York like a sturdy Zabar’s shopping bag - which was much more practical and easy to haul than a gift basket.

 
Macy’s

We hopped the Subway to Macy’s flagship store in Chelsea. Everything in the store felt like it was done on a grand scale. We eventually made our way to the visitor’s center where they gave us a coupon for 25% off of anything. Ryan even helped me dig through the bins of sale tights to find several pairs for really cheap. The most interesting part of Macy’s was the wooden escalators, which turned out to be much faster than taking the elevator. We took the overcrowded elevator from the top floor to the main floor and it stopped on every floor. Everyone let out a big sigh when we stopped at floor 1 ½…

The real attraction of Macy’s and the surrounding stores were the Christmas displays. Each display told part of a story, with pop-up book like animations. Macy’s story was “Yes Virginia,” a book based on a true story about a little girl who believed in Santa Claus. She wrote to the Sun to ask about him, because her father said, “If you see it in The Sun, it is so”.

5th Avenue

After Macy’s, we walked back to 5th Avenue, and saw the lion statues in front of the New York Public Library, the art deco lobbies of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building and the hood-ornament-inspired gargoyles that appear in so many movies. Anthropology, Lord & Taylor, Saks, and Bergdorf Taylor all had colorful holiday displays. St Patrick’s Cathedral was open, so we went inside. Used to the empty cathedrals of Europe, we were surprised to see a lot of people here, lighting candles and crossing themselves in prayer. A well-worn life-size nativity scene with a goofy camel reminded everyone that Christmas was near.

MOMA

It was a Target-sponsored free museum night at MOMA, so there was a long line to check bags. Interestingly enough, we could not check our cameras, we had to take them with us and we were encouraged to take pictures. The building was big enough that the crowds were spread out, not clustered around special paintings or gathered in tourist groups.

We started with the top floor and worked our way down. The most famous painting was Van Gogh’s Starry night, but we had already seen this one in Amsterdam. There were also works by Serrat, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollok, Mondrian, Picasso, Monet, Cezanne, Gauguin, and Henri Rousseau. Ryan’s favorite paintings were the comic-book like works by Roy Lichtenstein and a painting by Andrew Wyeth called “Christina’s World”.

The third floor contained mostly modern design. We recognized the pieces designed by Gaudi and found a collection of mid-century modern chairs (including an original Eames rocker, of which we have a copy). Ryan was excited by the Tenori-on, a musical device like the one Little Boots plays.

FAO Schwarz

Hungry after all the walking, we got heaping cartons of take-out Cuban food (we arrived just before closing) and had our dinner on the steps near Grand Army Plaza. Across the street was FAO Schwarz, the world-famous toy store. A friendly doorman dressed like a toy soldier “guarded” the entrance and greeted every patron as they came in.

The escalator was flanked by huge stuffed animals by Steiff. Realistic polar bears, wolves and elephants begged affluent parents to open their wallets. Glittering snowflakes were suspended over rows and rows of toys. We avoided the baby doll nursery and found our way instead to the Playmobile section and the book corner. The first floor had a build-your-own Muppet shop which, at $99, would be an expensive toy. (But still far cheaper and more practical than the four-foot tall Steiff giraffe).

 
We opted, instead, for the large selection of Folkmanis puppets where we found - Pack Rat. Pack Rat toured the store on my hand, even while dancing on the giant piano (seen in the movie BIG) until Ryan finally said, “I have a feeling he is coming home with us.” The store clerk didn’t even bat an eyelash when I had Ryan hand her the only other Pack Rat in the store and said, “That one is just to ring up. I want the one without the tag. He's cuter. ”

New York: December 2010 - Day 1 Details

Arrival

We touched-down at New York’s La Gaurdia airport at around 5:30pm Eastern Time. It was cold.
The shuttle soon arrived and took us to the  Fairview Inn, in Astoria (the room was free because of our promotional points).  On the ride, we strained the seatbelts, almost  airborne several times thanks to the stiff suspension and rough road. The driver was friendly and played Christmas tunes, getting us in the holiday spirit.

After checking in, the hotel shuttle dropped us off near a Greek restaurant called Neptune Diner (Astoria has the largest Greek population outside of Greece). This was right next to the Astoria station on the N, Q, and R subway line. We were a little confused about the subway passes, and the girl in front of us let us go first when she saw that we were tourists (so much for “rude” New Yorkers). It only took about 15min on the Q train to get to Times Square.

Times Square

We emerged from the dark spaces of the New York underground, into the bright-as-day Times Square. The huge LCD signboards illuminated the night, so much so, that we could take photographs without using a flash. A Ferris wheel rotated inside the Toys R Us. The Walgreens at  One Times Square pays a lease, I’m sure, but it makes more money now as a sign holder than it ever did from tenants.

Up the TKTS steps we took in the elevated view, including billboards announcing the current  Broadway plays: Jersey Boys (which we had tickets to), Chicago, Wicked, and The Phantom of the Opera. We checked out the walls of colorful candy at the M&M store and the rather boring Hershey’s store. Outside the mounted police didn’t seem to mind us petting their horses’ noses.

Grand Central Terminal

On the way to Grand Central, we passed Bryant Park, which had spotlights and holiday booths setup around a large, crowded ice rink. One memorable ice skater wore mostly white with white sunglasses and multicolored skates covered in with LEDs and reflectors.

We entered Grand Central  through a side door, and came up through the basement floors. Here we passed the actual train and subway tracks leading to destinations away from NYC. Upstairs, the terminal was a huge empty space framed by multi-story arched cathedral-like windows and a beautiful robin’s-egg blue ceiling decorated with golden constellations. Near the Oyster Bar, we found the whispering gallery. We  stood in opposite corners while I stood in the other and could hear each other clearly, despite the echoing hubbub from the crowd.

Rockefeller Center

We walked up 5th Ave until we reached Rockefeller Center and the Sunken Gardens. Just as we got there, a light display began on the building opposite of Rockefeller Center. Bubbles and snowflakes danced and collided with each other against the wall of windows. In the end, one lone snowflake and one bubble floated off, Romeo and Juliet.

The sunken gardens were surprisingly crowded for the late hour on a weekday. Lighted angels and stars lined the fountains and flower beds, which led to the Prometheus statue overlooking the tiny skate rink. The UN flags of summer had been replaced with gold and silver banners which sparkled under the spotlight. In the center of all this was the Rockefeller Christmas tree, which although huge, felt lonely and lost beneath the towering concrete canyons of the surrounding buildings.

Dinner was at a Japanese place called Katsu-hama, found on Yelp. The food was good and the wine was cheap.

New York: Where We Ate

Katsu-hama - Found on Yelp - Food was good, I'm just not a big fan of Katsu. 

Zabar's - Not expensive and yummy, home-cooked food. I got the corn chowder which was excellent. 

Cuban takeout near FAO Schwarz - barely made it in before closing. Lots of really tasty food for cheap. Pretty sure it was Tina's. 

Dean & Deluca - Tea & muffin for a snack. I love the availability of whole leaf tea in New York!

Kebab restaurant just down the street from Katz's deli. Cheap but good food at a kind of divey place. But we didn't have to wait in a line that went around the block. 

Tri-tip place in Rockefeller Center. It was convenient. 

DUMBO General Store - Delicious breakfast with super-yummy syrup on my pancakes. 

Great NY Noodletown - Chinatown - so cheap and very yummy. Had duck lo mien and wonton soup for about $10. Bought a cup of tea and some loose tea at Kamwo - very cheap! 

Crumbs - cupcakes in the Theater District. Big enough to share, but you probably won't want to. 

Euzkadi - Basque tapas. We split pronto de burgos, churrisoto and calamari for dinner. I had a glass of txakoli. And we finished with bread pudding and almond cake. All very good - but not as good as Spain. 

New York: Long Weekend Overview

New York is a big city but we were able to have an enjoyable trip and see a lot by using the metro and focusing on key neighborhoods. We used hotel points at a cheaper hotel out towards the airport that had really good service to the nearby metro station. Because we went at the beginning of December, Christmas and Hanukkah decorations were everywhere. 

We spent our first evening wandering from Times Square to Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center. The next day we started in Central Park and spent the day in Manhattan viewing the famed window displays and MOMA. 

On Saturday we took the metro to Tribeca and wandered through Noho and Greenwich. Since I'm a big When Harry Met Sally fan, we went to Washington Square and visited other sites in the movie - Kat's Deli, Shakespeare Books, even streets lined with Christmas trees. We ended the evening back at Rockefeller Center paying for the Top of the Rock for sunset then doing some shopping at Anthro and FAO Schwartz. 

Sunday was our last day so we went to Dumbo for breakfast then crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and hit Chinatown for (a very cheap) lunch. We saw a Broadway play, Jersey Boys, then finished with dinner in East Village. 

New York: Rodents Galore

You can't send mouse&marmot somewhere and expect to not get picture of rodents. But New York was an especially rodent-filled trip. 

The squirrels of Central Park were preparing for winter by collecting leaves and creating cozy dens up in the bare trees.

We saw our first black squirrel - an adaptation left from when forests were darker. Not so useful now in a land of grey and green. 

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) warned of the dangers of certain rodents.

And at the famous FAO Schwartz toy store, we picked up a new friend, Pack Rat.

New York: At A Glance

I captured our early-December trip to New York in my Moleskine as sketches. Here they are with more write-up to follow. 

 

Japan: Days 1 & 2 - Meeting some moose in Anchorage

We left Seattle at around 5 pm and arrived at the Captain Cook hotel in Anchorage, around 10 pm. It’s a nice hotel, though the décor is a bit dark and outdated. I had dinner at the F-Street Station, a former hangout for pontoon plane pilots (in Alaska they are called pontoon planes, not float planes). The place was full of locals and it started to get really busy by the time I left.

It rained a lot that night and drizzled in the morning. I decided to skip the bike rental idea and just walk around to see how far I got. Eventually, I ended up on the coastal trail, heading south. Supposedly this is the trail to take if you want to see moose and it did not disappoint. About 3 miles into the hike, I ran into a huge bull moose. He watched me, but I kept my distance and let him cross in front me. 

      The autumn leaves were in full color and the aspens, dressed in golden hues, were especially beautiful. I passed earthquake park (not terribly exciting) and on to a place with beach access. On the beach, the water was brown with glacial runoff, and I don’t think it ever gets any clearer. At this point, I was already over halfway down the trail, so I decided to continue on and (hopefully) catch a bus back. Shortly after I entered Kincaid park, I ran into another moose, this one was very young and had just two pegs for antlers. He calmly munched leaves as I stopped to take a picture.

At about mile 7.5, a man came walking briskly down the trail and warned me about another moose - this one he said was “all Bullwinkle, and shaking its antlers”. He said to go ahead, but to be careful. Luckily I didn’t run into the bull and at mile 12, the trail ended.  I walked into a community center to ask about a bus. Unfortunately for me, the bus doesn’t go to the community center, so I had to walk an additional 2.5 miles out to Jewel Lake Road. This turned out to be a very long walk, and I would have been better off with the bike. But then again, I may not have seen any animals. At Jewel Lake, I caught the bus back to Anchorage (and spent an hour inside Dimond Mall while waiting for a transfer).

The trip to Tokyo was uneventful. We had a tech stop in Sapporo, which took a little longer than usual because they had to de-ice the wings (they had about a half inch of ice in some places). We got in around midnight, so when I checked into the Keio Plaza, it was already the next day. I took a four-hour nap before heading out again for Nikko.