Filed under: Concerts & Fun | Tags: awness, central park, fao, musical broadway, wicked, wizard of oz
Wednesday-January 23
I forgot that the Apple store was open 24hours… so we went back to check out the acclaimed FAO Shwartz. It was “awwwww” central. So many cute stuffed animals, dolls, figurines, and toys! I tried to convince Travis to get a Belgian Shepard or a German Shepard stuffed dog… he was lucky that we couldn’t find any.
We got lost on the subway again heading toward the 80s by Central Park. We walked around the neighbourhood and made our way to Central Park at dusk. Too bad all the greenery and grass were fenced off for the winter…. and it was really dark. So we headed back to the hotel, and got ready to go see Wicked.
Poor Travis.
He yelped,” It’s still not over yet?!” when it was intermission.
I was confused, because I knew that the story should not end yet, but it looked like everyone was getting up. Wooo… that was funny. I made the situation more awkward for Travis when I was surprised that he didn’t see the Wizard of Oz before. (Wicked is like the other side, the untold story of the Wizard of Oz). Four other women with their husbands surrounding our seats all giggled and poked at Travis- “You haven’t seen Wizard of Oz?! Everyone has seen Wizard of Oz!”
Was Travis ever glad the show ended. I swear he was looking forward to Mexican food and margaritas all night. Eeps, his giant frozen margarita looked like the size of the largest 7-11 Slurpee.
Wednesday-January 23
The next thing we were looking forward to in New York- Jeff Ross.
I ran to the Sanrio store and other New York souvenir shops to pick up some souvenirs. I’ve never done so much souvenir shopping in my life.
The show starts at 8PM.
Travis made reservations for the first opening- 5:45PM for dinner… and he calls me the groupie.
Travis is much more of a devoted fan when it comes to boxing and comedy.
We were the first to arrive, and we had to wait in the dining hall.
After 6:30, the crowds started to spill in. Travis and I were nervous that we were going to be seated right by the stage since we came in first.
Saved by the corporate group. We ended up sitting by another couple.
Coincidentally they were from Vancouver, too. It was our last day in New York, and it was their first day attending a conference.
“On your honeymoon?”
I snorted and laughed, “Ha! We’re here to see a boxing match. We’re just travelling together.”
Two comedians opened up the show, and eventually Jeff came onto the stage.
He was hilarious, I’m glad we sat close enough, but not so close to the lights so he could see us.
If we stayed in New York for at least another week, I would’ve witnessed NY’s version of Chinese New Year celebrations and Russell Peters at Madison Square Gardens.
New York was awesome.
A week is not enough.
There is so much to do.
I would go to see musicals at least twice a week.
Hang out at the museums, and their Apple Store (Fifth Av) is open 24 hours!!!
So many comedy clubs, events, tours, shopping.
I’ll be back.
Filed under: Concerts & Fun | Tags: apple, Avenue Q, fifth av, rock, rockefellar centre, target
Monday-January 21
Forgetting that it was a holiday Monday for Americans (Martin Luther King day), I thought that most places would be closed.
Donairs are not recommended to be brought into a visit to the top of the Rock.
We thought that we, well I was in a big rush to get to the top before the sun would set, would be able to eat on the top. I originally thought there was a cafe up on the top.
As quick as we could, we chomped down our donairs in the exhibit room that leads to the main elevators.
The sun was just a few minutes from completely disappearing from the horizon, and I was snapping as many pictures from all around the top of the Rock. Without a tripod, I had a few that turned out pretty nice. Our faces freezing, we ducked into a Target-sponsored interactive exhibit, which also doubled as a warming up station. We snapped a few shots, and it took me a while to finally figure that people had to wave to make the lights glow…. ohhh…
Fifth Avenue is full of fashionable stores, but I was aiming to visit the Apple Store.
The Cube is gorgeous, and holy moly was it packed downstairs. I wanted to preview the new Macbook Air at that time, but of course its official release date was to be later in February.
Tuesday-January 22
Waking up late in the afternoon, we gave up on the idea of heading down to the Financial district. I was really keen on taking pictures of the architecture there, but I just got so caught up in B&H Photo. OMG OMG OMG- it’s a candy store for creative techies. Photo equipment, accessories, computers, lighting gear, telescopes?! Anything electronic related, B&H definitely got it. I did not want to leave… lucky I didn’t take a look at their catalogue until after I came back to Vancouver. I don’t know how would I have lugged all the special sale items from B&H over the border.
Avenue Q was hilarious. We were so close to the stage, practically front row center!!!
I wonder if the cast saw me singin’ along much?
Filed under: Concerts & Fun | Tags: broadway, comedy cellar, jones, legally blonde, madison square gardens, msg, roy jones
Friday- January 18
Rushed to Madison Square Gardens to check out the weigh-in.
We were crushed to find out that it was not open to the public… so we hung around NYC and Time Square for a bit.
We passed by Legally Blonde and I was in luck. I grabbed the last two Student discount tickets!!!
The seats ended up being really really close to the speakers and stage. OMG~ I loved every minute of it.
Saturday- January 19 FIGHT NIGHT
Madison Square Gardens
Go Roy!
Travis as the hard-core boxing fan he was, we went to the Garden and waited as the gates open to we could get to our seats really fast. By 6PM we sat in our seats and I noticed how empty it was….
As the main event (Jones vs. Tito) came closer, the crowds started to pour in. Travis mocked me for attempting to take a pic of “Dog” the Bounty hunter and got mad when I couldn’t get a clean picture of one of his favorite celebs…
The many different cards and rounds of various boxers were exciting.
I was surprised that Jones fought the whole 12 rounds against Tito.
He’s a pretty entertaining fighter, that Jones.
What other boxer starts shaking his booty to mock his opponent?
Coming earlier into the stadium whose crowd favorite was Tito, Travis and I were not sure who to expect to sit by.
We laughed as the card drew to a close when practically the whole stadium emptied out right before they announced the official winner. Our row was full of Jones’ fans- phew. Go Jones!
Sunday-January 20
Our first attempt on the subway.
Time Square to another station in Greenwich Village should be easy right?
I accidentally miscounted the stops on the subway map and we went across the Brooklyn Bridge…
(I think…)
We took the train back and we got off a stop too early.
We ended up in Chinatown, a neighborhood that we originally didn’t plan to visit.
I’ve been informed prior to the trip that Vancouver’s Chinatown was the 2nd largest in North America, next to San Francisco.
Hunger was drawing upon us because we had hopped on the subway before having breakfast.
We stopped in a shoe store so I could warm up before we attempt to find our way to Soho.
Out we came with 3 new pairs of shoes, and we faced the icy wind as we walked north to Soho.
Not a major fan of French and European cuisine, we finally agreed to hop inside of DC.
Dos Caminos was an excellent place for mexican food. Their guac was awesome!
I didn’t want to head straight to our hotel back in Time Square because I had originally wanted to visit the coveted Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village nearby. Travis and I ducked in the Cellar as the last two audience members for a sold-out show. A line-up of 4 hilarious comedians, I barely stopped laughing the whole night.
Filed under: Concerts & Fun
We all just started out 2008- and January is almost over already.
That was fast.
This week went by really fast with my trip to NYC!!!
The main event was boxing- Jones vs Tito.
I wanted to write about each day, but I ended up waking up really late and coming back to the hotel exhausted from walking around every night. So I’m just going to sum up the past few precious days with what I remembered.
Thursday- January 17
Flew to NYC via Air Canada.
Awesome crew and flight. They were so courteous.
Taxi ride from JFK airport in NY was long to Manhattan, near Time Square.
Travis and I felt dizzy from the 6 hour flight. Arrived at Midnight at hotel.
Shocked to find not all fine dining is open 24 hours…
Pubbed it at nearby pub.
Note- No seafood for me after flight… didn’t feel so good that night.
Filed under: Concerts & Fun | Tags: 20th birthday, beyond, downtown vancouver, joyce lam
Happy New Year everyone!
I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing holiday.
This year, I kept NYE celebrations low key and simple. I feel extravagant celebrations should be planned way ahead of the special date, and this year I didn’t plan anything anyways.
2007 flew by so fast, I celebrated so many new moments.
I can’t wait to make more fun memories in 2008.
Stay posted on my Flickr, I’m excited about updating to a pro account.
Unlimited uploads! Yay!
First “photographic” event of 2008-
Joyce Lam & Leanna’s birthday celebration at Beyond.
I was thinking about creating an animated GIF of Joyce’s “blow moment”… but I think I’ll leave that up to someone else.
