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In case you're wondering, my aunt gives all my siblings/cousins THE CHOICE when they graduate from high school. They recieve a check for some exorbant amount of money to a high school student, saying they can cash the check OR be treated (with a friend) to a New York getaway via her home in jersey.
I tore my check the minute I got the card.
So on the first day (Tuesday) we mostly sleep to get the jet lag off. Then we go to Vong, a French/Thai place in the city. I had duck rolls, ginger chicken, and molten chocolate cake with coconut sorbet. It was fantastic.
Then we catch Avenue Q. I'd heard a lot about it; it won all these tonies and was a total breakout for this actress/pupeteer who got a tony for best actress in a musical. Puppeteer, you say? Why yes, I replied, for Avenue Q is a muppet show. It totally spoofs the Sesame Street style that we all know and love with such wonderful songs as "Everone's a little bit racist", "the Internet is for Porn", "Shadenfreude", and "It sucks to be me".
I, of course, love it. It's so...sarcastic. And they manage to discuss serious topics while not taking themselves very seriously, which I like.
Actually, I love the second act -- the first act gets a little heavy-handed. It has the raunchiest sex scene I've ever encountered. With puppets. The "Internet is for Porn" also went on a little too long, I thought. It might just be the mormonness showing, but after a few minutes I'd look at my watch and be like "Okay, I get it, let's get on with the play please"
Aside from that, the performance was stellar, and I was blown away by how good the music and acting was. I started thinking -- of course it's stellar, it's freaking broadway, not some BYU mainstage production, Dork.
That might have done me in when watching the Producers. We got TKTS half-price tickets for a Wednesday matinee, which might have contributed, but maybe not. First thing I noticed was that the Biallystock and Bloom characters were total Nathan Lane/Matthew Broderick lookalikes, so the were going for Lane/Broderick-like performances instead of their own. The singing was good but not spectacular. Same with the dance numbers. The spectacle itself, with all the scene changes, seemed to be the most important part of the show. That part was great, but great scene designs can only go so far. And I laughed my head off through most of the show, but I came out on the other end feeling just a little bit slighted and not exactly knowing why.
After the show we caught an early dinner at Churrisicara Platforma, a Brazillian place not far from the theatre. I'd heard great things about this style of dining (guess who from), so I suggested we try it. The experience was a lot of fun, with the waiters cutting food from spits onto our plates. It was really good too -- I ended up trying garlic steak, chicken, lamb, sausage, flank steak, loin...which were all fantastic. My only complaint is that I couldn't help feeling the need for a starch in the midst of all that meat, so I had lots of rice. Only after we left did I connect the breads/cheeses on the salad bar as something that could have gone well with the meatstuffs.
We then walked around a bit, toured Trump Towers (my friend's brother is addicted to the Apprentice and demanded pictoral proof that we'd seen it) and found a jockey bar (Seriously, it had all these little jockey statuetes around the building).
Thursday we were decidedely tourist. We took the train from jersey and caught some of the parade as we walked to the Empire State building. From the 86th floor we could see the very last of it -- I saw Garfield, Kermit the Frog, and a candy cane. There were only a few clouds, visibility was good for the whole skyline, and the wind was bearable. We got in line for the Liberty island ferry and then it started raining. Suck. we still had tickets so we just took the Staten island ferry and left early. Food of the Day: a small itallian place called Mediteraneo, or maybe it was Mediteranea. I don't remember. Anyway, I had mussels and grilled brie on aregula for appetizer, garlic pasta with baby clams, and creme brulee. Very tasty.
New York City was going to be crazy on Black Friday with tourists and shoppers clogging the storefronts, streets and dining places. Good thing we didn't go to New York City -- we opted for Philadelphia instead. We did a quick car tour of Princeton and saw Einstein's house first, but we went to the Liberty Bell, the original Congress hall, the Sureme Court building, and the building that housed a copy of the national documents along with the inkwell used to sign them. Very cool. We wanted to go to Independance Hall, but tickets were sold out (a park ranger told us that after July 4-5, the day after thanksgiving is the busiest time to go). Food of the day: Two, actually. We went to a chinese buffet for lunch, not too out-of-the-ordinary, but they had a really good sesame chicken in peanut sauce *drool*. For dinner we went to one of my aunt's favorite haunts, an Indian place with dishes I can't name to save my life. There was a chicken in tomato cream sauce that was to die for, but I can't think of what it's called. Something with a p and an m.
Saturday we went to Zabar's, a cool little Jewish grocery store/deli/bakery/cheese place. We got some pastries, and I found both Hawaiian white honey and Swiss Chocolate. Success was had overall. Then we went to the MMoA. We didn't have time for everything but I managed to see a good chunk of the Egyptian exhibit and armory, as well as parts of the European art section. The place is just too big too see in one day...I was so sad.
Afterwards we went to Rockefeller square, which was FILLED WITH STUPID TOURISTS WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO CROSS THE FREAKING ROAD *angst* and stopped by the NBC studio store. I got a pair of "Scrubbs" scrubs. Way cool. Food of the day: Blue Smoke, a southern-style barbecue/jazz bar. I had, what else, ribs. Very tasty for a yankee outpost. I also had a key lime pie that was quite good.
Sunday we were hoping to try Liberty park again, but the rain decided to pick up . So we saw Finding Neverland at Loewes Movie theatre, which was celebrating it's upcoming 100th anniversary. Very cool. We had a quick meal then made our way to JFK for our flight home.
All in all, it was a fantastic trip. I hope to go again someday. Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Wait--you said this was for high school graduation, didn't you? I thought you were a BYU student?!?!?!?!?
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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And they manage to discuss serious topics while not taking themselves very seriously, which I like.![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
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but I managed to see a good chunk of the Egyptian exhibit and armory, as well as parts of the European art section. The place is just too big too see in one day...I was so sad. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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. So we saw Finding Neverland at Loewes Movie theatre, which was celebrating it's upcoming 100th anniversary. Very cool. We had a quick meal then made our way to JFK for our flight home.
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