Random activities

Sometimes a day in New York means a bunch of random things.

Japan Week at Grand Central

My friend Yiannis wanted to check out Japan Week in Grand Central, so my other bud, Aki, who happened to be in town, and I met up with him. I was picturing a lot of Hello Kitty and other “kawaii” shit, but to be honest, it wasn’t that exciting. Although the “3D Trick Art” was kind of fun:

Another highlight was a can of sweetened matcha tea for a $1.

LIC Market + The Museum of the Moving Image

While Yiannis went off to his own devices, Aki and I schlepped out to Queens. We had been talking for ages about seeing the Jim Henson exhibit at the Museum of Moving Image, and we finally managed to get our butts out there.

However first was lunch. We went to LIC Market and it was excellent. They give baskets of not just bread but delicious pastries. My favorites were the zucchini bread and (hello!) chocolate croissant. My meal was the duck hash, which was delectable.

Next finally was the museum. While the exhibit was very kid-oriented, it was still enjoyable. There was one part that you could get filmed doing a puppet show. I found that surprisingly fun, like I wanted to keep doing it, and I thought, Am I secretly a puppeteer?

Hanging out + The Wrinkle in Time

After the museum, I was suddenly exhausted so we went to my apartment to hang out. On the way we stopped in my favorite liquor store and picked up a bottle of rose. Then we sat around chatting, drinking, and eating random snacks (cheese and crackers, sardines, a cucumber, a Kashi bar, and an apple) for two and a half hours.

I had movie plans with Yiannis while Aki went to meet her fiance and his coworkers at some bar. Did I mention it was St. Patrick’s Day? Unfortunate timing in an unfortunate part of town. The area was full of drunk revelers (mostly NYU students, I’m guessing).

I only semi-enjoyed Wrinkle in Time. The beginning, before they leave Earth to go find Meg’s father, was hokey. There was a lot of telling rather than showing. And I sort of hated that Mrs. Whatsit was immediately fabulous looking. In the book she shows up disheveled with a million scarves. That would have a lot more interesting: at first thinking she’s some crazy homeless lady, then building up to the fact that she’s a fantastic creature. Overall, I wanted something darker, like Harry Potter.

If I had been a drunk St. Patrick’s Day reveler, I might have felt differently.

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