My friend Ellen came to visit this past weekend, and as always we did a lot.
Mack & Mabel at the New York City Center
The main reason she came in was that she had a free ticket from her cousin for this show. I decided to go along since it was pretty cheap (about $35). On top of that, Ellen was kind enough to split my ticket with me.
The theater was absolutely gorgeous. I couldn’t stop taking pictures:
Originally called the Mecca Temple, the building seems to have been owned by the Shriners. What I noticed about the audience is that rather than tourists, it was full of New Yorkers. Plus it’s a great deal: Broadway-quality performances for $35! Although you might feel like you’re watching a show from the side of a mountain.
Which indeed I did at first. My fear of heights kicked in, and at first I so nervous, I had to turn sideways. But after the lights went down and the show started, I was fine.
The show was fun but also old-fashioned. The storytelling wasn’t subtle. But like I said the performances were first rate.
Smorgasborg
On another day we checked out this food festival in Brooklyn. I’ve been to the outdoor one once, and it was very crowded. Because it’s winter, now it’s indoors, and it wasn’t that bad, maybe because we got there kind of early.
It was pretty fun. There was a free whiskey tasting so of course we did that. For lunch I had the jianbing, the spicy version which was SO SPICY. Like I could barely eat it. Otherwise it was tasty. I also couldn’t resist a coconut donut. It was huge and delicious.
Then I made the mistake of getting a stout beer. Even though I split it with Ellen, it still gave me a headache. I know: I’m a lightweight.
Fotografiska
We also had the chance to check out this newish museum. It’s a bit pricey at $28, but we figured it’s not like we’re going to go all the time. I especially liked the Tawny Chatmon exhibit, Inheritance:
new york adventures — Comments Off on Post-Christmas Christmas weekend 30 Dec 19
Leave it to my friend Aki to get a hankering to see Christmas trees after Christmas. Regardless it was a weekend full of fun and yummy activities.
The Deco Food + Drink
When she came into town on Saturday, the first thing we did of course was eat. This food hall just opened and we were curious to try it. It was just a soft open so not all the places were serving food, and others had run out since it was already about three. I made do with furikake french fries and the pork buns and tea eggs from my mom which I had brought. Shared those with Aki who in turn shared the wine she had brought.
American Museum of Natural History
First Christmas tree stop! The subway and museum were PACKED. It was insanity. However, right around the origami Christmas tree wasn’t too crowded. Something else we wanted to see was the blue whale, but there was a long line of people waiting to see it so we just peeked at it from afar and got the hell out of there.
New-York Historical Society
After that we went to the New-York Historical Society, That wasn’t too crowded and also pretty interesting. They had a Tiffany lamp exhibit, which was very beautiful. The Paul Revere exhibit was somewhat interesting, and most interesting to me was this timeline that showed when certain words originated. Aki liked it too.
NR – Cocktails and Ramen
After that we walked across the park to the east side. There was a new ramen place that Aki wanted to try. It’s actually Japanese cocktail slash ramen place (although I didn’t have a drink).
The ramen was really good.
Lotte New York Palace + Saks Fifth Avenue
After dinner we walked back down to midtown to see the Christmas tree at the Lotte New York Palace (which for the longest time I thought was the former site of Le Cirque, which of course it’s not):
We also went to Saks 5th Avenue. The light show seemed shorter this year compared to last year.
The Met + Grand Bazaar + Flor de Mayo + Saint John the Divine
Since I live on the Upper East Side, it’s pretty easy to walk across the park to get to the Upper West so that’s what we did on Sunday. On the way I had to pee. Since I’m a member at the Met and can bring a guest, we popped in there. Aki ended up adding another tree to her collection.
On the way to the flea market, we passed these other vendors on the sidewalk. Several of them had free samples. Potato chips, goat cheese, vodka, and bourbon. The vodka lady was superfriendly but the bourbon guy wasn’t. Oh well. The goat cheese was frigging delicious.
The flea market itself was just okay. I’m not into buying junk. They also had some food vendors, and we had more samples. One was a piece of a gluten-free oatmeal cookie, which was good, while another was this rum cake, which was DELICIOUS. Very moist. Totally should have bought a piece.
For lunch we went to Flora de Mayo, where we shared this sliced steak dish. The flavors were really nice, as well as the cilantro rice, but the meat was kind of chewy.
We were surprised to find they now charge a $10 admission fee. However, at the front was a Christmas tree with origami cranes so at least we could see that.
Another tree added to Aki’s list.
travel — Comments Off on A quick trip to Chicago 12 Dec 19
I wasn’t planning on doing much traveling this year, but when my friend Yiannis invited me along on his trip to Chicago, I had to say yes, especially when I saw how cheap the flights were. (Who wants to go a freezing cold city in November? We do apparently.)
The Art Institute of Chicago
Of course I went to lots of museums, and the Art Institute of Chicago was by far my favorite. Before I went around, as is my tradition, I had lunch in their cafe. It was quite good and more reasonably priced than my other favorite museum, the Met. I had pozoloe for $6 with a piece of bread of 50 cents. I also splurged on a “s’more” parfait for a couple of dollars. It was SO GOOD. As for a beverage, I brought some (shhh) “thermos wine.” (Our AirBnB was right across the street from a Trader Joe’s so stocking up on groceries and cheap booze was convenient.)
And of course I loved the art. It was exciting to see some famous works in person, like American Gothic, Nighthawks, and Marc Chagall’s American Windows (which I saw for the first time in the museum scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off). I also enjoyed the Andy Warhol exhibit —
I liked the museum so much I was tempted to go again since I hadn’t seen the whole thing. However, it’s king of expensive: $25 for general admission plus $7 for the special exhibit (the Andy Warhol retrospective, which I really didn’t want to miss) plus $1 for each checked item. Since you’re not allowed to carry around backpacks, you’re in a way forced to check something. But next time I go to Chicago, I’m definitely going again.
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Although I didn’t get a lot out of this museum, it did have some very photographable parts:
I also enjoyed my lunch: a kind of pizza biali with tomato sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. And only five bucks!
Greektown
We spent much of one day in Greektown, which was lots of fun. In addition to the National Greek Museum, which was pretty interesting, we ate at Artopolis, a combo cafe and grocery. It was really cute and spacious (most restaurants in Chicago seem huge). I tried a shot of a Greek liquer, and when we returned to buy a few groceries, had their traditional chicken soup. Yummy. I also bought canned grape leaves, these giant beans in tomato sauce, this Greek wine (which was just okay), and some chocolate. Fun!
Chicago History Museum
This museum was just okay to be honest. I think it’s geared more for kids. Plus it didn’t help that I might have had too much wine with my museum cafe lunch (burger and fries). I had had a trying morning because I schlepped all the way to this chocolate shop to get something for my mom, only to realize I had forgotten my wallet. So I schlepped all the way back home. Then it was sort of hard to find the museum. So I splurged on burger and fries, and downed probably two glasses of wine. Too drunk to absorb much Chicago history.
Chicago Cultural Center
I really loved this place. Plus it was free. The building is beautiful and had an architecture exhibit on several floors. I also happened to get there in time for a free building tour.
The tour guide was very nice and informative.
Other sights
We stayed not too far from Millennium Park so we saw the cool stuff there, like this:
Halloween is my favorite holiday so when my friend Aki suggested meeting up in Lambertville to check out the decked out houses, I was more than on board.
Our first stop of course was lunch. I really liked this place, but the staff seemed a bit overwhelmed with the Saturday crowd. Also my Guinness beef pie took forever to heat up (which I wouldn’t have minded if I had been given the heads up), and parts of the inside were still cold. Regardless it was tasty. On our way out, I couldn’t resist a huge double chocolate cookie to save for later.
A day out with Aki wouldn’t be complete without a visit to a winery. I loved this place. It was very low-key and a lot of fun.
Because Aki’s a member, we were able to have a free tasting of seven wines each. We decided we liked the rose best and got a bottle to share. We sat at a table outside drinking, eating, and chatting.
Before checking out the decorated houses, we stopped at this antique shop. Aki had heard they had an exhibition of “vampire hunting kits” and thought I’d be interested. HELL YES. My friend knows me well.
Admittedly, I had no idea there were real-life vampire hunters. I thought it was all fiction. Of course whether or not the vampires they were hunting were real is another story.
We talked with the owner of the collection quite a bit. Besides all the vampire hunting stuff, he told us a creepy story of a kind of “devil’s bust” he used to own. He sold it to two people who promptly gave it back. One didn’t even want a refund. Apparently with the first buyer, they heard disembodied voices and noises. With the other, they saw actual apparitions. He showed us a picture, and I’m sorry to say it looked fake. Or it could have been a person or not. Of course if I had seen it in real life, I would have plotzed.
We also talked about ouija boards. While he has a vast collection of them, he’s also scared of them. I started telling him about that Spanish horror movie, Veronica, and he was like, “I don’t want to hear about it!” The reason we got on the topic is because he had out a gorgeous oujia board which was painted by Aleister Crowley. I had taken a bunch of pictures, but after my conversation with the guy, I was suddenly creeped out by the idea that I had these on my phone. I said, “Maybe I should delete those photos from my phone.” He agreed.
His reasoning is that while the vampire killing stuff have an intention for good (even if possibly innocent people have been killed) and use the power of God, ouija boards are a gateway to demons and stuff. ‘Nuff said.
Halloween houses
Next were all the decorated houses. I took a zillion pictures. Here are some of the highlights. We also randomly got a tour of the INSIDE of someone’s house. The outside was decorated really cool —
— which we commented on to the guys hanging out outside. The next thing we knew, he was inviting us in. They were getting ready for a party, and the guests weren’t do yet so we had a few minutes to see it all gussied up.
Oh you know, just going into some random person’s house on Halloween.
Art gallery and pho
Something Aki and I both like to do is crash art exhibition openings and partake of free booze and snacks. She knew of one in Princeton and so we headed there as one of our last stops.
The art was somewhat interesting, but I didn’t have any wine. I think the combo of the wine with the sugar of the cookie was a bad idea. I had a terrible headache and also got carsick. At the reception I had a bunch of pretzels and crackers, hoping salty carbs would save the day.
Aki assured me it would hit the spot, and it really did. I ate the whole thing. The broth was really tasty. The whole thing was tasty. When we got back in the car to walk around downtown before my train, I felt a billion times better. My headache was gone, and I was no longer feeling like I was going to throw up.
As we started to walk around, we both saw across the street a bus going to the city. I still had a half an hour wait for my train, and we both thought, How about that bus? We went up and it turned out 1) it was leaving right that minute, and 2) I could buy a ticket on the bus without a fee. Score! The bus line was the same as the one that goes to my mom’s, which means comfy and roomy seats. Plus, unlike the train, it was dark and quiet. The train on a weekend night is always rowdy and also very bright.
A comfy end to a superfun day.
new york adventures — Comments Off on Harry Potter and the amazing seats 21 Oct 19
I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. I’ve read all the books and seen all the movies. In fact I’m a little obsessed (although not dress-like-Gryffindor obsessed). Back in April, I splurged on tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as a birthday present to myself. They were pretty pricey — especially since the show is two parts — but I thought what the hey.
However, I almost immediately had buyer’s remorse. Of course nothing could be done about it at that point. They weren’t going to refund my tickets just because I had changed my mind. But then my mom ended up scheduling her cataract surgery for the very day of the show so I couldn’t go. I called, thinking I could reschedule, but they ended up refunding me and letting me reschedule at my leisure, which (ahem) I never did.
Luckily because I ended up having the chance to see the show for much cheaper, and with much better seats.
On Friday my younger cousin texted me asking if I wanted to join her, her husband, and brother for the show that Sunday for, get this, a total of $80. What I had paid was much more so um HELL YES. At the time I didn’t know one of her friends works near the theater and sometimes will stand on line, see what tickets he can get, and sell to them to his friends at cost. (What a nice guy!) I was extremely grateful to be able to reap the benefits.
The moment I got to the theater, I was excited:
And then even more so when we got to our seats! Unbeknownst to my cousin, we had box seats! Which means on of those balconies on the side with tons of leg room and not having to rub up against strangers. I’m spoiled forever.
The obligatory playbill shot:
In between the two shows, we got food a delicious udon place, Raku. I got the donburi bowl:
As for the show itself, I absolutely loved it. It paid some fan service, but why the hell not? And the special and practice effects were especially cool. I would totally see it again (especially for cheap box seats!).
weekends — Comments Off on A day at the beach 20 Aug 19
This Sunday I took the train all the way down to Long Branch to hang out with my friend Aki and her fiance. It was totally worth it.
An unexpectedly dangerous lighthouse
After picking up some pizza slices, we headed over to this lighthouse, where we sat on a bench and had a sort of picnic. It was hot and there were bugs, but there was also wine, courtesy of Aki, so I didn’t care too much.
Next we looked at some cool lighthouse stuff, then climbed to the top of one of the towers. Aki and I went all the way to the top. There was a little window that was open and what looked like an area you could stand on. Aki went right out, and suddenly I noticed the area had no grate, just wide open railing a body could easily fall through.
I said, “Should you be out there?” Then it started to hit me as to what a dangerous situation that was (luckily she came right back in), and even more so when I went down one level and could see how wide open it was from below. There were also two kids up there with us, and I told them a couple of times, “Please don’t go out there, I beg you.” Their dad was one level below, but not close enough to me. (They were fine and didn’t go out there.)
I told the girl at the desk downstairs, and at first she didn’t really understand what I was saying. She went up to check, and when we were in the tiny museum slash shop, she came in and made a beeline toward the older women behind the desk and told them what happened in a kind of panicked voice. I made eye contact and she said, “They told us about it,” and thanked us (although it was really just me). I knew it didn’t seem right! Aki’s fiance and I kept teasing her afterward about how she immediately did the most dangerous thing.
A park and a hike
After that we headed out to this park. They had what was a bunker for housing weapons, including what was essentially a really huge gun, during World War II. We walked through it, which was pretty creepy. It’s just this long, dark, empty hallway. There was water everywhere — dripping off the ceiling, in puddles on the floor, and I thought, Did they hose this place down? We asked the guy sitting outside and turns out it was all condensation from the humidity.
After that we went on a hike. At first Aki’s fiance and I were against the “black diamond trail” and we just did something easy. However, that was uncovered, i.e., in the sun, and not near the water. We took a shortcut to see some view (there wasn’t much of one), and Aki said that was the black diamond level. It turned out not to be hard at all, vigorous but not difficult. By the end we were all very sweaty.
A beachand a brewery
After that we tried to find a beach. The first one was small and rocky. It wasn’t that great so we left and went to a much better one. It was free since it was after 4:30 and it wasn’t too crowded. It was nice sitting there drinking wine, snacking, and chatting.
It was pretty cool and breezy, but it was also very, very sticky. I actually felt fine, but after a while her fiance was like, “It’s so sticky.” We had been there long enough anyway and headed to our next destination.
That was a brewery. By then I had had basically one and a half glasses of wine so I just had a three-ounce serving of their stout. It was pretty good. Her fiance got the summer ale (full serving) and a giant bowl of poutine with roast beef. Oh my God so good. I had several bites, which were more than enough for dinner.
boston / travel — Comments Off on A Memorial Day trip to Boston 31 May 19
I don’t usually like to travel during holiday weekends because of the crowds, but last week I decided to see my friend Ellen in Boston. I always love visiting her because it’s both super chill and GWF, good wholesome fun. (Last year we hung out in a bar for three hours, drinking and playing Jenga.)
Saturday
The first we did when I got in (via GoBus) was shop, then eat. We had Nepalese food at a place called Tasty Mo Mo. It was, well, tasty! They actually offered a combo of both Nepalese and Indian dishes. Of course we got the mo mos, Nepalese dumplings, and shared a chicken makhni, my favorite Indian dish. It was Ellen’s first time having it, and she loved it.
Next we walked around the Bow Market and got a couple of beers at the brewery there. I’m not usually a fan of beer, but I liked what we got: a light sour one and a dark one that tasted like chocolate.
That night we saw a play. It was very campy and fun, but unfortunately I can’t remember the name of it.
Sunday
On this day we decided to take a little road trip to the South Shore, and make some stops along the way.
First one was a Talbot’s outlet of all things. Ellen got some clothes while I got a pair of sunglasses. Next was Holly Hill Farm where Ellen wanted to get some herbs. Did I mention it was incredibly hot that day? It was sort of insufferable. And I had forgotten my hat, didn’t bring enough water, AND had to pee. Ugh. I did however buy some yummy cashews for a snack, homemade peanut butter and jam, and a bar of incredibly delicious coconut chocolate.
Next was a brewery, which was such a relief. We used the bathroom, got a flight of beers, and I chugged water. It was also nice to sit inside in the A/C. We also partook of the pizza and free pretzels.
At the next brewery (unfortunately I can’t remember the name), we first sat outside, but suddenly I got really hot in the sun so we came back in. There was some old guy who shared our table and chatted us up. I don’t know if he was hitting on us. He might have thought we went inside to get away from him.
This place had tacos and we shared an order, which had two. At first I thought I wasn’t hungry for a taco, but after I ate mine, I was like, “I could totally eat another one,” but I didn’t.
Our last stop was Duxbury. It was soooo pretty with beautiful, enormous houses. The area around the seafood truck and bar was a little annoying. (There was supposed to be a pop-up lobster roll place and brewery, but they had already sold out of their stuff.) We waited in line for what felt like forever for some oysters and other seafood, but we got our oysters before they sold out. Yay! A portion of a table nearby cleared so we snagged it.
I had three oysters. They were very good. We were going to share a clam dip, which was kind of like a more watery clam chowder, but they got mixed up and ended up giving us another one for free. Score! So we each had our own, which was good because I was actually kind of hungry.
There was a fire for s’mores. I kind of wanted one, but I also didn’t feel like waiting in line again. We made do with more of the chocolate I had bought. We stood at the water for a while, then sat in a couple of chairs. When the bugs started to get us, we got up and went back to the car.
We drove around. The houses were just crazy. I said I could imagine some movie there with a rich girl and her love interest, a working class guy, and we started telling that story. I said maybe she brings him home and ends up seeing his friend shucking oysters. The rest wasn’t that interesting. We ended up driving across this bridge, and were at the town’s official beach. The sun was setting just then, and we both managed to catch some gorgeous pictures.
Since my bus was at one, we just stopped at a market so I could pick up provisions for the bus and had lunch at a barbecue place. Pulled pork platter for the win! A yummy end to a very active, fun-filled Memorial Day weekend.
family — Comments Off on A 23andMe surprise 13 Feb 19
A while ago my brother and sister-in-law gifted me a 23andMe kit (for my birthday? Christmas? I can’t even remember). To be honest, the kit sat there for a while. When I finally did it, I did it incorrectly. Luckily they allowed me one free do-over.
I sort of assumed I’d screw it up again, and that would be it. But I got a few emails saying they were processing my results so at least I had spit into the tube the right way (by the way, it was A LOT of spit). Then this weekend, I got my results — and I was SHOCKED.
It was early Sunday morning. My friend Ellen was visiting and asleep in the next room while I lay in bed checking my email. That’s when I saw I had gotten my 23andMe results. I was delighted. Even when spitting correctly, I knew not getting any results was a possibility. So I was happy to get anything.
I went to the site and opened my ancestry report. The first thing I saw was that I’m 78% Chinese. Huh? Only that much? What else am I? I scrolled down farther and saw: 15.5% Korean.
“WHAT?” I said aloud.
I jumped out of bed to tell Ellen, but of course she was still asleep. Instead I texted my brother in L.A., although I knew I wouldn’t hear back from him for a few hours. I just kept staring at my results with my head spinning. Here are more details:
To those who aren’t Asian, you might not understand. Chinese, Korean, what’s the difference? Number one, HUGE, and number two, don’t be racist. Different countries, different languages, different cultures. Sometimes at odds with one another. To spend my entire life thinking I’m simply Chinese and learning I’m more than 15% Korean was a very big deal to me.
At 10 I woke Ellen to tell her I was going (I had a work event), and that’s when I said, “I know you just woke up but can I tell you one thing?” So I told her and she was also surprised. By then my brother had written back and was like, “Whoa! Did you tell Mom?” I didn’t have time that day but would later.
Yesterday I dug a little deeper into the DNA findings. I had assumed my Korean part came from my father’s side in Dongbei province in northeast China (where he’s from), which borders North Korea. However, the report says my Korean ancestors are from SOUTH Korea, specifically Seoul and Chungcheong-do. Those parts are directly across from, guess where, Shandong Province, which is where my mother’s family is from. Not just Shandong I should say, but Weihai, a port city very close to South Korea.
I looked up the history of Koreans living in China, and according to Wikipedia, Koreans have been immigrating to China since the 1880s, many of them coming to Shandong. According to 23andMe, I:
most likely had a great-grandparent, second-great-grandparent, or third-great-grandparent who was 100% Korean. This person was likely born between 1820 and 1880
So my maternal grandfather or grandmother could have been as much as half Korean.
I like that 23andMe says that my Chinese and Korean parts are both “Highly Likely Matches.” I’ve read that these tests can be inaccurate, but that gives me confidence those parts are right. When I tried to explain this to my mother, saying that one of her parents could be as much as half Korean, she was like, “That’s wrong.” Don’t harsh my buzz, woman! I thought she might agree to do the 23andMe, but now it might take some convincing.
An interesting thing my mother told me was that her mother often mentioned the Korean people in her village. They were called bang ren, or something like that, “hitting people,” because they liked to fight with sticks. Little did Puo-puo know she was probably part Korean herself.
london / travel — Comments Off on London 2018: Sites 26 Oct 18
No trip of mine would be complete without a visit to one of the local cemeteries. I picked Kensal Green because it’s mentioned in Atlas Obscura as the “oldest park cemetery in London.”
We decided to walk there. The day was overcast and a little rainy. I thought it was supposed to be pretty short but it felt long, maybe because we went through a sort of not great part of town. I thought because it was along a body of water that it would be picturesque, but it wasn’t.
The cemetery also seemed unkempt. Overgrown grass, construction piled on top of graves, toppled over headstones. Eventually we’d get to a part that was a little better. It included this fancy memorial to this kid, Medi Mehra, who died at 11 in a “freak” horse riding accident. It was this oversized gazebo with a statute of him, benches, all these flowers, and what looked like two coffins. I was fascinated by it.
Yiannis suggested walking back a different way, and I found that we could go on the other side of the body of water (which was called Paddington Basin). That was much better. The town was prettier, and we could also walk right along the water, where there was plenty of graffiti.
The Albert Memorial
We saw this from far away and thought, What the heck is that? So of course we walked toward it to find out.
It’s the memorial Queen Victoria had built to her husband, Prince Albert, after he died of typhoid. Apparently, in the memorial Prince Albert is holding the catalog of the Great Exhibition, “which he inspired and helped to organise.” At each corner are statues that represent Europe, Asia, Africa and America, higher up are “figures representing manufacture, commerce, agriculture and engineering, and near the top are “gilded bronze statues of the angels and virtues.”
Pretty fancy.
Chinatown
London’s Chinatown is pretty small, especially compared to New York’s, but it was nice to walk through.
One of Yiannis’s friends works here, and was kind enough to invite us in and show us around. The security was very tight, understandably so. Once we got inside it was totally worth it. Yiannis’s friend gave us a tour, showing us all the portraits of past ambassadors, lithographs of Native American chiefs and other tribal members, and the little store where employees can get American things that aren’t available in London (like Neosporin).
The bar was the last stop. It’s on the top floor and has a lovely view. Our gin and tonics were tasty (gin is definitely the liquor of London). I had two and got pretty tipsy.
london / travel — Comments Off on London 2018: Entertainment 25 Oct 18
On our trips to France and Spain, we didn’t go to any concerts or other entertainment because of the language barrier, but since we were in London, we went to three different performances.
Tina: The Musical
One of the big reasons Yiannis wanted to go to London was to see this musical. To be honest, I was sort of dreading it because I was sick, but it turned out to be wonderful (and much better than The Bodyguard, which we saw during our first trip and agreed was sort, well, awful).
The woman who played Tina Turner, Adrienne Warren, was freaking amazing. She had an incredible voice and presence. Everyone in the cast was great (the actor who played Ike Turner was so convincing, he got booed, the poor guy) and the story was quite moving at times. I cried at least once.
Something surprising I found about London was that their drinks in restaurants and whatnot seemed to be cheaper than in New York. Like eight to 10 pounds, which is under $15, when a glass of wine in New York can be $15 and a cocktail up to $20. It was also inexpensive at the theater, six to eight pounds, or just around $10, for a glass of wine. Meanwhile in New York theaters a glass of wine can be well over $20, which is INSANE. During intermission at Tina, I was tempted to get a rose, but I didn’t since alcohol had been making me even more congested and plus I’d have to pee.
Tawiah
We also went to a concert for this singer Yiannis likes. She was playing at a theater called The Albany in a part of town called Deptford. It took us an hour and multiple trains to get there, and looked very suburban and unlike any other part of London we had been to so I was kind of like, “Where the hell are we?”
I knew nothing about Tawiah but ended up really enjoying her music. It was very jazzy and soulful. The audience was a mix of mostly young blacks, some young whites, and a surprising number of older white couples (and two Asians, including myself). I couldn’t help but wonder if they had season tickets to the theater and didn’t know what they were in for.
On the way back, we saw this drunk guy on the subway. Not just drunk: he had pissed himself. A young white guy in a business suit with the front of his pants (or trousers) totally wet. In all my years in New York AND San Francisco, I’ve never seen such a thing.
Naked Boys Reading
Speaking of trousers, the readers at this event were without them.
Yiannis wouldn’t mind my saying he enjoys being naked in public. For instance he used to do naked stand-up comedy and just recently appeared in Spencer Tunick’s photography. So when he saw that Naked Boys Reading happened to be having their first open mike night the week we were there, he just had to sign up.
I was far more comfortable at this event than I’ve been at any of Yiannis’s naked stand-up shows. (There’s nothing like an obnoxious comedian and his gross junk getting in your face.) This was just gay men (and one woman) reading mostly literature. One older man read I don’t even know what. Neither of us could follow it.
Whatever you want to say about it, it was definitely a unique experience.
