I didn’t have time to grab some fruit on my way out. I’m so hungry…WAIT there’s a Starbucks a few blocks down, it’s perfect!
Please don’t be packed, please don’t be packed, please don’t…oh my. Alright, no Starbucks then. What time even is it? OH MY GOD I’M GONNA BE LATE. Let’s pick up the pace now, Hannah. We can’t have Jeffrey yell at you on a Frida-seriously? Right in the middle of the street? Tourists shouldn’t be up at this hour. We should probably start bookin’ it, think marathon for speed walkers. But don’t look like you need to go tinkle. Can a person speed walk down stairs? ..Apparently yes, just not very gracefully. Where’s the metro card? Shoot! where is it? I can’t have forgotten it. It has to be….in my pocket. Wow.
“loprfhosfrusben ONE sidretorps”
He said one, just my dang luck he said one.I see it. Don’t you /dare/ close your doors. Nonononoooo!!!!!
Oh my god. I made it.
Though a tad disappointed that what I just shared with you was a dream, I was comforted by the fact that I was still in the tiny hotel room. My mom went out for a run and we were planning on going to a yoga class in a studio that wasn’t too far away. The studio requires that any visiting individual arrive about fifteen minutes before a class, unfortunately by the time mama got back the class was already starting. We took this opportunity to walk around, I got some tea from Starbucks and we made our way to my mom’s cousin’s (aka Kuya Cris) apartment for some breakfast! He was still making them when we arrived, but we didn’t mind waiting. We had buttermilk pancakes with some top notch maple syrup, it was some delicious stuff. We didn’t stay too long because we had to get ready for out lunch with arguably the most interesting woman I’ve ever met.
Before we went on our way we decided to take some pictures in the outdoor seating area of the hotel…
…and while we were walking
We met with Ms. Jean at Port Authority and had lunch at Heartland Brewery. I’ve heard many wonderful stories about her but this was the first time I was ever going to interact with her for longer than five minutes. My mother, grandmother, and Ms. Jean all worked for the same company at one point. Ms. Jean taught my mother everything about dealing with people on the phone which, as a recruiter, she does a lot. We covered a plethora of topics; most interesting print jobs, her granddaughter’s interest in literally everything, what it’s like to visit your neighborhood after not being there for about 20 years. As delicious as my food was, I was completely captivated by everything she said. She has such an infectious spirit that you can’t help but pay close attention.
And it’s funny how complete opposites she and my grandmother are, my grandmother is outgoing but also reserved, Ms. Jean on the other hand is just plain loud (her words). Despite their differences they’ve created this bond that can never be broken by distance or whatever else. I thoroughly enjoyed just being around the woman who had such a heavy influence on my mom.
After lunch we landed in a HUGE Victoria’s Secret/PINK store where I honestly lost track of time because of how much there was to look at. It was incredible. But I am proud to say that I came out of the place with ONE item, because I was saving up for something super special. Mama then showed me this beautiful Banana Republic store where we bought absolutely nothing, we were there for the man with the world on his shoulders.
We then made our way over to the Manhattan Mall to buy some gifts for my aunt, who did not hesitate to tell us more than once what she wanted. We went to this store called Karma, which actually has some cute stuff for good prices. We put together four outfits and decided that it was a good amount of clothing, so my mom paid and we made our way back to the hotel room to wait for my aunt and uncle.
While we waited my mom and grandmother told more stories about working for a printing company. They told me about some of the jobs/projects that they did, and the sleepless nights they endured just to make sure that a project was completed. It was fun sort of reentering that part of their past with them.
It wasn’t long ’til my aunt (also known as Tita Flu) arrived, but we waited a good while for my Uncle Phil to show which wasn’t all bad, at least I was hungry again by the time we left for dinner. We had a choice between Dallas BBQ and Asuka Sushi. I don’t remember who ultimately decided to go with Asuka but I was not displeased, sushi is fantastic AND it was my uncle’s first time to ever eat sushi! I think we were all excited to be a part of that adventure.
We got inside and were told that the wait was about half an hour but my grandmother wasn’t having it and worked her magic which cut our wait time to about twenty minutes.
I think my mother saw it as a personal challenge to give my uncle the best first sushi experience and boy did she deliver. We had a variety of topnotch choices.
First we got the California Roll, which is always a good choice for first timers or picky eaters, so I wasn’t worried here.
Then we went with a Mixed Tempura plate that had shrimp, chicken, and vegetables. I was pleasantly surprised with how big all of the pieces were, but I wasn’t too sure how my uncle would like them. I’m not sure which one he took, but he liked it! And that’s all I really cared about.
Next we had ‘Roll Combo F’ which is four pieces of the rainbow roll, six pieces of king crab avocado, and four pieces of the dragon roll. The king crab is probably one of my favourites, and the rainbow did not disappoint either, but the dragon…I’m not one for spicy but I was told by everyone else that it was delicious.
“It’s called the Dragon? Dragon?? ..that’s not good.” -Uncle Phillip
This is the Seafood Teriyaki, it has salmon, shrimp, and scallops. I didn’t eat too much of this, but the bite that I got of the salmon was delicious.
And last but not least is Roll Combo E which consists of four pieces of shrimp tempura roll (the picture shows three because someone was a little overzealous), five pieces of the Dragon, and six pieces of the Alaskan roll. The Alaskan roll is like the California, it’s safe and comforting. And shrimp tempura roll was fantastic! Again, I’m not into spicy, but the Dragon did not fail.
Apart from actually trying every single thing we gave him, I was impressed by how adamant my uncle was about using the chopsticks. He said if he was going to go through with it, he has to do it right. And I give credit, almost every single glass was placed right in front of him blocking all of the food. It would have been easy to just forget about the chopsticks, but he persevered. (My mom also just kept dropping pieces of sushi on his plate, but that’s neither here nor there.) So as a reward for a successful first time, he ordered vanilla bean ice cream for desert.
I’ve always enjoyed being around my uncle and aunts. Crazy stuff always happen and there’s always lots of laughter.
After paying for our meal we headed for a cinema in 34th street to watch Maleficent. It was getting late and my grandmother still had work the next morning so she passed on the movie and went home. A little part of me wished that we all did the same, because this was the dirtiest movie theater I’ve ever seen. What’s bad is that the lobby wasn’t too bad, when we reached the nasty area it was too late to get a refund…so we stayed. Out of the four of us, I was the only one who’s seen Maleficent before and I was nervous that they would end up hating it or something. It’s bad enough that we were in a gross theater. Fortunately, every single one of them enjoyed it! Angelina Jolie is Maleficent and, for some, is the only redeeming part of the movie.
By the time we got out of the theater it was a little past 12. My mom and I dropped them off at Penn Station and we walked back to the hotel, got ready for bed, and watched HGTV (obviously) until we fell asleep.
I was happy with how the day turned out. We had lunch with a sensational woman, got some shopping done, and watched a man encounter unfamiliar cuisine. And even though the whole theater situation was appalling, we still had a grand time. Which goes to show, just because plans don’t turn out the way you expect them to doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy yourself anyway.
Next time in The Girl Who Wrote, it’s Mama & Babas’ last full day in New York. Will Hannah finally find what she’s looking for? What can they DO in one day? Are they going to have sushi AGAIN?
The Girl Who Wrote 