Jeff's girlfriend is in New York also, so we decided to go together. We met at the bus station to catch the 1:30 bus. There is a Chinese bus line called the Fung Wah that offers Boston to New York trips for $15 each way. Jeff and I were able to grab a seat together and it was a pleasant ride into the city.
We arrived in NYC around 6:00, but had some delays because the unloading area was blocked off. The bus circled around chinatown for another 15 mins before we were able to exit the bus. I said goodbye to Jeff and took a bus up to Stuytown, an apartment complex in manhattan with a nice park area. Her coworkers invited her there for a picnic and a surprise birthday celebration (Jess's birthday is this week). We stayed for an hour or so and then left for Brooklyn, to meet up with some other friends for a concert. The concert was outdoors in Prospect Park, featuring a band called "The Brazilian Girls". There are lots of events in New York during the summer held in the parks and public spaces, and many of them are free or very affordable.
There were lots of people at the concert, and we found Jess's friends crowded together on a small blanket. We stayed there until the sky got dark, listening to the music. We left before it was over and went to a bar with another friend, and spent the rest of the night chatting. I was very hungry at that point, and after we left the bar I looked for a place to get a cheap meal, but I didn't find anything that looked appetizing. It was after midnight by this point, and Jess and I took the train back to her apartment. When we got there I grabbed a bag of chips from the kitchen and filled myself on those before falling asleep.
The next morning we woke up early and Jess made a hearty breakfast: eggs, toast, dumplings, and beans. While we ate, her roommate watched an educational French language videotape. Her roommate is traveling to France very soon for school and is trying to learn the language. I ate my food happily to the sound of french phrases being spoken in the background. Comment ca va? Ca va. Et vous?
We took a nap around noon and then got ready to head into Manhattan. Jeff and Binna had found a free outdoor swing dancing event in Battery Park that evening. We took the train into chinatown, where I wanted to grab some dumplings for a snack. There are several little dumpling shops in Chinatown that sell 5 dumplings for a dollar, and are pretty good. My cousin David actually introduced me to them several years ago. We got our dumplings, pork for myself and vegetable for Jess, and then made our way over to meet Jeff and Binna.
Battery Park is located on the west shore of Manhattan. It's a pretty nice area, with a mix of expensive living units and a large walk along the river. By the time we arrived the band had already gotten started. It was a 12-piece brass band from Harlem, and they played old big-band standards like "Fly Me to the Moon." We danced and it was great fun and quite a sight, with Manhattan high-rises on one side and the Hudson river on the other, and the sun setting behind the New Jersey skyline across the river to the west. Jess and I took a break from the dancing to stand next to the water, and I looked at the scene with appreciation and a bit of wonder. There were lots of children, couples, and people walking their dogs, and it was a very nice atmosphere.
The band closed its set at 8 just as it was getting dark. The four of us grabbed some coffee and walked around the shoreline. We saw a beautiful yacht, called the Perseus, docked along the water. We marveled at how elegant it was and had a footrace to try and figure out how long it was. Jeff thought it was 50 yards, I thought it was less. We knew that the fastest 100 yard dash run was under 10 seconds, and we decided to run the length of the boat and see how it long it took us. In sandals, it took me 10 seconds to run the length of it. We discovered the boat was closer to 50 yards (163 ft) after looking it up. I guess I'm not a very fast runner!
We continued walking and wound up at a memorial for the Irish Potato Famine. This was a period in the 1850s when a virus decimated Irish potato crops and millions of Irish starved. It was a very compelling sight. On one side it looks like a irish countryside, with grass and bush and a roofless stone cottage:
But when you walk around you see that it all sits on a building:
One the side of the building there are all these quotes related to hunger, and at night the quotes are illuminated in white. We walked around it quietly for a while, reading the different quotes and passages and taking it in.
It was about 10 at night, and we said goodbye to Jeff and Binna and made our way to the east side of the island to go to a party for one of Jess's friends. We grabbed a bite at a diner first, and I ordered a big basket of fish and chips. I was craving fried food then, but I regretted it yesterday when I played basketball. I felt heavier and slower than normal after the weekend of chips and fried food.
The party was on a rooftop. We got in around midnight, and it was such a sight up on that roof, with beautiful views of the skyline all around. There was a DJ who was playing music, which was intermittently turned off. Cops had come to keep the party quiet, and we could see them shining flash lights on us from another rooftop. We were still able to stay despite it. We met some of Jess's friend's there and had a good time dancing under the stars. It was a beautiful night, and although there was a breeze, we were all comfortable in shorts and light clothing.
The next day I packed all my clothes into my small backpack and Jess and I went to a small park near her apartment. We laid there under some trees and I fell asleep. It was great weather in New York, in the 80s and not too humid. It felt so much cooler than Boston. After a couple hours we made our way to Manhattan, where the bus I needed to take back to Boston was waiting.
I met Jeffrey at 7:30 hoping to catch an 8 p.m. bus. For the New York side of the bus line there is no station, you just wait on the sidewalk where it boards on a first-come, first-served basis. The line was very long and we had to wait until 9! It wasn't so bad because the girls were with us, and we talked to pass the time. I also bought some chicken from a Popeye's there and ate a makeshift dinner.
Finally it was time to board. We said goodbye to the girls and boarded, getting two seats near the front. Jeff and I played video games to pass the time, and got into Boston around 1 in the morning. His sister had left his car near the station, so we walked to it and he drove me home. I got in and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Thankfully I didn't have to go into work until 11 yesterday.
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