Playing tourist with two old friends

(And by old I mean age!)
(just kidding, guys)


The weekend before last, two old friends were in town which gave me an opportunity to play tourist. When you go on vacation or visit some place new, you usually jam pack a lot of activities and cover a lot of ground in a limited time. When you live some place, sometimes you just don't take the time to do stuff, because you assume you'll just do it later, it'll always be there, etc. etc. Before I moved out of L.A. (wow, I just said that, didn't I? I moved OUT of L.A.!) I tried to go to places I had never been before. There are just too many things to do! (On a side note, this reminds me of why I wanted to move. Life is too short to not go and live some place new and challenge yourself to try new things! It's good for your brain!)

Here is a list of our activities (photo documentation on FB if you're a "friend"):

Friday, 10/15, 1:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.

-lunch @ Pao (South Village)
-free Friday evenings at MOMA (midtown)
-happy hour @ Moda (midtown)
-stroll through Times Square
-dinner @ Cafe Fiorello (near Columbus Circle/Upper West Side)
-stroll through Rockefeller Center
-drinks @ Pig N' Whistle (midtown)

Saturday, 10/16, 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.

-brunch at Zabar's (Upper West Side)
-a stroll through Central Park and photo stops at Bethesda Terrace
-pit photo stops at The Met and the Guggenheim
-lobster rolls for lunch @ Luke's Lobster (Upper East Side)
-Grand Central Terminal
-New York Public Library
-Union Square
-a quick break at their hotel in South Village
-drinks @ SoHo Room
-live music/dancing @ SOB's (South Village)
-late night dinner @ Cafe Habana (Nolita)

(Sunday was off to a much slower start for obvious reasons...even had to take a mid-afternoon nap...mind you, it does take me an hour to travel downtown, i.e., I went to bed at 3 a.m.!)

Sunday, 10/17, 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
(I had to call it an early night since I had class/work the next day and two papers to write....sigh)

-Chinatown - dumplings @ Prosperity Dumplings and a bad beef noodle soup at a place I choose not to remember
-Little Italy
-Iridium jazz club (Theater District) (my friend new someone who got us in for free)

I missed out on late night dinner in East Village. And I missed out on other touristy activities that they did Monday, like exploring the Village and Chelsea.

Tuesday night

-wine & cheese @ Nectar Wine Bar (Harlem)
-dinner @ Vareli (in my 'hood)
-drinks @ Haakon's (also my 'hood)

In the end it was a little sad to say goodbye (for me at least!). They were a small reminder of home. And also it was kind of like an end to a vacation for me as well! I need to stick with my original plan of trying something new at least once a week.

More Kao adventures later.