NYC in July, part the first
Thursday - we got in at 8 p.m. but that didn't stop us from grabbing a late dinner at Grand Sichuan International, which has become our new favorite Chinese place in New York. We've tried maybe five or six Chinese joints there, and until recently Sam's Noodle Shop had been the best overall, but this time Grand Sichuan just delivered the goods in a more flavorful way. Sam's soup dumplings, which they call "mini juicy buns," just weren't very juicy this time.
A mere two blocks away from Grand Sichuan is the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, where we saw a "cage match" between two improv comedy troupes. (The winner was decided by audience vote.) The second of the two groups ("Expecto Montalban") did an extended riff on the DVD release of Roots that was wry and fairly original, while the performers first on stage ("Filth") went straight for the bawdy laughs. See if you can guess the victors. Hint: we were likely the oldest people there at 11 p.m. on a Thursday, and the beer flowed freely.
There was the usual amount of trepidation about the Hotel Pennsylvania, since we'd never stayed there before and it was the cheapest in that part of town. Strangely, it even beat out the Manhattan Broadway, our usual flophouse. However, the location is superb (right across from Madison Square Gardens and Penn Station) and our room was clean if not particularly well-maintained. Predictably, all of the online reviews are horrible and would definitely scare away the squeamish. For those people, $200 a night is the minimum they can expect to pay.
Friday - Up in the morning with a quick stop at Times Square Bagels and a jaunt over to B&H Photo, where I picked up an Ultrapod II. This came in really handy at our next destination: the Bronx Zoo.
Christina has had the Zoo on her agenda for some time now. I'll hand it to them, their constant advertising on the subway does foster the impression that if you haven't been there, you're missing out on a crucial piece of the New York experience. It is a very nice zoo, but I'd put the Atlanta Zoo or Busch Gardens up against it any day. On a Friday the zoo is populated mostly by stroller-pushing mommies and day-camp groups with matching t-shirts. Our day there became a giant game of Pac-Man, as we dodged between giant screaming amoebae and tried to visit exhibits when they weren't quite as noisy. Still, it was nice to get up into the Bronx (my first trip into that particular borough).
Friday night was all about (occasionally foul-mouthed) puppets. Avenue Q has been on my agenda before, but Wicked and The Producers kind of pushed it out of the running on previous trips. This time it worked out and we got to see the production in the afterglow of its Tony victories. The show is everything you'd expect, with some dead-on parody material and a good heart. There's a bit of a controversy about its plans for a national tour, but if it comes to your town, go see it.
Next: Brooklyn, Paige Davis, and our friend Lisa.
A mere two blocks away from Grand Sichuan is the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, where we saw a "cage match" between two improv comedy troupes. (The winner was decided by audience vote.) The second of the two groups ("Expecto Montalban") did an extended riff on the DVD release of Roots that was wry and fairly original, while the performers first on stage ("Filth") went straight for the bawdy laughs. See if you can guess the victors. Hint: we were likely the oldest people there at 11 p.m. on a Thursday, and the beer flowed freely.
There was the usual amount of trepidation about the Hotel Pennsylvania, since we'd never stayed there before and it was the cheapest in that part of town. Strangely, it even beat out the Manhattan Broadway, our usual flophouse. However, the location is superb (right across from Madison Square Gardens and Penn Station) and our room was clean if not particularly well-maintained. Predictably, all of the online reviews are horrible and would definitely scare away the squeamish. For those people, $200 a night is the minimum they can expect to pay.
Friday - Up in the morning with a quick stop at Times Square Bagels and a jaunt over to B&H Photo, where I picked up an Ultrapod II. This came in really handy at our next destination: the Bronx Zoo.
Christina has had the Zoo on her agenda for some time now. I'll hand it to them, their constant advertising on the subway does foster the impression that if you haven't been there, you're missing out on a crucial piece of the New York experience. It is a very nice zoo, but I'd put the Atlanta Zoo or Busch Gardens up against it any day. On a Friday the zoo is populated mostly by stroller-pushing mommies and day-camp groups with matching t-shirts. Our day there became a giant game of Pac-Man, as we dodged between giant screaming amoebae and tried to visit exhibits when they weren't quite as noisy. Still, it was nice to get up into the Bronx (my first trip into that particular borough).
Friday night was all about (occasionally foul-mouthed) puppets. Avenue Q has been on my agenda before, but Wicked and The Producers kind of pushed it out of the running on previous trips. This time it worked out and we got to see the production in the afterglow of its Tony victories. The show is everything you'd expect, with some dead-on parody material and a good heart. There's a bit of a controversy about its plans for a national tour, but if it comes to your town, go see it.
Next: Brooklyn, Paige Davis, and our friend Lisa.
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