Bloomfield, New Jersey, 2006
I thought I would be able to write while in the east coast. However,
that wasn't the case. After a week of going to suppliers and meetings
with my client back in SFO, I thought that the free time from work the
following week would give me just that: "free" time to write. I never
realized that my NY/NJ nights would be more hectic. Come to think of
it, I spent more time going out in NY/NJ than in SFO, but I enjoyed
every second of it.
This, despite a crummy leg cramp.
While
walking up a small hill on my way back to the car after a morning
browsing at Home Depot, I suddenly had a terrible cramp on my right
calf. It felt like someone threw a large rock at it. The past few days
of long tiresome walks in SFO and Manhattan have painfully caught up
with me that Tuesday morning in Bloomfield, NJ. Nevertheless, I didn't
let some silly old leg cramp, well, "cramp" my schedule. I was too
excited about NYC to let it bother me. After a great massage from my
cousin, JP, and a Biofreeze rub, I was back in fighting form. There's
this old wives' tale that came to mind regarding leg cramps: "Just take
it out for a walk."
That same night, I did just that. JP and I were able to watch The Lion King
at the New Amsterdam theater in W42nd Street. We got off the bus at the
Port Authority and took a short walk to the Amsterdam. The 42nd Street
Beaux-Arts entrance opens into one of the finest examples of Art
Nouveau I have ever seen. The carved and painted plaster, the carved
stone and wood, the fantastic murals and tiles — all of these combined
made me feel that I was going to the theater in the early 1900s. I was
so enthralled at the place that JP and myself walked up, with leg cramp
and all, several flights of stairs to our seats. I then find out later
on that there's an elevator. Nevertheless, the show was great!
Everything was top-notch: the acting, the songs, the costumes, and of
course, the set design. I actually forgot the pain in my leg that
evening.
The rest of the week saw me going to museums,
restaurants, churches (it was Lent), and even a concert with my aunt. I
also did some tax-free clothes shopping in NJ and some cd browsing at
Tower with her. I really got to know her and my uncle well during my
stay and we sort of bonded because of our love of music and also
because of our being parents. While listening to 70's smooth jazz or
classical, we traded parenting tips and advised each other in
parenting. I never expected we'd bond and it is a good thing that we
did.
