One Last Day in The City

The house is quiet and resting after several weeks of out-of-town visitors. (Hi, Mom!) The day before everybody left, Auntie A and I took one last foray into The City. (I spent the morning haggling with my car salesman over accessories, which I PROMISE will make it into another post soon!)

Auntie A and I hit the road, not sure what we'd do with our day. We had a fairly short to-do list, so we were confident we could fit it all in. 1) Get tickets for a Broadway show. 2) Go to Chinatown. 3) Make it to the show on time.

We arrived at the station with a few minutes to spare, and not a parking stall in sight. Oh no! We ended up parking at the very top of a dirt lot, racing to the platform...only to miss our train while we were trying to buy the tickets. Oh no!

We shrugged it off (Ok, fine, I did sneak in ONE snide comment, but I think Auntie A forgave me. I am pregnant and crazy, after all!) and sat down on the platform to wait.

We were soon joined by a small band of Cantonese speaking Jehovah's Witnesses. (They caught my attention because one of the crew was definitely NOT a native of Canton province.) We listened while they explained their religion for about 45 minutes, and then boarded the train and parted ways. (Well, I listened - the conversation was mostly in Cantonese, so Auntie A was kind of at a loss! She didn't even realize we were discussing the Bible until I filled her in on the train. I guess seeing the Bible in the woman's lap didn't register, as it was all in Chinese.)

From Grand Central Terminal, we caught a subway for South Street Seaport. There was absolutely no line at the ticket counter, and we were able to purchase our 'first choice' tickets - Gypsy.

Tickets in hand, we meandered north until we hit Chinatown. I have decided that, after seeing two Broadway shows, riding the Staten Island Ferry, seeing Times Square AND the Statue of Liberty...Chinatown is really my only draw to go back to The City. (Oh, and of course, if there are any friends that want to meet up for lunch, I'd do that, too! Sorry, Kim. :-()

We had a little trouble finding dinner, at first. We seemed surrounded by cheap sunglasses, scarves and jewelry, with nothing edible in sight. After asking directions three or four times, we finally found our way to Mott Street - Mecca, as far as I'm concerned. We stopped into a bun shop to make sure we'd last the next 15 minutes until we could get some dinner, and asked them where we ought to go. The proprietor quickly responded, "Here, of course! Eat buns for dinner. I eat buns for dinner. Buns make a GREAT dinner. That's all I need." When I explained that I would really prefer to eat rice for dinner, he pointed me to a "Cha Siu" (Chinese BBQ) place down the street. I thanked him, and we took off.

We ended up at Daaih Wong (Big Wong) (67 Mott Street). Their Cha Siu selection was AWESOME. We shared a bowl of pork and mustard green soup, a dish of Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, rice and "Siu Ngaap" (roast duck). Everything was delicious! After dinner, I realized that my life would never be complete unless I had some "tong seui" (Chinese dessert soup). (Totally the baby talking, yes, but...who am I to argue with dessert!) The restaurant we were in didn't have any, but they pointed us down the street. (Are you noticing a trend here? I think I asked directions no fewer than 11 times, and EACH time I asked, people went out of their way to be helpful. One man walked me across a subway station to make sure I'd get on the right train!)

We ended up at this place.



Fong Inn Too Inc. (46 Mott Street) Weird name, but AMAZING product. They sell tofu - about 15 different kinds. What I had my eye on was something called "dau fu fa" (dessert silken tofu). I haven't had any since I was pregnant with BBJ, in Hong Kong. At the end of a sticky, hot day, there are few things more refreshing than a big bowl of cold dau fu fa. It is available hot, but I like it cold.

For the uninitiated, dau fu fa is a very smooth bean curd, made kind of like pudding. Soy Beans are boiled, pureed and then sieved to make a bean paste. A thickening agent is mixed in and the paste is allowed to harden. Dau fu fa is tricky to make, and a very well-made one will flake off in shingles, like a flaky pastry, when you scoop it. When eaten for dessert, dau fu fa is served with a very sweet, thin syrup poured over the top. (If that explanation was devastatingly boring or simple, my apologies. A few weeks ago, a friend out here asked my husband what tofu was. She'd never heard of it. He started by explaining that it was just basically soy milk, mixed with thickeners. I glanced at her blank stare and realized this friend and I might give each other a good case of culture shock during our stay out here!)

This gentleman sits behind this tiny counter and sells his wares. There are no places to sit inside for customers, so this is more of a stand than a cafe. The taste TOOK ME BACK. It was amazing - so light, so cold. It was like ice cream, but without the creaminess that needs to be washed out of my mouth. (Am I the only one that likes to drink water with my ice cream?) Besides, for $.75, this is WAY cheaper than the $6 cup of gelato we'd had on our previous adventure. (It was also about three times the size!)

Auntie A and I stood on the sidewalk, enjoying our dau fu fa. (Yes, the tub was plenty big for two to share.) (Auntie A, by the way, is now thoroughly converted. This was her first experience with this treat.)

Ok, time out. Yes, these are the ONLY pictures I took that entire afternoon. Have I pointed out yet that I'm pregnant and crazy? Yes? Alright then. You'll understand when I say, then, that this dau fu fa was the highlight of my day. My car salesman made me cranky, we missed our train, I listened patiently in a train station while a missionary tried to convert me to another religion using a book I couldn't read, and dinner was tasty but portions were not as generous as the Szechuan restaurant we went to last time, where the food was less expensive. So, dau fu fa and I had a moment, and suddenly my day was looking MUCH better. Unfortunately, to get another cup would make it into a $25 cup of tofu, with train and subway fare. Bother.

Moving on. Auntie A and I made our way, several sets of directions later, to the subway station, the correct train, the correct stop, Times Square and FINALLY to our theatre on 42nd street. The show lived up to its hype. The performers were amazing, the girl that played Baby Jane had the biggest mouth I'd ever seen, and our seats were pretty good.

Umm...but I wouldn't see it again. See, the last half of the story takes place in a Burlesque House. With Burlesque dancers. I'm beginning to think it was bored MALE reviewers that reviewed this so highly. It's like Spamalot (across the street, incidentally), but with a sad ending! Meh. Long story short, Helicopter Parent Mom decides that her oldest, Baby Jane, is going to be a star in vaudeville. Jane grows up, gets jaded, and runs away with one of the boys from the troupe to be an actress. Undeterred, Mama Rose turns to her youngest daughter, Louise. Up to this point, Louise has been relegated to boys parts, and playing the caboose end of a cow, due to her "lack of talent." In the second half of the show, the new troupe, built around Louise this time, is mistakenly booked into playing for a House of Burlesque for two weeks. Louise urges her mother to keep the engagement, saying that they haven't had a booking in ages and they need the money and it's only 2 weeks. When the two weeks are up, the troupe breaks up and the girls go home. As they are packing, Louise hears the manager moaning about a lead in that night's performance who has gone missing. She butts in and volunteers to fill in for the night. As burlesque dancers need only a minimal amount of "no talent" to do well, she is accepted on a probationary status. The rest is history. She finds her groove, does the circuits, and becomes the most successful burlesque dancer in the country, with her mother trailing behind her, still trying to hold the reigns. The show ends as Louise laughs at her mother's dream of being on stage with her and Mama Rose suddenly realizes that MAYBE she ought to go do something for her own life, as her daughters are grown up and have both gone their own ways, with bitter feelings to boot. The end.

Some good songs, though!

We caught the midnight train and pulled into the garage around 1:45 am, Friday morning. I was so glad Auntie A and I got one more chance to hang out, just the two of us, before she caught her flight back to Home. She's my baby sister, and I've got to raise her up right!