NYC Day 7: Harlem Days and Comedy Nights
Sunday, 22 May 2005 - It's a rarely publicised fact that Columbia University, and many of the apartments it owns, sits on the edge of Harlem. My host took this advantage to bring our mutual friend and I for a walk through the district this morning, traversing almost the entire stretch of 125th Street from Manhattan's West to East Side.
To facilitate this jaunt, I had to stop by a Duane Reade (the rough equivalent of Cold Storage in Singapore) branch to pick up some corn removers. Having put little thought into preparing for this holiday, I brought along a pair of roomy, slip-in shoes which chafe against my feet with each step. It's fine for short distances but hell for the walkathons I've been engaging in over the past week. I was struck by the number of highly customised foot products available: where only one or two brands of corn caps are available in Singapore, Duane Reade's shelves had a range of corn removers, callus removers and bunion removers of assorted shapes, sizes and applications. I got myself two boxes and was all set.
We stopped over at a diner for brunch. As an indication of how huge American portions tend to be, we ended up ordering from the breakfast menu. What you see in the photo above constitutes "breakfast": pork chops, toast (plain or wheat bread), two eggs (scrambled, hard-boiled or sunny side up), grits (a kind of cereal, with home fries as an alternative) and coffee. About ten bucks, including tips.
Harlem is a fascinating area because it demonstrates Manhattan's diversity in spite of its small size. With a predominantly black American population and plenty of low-rise housing, it feels nothing like mid- or downtown New York. My friends and I picked up "Against Racism" badges from a roadside stall and saw, at one point, a huge convoy of bikers roaring down the street. I do not exaggerate when I say there were at least a hundred of them; the convoy was so long that they were broken by traffic lights. We also passed this highly unusual negative of the US flag being flown outside a building. It's the only one of its kind I've ever seen, and would be grateful if anyone could provide any information on this.
The next item on our agenda for the day was shopping at Macy's, whose NYC branch is supposedly the world's largest department store. To do this, we took a train down to Grand Central Terminal, NYC's most iconic train station and the location of a fight sequence in X-Men: the Movie.
On our way down to 34th Street, we also whizzed through the New York Public Library. Grand as it is, our visit was too quick for appreciation, and I was mildly disappointed at the absence of the classic green lampshades from the Reading Room's tables (or maybe we were in the wrong room, or maybe I've just wrong about the green lampshades all this while).
Macy's left me rather nonplussed, though one of the guys made an excited shoe purchase there. I'm not a shoe person myself so I could hardly understand his glee or appreciate how much value he was getting. We then walked through a light drizzle to Jamba Juice in Times Square where we traded personal stories. On our way out, I suggested heading to a comedy club, and both my friends were quick to recommend the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre--if not because of their popularity then because of the fact that their Sunday night shows are free. We had to queue for 45 minutes to get our tickets, then head back an hour later for the show.
It was an improvised riot, with a cast of 8 or 9 operating as a tag-team, switching and developing topics on the fly and at breakneck speed. From a single word thrown out by an audience member, plotlines grew and encompassed Star Wars, stupid employees, Shakespeare's Hamlet, animal lovers, gerbil fetishists, airlines, the Amish and My Little Pony. There were kinks and blocks at a few points, but the performers recovered very quickly. The two halves of the show were bookended by one of the more senior improvisors who gave impromptu spiels related to each half's trigger word. The venue was an intimate space greatly resembling the Substation's Guinness Theatre, with the audience flanking the performance space on three sides.
After the show, we headed out to Penn station to catch a train to a dinner place. On the way out, however, we spotted a cheap Chinese eatery and hopped in for our meal. In hardly being Chinese, American Chinese food has a charm of its own. I had beef 'chow mein' which I assumed was fried noodles (chao3 mian4), but turned out to be, as the waitress put it, "vegetables" (it was really onion and bean sprouts). Apparently, noodles is 'loh mein', and both 'chow mein' and 'loh mein' are served with rice. Next week, I might try the "Singapore Mei Fun" just for kicks.
To facilitate this jaunt, I had to stop by a Duane Reade (the rough equivalent of Cold Storage in Singapore) branch to pick up some corn removers. Having put little thought into preparing for this holiday, I brought along a pair of roomy, slip-in shoes which chafe against my feet with each step. It's fine for short distances but hell for the walkathons I've been engaging in over the past week. I was struck by the number of highly customised foot products available: where only one or two brands of corn caps are available in Singapore, Duane Reade's shelves had a range of corn removers, callus removers and bunion removers of assorted shapes, sizes and applications. I got myself two boxes and was all set.
We stopped over at a diner for brunch. As an indication of how huge American portions tend to be, we ended up ordering from the breakfast menu. What you see in the photo above constitutes "breakfast": pork chops, toast (plain or wheat bread), two eggs (scrambled, hard-boiled or sunny side up), grits (a kind of cereal, with home fries as an alternative) and coffee. About ten bucks, including tips.
Harlem is a fascinating area because it demonstrates Manhattan's diversity in spite of its small size. With a predominantly black American population and plenty of low-rise housing, it feels nothing like mid- or downtown New York. My friends and I picked up "Against Racism" badges from a roadside stall and saw, at one point, a huge convoy of bikers roaring down the street. I do not exaggerate when I say there were at least a hundred of them; the convoy was so long that they were broken by traffic lights. We also passed this highly unusual negative of the US flag being flown outside a building. It's the only one of its kind I've ever seen, and would be grateful if anyone could provide any information on this.
The next item on our agenda for the day was shopping at Macy's, whose NYC branch is supposedly the world's largest department store. To do this, we took a train down to Grand Central Terminal, NYC's most iconic train station and the location of a fight sequence in X-Men: the Movie.
On our way down to 34th Street, we also whizzed through the New York Public Library. Grand as it is, our visit was too quick for appreciation, and I was mildly disappointed at the absence of the classic green lampshades from the Reading Room's tables (or maybe we were in the wrong room, or maybe I've just wrong about the green lampshades all this while).
Macy's left me rather nonplussed, though one of the guys made an excited shoe purchase there. I'm not a shoe person myself so I could hardly understand his glee or appreciate how much value he was getting. We then walked through a light drizzle to Jamba Juice in Times Square where we traded personal stories. On our way out, I suggested heading to a comedy club, and both my friends were quick to recommend the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre--if not because of their popularity then because of the fact that their Sunday night shows are free. We had to queue for 45 minutes to get our tickets, then head back an hour later for the show.
It was an improvised riot, with a cast of 8 or 9 operating as a tag-team, switching and developing topics on the fly and at breakneck speed. From a single word thrown out by an audience member, plotlines grew and encompassed Star Wars, stupid employees, Shakespeare's Hamlet, animal lovers, gerbil fetishists, airlines, the Amish and My Little Pony. There were kinks and blocks at a few points, but the performers recovered very quickly. The two halves of the show were bookended by one of the more senior improvisors who gave impromptu spiels related to each half's trigger word. The venue was an intimate space greatly resembling the Substation's Guinness Theatre, with the audience flanking the performance space on three sides.
After the show, we headed out to Penn station to catch a train to a dinner place. On the way out, however, we spotted a cheap Chinese eatery and hopped in for our meal. In hardly being Chinese, American Chinese food has a charm of its own. I had beef 'chow mein' which I assumed was fried noodles (chao3 mian4), but turned out to be, as the waitress put it, "vegetables" (it was really onion and bean sprouts). Apparently, noodles is 'loh mein', and both 'chow mein' and 'loh mein' are served with rice. Next week, I might try the "Singapore Mei Fun" just for kicks.
posted by The Empty Signifier @ 5/24/2005 07:07:00 am
2 comments
2 Comments:
sure looks like you are havin an lovely time on a well-deserved break. awesome! the food pictures make me want to run to my neighbourhood han's for a woefully greasy set lunch ( where they serve everything at one, peach melbas et al.)
I accidentally found your blog while searching for pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge and have thoroughly enjoyed it!
The parent in me responds:
My 18 yr old son made his first trip to NYC (stayed with a cousin) this summer and altho I think he's very clever, he was never so eloquent! You deserve whatever your academic gifts can bring you. My son's language skills beyond English amount to Cantonese from Berkeley Public Schools' bilingual program for ages 5-9 and the Japanese he is currently studying. Yet when I read about your excitement I think I understand my own son better. Thank you.
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