it's past 11 in the evening here in new york city. it is still bright and alive. back home, no one would be caught dead walking the streets at this time. it's not that it is scary in houston. it's just that everything is closed at 11 pm on a sunday night. but here in the city that never sleeps, you wouldn't notice that it's already close to midnight if you didn't take a look at your wristwatch.
i just came back to the hotel from a sumptuous dinner at a thai place called 'room service.' the food was awesome. i would rave more about the menu if the person who waited on us wasn't extremely hot making us almost forget about our food. how could a man concentrate on his chicken pineapple fried rice when the wait staff stealthily walks directly at your table, looks at you straight in the eye and asks, "would you want something to drink?" i answered, "uh, can i just have you in a glass?" actually, it was my friend who replied. he said, "two thai iced teas, please,' in the kindest, gentlest way imaginable to man. eh sya naman talaga may kras dun eh.
and oh, should i also mention that we ate like pigs?
after we were done with the food, my friend and i lingered for a few minutes more for sightseeing purposes. it was nearing closing time and hot wait staff decided not to come out of the kitchen anymore. so we decided to stand up, with me feeling the corns on my feet from trekking miles a day --- and walked slowly back to the hotel.
earlier today, i was alone wandering the streets of the city. my friend had a modelling stint in new jersey and he would not be back until 9. it's a different experience when you are all by yourself in an unfamiliar place ---scary but kind of liberating. it was good that the streets are named easily. 43rd street is obviously next to 42. i knew if i always took notice of the street signs, i will never get lost. so i walked block upon block of gigantic concrete structures not knowing where it would lead me. i wanted to see the new spiderman musical but the cheapest ticket costs $67. i walked some more and saw 'dean & deluca' -- the stage where felicity and ben's television love story blossomed. a few feet away was 'muji,' that japanese store that surprisingly had overpriced merchandise. if i did not grow up in the philippines then i wouldn't know that those plastic containers cost 90 percent cheaper than the ones in that shop. i was out the door in five minutes.
farther off i saw 'h&m.' now, that's the kind of shop that people like me like. if you ask me, style and quality-wise, h&m stands in the middle of zara and forever 21. good quality plain shirts, a staple in my wardrobe, cost around $5.95. i bought a nice-looking dog tag for my brother at $7.95. and when i was about to exit the door, the latino cashier hurriedly caught up with me and gave me a 5 dollar gift card. ang bait naman ni pogi. haha!
alone in central park
i then proceeded back to the hotel. the long walk was with stops for some cigarettes and bottles of water and diet soda. i knew that if i just looked ahead and saw the myriad of lights from afar, i was on target. i got my camera and took some more photos. there were musicians in the sidewalk playing very good music while selling their cds. saan ka naman nakakita na kumakanta lang sa sidewalk na may cd? sosyal. on the other side of the road were six shirtless abs selling their sexy calendar. or were they men with abs? they looked like walking abs, though, since you will not look at their faces and just zoom in on their midsection. a lady in her sixties walked up to take a picture with these men. everybody who saw were laughing. inang, hanggang ngayon ba naman tinatablan ka pa ng L?
i found my friend already in the room when i got back -- and that brings us back to 'room service' and the slow walk back to our hotel room after dinner. while walking, we saw that the jackpot to the new york lottery has ballooned to $220 million. i told my friend that the winner of one of the biggest lotto jackpots in philippine history is a filipino ofw based in new york. we went to one of them small grocery stores (which look exactly like the ones you see in movies set in this city) to buy tickets. and just like that filipino lady who is now a few hundred million pesos richer, i too chose the quick pick option.
sana lang manalo.
No comments:
Post a Comment