mychai's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 23: The Big Apple (and other food choices) Did you see me on the Today Show? Did ya? Did ya? Don't worry. You aren't the only one who missed it. In fact, I don't know a single person who may have seen it. When I knew for sure that I was going to be on a few times, I made a bunch of calls. One was to my mom: "Hey! At 7:30, turn on your TV to NBC and you will see me on!" I should pause and tell those of you who don't know that the Today show is shown live in the Eastern time zone. It is then shown delayed one hour in the Central, two hours in Mountain, etc. That way, when Katie says "It's 7:35, and here's Matt," it will be 7:35 in all the time zones. Neat, huh? Anyway, back to dear ol' mom. "Why will you be on NBC?" Crap. Ok. I have another parent and a step-mom. I called them. "Hey! Turn on NBC. I'm on the Today Show!" Crap. Ok. Best Friend Lisa, though most likely asleep, would be up to seeing me on National TV. "Hi. This is Lisa. I'm not available at the moment, so please leave a message and I'll get back to you later." "Hey! It's me! I know you are probably asleep, but if you wake up soon, turn on NBC. I am on the Today Show. Al Roker's here. Bye!" Jump to around noon when Best Friend Lisa calls, "Hey! Why were you on the Today Show?" I finally got a hold of Polymer Scientist Lisa who was home, had access to a local NBC station, and knew why I would be on the Today Show. She said she would watch and try to see me -- a fact that probably wasn't too hard since there was only a handful of people there yesterday. I ended up being on three or four different times, actually. We finally left after 8:30 because I was quickly loosing feeling in my hands, my lips, and my toes. I got to shake Al Roker's hand -- it was very warm in contrast to mine -- and during one of the weathers he focused the camera right on me. Unfortunately, they were on a full-screen graphic of the weather and they were focusing on me because of my sign -- a fun poke at the director, Joe Micheals. After the director surely got a good laugh, they continued on to a cute baby or something. Supposedly I'm not cute enough. But when I was a DJ, everyone said I have the perfect face for radio -- whatever that means -- so I obviously have some looks. Someone came around with a digital camera while we were waiting around patiently to get on national television and took a picture of my friend Mike and me. Here is a look of what we looked like in 29-degree, misty, nasty weather trying to pimp my diary. I had a great tour through New York. On our way to the Today Show, we walked through Time Square. The sun hadn't yet risen, so all of the lights and signs were really brilliant. We walked by the ABC studios which are right across the street from the MTV studios. It was amazing how completely awake the city felt at 6:00 in the morning. It was as if, yes, the city never sleeps. We went to a little streetside deli and both of us got a freshly made ham, egg, and cheese sandwich for around $2.50. Well... each one was $2.50. Add coffee to that, too. It was a tasty little breakfast. I don't know who would want to spend money on the overly processed breakfasts of McDonalds if they have something like that next door. After the Today Show, we walked by David Letterman studios and also went to the Hello Deli to see Rupert. He wasn't there, so we didn't even go in. Had he been there, I would have gone in to order something and take a picture. We finally made our way down to the Staten Island Ferry, which Mike promised was better than any other view of all of the sights. And he was completely correct. I saw Manhatten and he showed me where the World Trade Center buildings once stood. I saw the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. What I couldn't get out of my mind was how small everything looked compared to what I had imagined. From the ferry, Manhatten looked itty-bitty. And the Statue of Liberty didn't seem like it could hold more than a few people at a time. Mike said lines are usually hours long to get in. The ferry had a 10-minute wait and it was free. I don't see why someone to choose to do the Statue. After the boat ride, Mike took me to China Town for the start of what he described as his New York Epicurean Tour�. We started out just walking around in China Town, into the real neighborhoody parts that most people don't go to see. There was a small restaurant along the way called the Excellent Dumpling House. The funny thing is that they don't even have dumplings on the menu. You just have to ask for them. Mike and I each had four dumplings that were stuffed with pork. It came with a soy sauce for dipping, and it was deeee-lish. They served the dumplings right in the steaming basket that they cooked them in, which I thought was a really nice touch. After touring around China town -- and after I looked on with awe and delight at all of the fresh fish markets and fresh fruit stands -- we made our way into Little Italy. Mike warned me that it was more toursity than Italian, and he said that none of the restaurants served consistantly good dishes. He took me to a little grocery store, though, that served fresh little pastries and pizzas. I bought a pepperoni roll made with bread that was obviously made just hours before and pepperoni that couldn't have been more than a few days old. It tasted soooo incredibly fresh, and it steamed away as we walked down the street picking at it. The whole thing melted in your mouth just as you put it in. I was getting pretty full, but I was intent on eating lunch in Harlem. So, we piddled around in a few more neighborhoods before Mike took me through Grand Central Station to let me see the huge food market they had up there. It's such a neat thing to see so much fresh food: sausages, fish, fruits, veggies, salads... anything you could think of. We finally made it to 125th street, just a few blocks away from Sylvia's Restaurant in the middle of Harlem. We sat ourselves at the counter and looked through the menu. Our waitress didn't seem too interested in bestowing a lot of warm greetings in our honor. She was either not too jovial or, and I suspect this to be the case, we were Whitey and you don't treat Whitey very well in Harlem. I ordered exactly what I told you I would order: fried chicken, collard greens, and candied yams. Mike got a smothered pork chop, candied yams, and mac-n-cheese. The yams were the best I had ever eaten, and they had spent some time perfecting their fried chicken. Add that to the fact that it's hard to mess up collards, and it was a lunch to definitely write home about. It was absolutely amazing! This was the kind of food both Mike and I -- we are both from Mississippi -- grew up eating. Mike mentioned after we were leaving Sylvia's that he half expected it to be 97 degrees out with pine trees everywhere. We were going to go see the Yankees on their opening day, but it was too cold and we were exhausted. I slept most of the way back to Jersey and took a long nap once we got home. We woke up yesterday morning at 4:00am to catch the early train in and were quickly on the go until we got back close to twelve hours later. I must publicly applaud Mike for giving me such a grand, personalized tour of New York. Anybody else would have taken me to the traditional tourist areas of New York, but Mike knew what would impress me and he took me to see those things. That was probably going to be my only day in the actual city of New York. But I feel like I saw most of what I would ever want to see plus some things I never even knew existed. I tell you what, though. I wish New York would get some more Starbucks because, frankly, I don't think they have enough. Well, that's it from me for today. I need to go get my five rolls of film from the drug store. I'm really excited to see how they turned out. This is my last day in New Jersey. I leave tomorrow and will spend most of Thursday and Friday on Long Island. I will be leaving Friday night for Chicago. I just keep on keepin' on. Oh. One last thing. I'm shaving all of the facial hair today. I'm getting tired of it. So, the next time you see me, I will be well shaved and have my baby face back. 11:29 a.m. - Wed., Apr. 9, 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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