new york, new york

Michael Lin and I were high school buddies and went to the same university/department in Taiwan then came to the States the same year some 40 years ago. He ended up settling in NoCal while I in SoCal. My wife and I were looking forward to attending the wedding reception in October for his daughter whom we had watched growing up as a little girl when he called and suggested we go to New York City this month where his daughter and her fiance resided for the "real thing"–the official ceremony and celebration with only a few close friends and parents of the bride and the groom–and some touring and time together in the City... A trip of purpose and pleasure, I thought... and, why not! So off we went!

This was my third visit to the Big Apple, the first two being one or two-day stop-by's that merely counted, while this time I spent six days and seven nights

Having a variety of ethnic foods, Chinese (dumplings), Japanese (ramen), French (sandwiches), Italian (veal), Latin (fusion), and world famous New York pizza, all so authentically delicious, at surprisingly reasonable prices.

​​Going to a Broadway show, Lion King, not so much for the storyline or dialogues, but the theatrical fanfare and acrobatic acting and dancing, singing and costuming.

Watching sunset on East River shore, shimmering sunlight on the river, Manhattan skyscrapers silhouetting in the back.

​Lying on the immaculately maintained spongy grass of the city park, at day and at night, blue skies or shiny city lights above.

Witnessing a wedding on a rooftop, watching the city as the city watched back, two fine young man and woman pledged and hailed their new life together.

​And taking the subway to and fro like veteran New Yorkers do every day.

You realized this was indeed a city that never slept when you saw the nightly crowds flooding Times Square, a town where "everything's happening" with scaffoldings everywhere and construction machinery humming and heaving all day long...

Yet when I visited the city library, I was struck by its palace-like decorations and the generous donations it received from many, showing great respect for learning and knowledge. As I looked up from the little but ecologically friendly zoo inside Central Park and saw a giant spider mock-up crawling on a wooden pole against the concrete high rises outside and blue skies above, I chuckled and marveled at this perfect blend of nature and civilization the city was.

​​Lastly, but not least, spending a whole week meeting and bantering and playing ping pong and billiard balls like we used to do as teen-agers with an old friend that went back half a century, watching his lovely daughter holding a rabbit doll she once forgot in our house when she's little, becoming a mature, beautiful, soon-to-be eye-doctor wife of another promising young man, the soul mate of her life... surely these were things worthy of taking a twenty-five hundred mile trip for!