Another lunch with RO

 

Around 30 years ago, my late wife and I found the above book at Barnes and Noble.  Living reasonably close to the city as we did, we'd make regular pilgrimages to Manhattan's Chinatown and the one that was developing in Flushing to get a good Dim Sum meal.  If there was a good Chinese Restaurant, we'd move heaven and earth to get there.

 

At the time this book was published, we had several definitions for the quality of Chinese restaurants:

• Local - The food was edible, but we wouldn't go out of town for it.
• Acceptable - The food was decent, and worth going one or two towns over to dine in the place.
• Good - The place was an hour or more away, and well worth the effort to eat there. (I miss The Little Bear near Woodstock, NY.)
  
• Very Good - The place was outside the region, and a must visit when in the area. (Empress of China - San Francisco, CA)
  
• Excellent - The place is on the other side of the globe, and a bucket list must visit.

Needless to say, we never had the chance to get to the last category of restaurants.  My wife had a friend where she worked who could tell us great places to eat when in China.  But she died before I had accumulated enough money to take this kind of bucket list trip.

 

 

I'm still willing to go to the ends of the earth for a good meal.  And today, I had the chance to revisit Qin Dynasty in Parsippany, NJ.  Qin Dynasty is an unassuming place sited in front of the Red Roof Inn on Route 46.  There is nothing special to recommend this place, other than it was a convenient midpoint for RO and I to get together.

 

RO and I have eaten at this place several times before, and we always have several plates of Dim Sum.  Today, we tried one of the dinner dishes along with our usual order of Dim Sum.  And it was up to the quality of the joints I often visit in Manhattan.  I can also say the same for their Dim Sum - it's good, and worth eating when in the area.  But I wouldn't schedule a special drive to get to this place, as RQS and I know better places for Dim Sum closer to home.

 

Yet, you might ask: Why do I recommend this place?

 

The answer is simple.  There are few enough decent places which have a wide variety of Dim Sum on their menus, and this is one of them.  One can find the standard offerings such as Shu Mai, Pork Buns, and soup dumplings.  But this place also has things such as duck filled dumplings and peanut filled dumplings. And I usually try to order something new at every meal.

 

Luckily, I can go to Aberdeen in White Plains, NY and have a good variety of tasty dishes there.  But if I'm near Parsippany, I'll try to visit Qin Dynasty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doing a test run of mass transit to get to/from a future cruise

 

The weather was nice, and the two of us had nothing better to do.  What better a day to see if we could conveniently make it to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal by bus and subway, and to find out exactly how close the ferry dock is to the cruise terminal. And that's exactly what we did, with a side trip to Chinatown for some duck.

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RQS and I both wanted to find out where the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal was for our own reasons.  For RQS, it was out of mere curiosity, as she'd go there by Uber if we chose an MSC, Princess or Cunard cruise in the future.  For me, it was to make a dry run (in good weather) to find out how to get there using mass transit and avoid spending $280 to park, or $300 (+ Tip) for cab rides from/to Croton, NY. So, we started our journey from central Queens county at 2 pm, and reached downtown Brooklyn a little after 3 pm where we switched buses. From there, we took another bus to the waterfront, walked the 4 blocks to the cruise terminal. to complete our trip in 90 minutes.

Once at the cruise terminal, we found that NYC Ferries had a stop at the cruise terminal (about 1000 feet away from the actual building).. So we bought tickets to take us to their Wall Street transfer point, and had a nice ride along the riverfront. And then, it was off to Chinatown by bus.

We walked the length and breadth of Chinatown to find out that Ping's was still closed. (Their website says that this is temporary, but not to be open on their scheduled reopening date causes me to start wondering....)  So we walked to the Peking Duck House for some expensive, but tasty grub - their signature dish, the Peking Duck. When RQS and I looked at the menu, we realized that this would be more than either of us would normally spend on dinner.  So she helped me out a little.  (THANKS!) And then we had a wonderful meal.  Would we go back?  Yes, in a heartbeat if our budgets allow for it.

Then, it was time to go home for the evening.  At least, this time, we knew how to get home quickly, in spite of the work being done on the subway.

We decided to take a couple of short "cruises"

 

 

"All Under Heaven Are Equal."

Today, RQS and I decided to see a movie in the city.  One problem: We had to take the subway to get there, and her line wasn't running due to construction on the line.  So, it was off to the bus stop where we waited for a long time.  No, it was not the normal 5-10 minute wait.  Instead, it was a close to 20 minute wait, as the construction going on 2 blocks away was fouling up traffic for blocks around.  

As we usually do when we decide to take the bus to the subway, we walk a couple of blocks to the nearby express bus stop. And that's where we waited.  Buses tried to make the left turn onto an Eastbound street, only to find out that construction related jams were forcing everyone to back into the intersection to turn and take a circuitous route around the construction zone.  Flushing bound buses were taking roads usually used by Brooklyn bound buses causing even greater confusion for many riders. And as far as I can tell, it was all because a single key intersection was closed to vehicular traffic for the weekend.

We eventually made it to a subway line that was running and made it into the city.  And then we took the "backdoor" route to Chinatown to reach the Nom Wah Tea Parlor. (Ping's was closed for renovations, scheduled to be open next weekend.) Sadly, there was a 60 minute wait to get into the place.  So it was off to find another nearby place - and we did just that.  The food was acceptable, but not as our other go-to places. 

 
After lunch, it was off to the Staten Island Ferry.  Neither of us had taken the ferry in years, and I figured that it would be a nice way to kill some time.  So, off we went to the ferry, and onward to Staten Island.  For those who want a pleasant way to kill 60-90 minutes, a round trip on the ferry would be a good way to do this.  Once we were done with the ferry, it was off to the movies and  that's where our problems began.  

RQS had read the theater's movie schedule, and we believed that the movie we wanted to see was showing at 5:30.  One problem - the movie was scheduled for Sunday, not Saturday.  Now, we were on the West side of Manhattan with an awkward walk to take us to a subway station from where we could go home.

We finally made it to the subway, and it was almost a case of "you can't get there from here."  But we did get to the line we wanted to reach, and made it to a station near her home.  After a stop at the supermarket, we had to wait for a bus to take us home. By now, it was 3 miles of walking for us, and we were too tired to cook.  So, again it was Door Dash to the rescue - albeit with 30% higher prices than if the restaurant had been doing its own delivery.  (I avoid using them at all costs, as I don't believe that they should be nicking the restaurants 30% of the bill, instead of levying a fixed service charge.) At least, we didn't have to go back outside to pickup the fixings for dinner.

I had dinner with a friend tonight - Good Conversation, Mediocre Meal

I don't know how much I should say about my friend SR, so I'll leave things as generic as possible.  Like me, SR is transgender.  Unlike me, she has had "the operation" and lives full time as a female.  Given where we are in life, she is young enough to be my daughter (that is, if I lived in Tennessee 😀)  But each of us has a point of view that complements where the other is in our transgender journeys.

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It's hard arranging to meet SR, as she lives in NYC but does not take mass transit, while I live in Westchester, and use mass transit as much as possible. So, Manhattan's Chinatown was the best possible compromise, even though the restaurant (Wo Hop) left much to be desired. Wo Hop is the kind of place that caters to tourists, and to people who'd be satisfied by a 1960's suburban New York version of what was called "Chinese Food." (I'm more a fan of places like Ping's, just across the street.)  I got to the restaurant before SR, but we went down the steps together.

SR is a person who leans to the right politically.  So I knew to couch my language in a way where I could acknowledge the valid points that the Conservatives make without dismissing any of the valid points made by Liberals.  Yet, for the most part, we understood where each other was coming from, and I explained how I look at the world these days: Jeffersonian at heart, and Hamiltonian by mind. Strangely enough, we talked about sexuality, and she mentioned things best left unsaid here. 

All too soon it was time to leave.  the meter was about to run out for SR's car, and I had to get home early enough to chat with RQS.  Before we parted, SR invited us to her party being held next year.  I'm not sure that RQS and I will attend, as it is being held on the same day as RQS's wedding anniversary.
 

A trip into NYC

 

When I first worked in NYC many years ago, my friend WDS and I used to frequent this joint.  The food was always good, and the prices were always reasonable.  Today was my first chance to visit this place in years, and it didn't bring back any good (or bad) memories.  It was just another New York City restaurant that has weathered the pandemic, and has found a way to stay alive until things return to a new "Normal".

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FH and I had planned to visit Manhattan's Chinatown or Williamsburgh, Brooklyn today, and Manhattan won out.  So it was off to the core of the Big Apple, hitting every traffic jam along the way.  Once we reached Manhattan, FH's GI Tract started acting up, and we ended up in the West Village.  This is we found an on-street parking spot nearby several open restaurants.  And it was just in time, as FH had to take care of some urgent business.  With that out of the way, we sat down to enjoy a nice late lunch or early dinner.  

Considering that it was starting to get a little bit cooler after we ate, FH suggested that we head over to the Brooklyn Wegmans, so that she could pick up some food before going home. Unlike our previous visits, we had no problems finding a parking spot - Passover was starting, and most Jews were likely to be at home celebrating the holiday with family.  And then, FH's GI Tract acted up again.  So we cut our shopping run short, and went back to her place.   Unfortunately, there were no spaces available near her apartment, so I ended up going home earlier than either of us wanted.

A recent trip into NYC for dinner.

Scheduling a dinner with a friend is not always the easiest thing to do. The other day, I finally was able to meet Sarah in Chinatown for dinner.  We've met before, and it was nice to see her again.

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As you can tell, Sarah is a bit tall for a woman.  If I'm 5'10" or so, then she stands at least an inch or two above me. We certainly look like "Mutt and Jeff" in this picture, with me being the homely woman.  But that's because I have a lot of fat in the wrong places, and that I have yet to go on hormones.

Trekking into Chinatown is not the easiest thing to do.  This area of NYC is not served well by mass transit, as the subway lines stop about 1/2 mile away from any of the good restaurants. On a weekday, or if the sun was out, I'd consider getting off at the Brooklyn Bridge station on the IRT, then walk the "maze" passing by the city office building, the police headquarters, a church, and the federal courthouse over to Chinatown.  This path becomes desolated at off hours, and at these times, I prefer to walk along Canal Street because there are people on the street at all hours of the day.  At least, I get a mile or two of walking in whenever I go to Chinatown to eat.

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One of the things a person might not expect about the TG community is that not all of us are Liberals.  There are some of us who are much more conservative than I am, and that's because they do not live in a Liberal News bubble.  (I try to read information from both sides of the current political debate, but I draw the line at misleading reactionary opinions coming from the right.)  As much as I despise our current president, I can respect those people who tolerate him for extending the economic recovery, or those people who wanted a monkey wrench thrown into the political system.  I can even respect those people in the hinterlands, the mill towns where the mills have closed, who feel that the urban liberal elites have abandoned them.  But what offends me is willful ignorance, a belief in the propaganda being spewed by the likes of "Fox News" that they echo as if they were the daily orations of 1984's "Big Brother".  The longer I participate in maintaining contact with TG's of all political positions, the more I'm convinced that just as many of us TG's are making the same mistakes that the larger society makes as a whole - the mistakes which cause us to support our political tribes, even when their actions hurt us as individuals.

Why do I mention this?

Sarah and I come from different backgrounds and have different values.  And yet, we are able to have pleasant and intelligent conversations.  We listen to each other, no matter how much noise is in the background (as there was in the Chinese restaurant we ate at the other day.)  All too many of us look at each other as the enemy, and we don't make the effort to be civil any more.  Yes, I am guilty of this when I lay awake, alone in my room.  But in public, I try to make that effort to be as civil as possible - it's the best way of having a chance of helping another person's opinions to change in and of his/her own volition.

Today was to be my last day doing a volunteer stint

Over the past year or two, I've been an irregular volunteer for both of the places for which I help out.  My weekend schedule had gotten in the way of me attending many Arts Westchester events. And my declining interest got in the way of helping out at the LGBT Center.  I needed something to motivate me to get up and out on a daily basis, and that involved both a sense of purpose and a desire to earn money. 

Since it looks like I'll soon be working at the Census bureau, I doubt that I will have any free time to do any volunteering for a while.  And this is just as well - I needed a break from my old routine, as I was getting more and more inclined to stay indoors all day.  This is not a healthy thing to do, as evidenced by my dad's former home life before moving into the nursing home.

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By the time I got moving, it was late in the afternoon, and I didn't have the time to do a volunteer stint AND make it to the Fun Time Friends meetup in Wilton, CT.  So I sent an email to the LGBT Center's volunteer coordinator to tell him that I'd either be in tomorrow or on Monday.

When I finally made it out of the house, it was a bit late for me to make it on time.  There was no way that I was going to take Route 95 from here, as rush hour traffic would slow things to a crawl.  Instead, I took the roads to the venue and made it to dinner only a few minutes late. 

Arriving at the venue, I sat down next to the organizer and we had a great time.  There was one woman there who could have been my sister, and she recognized me as well.  This is a very friendly bunch of people - possibly more so than the folks in Beacon.  (Just don't tell the Beacon folks that....)  While chatting with the organizer, I found that she had an interest in visiting Chinatown in the Spring.  So I suggested we do so when it's convenient for her - and we may do that when the weather gets warmer.  I could use as many friends as possible who know me as Marian, and not as Mario.  It would be nice to add a "sane" friend to my address book.

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Earlier in the day, GFJ called me on her way home from Baltimore.  While on the call, she had to hang up, telling me to call back when I was on the road to the meetup.  I did just that, and didn't get an answer.  Could the problem have been to a nationwide problem with Verizon Wireless?  Who knows?  When I tried to reach her on the way home from my meetup, there was also no answer for me.  Since Facebook Messenger shows her as inactive, all I can think is that she has a problem with her phone connecting to the outside world.  Hopefully, she made it to her meetup OK....