03.01.05

The Gates and other things

Posted in Books and Movies, Food, General at 12:56 am by D

I spent the weekend in New York with my sister. It was great! We wore ourselves out walking all over the place, I lost a book, ate too much, and didn’t get to go ice skating. But other than that, we had a good time.

I got there late Friday night after getting lost for an hour and missing the train at New Haven, CT. Thanks to TB for navigating for me through Mapquest. I wouldn’t have found it otherwise. I lost my book, Bee Season, which I didn’t realize until Sunday morning. When I got to NY, we decided to get something to eat, at 11pm. Everything was still open. People were eating burgers and meals at 11:30 at night! Anyway, food was okay, nothing too special. It was a diner though, which is always a plus.

The next day we walked to Central Park to see The Gates. Now that was a pleasant surprise. It really is experiential art and interactive art. When I first saw their plans last year, I thought it was stupid and a waste of money. But it was actually pretty breath taking. There were gates everywhere you look, and the bold orange color (aka saffron according to the artists) were striking against the snow covered park. The wind, the birds, the reflection off the water, all magnified the experience. My sister and I both bought and took pictures but the experience was definitely on a different level.

After that we went straight to the Metropolitan Museum so that I could get inspired to paint. It worked. My favorite were the following:
1. Van Gogh’s Wheat Field with Cypresses
2. Van Gogh’s Women Picking Olives
3. Monet’s Vétheuil in Summer
4. Monet’s The Path through the Irises

I especially liked Van Gogh’s whimsical brushstrokes and patterns, the happy colors, and most especially, the stories behind them. Van Gogh was hoping his mom and sister like his painting, and Monet, trying to capture the color and light, overwhelmed his painting with details. Of course, everything looks perfect to me.

Anyway, food-wise, we had a good weekend too. For breakfast, we had bagels (NY bagels are the best), for dinner, we had yummy Shanghai dumpling with the soup inside and fried duck. Lastly, on Sunday, we went to Minado’s – so far the best sushi buffet I’ve been to. Their NJ branch is the best.

Conversation could’ve been more positive at times, but that’s pretty understandable. Other than the reasons for my being in NY, the weekend was a lot of fun. I had a blast.

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