Picture of the Day: Jellyfish at Shedd Aquarium

Shedd Aquarium
Chicago, Illinois, United States
05.29.2011 

New York, New York

Frank and I both had a lot of vacation left at the end of the year so we decided to take a pre-Christmas road trip to New York for a few days. We arrived in New York yesterday afternoon and after checking in at our hotel in Hell's Kitchen we headed to Chelsea Market to wander around.

Chelsea Market is a feast for the senses. There are so many amazing food shops and I loved wandering around the kitchen supply shop looking at all sorts of cool tools that I covet. All the food smelled incredible but with dinner reservations at six at Del Posto we didn't want to ruin our appetites. We couldn't resist stopping at Amy's Bread for an olive bread twist and tea, however. Everything at Chelsea Market was decked out for the holidays and I particularly liked the mass of lights creating an arch by the clock in the center of the market. It definitely had me in a festive mood.

We still had some time before our dinner reservation at six so we took a little walk around Hi Line Park. Hi Line Park is built on a section of a former elevated freight railroad spur that was used to transport goods directly to factories and warehouses without disturbing the traffic on street level. As trucking became the primary means for distribution the line fell into disuse but was revitalized as an urban park opening in 2009.  The park does an amazing job of incorporating original elements of the train line with plantings. I particularly thought that the seating that could roll on the old tracks was really cool. Since the park is elevated it also provides some beautiful views of the city that Frank and I enjoyed.

At six Frank and I headed to dinner at Del Posto. We had the five course tasting menu which was absolutely amazing and deserves its own post later. After dinner we headed to Rockefeller Center to see the decorations and the Christmas Tree. Everything was beautifully lit up and I really loved the enormous ornaments lit up in the fountain nearby.

Around Rockefeller Center we stumbled upon a cool light show displayed on the side of a building. Initially we saw huge gears ticking down so we waited and when it got to zero a show began with the windows appearing to move and snowflake bubbles exploding of the face of the building.

We then went up to the Top of the Rock Observatory to see the view of the city at night. The view was gorgeous, especially the Empire State Building lit up in red and green.

We ended the evening by getting drinks at a small bar in the West Village called Little Branch. It has a very nondescript door on the street but when you descend the stairs you find a cool bar with amazing drinks. It was a great way to end a wonderful day.

If you are interested, check out the rest of our New York trip here: Day 2, Day 3, Day 4.

Picture of the Day: View of Napflio from Palamidi Fortress

Napflio, Greece
11.2009 

Picture of the Day: Wat Xieng Thong Buddhas

Wat Xieng Thong
Luang Prabang, Laos
08.16.2011 

Picture of the Day: Fishing Boat in Floripa

Florianopolis, Brazil
05.28.2007 

Picture of the Day: Grand Canyon in Late Afternoon

Grand Canyon
Arizona, Unites States
09.18.2004 

Picture of the Day: Green Frog at Monteverde

Monteverde Cloud Forest
Costa Rica
05.28.2005 

Picture of the Day: Bridge of Nine Turnings

Bridge of Nine Turnings
Shanghai, China
08.08.2011 

Picture of the Day: Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu, Peru
11.09.2007 

Misadventures of Lisa & Trisha: Getting a Ride to the Beijing Opera

In November 2008 while while my friend Trisha and I were both living in Japan we decided to take a few days off of work and visit Beijing, China.  

One of the things that we wanted to see was the Beijing Opera so when we checked into our hostel in the evening and saw a great deal for transportation and tickets we decided to book it for the next day.

We spent our first day in Beijing being amazed by the vastness of the buildings and intricacies of the detailed carvings at the Forbidden City.  After spending the remainder of our day soaking in the history of Tiananmen Square and marveling at the beauty of the Temple of Heaven we headed back to the hostel with a little bit of time to kill prior to headed to the opera.  We grabbed a drink at the hostel bar and chatted about our day until it was time to get picked up.

I had to use the restroom so Trisha headed to the lobby with our booking tickets and I met her there after going to the bathroom. When I got there she was standing with a Chinese guide who was holding the booking tickets and said "OK, let's go," once he saw me.  We followed him a for a few winding blocks until we reached an old, beat up car. He opened the back door and without saying a word slid into the back seat with us. The car drove off and the two guys in the front and our guide started chatting away in Mandarin.

It all seemed a little odd so and I wondered what had transpired between Trisha and our guide while I was in the bathroom. "So, what is the plan?" I asked Trisha. "I have no idea," she repiled, "He came into the lobby and said 'Beijing Opera?', I said 'Yes,' he said, 'Tickets?', I gave them to him and then you appeared. I don't know anything more than you."

At this point I thought maybe it was time to interupt the conversation between the three guys and ask our guide a little bit about the opera. He explained in English that it was about a twenty minute drive to the opera house and that he would need to pick up the opera tickets at will call for us once we got there. Satisfied, Trisha and I enjoyed the rest of the amusing ride listening to the Mandarin banter between the guys and cracking up that our paid ride was in a vehicle with a transmission that was contstantly slipping and where we were packed in like sardines.

Upon arrival at the opera house the driver dropped us and the guide off at the front and drove away. Unfortunately, I had to use the restroom again and left Trisha in the lobby while the guide went to the ticket window for our tickets. I returned to see a dazed Trisha holding two opera tickets in one hand and twenty yuán in the other. "OK, I go now," said the guide. "Wait, when are you picking us up?" I asked. He proceeded to explain that the twenty yuán was for us to take a taxi home and he was leaving. I argued for a little bit that we had paid for a ride both ways and how could we be assured that twenty yuán would cover the ride home. He was adamant that it was more than enough and there wasn't much that Trisha and I could do so we headed into the auditorium.

After finding our seats and laughing about our strange, adventurous ride Trisha and I noticed a posting up front saying that we could watch the performers applying their stage make-up in the next room.  We were really early and had nearly an hour until curtain so we thought it would be fun to check out.

Watching the performers put on their make-up was fascinating. For the actors portraying most of the humans, they started with a base with an orangish hue and then brushed red accents around their eyes before finishing with dark eyeliner around the eyes. Since all parts in Beijing Opera are played by men it was interesting to watch the transformation into a beautiful woman by some of the men. I particularly enjoyed the make-up of the Jing, which have very elaborate patterned make-up in bold colors.

Trisha and I had been watching the make-up process for a few minutes when some additional actors entered the room. "Oh, my goodness, Trisha, that guy is the front passenger from our car," I surprisedly said. "And that guy was the driver!" Trisha replied. All of a sudden everything made sense. The performers in the opera must get a discount on tickets and since they are heading to the opera house anyway they can probably make a little profit even with offering the tickets for such a great price. All they needed was a friend with some English skills to help with the pick-up and getting the tickets they had reserved at will call. It also explained why we arrived so early; the performers had to get ready for the show.

After watching the rest of the actors, we headed back to our seats to enjoy the show. The opera was simply amazing. The style of music is very different from what we were used to with Western music but it was mesmorizing. There were English translations projected on screens to the side of the stage but we were so wrapped up in the performances we didn't look at them much. In addition to the talented singing, amazing acrobatics were also incorporated into the performances. One act was a female aria with the actor creating lovely scenes with waving ribbons. It was an amazing evening and Trisha and I were sad to see the show come to a close.

Trisha and I headed out to the street reflecting on the amazing performances we just saw and as we hailed our taxi we laughingly wondered how many other people were driven to the opera that night by two members of the chorus. In the end, it also turned out that the guide was indeed correct; the taxi ride cost less than twenty yuán.