I am very, very juicy. (Wait — I mean sleepy.)
So this trip to the U.S. that I only took because I had a ticket I had already paid for may end up costing me around $800. That’s for a one-way ticket. Fun. Here’s the scoop: At the Pudong airport, I was flagged for not having a paper ticket. Now, I knew something like this might happen. I used the first half of the round-trip ticket way back in May 2004. The return flight was originally supposed to be six months later in November, but I was somewhere in Guizhou at the time. My travel agent said no problem — he could change the flight for me, so long as I left for New York before May 8, 2005. After that, the ticket was no good. So I left on Sunday, May 8, knowing that I would likely have to pay a $150 date-change fee. Nothing more. But the Northwest Airlines people and my travel agent apparently disagree about the “nothing more” part. NWA seems to think I should pay for a whole new ticket. They ended up letting me on the flight for the $150, though, and said they would deal with my travel agent this week. So I’m in New York at the SoHo Apple store and I love this city and it’s great to see friends and the weather is nice and the Yankees have won two in a row and it will be nice to see family and even more friends. But paying for this trip defeats the whole purpose of making this trip. And $800 for a one-way ticket is fucking ridiculous. I’ll keep you posted.
So, on the Tokyo to New York flight, the woman — mid to late 30s, I think — sitting next to me watched ballroom dancing movies on her portable DVD player. She was decked out in a pink velour track suit that had “JUICY” printed on the butt (I have since learned that this crap is actually somewhat popular, “especially with jappy Long Island girls”).
And on the “express” bus from JFK airport to Grand Central Station, the drunk and/or mentally ill man sitting behind me had hairy nostrils and kept muttering to himself. Ironically, he repeatedly said, “This guy is crazy.” He was referring to our jovial driver, who looked kind of like Dave Chappelle and tried to warm up the crowd with phrases like, “You’ve got to be a VIP to ride with me.” I don’t think he was crazy. But I know he wasn’t a good driver.
On the subway from Grand Central to 86th Street, a Chinese man walked through the car. He was selling bootleg DVDs. Awwwwwww — it felt like home.
I am no longer at the Apple store, by the way. I am back in Veronica’s place on the Upper East side. I am severely jet-lagged, having hit my wall some hours ago. My eyes are heavy and watering and the Yankees just won their third in a row. (I just read through this post and realize that it sucks. But I’m too tired to make any changes. Just enjoy the photo of the Juicy track suit and forget the rest of it ever happened.)
I will sum up today quickly.
- Morning at the Apple store, where the Geniuses wear black and, actually, so do most of the customers. This is New York, after all … and it looks like black is the new black. (My iBook is actually OK, by the way. Just had to erase it and re-install the system. Genius.)
- Lunch with Kate, who manages a television studio and hung out with Martha Stewart the day she got out of jail. (Kate wasn’t in jail, Martha was. But you knew that.)
- Afternoon with my literary agent, who has a great place in the heart of Chelsea. Productive session. And, afterward, I’m pretty sure I walked past Janeane Garofalo on 5th Avenue.
- Dinner with Tony Tang and his fiancee at Dallas BBQ on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark’s. Tony, a Shanghai native, is a longtime reader of this site and one of the first sponsors of the trip. He and his fiancee make a lovely couple and I hope to see them again this February in Shanghai — for their wedding.
It’s 10:30 p.m. now, just about the time this city gets going.
Maybe another day.
Me sleepy.
Good night.
05.10.2005, 10:50 AM · Observations, Travel
4 Comments
Dan,
That’s a perfectly good post. It doesn’t suck at all. Good luck with the book deal.
That scene in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” when the snooty (“Snooty?” “Snooty?” “Snotty!?” “SNOTTY?!?”) waiter said, “I weep for the future,” I think he was envisioning something like this “juicy crap.” That and Britney Spears.
hey man. it’s rose ur run in in lijiang. if you are still in nyc we should hang out. hit up my cell if you get a chance. 3235476810
Haha, I knew I was right when I payed extra to get paper tickets… Wonderful blog, can’t wait to get to shanghai now.