It was hard to believe that our New York Adventure was almost over. We overslept on Saturday morning. Both of us thought that we'd wake up around 7 or so, but we didn't wake up until past 8:30. That seems like a good time to wake up on a Saturday morning, but not when you only have a few hours left in New York City. We got ready quickly, packed up our bags, and said good-bye to our hotel room. We left our bags with the concierge so that we could walk around the city more freely.

Lorei had been in meetings all week, so she didn't really get to see much of anything. She wanted to go to St. Patrick's Cathedral to light a candle for her friend, so we headed back up 5th Avenue. The cathedral was a little busier on Saturday, and there were even some christenings going on in the chapel. Nevertheless, we were able to light several candles, take a lot of pictures, and enjoy the ambiance of the cathedral. While we were there, we also got a call from Kiana, who were were supposed to meet later that day. We made plans to meet in Manhattan instead of Brooklyn, to give me and Lorei more time in the city instead of on the subway.

After our visit to the cathedral, we decided to go to H&M, since neither of us had actually been inside of one--I, because their clothes don't fit me, and she, because she lives in the woods (LOL). We were pleasantly surprised to find that the clothes weren't all made in China (though most of their accessories were), and that the clothes were actually cute. We didn't spend much time there, though, and we didn't buy anything either.

We walked back to Grand Central Station, stopping at Rockefeller Center along the way. The subway turned out to be an interesting experience. We had figured out what to do by then. Unfortunately, we had not counted on the weekend tourists all in the station trying to figure it all out. Oh well. We made it onto our train with no problem and headed to Union Square.

Union Square hosts a beautiful market on Saturday mornings, and we took advantage of the nice weather to look around. Soon Kiana arrived with Zach and Billy. Wow! I hadn't seen Zach in at least 5 years, probably longer. And it was great to meet Billy (especially now that I've learned that he's going to be a part of the family!). After looking around the market for a while, we decided to have lunch at Republic. Republic is a cool, trendy noodle restaurant there in Union Square. The food is really good, and the company was even better. It was very cool to hang around with Kiana after all of these years (and when we're both considerably more grown up) and to get to know Zach and Billy.

All too soon we had to leave. So we hugged everyone and took the subway back to the Roosevelt. We picked up our luggage and rearranged everything while we waited for our ride to the airport. I even had time to download pictures from my sister's camera. Our driver soon arrived, and we were on our way to JFK. All I have to say is, I had to work really hard not to watch where he was going. SERIOUSLY scary driving! But we managed to make it to the airport in one piece. We made it through security without incident and found our gates, which were pretty close to each other. I went to the food court to find something I could eat later for dinner, and then we just waited to board. Lorei's plane left about an hour before mine did, and I ended up spending some time talking with the nice lady who was sitting across from me.

Finally my plane arrived, and we boarded the plane. Hallelujah! The flight was less than half full, and nearly everyone got an entire row to themselves. I read, watched TV (probably Top Chef), ate snacks, and slept. Sometime in all of that, I also managed to get very airsick and was only praying for the sweet relief that solid ground would bring. At last we reached Burbank airport, and my New York City adventure was over.

So it looks like I may be able to go back sometime this summer. Maybe then I can do the other two things on my list--visit the Met and finally meet the Chans. :)

We awoke early on Thursday morning. Lorei went to her meeting, and I got to spend some time getting ready for my day. I walked down 5th Avenue (this time in the opposite direction) and soon found myself at St. Patrick's Cathedral. I love churches, so this was a treat for me. As is usually the case when I visit a historic church, the front of the building was under scaffolding. The inside of the church was beautiful, though smaller than I expected. I took some pictures and lit some candles. The gift shop was somewhat of an ideal. Shaped somewhat like an aisle in a grocery store and not anywhere near as wide, the gift shop is not built to handle shoppers. Nevertheless, I was able to buy some postcards, a CD of organ music, and a few other things.

I left the cathedral and continued down 5th Avenue toward the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The museum doesn't open until 10:30, and I arrived just after 10. So I was surprised to find a very long line that filled up the entire lobby and extended outside. The wait outside was a little long, but once they opened up the cashiers, the lines moved rather quickly. I paid my $20 and checked out the map. I then headed to the 5th floor, which has some of the more famous works of art (and a cafe). The cafe was closed, and the galleries were packed. I walked into the first room and came face to face with a collection of Impressionist paintings. Impressionism??? I was very confused and decided to try another floor. I took the escalator to the 6th floor, where I found a very strange exhibition called "Design and the Elastic Mind." I'm still not really sure what the point was. But hey, I did want to see modern art. Across the way I found "Color Chart," which was slightly more interesting but also weird. Some of the paintings were enormous copies of pages from a Pantone paint fan book. But some of them were nicer than that. I also saw Warhol's famous Marilyn paintings. I decided to give the 5th floor another try and headed back there. I was happy to find that the room of Impressionism (as much as I like the Impressionists, it WAS MoMA, after all), there was a very nice collection of well-known modern works. But by then I was really hungry, so I went to check out the cafe. I must admit that this was my favorite part of my visit. I had a lovely view and had a delicious lunch of a turkey sandwich, tomato soup, fresh berries, and hot tea. I could have lingered in that cafe all day, but it was time to explore some more of the museum. The 4th floor was a lot like the 5th--a lot of well-known works. The museum was getting a little more crowded, so it was hard to get just the right view of most of the art. But I was thrilled to see a lot of things I'd only seen in books. Warhol, Picasso, Rothko, Kahlo, Pollock, . . . and more! It was pretty cool. My next stop was the sculpture garden. The garden was smaller than I had expected, but it was still beautiful. As much as I loved the garden, it was time for me to visit the bookstore. And what a bookstore it is! There were so many things that it was really, really, really hard for me to decide what to buy. But I tried to practice restraint and didn't break the bank--though I easily could have.

It was time for me to head back to the hotel, so I walked back down 5th Avenue, stopping by Rockefeller Center on the way. It was packed, as I expected, so I just snapped a few pictures and continued along.

I met my sister back at the hotel (after a short rest), and we decided to brave the subway. I've ridden the subways in London, Paris, and Washington, DC, but never in New York City. We found the subway to be a little less user-friendly than others we've ridden, but we finally figured out what we were doing. We found ourselves at Kiana's office to visit and check out her surroundings. I even got to have a session, which was pretty cool for both of us.

Soon we had to leave, but not without making plans to see her again on Saturday. We took the subway back to our hotel, got freshened up, and took a taxi to our next destination. The taxi ride was funny. Because it was rush hour, it was actually very difficult to find an unoccupied taxi. Finally, one stopped, and the driver motioned that his passenger was about to get out. Then we waited for a LOOONNG time while she dug around in her belongings, I guess to look for money to pay the guy. She finally got out of the taxi, and we were on our way. We were entertained by the driver who criticized the afore-mentioned passenger for not being ready. This became a diatribe on how White people aren't as smart as Asian people and how the government is out to get Asian people. We did a lot of noncommital nodding. Too funny.

And then we reached our destination. Les Halles, a wonderful restaurant owned by the one and only Anthony Bourdain. It was small, crowded, and noisy. But the food was absolutely delicious! I had a warm potato salad with goat cheese and olives for a starter. I could have eaten a gallon of it. My entree was lamb chops. They were so tasty and perfectly cooked. For dessert we shared a "fallen chocolate souffle." It was as wonderful as you might think it would be.

It was raining as we caught another cab back to our hotel. It had been a good day.