vip in the city

On the roof

After the sale of some commercial space on the ground floor, R’s building recently added a few amenities to the already enviable roof deck, including a brand new, and rather massive, Viking grill, an ice maker and an outdoor shower. Although it wasn’t quite warm enough – or appropriate – for an al fresco rinse, given our relative inexperience with the grill, we were glad to have the water source so close at hand.

Most impressive (though not new) was the 360 degree view of lower Manhattan. The lit spire of the Empire State Building to the north disappeared into a hazy mist, casting a surreal glow over the panorama. I made mental note to tote my camera around more often for just such occasions.

As we sat down to our dinner of gazpacho, chipotle grilled corn salad and lamb/chicken/shrimp shish kabobs, the artist (and Moby cohort) Damian Loeb stopped by to remind us to dispose of our garbage when we were finished. Does it speak to a lack of sophistication that despite having lived in New York City almost my entire life, I still get a slight thrill out of seeing semi-famous people in such commonplace and unexpected situations?

More mundane matters

Back in New York City, and after my first full day of work, I took the subway home and promptly passed out, missing my film class. I awoke at 11:00pm, and then again at 4:00am and have been up ever since. So much for avoiding jet lag.

I did finish The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss, which I’d been meaning to read for a while and picked up on impulse at the Hong Kong International Airport on the way home on Sunday. Probably could have finished the book in transit, had I not slept through half of the trip.

Funny, sad and moving… though my reading may have been enhanced by my melancholy of late.

“Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.” I like that.

Dinner party at RB’s in TriBeCa tonight — I’ve signed on to bring dessert. Had I planned better, I could have put my insomnia to use baking something appropriate, but as it is I’ll most likely just stop off on the way to pick up a fruit tart.

In transit

Leaving HCMC: view of City Hall:

Stopover at the Hong Kong International Airport. It began to pour about fifteen minutes after I took this photo — the beginning of what would become a pattern for the rest of the trip. From San Francisco, my flight was delayed and then rerouted through Canada due to “weather” in the Midwestern United States. Incidentally, never understood the use of the term “weather” without an adjective; isn’t there always weather?:

Home sweet home: 2 stopovers and just under 30 hours after leaving my hotel room in Saigon. Whew.