Red Moon Rising

I remember in fifth grade, I watched a movie called Practical Magic, with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. There was a scene in which there is a red moon, and Nicole Kidman says it's "blood on the moon," and it seems to be a bad omen. Nevertheless, I don't think the red moon is a bad omen, but there definitely is something a bit freaky about it. Supposedly hundreds of studies have shown that there is no correlation between phases of the moon and disasters or homicide rates. The red color comes from light being refracted around the Earth, but in some myths is said to signify coming change; eclipses could be seen as a challenge to the normal order of things. In some cultures, eclipses are seen as an "attack" on the moon, and a bad thing, while in other cultures eclipses are seen as a time for the moon to heal. The moon yesterday was supposed to be the first time that there would be a blood moon and a super moon at the same time in 18 years.

This weekend was Mid Autumn Festival, a Chinese Holiday in which families are supposed to look at the moon together, and eat mooncake. The tradition comes from some tyrant Emperor, and people trying to organize a rebellion. Since they were afraid to communicate openly, they hid an egg yolk in a cake to signify that they would attack on the full moon. The coordination was successful, and thus this holiday continues to be celebrated. According to my mom, there is now a new tradition of barbecuing meat too.

Thus this year, we grilled meat at night, and were looking for the moon. We couldn't find it, and my mom kept insisting that there was supposed to be a great eclipse from 7:00 ish to 8:30 or so. As it turns out, the eclipse had happened, so we could not see the moon. As the moon was coming out of the eclipse however, we saw a sliver of white, and the rest of the moon illuminated in a deep shade or rust red. It was a really cool experience, because we were able to see the moon coming out of the eclipse, gradually growing larger, and then turning from that rust red to a brilliant silver white. When the moon was at it's fullest, it hung heavy in the sky, so bright that it outshone the lights of the various helicopters that had gone into the sky with people who were smart enough (or rich enough) to plan ahead and take a helicopter to see this phenomenon.

Here is a photo of the red moon.

On another note, here is a video from a Kawehi performance that I should have posted back then, but it's a nice song and worth posting now. Enjoy!

The Brooklyn Mirage

This weekend went by very quickly, and it's hard to believe it's already Tuesday. In general the time has gone by more slowly since I have been unemployed, but perhaps things are speeding up. 

On Friday, I went to two very different activities. The first was to Hotel Conrad, in the financial district. I was going with a friend whose friend wanted to try to meet her future husband there. The Loopy Bar is on the top floor of the hotel, and offers nice views of the city; their specialty are Popsicle cocktails, which essentially are very good Popsicles from People Pops stuck in a glass of prosecco. It's 20 dollars, but most people get it for the experience. This bar was completely full of women. It was a bit sad actually, in the sense that it really seemed like a place where women went, decked out in makeup and high heels, hoping to find a banker husband. My friend works in Goldman Sachs next door, so he stopped by, but didn't stay long because I guess all the bankers are still working. It was an okay bar, but I don't think I would go again.

Later in the evening, a friend of mine invited me to a pop up club in Brooklyn. The event series was called the Caravan, and it was temporarily hosted at the Brooklyn Mirage, a warehouse type of venue deep in Williamsburg. It was decorated with tee pees and tents, Chinese lanterns and Christmas lights, and an enormous dance floor. There was an Ethiopian Coffee Shop as well, and a tent where someone did tarot card readings for free. I did not get a reading done, since I already had one done by my tarot friend in China, but my friends went. While waiting in line, the conversation was interesting. Everyone said, "I don't believe in this stuff, but might as well do it for fun." 

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Someone asked.

"Yes," I said.

"I don't believe in ghosts," said someone else.

"That's because you've never met one." I replied.

"Have you?" They asked.

"No," I said, "but I know reliable people who have." 

The way I see it, there is no proof of the existence of supernatural phenomena, but there is also no proof that it doesn't exist. A proper scientist therefore, should be open minded to the possibilities available. Sometimes, by trying to come up with an explanation for everything that happens in this world and disregarding those that we cannot explain, we end up being bling to a lot of possibilities.

Anyhow, I was skeptical of this tarot reader, for a reason that might not entirely be fair. I sort of have a prejudice in believing that the ones that actually are powerful are a bit more secretive about it, and wouldn't go to a festival full or people, half of whom are one some sort of substance (maybe 70 percent), to share her talents. Of course who knows, she might have been extraordinarily skilled. But I remember being told that reading fortunes is bad for the fortune teller, because they are disclosing the secrets of the Gods, and that cannot go without consequence. My tarot friend said the same thing--she said that because of her skills, her life will have a certain sadness to it, so she might as well do her best to help people. If each reading carries risk, I think they would normally be more discerning of who they give readings too. In any case, I imagine that most people who hold themselves out of readers without pay may be doing it more for fun anyhow, and may not be that accurate, so may not suffer in the same way. 

When my friend went into the tent, I went in with him just to observe. This reading was a lot more general, unlike my tarot friend, who answers a very specific question that is asked. The gist of the reading was that my friend was anxious about a lot of things and having trouble sleeping at night, and he just had to let things go. He is a phD student (I forgot what he studies), and probably has quite a bit of stress. I remember back in China, my friend gave very specific details to her clients. It made me think as well, of the cultural differences. My tarot friend never asks for any information about birth, while many readers in the US ask for date of birth or astrological sign. 

Later, someone was telling us about how she met her boyfriend, who she also complained about because she was angry at him.

"Why do you like him so much?" Asked one of my friends.

"From the moment I met him, I thought that he is the person that I'm going to spend my life with. But I've been wrong before."

"We've all been wrong before," said my friend, "but that still doesn't mean that intuition is nothing." 

Humans do have remarkable intuition. It makes me think of a documentary about penguins that I saw. These penguins do not mate for life, but they stay together for the entire breeding season. The narrator said, about how penguins choose their partners, "we don't know what it is they are looking for, but we know when they have found it." Animals too, are capable of forming very deep bonds. 

I am writing this from the airplane, and honestly it's been a noisy and smelly flight. Between the super loud snorer and the little kid that intermittently screams, and the stinky heavy man, it's not easy. But it could be a lot worse. 

Anyhow, the next day, I relaxed and read a book in a cafe in upper east side. After such a busy Friday, it was really nice the have a brownie and a latte and recharge. The cafe, Jax, used to be an antique store, so the basement level was full of antiques. There were comfortable sofas to sit on, and it was a very warm and cozy environment. It makes me think of Central Perk, the cafe from Friends. This place would be the ideal place to meet a small group of your friends on a regular basis. They also have amazing coffee and a wide variety of gluten free baked goods. 

That day was a Saturday, and apparently the beginning of Oktoberfest. There were the German American day parade, which caused traffic jams for several blocks. I didn't get a chance to watch it, but I went to a beer hall later. Unfortunately, I was way too tired, and went home early. I'm not a fan of traditional German music, especially when every song is meant to be punctured with shouting in unison. It's the type of thing that is really fun after two or three beers, but can be kind of annoying if you are sober. 

At the Brooklyn Mirage

View from the Ethiopian Coffee Shop

One of the tents

View from a park on the Upper East Side

Oktoberfest

Box 4

I have been going to Flushing a lot lately, specifically to my favorite cafeteria, Box 4. I had come one evening to find the place boarded up, and was horrified that perhaps they had closed. As is turns out, they simply moved to another location, and was now a part of Cafeteria 28. 

Today was a good day because I took my first ballet class. By first I mean first class as an adult. It was a lot of fun, and a really good class to have in combination with Bikram yoga, since Bikram yoga doesn't do so much with the hips. 

Earlier at box 4, I had ordered my food and prepared to sit down and eat in peace while reading a book. Some random guy sat next to me and said, in Mandarin, "excuse me miss, but can we please be friends?" I had heard that in China before and assumed that it was because I was a foreigner and they really wanted a foreign friend, but I'm beginning to realize that perhaps when men ask to be "friends," they mean in a romantic sense. Now it makes sense when a random "friend" in China kept trying to buy stuff for me, and I had protested, and he had kept saying, "we are friends now, so I have to buy you stuff." These culture issues are so interesting.

Anyhow, this guy was really unattractive, and I wanted to be left alone, but I felt unsure of how to reply. Because in theory if someone just asks to be friends, it's okay if indeed they just want friendship. My first thought was to pretend I didn't speak Mandarin. Then I just blurted a lie and said, "I already have a boyfriend."

I had mixed feelings about this, because I had read an article about how women always try to spare men their feelings and invent a fake boyfriend, or they say they have a boyfriend because sometimes men will refuse to back down unless you have already been "claimed" by someone else. "We shouldn't be afraid or feel bad to just say, 'I'm not interested,'" the article said. But I do feel bad, because I think it takes a lot of courage to approach someone.

"Oh ok," he said, and backed off. He then proceeded to take out his cell phone, and watch a drama at full volume. I hate when people don't use headphones. It's really rude to make other people have to listen to your music or your shows. He also chewed his food super loudly, with wet smacking noises. In Asia, apparently it isn't rude to eat noisily. I moved to another table to enjoy the rest of my meal in peace.

Philadelphia

I had to go to Philadelphia for some business, and stayed with a friend who lives there. Some people say Philadelphia is like New York's uglier and less accomplished younger brother, though the same is also said of New Jersey. What I like about Philadelphia is it is smaller, less crowded, and cheaper. The main thing about New York is that it has so many options, and a lot of them are more grandiose, but Philly is a very liveable city. There is a nice shopping district, and amazing ice cream, all within a short distance.

What is not so great about Philly is the lack of Chinese food options. Yes, there is a Chinatown, but it's not a very good one. I happened to run into my cousin at the worst Chinese Restaurant I have been to in some time. What puzzles me is that it was rated so well on yelp. I don't remember the name, but I wish I did so I could warn people not to go there. It's right next door to Lam Zhou Hand Pulled Noodles, which has very good spicy beef tendon. Anyhow, when I ran into my cousin, I complained to her about how awful the food was. She was with a non Chinese friend, who was there for their soup dumplings. These were awful soup dumplings. They were way too sweet, and didn't have a good crab flavor like good crab and pork soup dumplings do. Pretty much everything at the restaurant was bad, except for this one tofu dish. 

My friend lives with a roommate, who bought the house about 8 years ago. Since then, it has tripled in value. It used to be a very bad neighborhood, but it has gotten a lot better. A few blocks up, it appears less safe. The roommate said that the block used to be run be some gang that sold heroin (or maybe cocaine?) "it was so safe then," she said, "because the gang didn't want police coming around their homes, so they would actually police the streets and prevent crime. They did a better job than the actual police. Then something happened and they moved away, and right away there were two burglaries on the block." Apparently her dad had visited back then, and was wary of the men in cars leering at him. When they saw him with her though, they had assured him that they kept an eye on his daughter to make sure she was safe.

They have a dog with very strange teeth. She has a severe underbite, which makes her face look funny, in a cute way. I commented on it and my friend snapped, "stop talking about her teeth, she's sensitive about it!" Indeed, every time I tried to take a photo of her face, the dog would turn her head away to not show her teeth! Animals are so funny. I managed to get one eventually.

Philadelphia City Hall is not well organized at all. The sign that they post up has grammar errors, saying "sign you're name" instead of "sign your name." It's not worth talking about, but I pity anyone who has to go do anything there. 

I had amazing gelato AND amazing ice cream. One of the best in a while. The gelato place is called Capogiro, and it was rated best in the world by National Geographic. I had their cashew and dulce de leche. The ice cream place is what ice cream should be, hard, dense and creamy, in contrast to the gelato, which was soft, rich, and creamy but light. The ice cream place, Basset's, it's supposedly the oldest ice cream shop in the United States. I had their Irish Coffee and Vanilla with hot fudge, which made me think of childhood, when Haagan Daaz used to make bailey's ice cream. It was an enormous portion, but I ate all of it. 

Philadelphia is nick named the city of brotherly love, but to me it will be the city of ice cream, because that may be my most memorable experience. I ate at some restaurants too but they are far over shadowed by the amazing frozen treats.

The bus ride back was horrible. It was pouring rain, and the bus was an hour late. There was no shelter, so I was completely soaked and cold. Luckily I had a change of clothes in my bag so I could put on dry clothes when I got on the bus. Megabus is horrible. I guess they are super cheap, so you get the customer service that you pay for. 

By the Building of Municipal Services

West Indian Day Parade

The West Indian Day parade may be the closest thing to Mardi Gras that we can get in New York (or at least, what I imagine Mardi Gras to be). It was an explosion of feathers, sequins, and colors. I was really tired that day though, since we had gone to Electric Zoo the night before. I don't remember this at all, but my friend later told me that when she tried to wake me up I said, "bitch please, let me sleep." I guess I can be really rude when I'm tired? I really have no recollection.

When we arrived, there were people selling flags. I had been starving, so my main motivation was to find food ASAP. Aromatic food stands lined the streets, with the first few being extremely crowded. I had grilled fish and rice, while my friend had jerk chicken. 

I decided that I wanted to march through the parade too, so we managed to go through the police line to walk around one of the floats. People were really nice to us, though at one point we ended up being bumped to another area. 

Electric Zoo

A friend came to visit me over Labor Day weekend, so we had a few activities planned. We got some last minute tickets to Electric Zoo, a large electronic music festival. I wasn't crazy about the music, or so I thought, but I really like music festivals. I do like a band called the Glitch Mob, and they were performing on Sunday. Tickets were a bit expensive, but I managed to find them for a bit cheaper on Craigslist closer to the date. Part of the advantage of being unemployed is having the free time to snag random deals. 

There is quite a long list of prohibited items, and a thorough search as you enter, so we were careful about what we brought. They even limit bag size. Since both of us are fairly cheap, and everything at the festival was really expensive, we decided to walk to the island as opposed to taking the ferry or the bus. We arrived at 125th near the Bronx. After using bathrooms in China, I'm not so picky, but my friend said she did not want to use a porter potty, so we stopped by McDonalds.

The line for the bathroom was ridiculous. The girl ahead of us was on something, possibly super drunk, but she greeted us happily. We were polite and engaged in some conversation.

"Yeaaaaah!!" She slurred. "Eeeeeezoooo." She hiccuped a few times and said, "sorry, I am really sorry."

"No worries," said my friend, "you're fine...but um...if you have to throw up, face the other way." 

In my head, I could already see her projectile vomiting all over us, but then she collapsed onto a little ball on a chair, and that was the end of that. 

"Let's just use the porter potties," I said impatiently, "this line is too long."

"Have you been to a porter potty??" My friend asked. "They are awful."

Of course I have, what a silly question. "Whatever," I said, "it's like the bathrooms in China, just run in, hold your breath and pee, and then run out."

But she wouldn't budge. "I guarantee you, the lines at the Porter potties will also be long, and most of the people in line will be like our home girl over there," she said, pointing to the girl who was now being force fed water by her friends.

As it turned out, there was a bathroom for employees only. I tried to sweet talk the employee guarding it, to see if he'd let us use it. Finally I just said, "I'll give you a dollar if you let my friend and me use the bathroom."

"Ok," he said. 

I think I started a business for him, because after we used it, others were paying him to use it. The employee bathroom was for sure cleaner than the public one. 

My friend has T Mobile, which allowed us to use the VIP line and the VIP booth. While in line for the booth she complained to the worker, "so I have no service right now. Can you do something about that?"

He said, "I work for E-Zoo, not T Mobile. And I have ATT because T Mobile sucks."

The music was really good, and I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would. I'm not entirely sure who we were listening to, but I made sure that we made our way to see the Glitch Mob around 8:00. There was another VIP balcony, but you had to have master card to get in. We tried to talk our way in and failed, but then these random people allowed us to go in with their group. From the balcony, we had a really good view of the stage. A boy said, "I'm hiding from my ex-girlfriend." 

"Oh, what's her sign?" I asked.

"She's an aquarius," he replied.

"Yeah, she's going to find you," I said. I'm an Aquarius, and we are pretty stubborn and persistent. To be fair to her though, he wasn't doing such a good job of hiding, since he was leaned over he balcony. Maybe he really wanted to be found; sometimes we aren't really sure what we want, and our actions and words contradict. But I guess if she doesn't have a MasterCard he'd be pretty safe.

The food at the festival was over priced and just okay, but that is to be expected. My friend turned to me and said, "since this festival is so expensive, it's probably a good place to meet boys because everyone here must have a good job of some sort." But then she stopped to think. "Oh wait, but you are unemployed and you are here."

"Also," I added, "a lot of people might be using their parents' money. There were definitely a lot of college kids there too.

The headliner, Alesso, performed at the main stage at the end, with fireworks. 

As we headed back, we decided to stop by IHOP for food. It was like the apocalypse. Everyone was exhausted from the festival, and people had remnants of glitter and confetti on them, as well as dirt and grass stains. People were slumped over tables. The food at IHOP was just okay, but again that was to be expected. 

All in all though, I would highly recommend it. It's fun with the right group of people, and you should bring ear plugs.