Before I get into Princeton/New Jersey/New York/Broadway/etc, let me just say one thing I've noticed. The word "exit" is pronounced "ex-it", which seems fairly self explanatory but apparently, that does not stop people from pronouncing it as "egg-zit". I wonder why that is...
Now, onto my recent trip...
It was the most amazing experience I've had all year and one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It was a complete, power-packed trip as I did the entire thing in less than 48 hours, which included an extremely long delay in my flight to Princeton. Qiuwei Lin = amazingly hospitable hostess + awesomest person ever. But permit me to start from the beginning.
Flight was originally scheduled to depart at 3:40 but my dad wanted to catch an afternoon shift at work so I got to the airport at around 12:30. That was a little earlier than needed, but nothing too outrageous; if it were a longer flight, that's about the time I would have reached the airport normally. Then my flight was delayed from 3:4o to 4:15 to 5:30. By this point, I was starving but for some reason, they had closed off the doors to the eating area for some reason! We finally got to board the plane at 5:3o, but were informed after we were seated that "inclement weather conditions at Newark," which was the cause for the delay in the first place, had managed to push our flight time back even further to 6:30. By the time I landed at Newark Liberty International, it was around 8:30. Well, my shuttle service only runs 15 mins past every hour so I boarded the next one at 9:15 and it was closing in on 11 by the time I reached Princeton campus. So between my arrival at Pearson and my arrival on Princeton campus, it had been 10.5 hours. Clearly, my already shortened trip had been shortened further. Well, so my trip got off to a somewhat crummy start. That's when the fun began.
Having not eaten since 11 in the morning, we went to Teresa's diner right across from the Nassau Inn where I got dropped off. We entered literally 2 minutes before the diner was closing but they were nice enough to serve us (me) anyway. Qiuwei is a talkative person so large amounts of conversation filled in all the gaps during this vacation. Finished my meal in the empty diner and proceeded to go on a night tour of Princeton. It reminds me of Queen's except more Harry Potter-esq. Twas an amazing campus but Qiuwei said it's partly because Princeton gets more funding per student than any other university in America. We reached her dormitory, which I am inclined to say was a fair bit bigger than the Queen's single room. But we all know that Queen's has tiny rooms with exceptions of the Doorbell Room and its ilk. Freshened up and went to bed. I don't know why I was so tired... I literally just sat in one place or another for the entire day. Sat at home in front of the computer, sat in the car to the airport, sat in airport for hours on end, sat on plane, sat on shuttle service. Meh, I was thoroughly expired.
Next day Qiuwei goes to a mysterious class that isn't normally in her schedule early in the morning (I am still sleeping) and I meet her at some designated point on campus, which I can't remember the name to. We do brunch at a local diner on campus before promptly heading off to New York. Actually, it was perhaps less prompt than I may have made it seem since I did, after all, drop by the campus store to pick up a Princeton hat, which I now parade myself around in. We take the train all the way to New York, to a famous station I can't remember the name of, in a division of New York I can't remember the name of. It's right around Broadway and Madame Tussaud's and Time's Square... wherever that is. She proceeds to take me on a tour all around city central and we drop by Coldstone's Creamery where I have the best serving of mint chocolate chip ice cream I've ever had in my entire life. They make it right in front of you from scratch. Qiuwei turns the entire trip in a some pseudo-quest for body wash, which literally took us the entire day, punctuated by the following sequence of events:
We arrived at the box office on Broadway and queued up for discount tickets, which we eventually got after standing in line for about an hour. Qiuwei, being the inveterate conversationalist as she is, prevent boredom and we ended up getting 40% off our screening of Les Miserables! w00t! We timed ourselves for a 5:45-ish dinner so in the meantime, we gallivant about the city in our quest for body wash, which took us for some reason to H&M. There, she goes on a search for the black dress in the display window, which to me looked like every other black dress sold in the store but that was apparently not so. We end up at Central Park, which was frozen but nice in the twilight. More romping brings us to some all American eatery for dinner where Qiuwei partakes in a large serving of ribs of all things! She noted that it was fortunate that I was related to her and that ribs are the worst thing a girl can eat on a date. She said fish is always safest if you want to impress. I don't know why she told me this, considering that the rule apparently only applies to women.
We gallivant about Times Square in the twilight, even though the wind had set in by this point and Qiuwei being a Singaporean and all, was crystalizing. Still, she thawed out enough to take numerous picture of Times Square at night, which Grant insists makes me look like a giant n00b. It wasn't long before we stepped into another diner for dessert. Coffee/tea and cheesecakes. We were content to enjoy the atmosphere there for awhile before heading off to see Les Miserables at the Broadhurst theatre. Les Miserables was tres good, especially considering the lack of a large choreographed dance scene at the end of the musical, which normally is of some importance to me. But it was very well done; very flashy, lots of effects and some very good vocals. It was a Broadway show after all. Qiuwei raved about it all night.
We are obliged to leave New York right when the city was coming alive (11 pm) and took the train back to Newark and its airport. I arrive full circle after only 24 hours. So I honestly thought we were going to go scuzzy hostel-hunting that night but Qiuwei would have none of it. In fact, she had booked a room in a hotel that worked in conjunction with the airport before I even arrived on Thursday! Did I mention the kind of hospitality I'm getting on this trip? Honestly... Anyhow, so we check into this hotel and after taking a shower, I settled into an arm chair and read the Wall Street Journal for a bit before we retired. That night, by the way, was the first time I had ever slept in a bed larger than a twin sized.
Rise and shine early the next morning for my flight back to Toronto finds us at TGI Friday's, which puts a fitting cap on my trip as it had been one of my life's goals to eat at a TGI Friday's. This is after the completion of another one of my life's goals (see a musical on Broadway). And that is all. And it was good. I mean, it wasn't just an amazingly fun trip. I honestly felt really good the entire time. It's the company, I swear. So I take my hat off to you Wei! And by hat, I refer to my only memento of the trip aside from pictures: my Princeton hat.
Pictures are on facebook but for posterity's sake:
Friday, February 16, 2007
11:00 PM
"In addition, these items can be carried on and do not count towards your baggage allowance:
Outer garments (e.g. coats, hats, etc.) Purses up to 25cm x 30cm x 20cm (10" x 12" x 8") Assistive devices (e.g. canes, crutches, walkers, etc.) Strollers and child restraint systems Containers carrying life sustaining items Urns containing human remains" -- Air Canada carry-on baggae allowance
It's good to know that urns containing human remains won't be counted towards my baggage allowance.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
12:11 PM
Happy Valentine's Day you shmucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, February 12, 2007
10:46 PM
So...
Return flight from New Jersey to Toronto at 11:20 AM on a Saturday - $287 Return flight from New Jersey to Toronto at 5:45 PM on a Saturday - $467
Saturday morning it is. Geez, I had no idea a few hours difference in departure made that much of a difference in price. But I think's good. It cuts down on my time in New Jersey but I'll get back in time to relax for a bit and pack leisurely and have dinner with my family before going back to Queen's.
Jon Wong's going to Princeton!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, February 08, 2007
11:03 PM
"Which instruments do you play?" "Well... uh..." "Can you play this?" (motions guitar playing) "Yeah, I can play that" "What about this?" (motions piano playing) "Uh... yep, I can play that too" "This?" (motions drum playing) "Uh huh" "Um... let me think. Can you play this?" (motions flute playing) "Uh... yeah" "... wow" -- Sophia, Jon Wong
I found that to be a particularly amusing conversation because in my entire history of being asked what instruments I play, I've never been asked all 4 of the instruments I *do* play in straight order. I could kind of see her mind working by the time we got to the drums and I think she was trying to name an instrument as diametrically opposite to the drums as possible and came up with the flute, which I coincidentally play. That was fun.
2:12 PM
Ok, so I really need to learn how to dance. I mean, there's the small issue of this wedding that I'm attending this summer and my cousin is demanding it from all members of the family. Besides; I like music... and I like moving to music to some greater or lesser extent. At least, to the extent that I always like being part of the music I'm listening to hence my learning music on a variety of instruments (read: drums, guitar, piano, etc).
Damn weddings.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
8:19 PM
"Let's just talk about good stuff" "Good stuff?" "Yeah. Glass half full shit. What do you got?" "I got a little buzz. I got that... What you got?" "I got a little buzz going... and I like you. So there's that... I guess I have that" "I can tap-dance. You wanna see me tap-dance?" "I would love to see you tap-dance" -- Garden State
Possibly my favorite scene from any movie ever... except maybe the two places at once scene from A Walk To Remember. I fail to see how this new version of blogger is any better than the old one.
It's kinda funny you know. They always told you when you were young that the best years of your life will be in university and you'll meet your best friends there. That's what my parents always told me and they cited themselves as evidence, saying that all the friends they have now, they met in university. When I ask them what happened to the friends they made in elementary school and high school, they always shrug and say that people change and that when you all go to seperate universities, you tend to lose touch with a lot of them. But that's ok because that happens sometimes; people grow up; change and all. You'll probably meet your best friends in university anyway. So I grew up slightly paranoid about losing touch with old friends and slightly more confident that I'll be meeting my best friends at Queen's.
Interestingly enough, I've grown up to be diametrially opposite to all the expectations I had subconsciously built up in my mind.
I think that the friends that I made in high school and elementary are still probably the only real friends I have now. Queen's people are fantastic and all, but I've not really grown close to anyone here. This came to light the other day when I looking into what places here in Kingston were the best places to eat because anyone who knows me knows that my idea of a great evening starts with eating out. I realized that I can't really say I even know of many places to eat, let alone how good they are. When I asked Jess for her opinion about the best places to eat in Kingston, she asked "you've been here for a year, you should have SOME opinion on what the best places to eat are". But I don't. That's the thing. I simply don't. I don't have the kind of friends who I can call (or who will call me) randomly one day and say, "hey, let's hang out and go grab a bite at xyz Friday/Saturday night". There isn't anyone here I'm on that kind of level with. If we graduated tomorrow, is there anyone from Queen's that I'd see ever again? Maybe Linda.
There's no rule that states that your university friends will be the ones you truly bond with over your elementary or high school friends. There's no rule that states that just because you're far away means that you're not every bit as close with your old friends as you were before you all seperated. Friendship is an odd thing. Real friends are a rare commodity. So I'm still looking for friends who I can eat out with. Because in Markham/Toronto, I can tell you that:
East Side Marios is by and large the best place to each; good atmosphere, good food, good service Swiss Chalet is slightly higher class and a bit too bright Jack Astors can be very loud but has amazing chicken quesadillas Milestones is mild but has horrible chicken quesadillas Montana's Steakhouse has good steak, but mediocre everything else And I've been to Boston Pizza and Casey's; I just can't remember what they were like
In Kingston, I can tell you that Shoeless Joe's is usually empty. And that is all.
Also Grant, if you happen to be reading this. Posts like these are the reason why I don't think I will ever be able to switch from blogging to facebook notes. Can you imagine what people would say if they read this?
