Dim Sum

Chinese Meal that involves small individual portions of food, usually food is punched around on carts by sever in a small steamer baskets or on small plates. These buns, dumplings, meats, and desserts are all different, and a great little bites of goodness. Each a wonderful mouthful of something new and different.

Today was a Dim Sum day, we took many great smallish tastes of several of the Cities delights.

We started the day early, and headed down the block to a Barber Shop and got Karl a real New York Barber Shop hair cut.

Here is one of the Barbers outside of the shop.

Karl got right into the chair, and what can I say, the guy knew what he was doing. While I waited I watched what I could only guess were well produced Israeli music videos.

Here’s my boy looking all clean and new, and ready for adventure.

After that we went straight down to the Time Square Discovery Zone to see two great exhibits:

The Harry Potter Exhibt

The Pompeii Exibit

I have imagined what it would be like to see these human form ever since I heard the story as a kid. I have been looking forward to this ever since I found out the exhibit was in New York.

First Harry Potter

As you can imagine, there were no camera’s allowed in the exhibit, so I will paint you a picture with words. It was ser awesome! Imagine that!

There was a girl with a terrible fake British accent sorting kids with a sorting hat, costumes from all the films, interactive Mandrake plants you could pull and they would scream, Hagrid’s hut, Quittich balls to through, every wand for each wizard from all the films. It was so fun, then we got to the gift shop:

Karl here considering Lord Voldemorts wand. Avadacadvra!

Me here with Hermione Granger’s Wand, Expeliarmous!

The Marauders Map. No names moving or on the map at all! Useless!

Dumbledore’s Army, I wish.

I almost got this one, but I just couldn’t spend $30 on a tee shirt.

Scabbers!

Baby Nimbus 2000!

Really, the whole shop was full of stuff like this, even Tom Riddles diary.

Next we went to to Pomeii, the Exhibit. Again no pictures, and I will tell you now that the

gift shop was no where near as exciting. But that didn’t matter because the exhibit was WAY more exciting. You enter and watch a film all about Pompeii. It explains that there were about 25,000 people who lived there. It was a beautiful place to live and as far as Roman cities, it was as clean and as technologically advanced as anything else in the age.

Then they let you into these rooms full of artifacts from the city. Mostly little bronze statues of Roman Gods. But there were coins, and Wall murals that had been brought over from Pompeii. There was even a fountain, that had sea shells and mosaic tile. You may have heard of the famous Pompeii brother rooms, they had one of those too. Very interesting.

Next you went into another video presentation room, where they basically go through the day the volcano exploded. It all seemed so slow. With in 24 hours, the whole town was completely covered. As the last huge cloud of ahs covers the town, the video screen opend up, the walls part, and you are guided in to see a huge room with the bodies of stone.

It was so crzay. There was the man in the image above, leaning on his elbow. One minute away, lounging, another just dead. There were several that were from the same place, a garden home. People lined across stairs, a family of four, including a little baby. The little girl, maybe three, was the most impressive one. He face, teeth, and tunic were still visible. There was a young girl, who tried to cover her face with her dress. A dog, who climbed up, and go stuck, a pig, a couple holding each other. There was a house of bones, left in a town 4 miles away. 18 people cramped into basement for refuge.

It was startling, and fascinating, and amazing all at the same time.

We walked through more artifacts of Ancient Roman life. Pots, tables, heaters, plumbing, oil lamps, jewelry.

If you are in town, go and see it.

Ok, after that we took a short walk over to Madame Trussauds wax museum!

This was a nice light place to go after all of that sadness.

I think you will recognize most of these people, enjoy.

Ghetto Booty herself!

A really bad George Cloony

I am a vampire!

Oh Leo, how I loved thee.

Shakira Shakira!

Karl and I are both in love with him. Karl call him his “man crush”

This is my “dead crush”

Oh, he is touching me!

More fun in the big city:

I never felt so short and so tall at the same time!

Bieber!

Hulk, love Allison.

and Karl.

Check out how tall we are…

We jumped on the subway grabbed a quick breakfast:

Then we were off to the MoMA.

Brandon, you were right, it is called the MoMA. The building even says it.

This place is filled with Famous works of art.

This one made me think of mom somehow. Monet. Did you know that this in one of 80 water lilly paintings he completed in his lifetime?

There was of course tons of Picasso. It was weird,seen so many of these in print, it was like it wasn’t real in front of me.

While we approached this one, Karl loudly exclaimed, this one is like a deathly hollow. I blushed as a bunch of pretentious people looked out way. He didn’t know it was Picasso’s Musicians.

At that point I realized that he was there for me. He realized at that point, he was going to have to try a little harder. Which he did. We talked about the regarding things.

Here is me, practicing:

This was one of my favorite of the day. I would put this in my home.

Then there was number one:

It was som massive in real life.

Then Van Gogh

Brandon, Starry Night!

I thought of you as we took this picture.

It’s ok Branny, the painting I came to see was Girl Before a Mirror, and it was not in town that day for me. I guess that is just what happened when you go to the MoMA.

Naked Ladies 🙂

This one, I walked by at first, it is so tiny.

Persistance of Time.

Andy Warhol had several there too. This is one I had never seen before.

Much of it was SUPER abstract and really odd, and some off putting. Of course there were bikes, with stools for steering wheels:

It was amazing, that wasn’t even HALF of the pictures we took, or the things we saw.

We ate lunch at the Terrace Cafe:

Elf food. Worst $30 I ever spent.

Karl loved it.

We were off. After a quick change and rest at the hotel, we went down to the south of the Island to see the New World Trade Center, and the 9/11 memorial.

We went into a Museeum, that is a part of a Fire station. I didn’t really take any pictures, it was too emotional. I have forgotten how much it effected me. I cried, it was awful reliving that time. But good to remember, I guess.

Here is a picture of the new tower that will be completed.

We tried to see the reflecting pools, but they are not open yet. 🙁

So we walked down the greenway along the Hudson.

Karl said this was his favorite thing he had done in the city yet.

You can’t tell, but this is what was behind us:

Two blocks over is wall street, and Broadway. And the Bull:

Karl observed that the places where people rub a lot seem golden…

Yikes.

Well, it was still early, and we hadn’t really eaten, so we tired to make it to China Town for dinner. Never get on the Subway if you don’t know where it takes you. That is the lesson I learned tonight. Karl and I got on an E train, took it 2 miles too far, and got on the bus, the in the wrong direction, then off again, then on again. Then after 2 miles of walking, in the now dark city, we were in China Town.

I didn’t feel right about taking pictures, we were the only none Asian people around and it was a little scary. Karl kept saying he would keep me safe from the Tirads, which kept making me feel super unsafe.

We finally stopped for dinner at a place called Dim Sum Go Go.

It was the perfect end to out Dim Sum Day.

Oh so good.

The Pork Bun’s were my favorite!

For Dessert we had Coconut cake.

It was like if jello and rice pudding had a coconut flavored baby.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring in the big city!