Just Jul Lee

New York, New York

New York, New York
DATE: July 25, 2005

Today is Little Italy and Chinatown. We get on the subway and zoom underneath the streets of New York City on our way to SoHo, Greenwich Village, Little Italy and Chinatown.

The subway is muggy, hot, humid…terrible. I don’t mind riding in the trains themselves but waiting in the station makes me sweat like crazy. I hate to sweat! I don’t mind all the people in the subway cars themselves either because the cars are air-conditioned but the tunnels where you wait are like standing in an oven…even though the oven temp would be too low to do anything but keep the food warm. You could be as fresh as a daisy walking in and a sweaty pile of flesh walking out. Of course, I’m just a tourist, so I’m sure that the locals are used to it and consider it not so bad at all.

We get to SoHo/TriBeCa and start the walk to Little Italy and Chinatown. There are many street vendors selling items and names painted on paper. We bypass all of them and although I really want to stop at a few of them, we don’t.

I stop and buy a hat at a shop, eventually. It’s a woven hat, Chinese style, that can be folded to become a fan. Discovering that the hat makes a much better hat than a fan (go figure) I stop and buy an actual fan. Then, we’re on the move again.

We are looking for Mott Street, which is where a restaurant called Hopkee resides. Richard, a former police officer from New York City, recommended it to us before we left. We ask for directions two different times, mainly to make sure we are on the right path, once we reach Mott Street and start heading down it. Both times, the men just point down the street, saying little, if anything at all. Well, at least we are going in the right direction.

We find Hopkee at last and descend the stairs to enter the restaurant. We are greeted politely and seated by the door. My mom, PJ and I each order a dish and share. Mixed veggies, Hopkee Chicken and Chicken Fried Rice, all of which were delicious and I highly recommend.

After dining (their fortune cookies had a hint of orange flavor to them…yum!) we continue down Mott Street, taking pictures all the while. WE then turn and head back up Mott Street in order to enter Little Italy.

Little Italy has a completely different feel than Chinatown. In Chinatown, shops mainly fill the streets, with a lot of restaurants and shops below street level, downstairs off the sidewalks. Little Italy has many café’s, tables spilling out onto the sidewalks, music faintly heard and ice cream vendors selling the greatest ice cream I’ve ever had. It is quite relaxing as we stroll along.

At last, we head back to the subway and our hotel. We freshen up and head to the IMAX Theater on Time Square…or at least near Time Square.

The movies we pay $15 a pop to see are Batman Begins and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. My mom pays for me to see them and so she charges the hefty sum of $60! We gave PJ a hard time because it was his idea to see two movies rather than just Charlie and the Chocolate factory but it is all in good fun. I head for the concession stand and spend $15 on popcorn, candy and two cokes…all with free refills, at least. This, my friends, was our most expensive evening together in New York City thus far and it’s only our second night in the city.

I absolutely loved, and I mean LOVED, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I highly recommend watching the flick on an IMAX if you have the ability to do so.

We return to the Belvedere Hotel, watch a little TV and finally sleep.