Papery/Paper/Plastic
Me: Can’t believe that the kid’s going to college in just seven years or so.
Her: You’ll be 60 then.
Me: Whoa! (thinking) Man, I look amazing!
Her: Eh, your face is getting a little papery.
Me: …
Her: What? It’s true! (laughing) You and your ego…
Me: …
Her: Happy New Year?
Sara and I had to run down to Chinatown twice in a week because it was Lunar New Year.
The first time around, it was Sara, her kid, and me. We went on New Year’s itself.
It’s been at least 30 years since the last time I was here for Lunar New Year.
We didn’t actually go for the festivities – that’s too much chaos for us – but we did see the aftermath, which was just as interesting.
Sara and her kid marveled at the sheer amount of debris left over the festivities.
There was so much that the street sweeper got clogged.
For serious.
Me: Look at all the plastic, this terrible.
Her: They should do something about it.
Me: It used to be a lotta paper. Now it’s all plastic.
I mean, we ended up going to another classic dive called Big Wong, which had a 45-minute wait, the longest I’d ever waited to get into a dive, ever.
But, man, was it worth it.
We both tried some new food – and her kid really liked all the new food as well.
Then, a few days later, we had to head down there again because I forgot to grab something the last time we were down there.
This time, it was just the Sara and me.
We ended up going to the House of Joy.
Me: This is one of the few classic Chinese banquet restaurants left.
Her: It’s so cute!
Me: A lotta Chinatown used to be like this. The last time I was here was for [my college buddy’s] parent’s funeral. So, this is a much better reason to be here.
We went at a really off time, so it was just us and a handful of other patrons.
Me: OMG, I haven’t had this in years!
Her: Oranges?
Me: Well, back when I was a kid, after a meal, the waitstaff would bring out sliced oranges and fortune cookies just like this. Man, I can’t remember the last time I had this…
Stuff like this makes me wish I brought the kid.
I’ll have to do it when he’s back.
Location: home, watching this insane snow come down
Mood: exhausted
Music: No one on the corner has swagger like us (Spotify)
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