L.A. to N.Y.

For breakfast Sophia suggested we stop by a Chinese bakery in Alhambra. It was closed. She took me to another and then to a nearby Tea Station for drinks. When we reached Irvine she asked if I wanted to eat first or go to the office. We drove by the Japanese place to find it closed on Mondays. "I guess we're going to the office, then?" I said.

We worked on various projects. Sophia on the company catalogue, me on some Palgrave mechanicals. Her brothers came by and we went out for Thai. On returning to the office, her neices and nephews had arrived. They invaded our office and wandered around while I tried to fix the color balance on their digital camera.

As we left Sophia asked if I minded stopping by their house. Her brother was replacing the headlights in her car for her birthday. She showed me the house and the beautiful Japanese style room that she designed. In her room I admired the carpet she had stitched together from various skins. Soon it was time for dinner and her sister-in-law called us down. They had gone to a local Japanese place and picked up a bunch of things. Her sister had made a soup.

After dinner Cherry called. She had just returned to New York and was calling to see how I was. She was happy that everyone liked each other at the wedding and was surprised how much fun she had after dreading it for so long. We chatted for a while before she went to bed, and then Sophia and I drove back to Alhambra.

The next day she asked if I wanted to go to the Norton Simon museum. I had toast for breakfast and then we set off. The museum was closed. We toured Art Center instead on the hills of Pasadena and then went to Jimmy's house where he had just finished baking bran muffins. We sat and chatted until his wife came home and then went to dinner at a nearby Japanese restaurant.

Wednesday found us back at Jimmy's. He needed help setting up a shoot for a Triple A brochure. He wanted us to move his mattresses from his bedroom to the top of his truck to illustrate the wrong way to load something. It took all afternoon for hiim to shoot and gain approval. In the end they decided to go in another direction.

I read comic books while we waited. A Batman comic book and then a book called Metropolis, about the end of the world. Jimmy made sandwiches and potato salad for dinner. Kelly came home to find us sprawled around her living room. She ate while we chatted and then Sophia and I went home.

We picked up Pakin and went to a bar in Chinatown. One restaurant advertised itself as the place they shot Rush Hour. I wondered where they had shot the Roman Polanski film. The bar was in a converted restaurant. The walls bled red. Laterns that looked like insects hung from the ceiling.

We had a drink and went home. Pakin had to work in the morning and I had learned that my flight was an hour and a half earlier than I had previously thought.

Thursday we got up and went to lunch at a Hainanese chicken place. From the outside it looked like an Italian restuarant, advertising pizza and pasta. We sat on the sidewalk. The day was clear and warm. On board the airplane they told us that the weather in New York would be in the 40s. Not too bad. I settled in and watched the tv monitors, broadcasting television shows and then the movie, I Robot.

Approaching New York, the plane went into a steeper descent than I was accustomed to. The man next to me freaked out a little. The sisters next to me watched him and chuckled to themselves. When we landed, he clapped his hands and muttered his thanks.

The night was cool but refreshing after the flight. I gathered my bags and took the train into the city. Emerging from the Spring Street station, I walked the rest of the way home. Posted by eku at November 13, 2004 12:04 PM