After the Empire State Building, we took the Subway to Little Italy. Flags of red, white and green as well as Italian restaurants were everywhere! It was almost like being back in Italy! We walked along Mulberry Street, which according to our guide book was the heart of Little Italy; however, soon we started seeing signs in Chinese and Vietnamese. It seemed that Chinatown had encroached on Little Italy! Soon, we were the only white people in sight...it felt just like being back in Irvine! Every storefront had fresh vegetables, interesting herbs and all kinds of fish and squid out for sale. We stopped at a massage parlor ("legitimate massage only" read the sign) and Jake enjoyed a nice Chinese foot rub. We then made our way to Big Wong King, a famous restaurant in Chinatown. For just a few bucks we enjoyed delicious won ton soup, rice and chicken next to the locals. After lunch, we hit the streets in search of good deals--I couldn't leave Chinatown without buying at least a dozen knock-offs. We perused the stores where the aggressive Chinese saleswomen practically threatened me into buying random hair accessories and shoes while Jake got some good deals on ties.
Of course we knew that Chinatown was famous for its cheap crap and knock-offs, but what we didn't know is that we were about to embark upon our most memorable shopping experience ever! While we were heading back to the subway, a Chinese lady approached me and asked if I liked Coach, Dolce & Gabbana and Louis Vuitton. "Show me the way!" I replied. In a flash, the lady was gibbering away on her walkie talkie as she led us down a street, then another street, then another street. "Where is your store?" Jake demanded. "We can't follow you all day." Just when things couldn't get any weirder, another Chinese lady approached us and led us down another street while the first lady fell back. Covert operation! After leading us down a few more streets, Jake decided we should take off, so when the lady wasn't looking, we made a sharp left down another street. We hid behind a truck and were waiting to cross the street, when the lady found us! "We almost there!" she exclaimed urgently.
Impressed at her persistence, we continued to follow her until she stopped at a mini-van with tinted windows parked at the side of the road. Confused, we looked around for a nearby storefront, but there was none. After radio-ing her partner on the walkie talkie and looking around surreptitiously, she flung open the van door. Inside were shelves upon shelves of beautiful, gleaming and probably stolen bags. Overjoyed, I poked my head inside the mini-van to take a look. "No no!" the lady whispered. "You must get in van, now!"
Before I could protest, she pushed me in the van and sat me down on a stool inside next a black blanket which covered the front windows so no one could see inside. Jake insisted upon staying outside, but the lady grabbed his arm, pulled him in and slammed the door. Overwhelmed with all of the purses, the possibility of us being kidnapped by the Chinese mafia did not occur to me. We felt pretty safe, however, considering we were on a main road, and there was no one else in the van besides a 90-pound 4'8" Chinese lady. Smiling, the lady flipped on a light to reveal even more rows of purses, all of which she insisted were authentic Coach, Louis Vuitton, etc., and were therefore worth her $200 asking price. I eventually talked her down to $40 for a gorgeous "Dolce & Gabbana" bag and $30 for "Coach." There is nothing more satisfying than buying cheap knock-offs when they look exactly the same! I absolutely love my bags!
Anyway, after the sale was made, she got on her walkie-talkie to check for cops. When the coast was clear, she cautiously opened the door and let us out. I turned around to thank her and say goodbye, but she was already gone! I caught a glimpse of her turning right down another street, briskly walking without even looking back! I wanted to take a picture of the mini-van to show people where I had bought purses when I got home, but Jake had already had enough of our little Bourne Identity episode and didn't want to risk getting hit by the thugs running this op. Since there were plenty of Chinese selling knock-offs in their stores, Jake was convinced these bags were stolen--why else the secrecy? Either way, I will never forget buying my purses inside a mini-van in Chinatown!
After Chinatown, we toured Wall Street, the Merrill Lynch Bull and the New York Stock Exchange. Disappointed that I couldn't find a real life stock broker to take a picture with, we took the subway to Grand Central Station and the New York Public Library, both of which were amazingly beautiful! We then went uptown to 5th Avenue where we did a little shopping (or I guess I should say window shopping as we couldn't afford anything!) After shopping, we went to the Guggenheim museum which looks like a giant snail or an awesome skateboarding ramp! The Guggenheim had a Kandinsky exhibit going on so we took the audio tour which was very educational. We loved the Guggenheim because it was short and sweet--just like a museum should be!
That night, we headed to the David Letterman studio for the show. Before our trip, we had put our names in the lottery for tickets. A few days later, an assistant called us, asked Jake a trivia question which he amazingly got right even though he never watches the show (Q: What does David Letterman throw at his desk? A: His cue cards) and we won tickets!
While we were standing in line, we met a really cute couple, Jen and Luke, from Australia. They were on a 6-month around-the-world trip and had been traveling since July. I was extremely jealous to say the least! Anyway, while we were in line, a few assistants came up to us, asked us questions and then put us in a different line. We didn't realize the whole questioning thing was a test until we got to the very end and they told us "someone along the way had noticed our dazzling smiles and magnetic personalities" and had put us in the VIP section in the front 3 rows! Apparently they want all the good-looking people up front, although if that's true, I don't know how Jake made it...:) Our new Aussie friends Luke and Jen made the VIP section as well. We were allowed to take a short break before the show, so we grabbed a bite to eat with Luke and Jen and then headed back to the studio. Before the show, the assistants warmed us up by telling a few jokes and instructing us to laugh as hard as we could at all of David Letterman's jokes. It was so fun to experience the show in person! The band played a private rock concert during commercial breaks and even though I'm not a huge Letterman fan, he was pretty funny! We watched the show back on our Tivo later and you could barely make us out right before one of the commercial breaks, thanks to the bright red Utah hoodie Jake was wearing!
After David Letterman, we went out to eat at Carmine's, an Italian restaurant Jarom suggested, with Luke and Jen. The portions were served family style and we had a blast listening to our friends' travel stories--they had been to almost every country in Africa, all over Europe, Southeast Asia and were heading to the Bahamas and Los Angeles before going back to Australia. The most amazing part was that both of them were basically paid to go on the trip--Luke worked for the police bomb squad in Sydney and was using his saved-up vacation time to take the trip! I am definitely moving to Australia! Anyway, because their final stop was Los Angeles before returning home, we made plans to meet up while they were in town. Unfortunately, the very week they were here, Southern California was bombarded with the most intense thunderstorms we've seen in 5 years--it literally poured for 5 days straight! So much for sunny CA weather! Luke and Jen decided to leave LA early to go catch some sun in New Zealand so we didn't end up meeting up with them, but they told us we have a place to stay next time we're in Sydney. Meeting fun people was definitely the best part of our trip to NYC!
