Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Barfing, Comfort Stations, and Red Ear Sliders

So my uncle and cousin from Oregon are in town.
My cousin Natalie wanted to go check out some jewelry and bags down on Canal Street and I volunteered myself and Christopher to help guide her around. It was an adventure.

So where is the worst place to take a person suffering from stomach flu/food poisoning? Chinatown. You want to talk about the variety of different smells? just head down there for a couple of hours. The poor thing. We got off the train, trekked up five flights of stairs, started to fight to get into step with all the pedestrians, stopped at a dollar cart for some water and she turned grey.

Thank goodness for the shady nook with big trash cans that we were able to find real quick. Talk about subtle puker. The two people eating lunch near by didn't notice. Christopher did. "Mommy what is that"? Turn his stroller around. "Nothing honey, Aunt Natalie is throwing away garbage". Christopher, "Oh!"

I suggested the park near by for a quick use of their restroom and Christopher could burn off some steam. Well the public park restroom sign read "comfort station". They really need to reconsider the sign. It did have toilet paper and soap so things could have been worse.

Half hour later, one more trip to the rest room in a nice well kept Funeral Home and off we go. Fist we stop at this crazy Chinese candy store. Aji Ichiban I tried the candied fish. Not so good. The candied shrimp better. We bought dried sugary plums and cherries, honeyed strawberries and an assortment of candy with wrappers we can't read.

We walked around and the hunt for the perfect silver bangle and ring ensues. We hunted far and wide but only a ring came of that endeavor. We got solicited for purses but Natalie wasn't up to the half hour search through hundreds of bags after her garbage can experience. Also, I wasn't up to traveling down any dark alleys with my talkative, inquisitive Christopher and stroller. So the purse will have to wait to be found on her next trip to New York.

Lastly a block away from Jaya Malaysian restaurant (to pick up gingered pork for a late lunch for Will and me) we see the cutest little turtles for sale.
http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?restaurantid=2050

Christopher chose the one he wanted us to get. So we now have a new member of the family- Mr. Chow, since he hails from China town. A visit to the pet store and we now know we are owners of a red eared slider turtle very common to southern states in the US :)

We bought him a tank, pebbles, food, and vitamins. Let's hope he makes it.