On The Move…

I’d somewhat forgotten how fun New York can feel. I’m still fairly jaded with the city in general, and can’t properly ignore the grime on the streets and the soot in the air. But the people look a touch healthier (and more stylish) than I recall, and it’s also nice to feel like you have favorite spots in the city, reliable sights to see and things to do – shades of being home, essentially. It’s funny how the same actually applies a little less to Singapore, my actual hometown, where almost overnight entire neighborhoods can be transformed; nothing really seems to age there amidst the constant revamping, upgrading and rezoning.

Anyway, back to NYC. Over two nights I’ve seen two different musicals, both recommended by my voice teacher, who seems to see almost everything that goes on in Broadway. Last night I went to The Apple Tree with Ricardo, Ari and Sam, then tonight I saw The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with Evan, whom I serendipitously met at the TKTS line. Perhaps when I get back to campus I’ll write an proper review of each of the shows. In the meantime, as I type on a iBook borrowed from Leroy in Ari’s dining room, I shall confine myself to brief comments. Kristen Chenoweth’s brilliant starring performance makes the otherwise problematic The Apple Tree worth seeing (for half price), if you go in thinking of it as the Kristen Chenoweth skit-show. Spelling Bee is entertaining and well-performed (it did win a Tony award for Best Ensemble), if not especially fresh in content or eye-popping in production.

And I haven’t had much of a chance to go shopping, although I plan to try again tomorrow after singing with the Dins (and Evan) at a morning wedding reception. I did however make it to my favorite button/trim store (M&J Trimming) and fabric store (B&J Fabrics) today. It was fun to recognize staff and also things I’d bought previously, like the antique-gold cord-and-velvet trim that peskily ran out last year, and the lovely imported heavy-cotton shirting that I had made up over the summer. I found a couple of things that I like; I’ll have to make another trip to buy everything soon, perhaps when my plans for the summer and next year are more settled.

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In 24 hours I’ll be back to work at school. That will actually be a bit of a relief, considering what remains to be done in the coming days and weeks. In the meantime, it’s nice to be around Dins and to sing with them too.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 28th, 2007 at 1:26 am and is filed under Dins, Fashion & Style, Fun times, General Posts, Harvard, Musings, Singapore, Travel.