A Very Special Presidental New Year Weekend

Anybody notice that more people are interested in the Lunar New Year this weekend? I don’t even see a whole lot of GW or Abe Lincoln anywhere, except for the new dollar coins being introduced this weekend. Metro, the newspaper, had a Lunar New Year front cover on Friday.

Rented a Zipcar minivan and got down to JFK to pick up AS and his family. AS’s son has turned into a mild-mannered physical comedian. After a little harassment from the rent-a-cops, we got loaded up and drove back to Battery Park City. We went to the Lighthouse for drinks afterwards, followed by a late night stop-off at White Castle.

The next day I had dinner with P’s family at Jing Fong on Elizabeth St. Wasn’t bad – see pictures on the flickr bar.

More eating Sunday – Happy New Year!

Lunar New Year’s Eve

The cold and the snowish mixture (it’s not quite snow; it’s more like icier slush) and the strange Presidents’ Day tv commercials haven’t really made me in the mood for the Year of the Pig.

Argh – missed Thursday’s episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” and ABC opted NOT to re-run it on Friday night (instead, choosing to rerun the Super Bowl 2006 episode of Grey’s Anatomy – wherein Bomb Squad Guy kicked the bucket, among other things). Following up on the episode reviews on-line, it sounded like a major cool episode – at the least, the return of Bomb Squad Guy, and Denny the Sick Guy – since Meredith is – clinically, anyway – dead and paying a visit to the afterlife. Not sure what it may mean (I mean, how would it be “Grey’s Anatomy” if Grey isn’t on the show?) – but it just sounded cool. Bomb Squad Guy – played by the always watchable Kyle Chandler – ooh…

Plus, there’s a scene Cristina, who had wavered in telling Meredith about her engagement, had to tell her fiance, Burke, that she is upset about having not gotten to tell Meredith about the engagement – because Meredith’s her “person.” Can’t believe I missed that, of all things – there may be fans out there who dislike Meredith’s wishy-washy-ness or Cristina’s bitchiness, but their bond as best friends has been something I’ve always liked. Meredith had been there for Cristina, volunteering to be Cristina’s “person” (in the episode where Cristina needed someone to be with her as she decided what to do for her surprise pregnancy) – so it’s only fair that Cristina be there for Meredith. Unclear if Burke gets that about Meredith and Cristina (does he have friends? He kind of tried to befriend McDreamy, but I don’t think they’ve made it to the level of friends yet).

The passing of the Co-Inventor of the tv remote control. Considering how much I use the tv remote control, I’ll salute this guy.

Gong Xie Fat Tsai!

Definitely wishing everyone a happy Chinese New Year.  A big deal here (Taiwan gets 9 days, including weekends).  I’m typing this from the Taoyuan International Cathay Pacific lounge.

It’s mad on the highways due to the exodus of people back to their home towns from Taipei.  Boarding soon and I’ll be arriving in Ipoh just after midnight.  Tired, looking forward to it and being with family for recharging.

Just ended one of the most grueling stretch of 6 weeks in my professional career :s.  I need the R&R.  Instead of the 20 degree weather, KL is more like the hot hot hot :o.

You all be well.  Say hi to AS for me. I didn’t get a chance to meet up with him since Jan.