NY Pilgrimage

Why such a long hiatus you ask? well, its not that I reached a point where I had nothing to say anymore. Nor is it the fact that life in Miami is so engrossing that it leaves no time for anything else. Its just that I couldn't get my damn phone to transfer some photos to my comp. See, I had to say goodbye to NY/NJ properly before I started writing about Miami. You know they say you could live in Paris all your life and still never see the Tour Eiffel. Same thing happened to me in NJ. I had never been to the Statue of Liberty and a couple of other places. So before leaving I did a blitzkrieg visit of the all the famous sites. Then I visited some other places which were special for entirely different reasons. I humbly present the following:

1) Tom's Restaurant - Seinfeld

Throughout my teens I watched Friends while skipping the weird show that preceded it on Star World. How could I be so oblivious, so short sighted? Seinfeld is one of the greatest TV shows ever. EVER! Now, I find Friends lowly, even pedestrian. Seinfeld is avant garde. Seinfeld will still be hilarious 50 years from now. We need to beam Seinfeld into space so that Aliens realize that humans too are an intelligent species capable of much genius. Every Seinfeld episode is quotable. Seinfeld should be part of school curriculum. So I had to pay my respects at the below holy shrine before I left. The exterior shot of Monk's Cafe that is shown in almost every episode. In reality its Tom's Restaurant and they didn't actually shoot anything here, just the exterior shot. There were other people taking photos too.

2) Central Park - Marathon Man

Method actor Dustin Hoffman, actually ran a mile or two before each scene so he really appeared out of breath in the film. The following scene takes place just before the Nazi guy's brother crashes his car. Marathon man is such a fine film, it makes me wanna go out and run, even though its not exactly about running marathons.

"Is it safe?", "Is it safe?", "Is it safe?"

3) Washington Park - When Harry Met Sally

The following pic is Where Sally dropped off Harry after they share a long drive home from college. WHMS probably is the quintessential "can a guy and gal just be friends" film. Its not a chick flick, its not a romcom. Its a drama set around a relationship. I took the pic from the wrong side though. If you lean into the screen and spot a yellow car in the pic to the right, thats Sally's car right there. Go on .. lean in.

4) Manhattan Bridge - Once upon a Time in America

This is one heck of a film. Part male bonding/ friends through the ages, part Crime drama and part mindf*k. Sergio Leone may be known for his "Stranger with no name" flicks but this right here is undoubtedly his masterpiece. The following pic is not only the poster but also one fine and poignant scene from the film. This was the hardest place to get to and even though I though I was in the actual point, I should have maybe moved a couple of hundred yards closer.

5) The Soup Kitchen - Seinfeld

The place featured in this epic episode is now closed down. So indeed, No soup for me. There's a board that says that its available for rent. When I went around looking for it , I knew I was in the right place but just couldn't spot it. I asked a shopkeeper if there was anyplace to get soup nearby, he said there was, but if I was looking for the Seinfeld place, it was closed down. He pointed me in the right direction and said a lot of folks came by asking for the place.

Now that that's done, hopefully I can start writing about Miami!