I finally got around to taking the fabulous Fung Wah Bus service between Boston and New York City. Twenty bucks, round trip! It leaves and arrives in Chinatown, only in a different city. If you have some kind of memory problem you might

a) complain to driver that you’ve been parked for four hours

or

b) suddenly believe you live in China.

Kyria met me when I arrived and we found a great new place to eat, the Central Buffet on Centre Street. Look for the big stone lions out front. Kyria was hesitant, due to it’s Spartan, ramshackle ambience (I guess they spent all their decorating money on lions), but I pointed out that there wasn’t a single non-Chinese person eating in there… always a good sign to me! I doubted that they were all plants to bilk us out of the hefty four dollar meal price.

And that was the price. Four buckaroonies got you five choices from a fairly extensive serving line. You also got a free soup. I admit, it wasn’t lobster bisque, but it was a simple, bland brothy thing with some greens and possibly a stirred egg wisp. I also noticed that all the other customers used their soup instead of a beverage to wash down their meals. When in Rome…

On Friday, we went down to Battery Park. I wanted to show Kyria where Rosanna Arquette got hit on the head in Desperately Seeking Susan. It was a beautifully sunny day, but the wind was supernaturally strong… the only side affect of Hurricane Ithabel (my Grandpa was Castillian).

Later that night, we caught the 10pm show at the UCB Theatre, featuring The Swarm, UCB’s house improv team (not the movie about wasps). A half-dozen people arrived late and filled in the last row behind us. They just weren’t UCB audience types and everything was lost on them. They persisted on making that clear through audible grumbles, mumbles and what they thought were witty observations.

Just when I thought they were going to be a permanent annoyance, they all got up and left. Last I heard, the leader of the group was telling the box office guy that he rather stick (something) in his eye than sit through (something). I guess he went out to stick whatever that was in his eye.

It’s important to have your eye sticking responsibilities covered before you attend live performances.

On Saturday, we went on the very fun (in my book) Circle Line Boat Ride around Manhattan. I took it when I was a kid. It’s very informative. Did you know that The Bronx is the only one of the five Boroughs of NYC that’s connected to the mainland?

On Sunday, we went back to the Central Buffet (now feeling like regulars) before I went back to the Fung Wah launching pad. I had a ticket for the 3pm departure back to Boston, but the 2:30 was just about to depart and they asked if I’d like to join them. I agreed and they had a special treat just for me! This was not a regular big bus, but rather one of those pregnant box vans. I got to sit up front with the driver. Very cool.

Upon our arrival in Boston, the driver, despite his difficulty with English, gave us all a nice farewell. Nobody behind me said anything. I turned to him and said, “Thank you, sir!”

He said, “You're welcome!”

I felt I had to say something. I was a protista. I was a passenger, yet I just rode shotgun with him for the last four hours. We had history. We had cred.

It’s always nice to be nice.