Bucket List Accomplishment: Eating food from a Ninja

It was a wonderfully magic day full of ice skating and ninjas and family.  Last week my wife's niece visited NYC and sang at Carnegie Hall with her school choir, so of course my wife and I went into the city to visit her. 

My niece has a deep passion for flags and was overjoyed when we visited Rockefeller plaza, surrounded by the flags of every nation.  And I was surprised to discover that the ice skating rink was still operating in late April.  I've always wanted to go skating in Rockefeller Plaza and when I saw there was no line, I jumped at this opportunity.  There were children playing, grown-ups performing and as I drifted in slow circles to the music if felt like the giant buildings were dancing.  There were also flags and people from many nations (and the Greek Sun God Apollo) watching me enjoy life as I floated across the ice.  It was a wonderful and surreal experience and if you're ever in New York City when it's not summer, please find a park somewhere to go skating.  You won't forget it.

 30 Rock from the Ice Rink

 

The World's Most Famous Ice Skating Rink?

My Wife, My Niece, and Apollo, God of the Sun

Falling into the Camera

Our next stop was to check something else off my bucket list: Eating at a NINJA restaurant.  Before we could even get to our dinning room in the ninja castle, we were already encountering adventures.  The first ninja we encountered offered us the option of taking an easy path or a dangerous path to our food.  So, like most of my life, I opted to take the dangerous path.  With ninja speed our host pushed on the wall and a door slid open to reveal a dark and narrow secret passageway.  There may or may not have been a ninja who jumped from the shadows at the end of the passageway that DEFINITELY did not make me yelp in surprise, no matter what my wife may tell you.

Traversing the Secret Passageway

After we were seated, we were treated to a wonderful display of culinary theater. It was pretty much what you'd expect from a Ninja restaurant: Our menus were on ancient scrolls, our food was set on fire and we had to solve a riddle just to open our drinks.  Many of the dishes included an element of theater or excitement, there are dishes that explode with fire, float on mist, and even one that comes with something called 'cinibacon'. At one point I ate sushi covered with pop rocks and had to karate chop a wall of hard cheese before I could eat my salad.  And of course everything was delicious.

Floating Sashimi

Fire Ninja

 Ninja Magic Show

Ninja Star Chocolate Mousse Dessert

At the end of the evening, our ninja offered to give us the meal for free if I could defeat him in physical combat.  His kung-fu was much greater than mine, which is too bad because it was a rather expensive meal though well worth it.  Our server was really a very interesting guy.  He was from Texas and told us he was a ninja/cowboy hybrid who actually broke several ribs trying to ride a bull in California and once went all the way to South Korea for a modeling job that he never got paid for.  I will definitely return to the 'Ninja Restaurant' because our server told us there are three locations, one in New York City and two in Japan!  I can't wait to go again either in Kyoto or Tokyo.

 Battling for a Free Dinner

The Face of Defeat

We ended our evening with a quick trip to Washington Square Park, which is always beautiful.  Although I do like it better during the day than the night.

 All Photos Copyright Jeff Howick 2011

This Week's Bucket List Additions 11

The last three years, which I've spent living on the East Coast of America, have been very exciting.  I've been whale watching off the coast of New England, seen nine Broadway plays, danced on stage during Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and rafted down the Delaware river.  But there are still several adventures that I'd like to have before we leave the East Coast. This week's bucket list additions are all things I want to do before we leave New Jersey in June.

-Visit Niagara Falls.  Difficulty Rating 5 out of 10:
I've been to the Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania, but I have yet to see the real thing.  I love waterfalls, the dance of water and the chaos of sounds they make soothes me.  I hear that at Niagara, there's a boat which takes you so close, you have to wear a rain coat.  Also, along the way to Niagara I want to visit Buffalo, NY birthplace of buffalo wings and taste some at the restaurant where they were created.

From a journey to Bushkill Falls, PA for one of our anniversaries

 Copyright Jeff Howick 2011

 Copyright Jeff Howick 2011

-See New York City from above.  Difficulty Rating 3 out of 10:
I've had pretty much all of the classic New York City experiences since we came to New Jersey in 2008.  I've been lost on the subways, visited the Statue of Liberty, purchased a fake designer handbag from a locked basement in Chinatown, had a picnic in Central Park, woke up at the crack of dawn to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, and ice skated with my wife at a park.  But I've never been to the top of the Empire State Building or any other observation deck.  NYC is a city full of beautiful buildings and beautiful parks.  It has a great skyline and I'd love to see the city from the top of the Empire State Building or another equally high place, like Top of the Rock.

The Skyline of New York City

 Copyright Jeff Howick 2011

-Eat Lobster in Maine.  Difficulty Rating 5 out of 10:
We took a trip to New England last year for our third anniversary, but we never made it to Maine because the timing belt in our car broke.  We were stranded in Provincetown at the tip of cape cod for a few days, which is not a bad place to be stuck, and we ended up having a very relaxing vacation.  But I never got to visit the beautiful coasts of Maine or see if they really do serve lobster rolls at McDonalds in Maine like the rumors I have heard.  I hope that I'll have a chance to visit this quiet, pristine state before we depart.

A lobster roll I had in Cape Cod

 Copyright Jeff Howick 2011

-Walk along the Boardwalk in Atlantic City.  Difficulty Rating 2 out of 10:
If you've ever played monopoly, then you're familiar with Atlantic City's Boardwalk.  It's literally a walk made of boards that winds along the beach with a row of shops and fun alongside.  Like Park Place, Marvin Gardens and every other property in Monopoly, it's a real place in Atlantic City.  Although I do think a handful of the Monopoly places have been demolished over the years to make way for new malls or casinos.  I want to stroll along the wooden planks in Atlantic City surrounded by happy people with the beach on one side and salt water taffy vendors on the other and soak up the feeling of summer before I leave the beaches of New Jersey that have been my home for the last year.

Ghost Towers

I went out to my beach a few nights ago and was treated to a spectacular view of New York City.  I think it's great that something so sad can be remembered with such quiet beauty.  I don't have much wisdom to offer about September 11th other than don't generalize, don't take the easy way out, and forgive others if you truly want to move forward.  This advice applies to most of life, but sometimes we can forget it during times of great fear or anger.

View from my beach on September 10th

Spider-man on Broadway

I REALLY hope this show is good. But I'm a little worried. For one, it's already been cancelled and brought back from oblivion once. Also, there are a lot of big names attached: Bono from U2, Julie Taymor who directed the Lion King on Broadway and also the movie 'Across the Universe', and of course the web-slinger himself. Strong, brilliant personalities don't always work out like Rogers & Hammerstein or McCartney & Lennon, sometimes they crash and burn.

I hope this project (I've heard it's not really a musical, but there is a lot of music in it) does really well, not because I particularly love Spider-man (he's ok), but because I'd LOVE to see more superheroes and geek culture icons in Broadway shows.

Joss Whedon in particular seems to have some GREAT properties well suited for Broadway. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is tailor made for Broadway, and Buffy's already proven it can work as a musical on TV. Do I think 'The Incredible Hulk' would work as some kind of mad, operatic Broadway Musical? Heck Yes I Do!

But perhaps the Broadway musical that would MOST excite me would be a 'Final Crisis' Musical. Imagine a chorus of Darkseid's minions chanting as they drag the Earth down into darkness, Batman's death song as he breaks his two most solemn oaths, never to use a gun and never to kill, and of COURSE the shows-stopping number when Superman literally sings the universe back into existence with a song. Final Crisis is everything a good musical should be: Epic, crazy, and colorful.

If Spider-man works on Broadway, maybe...just MAYBE there is hope for a 'Final Crisis' Broadway musical. And since watching that musical is on my bucket list, I sincerely hope 'Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark' is a spectacularly good show.

Do what you love in front of others

"The thing I remember best about successful people I've met all through the years is their obvious delight in what they're doing... and it seems to have very little to do with worldly success. They just love what they're doing, and they love it in front of others." -Mr. Rogers

I think that might just be the best advice I've ever seen or heard: Love what you do, and Love it in front of others. I went into New York City yesterday, and I found people everywhere following this advice

Whether it was two people in love with each other and not afraid to kiss in a fountain.

Or a ninja and photographer capturing incredible feats of human movement, unafraid of being called silly or strange.

Or a man who loves to commune with nature, even in a big city where many people are too busy to notice or care about pesky pigeons.

Or a future entertainer, trying out his new show on the masses. Unafraid of poor reviews or a disinterested audience. (BTW it was a great puppet show.)

That's something I Love about New York City. There are so many people, and so much diversity, people can do almost anything they want and not seem out of place. When people regularly dress as Elmo or the naked cowboy and take pictures with tourists for money, everyone else can be less self conscious. Because compared to waking through times square almost naked and taking thousands of pictures with strangers, whatever you do seems pretty normal. I've heard camera makers use the same psychological tricks. They always produce a fantastically expensive top line model so that their 'mid-range' models seem more reasonable in comparison. Normal is whatever falls between the extreme highs and lows. And New York City is definitely a place of extremes, so you can feel normal doing whatever you want in public.

Too often we hide who we are from others, afraid of judgement or scorn or ridicule. But if you want to be truly happy, you must be strong and do what you Love in front of others. And don't just do it for yourself, doing what you love in public helps others be more comfortable with who they are.

And my last piece of advice is this: ALWAYS stop to watch a children's puppet show.

The Lucky Seagull

You never know when life is going to send you something strange. Here is a picture of the Empire State Building, a Carnival Cruise ship, and a seagull. I don't often smell roses, but I do see strange beauty nearly every day. I love the strange interconnectedness of these things. Pay attention to life, you never know when it will send you a gift or a sign. Click the picture for a better view:

I hope this seagull gets to go on a cruise someday. I'm sure it's already been to the Empire State Building.

Winter in NY & NY 2009

Another season has come and gone, so here's another slide show of what I saw this year. A little taste of winter in the Garden State and the Empire State. Follow the link and please enjoy.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffowick/sets/72157623683587443/show/.

I do love winter, but I am also glad to see it go. Spring is here and I am filled with joy and rebirth.