Michael Plant wrote:
For your future reference, police officers usually,
and subway station attendants nearly always, have
little books that tell them exactly where an address
is located and how to get there. Sorry you didn't
make it to TTG, but hope you had a wonderful time
in New York City.

Oh, believe me I asked about 4 cops and even at two tea shops... no one
knew of it. I even got fed up and hailed a cab and the cab driver said
he didn't know where it was so I gave up. I really wanted to check it
out, I was a bit bummed out in not finding it.

Sorry you didn't find it, but you would have
needed to know the address or the cross streets
to get there. I thought I had e-mailed the address
to you. Cops would not know this shop, nor
should they be expected to.

[on Teany]
We are on the same page. It's a lousy place.

Yeah, Teany was a huge letdown. Moby is actually very into tea and is
very knowledgable and creative... that is why it is even more of a
shame.

Perhaps Mr. Moby is more interested in the money
tea can generate than in the tea itself, at least for
the purpose of this exercise.

Bubble tea is great. You missed the point, which is this:
Draw a "bubble" into the straw, raise the straw, aim at
a passing car, and blow hard. You'll find your aim improves
with time and practice. Try not to hit anyone. That would
spoil the fun.

Damn it! I never even thought of that. Those buggers would be hella fun
to shoot, and I'd imagine that they would dry hard and be a pain in the
arse to get off things. I'm slipping, years back that thought would
have never escaped me.

Yup, growing up is a real bitch. I advise against it.

Well, don't worry. The experience you had is the
experience that counts

Yes, and we had a good time. I really meant no disrespect, and there
were some really cool things... it was just that the actual "wow"
factor wasn't there for me. It was neat and big, and I'm sure there are
tons of things I didn;t see and places to go... but I did hit a lot in
four days and like I said I'd probablyhave a blast living there for a
year but not much more.

Wow factors are different for different people. I know
plenty of places in the world I love to visit, but
prefer not to live in. Sometimes I can't even say
why. You're entitled. Don't sweat it. I will say this,
though: New York is better experienced with locals,
and we are still available for your return trip.

The Empire State building failed to really impress me with the view,
Times Square was OK but not that amazing,

Oh, man, I've completely lost faith in you!

Really? Maybe it is because I used to work in the USX tower in
Pittsburgh and it is almost as tall as the observation deck. Times
Square is big and bright, but Target is Target, and Toys R us is Toys R
us, and Foot Locker is Foot Locker, and Planet Hollywood is... etc. I
must be missing something about it, because it did next to nothing for
me.

In answer to your question, No *not* really.

Rockefeller Center -- or Plaza or whatever -- was the private
domaine of the R family, but it has since been sold, I think,
to a Japanese company. Probably now in the hands of the Saudis.
Every year for one day they close down the center cross street
to maintain their

It was just small, we have an area called Market Square in PGH and
outside the PPG building they have a big ice rink with a huge Christmas
tree and it is actually bigger than Rockefeller Center. Like I said,
the Japanese Book Store Kinoyusha (or something like that) was a
highlight and much better than the Lacoste store with $90 T-shirts and
$125 polo's.

Privately owned. Would you like to buy it? You
most likely don't have as many dollars as that
little area would cost in billions. BTW, I read in
the paper this morning that the city, in order to
raise much needed funds, has put the Brooklyn
Bridge up for sale. I think it would look swell
in PGH. Would you like further information
on that?

I can certainly understand your feelings on this, east
or west home is best, and zu hause ist su hause, but
we don't roll out our seedy underside for just anybody,
Dominic, and you can be glad we have stuff going on
in NYC that you will *not* find on the streets of PGH,
praise God. Unfortunately, the Black Fat Pussy Cat is
no more.

It actually is not a bias for my "home" I have been to many cities and
areas across this country and Canada and I have many favorites and
places I would leave home for in a minute. Bar Harbor, Maine. Toronto,
Canada. Chincoteague, VA. would be on my short list. It is just that
truly Pittsburgh has a ton of things to see and do and a huge diverse
makeup that offers most of the same things as NYC just on a smaller
scale. I have to also state though, that fancy restaraunts, $10
cocktails, high-end shops, and designer clothing/names mean very little
to me... so many of the things that the average tourist fawns over go
by un-noticed by me. We had some great meals at very nice places, and I
had some great Peking Duck. I don't know about Black Fat Pussy Cats,
but an Asian Massage would have been a good time... and yes, we
definitely have those options here too

Asian massage, eh? Now you're really scaring me.

Thanks for your candid thoughts and review.

Michael

Sure, I really mean no offense.. I was just stating my honest appraisal
of what we saw and did. It was fun, and an adventure, it just didn't
really stand out like I thought it would. I'd take the beach for a
vacation any day, and a good solid Saturday in the Strip District for
unique and exotic shops and tea, and Wegmanns Grocery Store in Penn
State for high-end tea.

To each his own, but wouldn't you like to
consider changing the name to something
other than The Strip Joint? It grates against
our NYC sensitivities.

As for the tea, the Jasmine Oolong from Kam Man is a new favorite.
Great Stuff. I'm still a bit miffed that I couldn't find Gyokuro or
Oriental Beauty or a shop that had some extensive Pu-Erh or a good
solid glass gaiwan... but otherwise we had a good time.

Ito En for Gyokuro. The boxed Oriental Beauty from Ten Ren
that you passed up is actually a fine tea, or at least was. Other
than The Tea Gallery, we are not the Pu'erh capital of the world.

Michael