VIEWING JEROME
My cuz Marissa and her family left to visit her sister Marivic in Jersey today. That left me able to sleep in.
When I finally got up, it was time to get ready to see Jerome's wife Rachelle and my aunt Millette, Jerome's mother. But first, it was time to eat lunch and Jasmine took me to a Chinese restaurant called First Wok on 1570 3rd Ave., on the corner of 88th st. You can visit Restaurant Row and look them up. They have cool lunch specials that includes soup or a free drink. I ordered General Tso's Chicken and the waiter asked me if I wanted it with the honey sauce, or with cabbage and corn. Jasmine suggested the cabbage and corn and I was surprised to find that there was another way to make General Tso's Chicken. Instead of it being like a sweet and sour dish, it was more savory. So my first recommendation is to try General Tso's Chicken this way.
Then Tito Ben and Tita Chit picked us up and I took the reigns of their Honda SUV. The drive out to Long Island's Smithtown was a little less than an hour. Long Island is very different from Manhattan because it has so many more trees. Part of Queens is on Long Island, but the rest of the island is like other East Coast towns I've been to. It's so different than the West Coast because everything looks much older.
I didn't recognize Tita Millette because she had cut her hair really short. She thought I was Paul when she first saw me. But it was nice seeing her but sad considering the circumstances. I was a little afraid to approach Jerome's body at first because I didn't quite know what the protocol was. Do I kneel and pray or can I just stand and look at him? Tita Millette must have sensed my hesitation and offered to look at Jerome with me.
Before we got to do that, she introduced me to Rachelle. She's a pretty girl with some highlights in her hair and her English was pretty good. It's such a bummer that she is already a widow at her age. But as many of my elders have told me, at least she's young enough to start a new life once all this is over.
After a little merienda, we left to go visit K. Benjie, another cousin of mine who lives in Queens. He was in the middle of changing the water in one of two fish tanks he has. He has some really big big-eyed goldfish in a 25 gallon tank, and some smaller fish in another. He also has a little white dog that I practiced some Cesar Milan techniques on so the dog would know who's boss. Then, the entire night, T. Chit kept saying how well behaved the dog was compared to other times when the dog would always jump on her. I smiled quietly knowing that I was probably to blame.
When we got back to Manhattan, Jasmine and I changed clothes and took off to the Westside of town. First stop was the 420 Bar & Lounge. They had some hip-hop going on which was cool and the drinks weren't bad. This is the type of lounge I am diggin' - chill vibe, mix of people and good music. It's always a good sign when you have a DJ. There was also a downstairs area that had some dancing, but we left before we could get our groove on.
It was then time to go to the Dead Poet, a little bar featuring quotes from dead poets. They had these curious drink specials and their main one was the Dead Poet. It featured seven different liquors and supposedly tasted like grape soda. So of course I ordered it and it was damn good. A girl next to us warned me that it was a doosey and I believed her.
After our drink, we went back to the 420 to finish the night off. We had another drink there and when we got back, I felt pretty good. At least until I laid down in bed and realized that the room was spinning a little.
My cuz Marissa and her family left to visit her sister Marivic in Jersey today. That left me able to sleep in.
When I finally got up, it was time to get ready to see Jerome's wife Rachelle and my aunt Millette, Jerome's mother. But first, it was time to eat lunch and Jasmine took me to a Chinese restaurant called First Wok on 1570 3rd Ave., on the corner of 88th st. You can visit Restaurant Row and look them up. They have cool lunch specials that includes soup or a free drink. I ordered General Tso's Chicken and the waiter asked me if I wanted it with the honey sauce, or with cabbage and corn. Jasmine suggested the cabbage and corn and I was surprised to find that there was another way to make General Tso's Chicken. Instead of it being like a sweet and sour dish, it was more savory. So my first recommendation is to try General Tso's Chicken this way.
Then Tito Ben and Tita Chit picked us up and I took the reigns of their Honda SUV. The drive out to Long Island's Smithtown was a little less than an hour. Long Island is very different from Manhattan because it has so many more trees. Part of Queens is on Long Island, but the rest of the island is like other East Coast towns I've been to. It's so different than the West Coast because everything looks much older.
I didn't recognize Tita Millette because she had cut her hair really short. She thought I was Paul when she first saw me. But it was nice seeing her but sad considering the circumstances. I was a little afraid to approach Jerome's body at first because I didn't quite know what the protocol was. Do I kneel and pray or can I just stand and look at him? Tita Millette must have sensed my hesitation and offered to look at Jerome with me.
Before we got to do that, she introduced me to Rachelle. She's a pretty girl with some highlights in her hair and her English was pretty good. It's such a bummer that she is already a widow at her age. But as many of my elders have told me, at least she's young enough to start a new life once all this is over.
After a little merienda, we left to go visit K. Benjie, another cousin of mine who lives in Queens. He was in the middle of changing the water in one of two fish tanks he has. He has some really big big-eyed goldfish in a 25 gallon tank, and some smaller fish in another. He also has a little white dog that I practiced some Cesar Milan techniques on so the dog would know who's boss. Then, the entire night, T. Chit kept saying how well behaved the dog was compared to other times when the dog would always jump on her. I smiled quietly knowing that I was probably to blame.
When we got back to Manhattan, Jasmine and I changed clothes and took off to the Westside of town. First stop was the 420 Bar & Lounge. They had some hip-hop going on which was cool and the drinks weren't bad. This is the type of lounge I am diggin' - chill vibe, mix of people and good music. It's always a good sign when you have a DJ. There was also a downstairs area that had some dancing, but we left before we could get our groove on.
It was then time to go to the Dead Poet, a little bar featuring quotes from dead poets. They had these curious drink specials and their main one was the Dead Poet. It featured seven different liquors and supposedly tasted like grape soda. So of course I ordered it and it was damn good. A girl next to us warned me that it was a doosey and I believed her.
After our drink, we went back to the 420 to finish the night off. We had another drink there and when we got back, I felt pretty good. At least until I laid down in bed and realized that the room was spinning a little.
posted by Tito Eddy at 7:00 PM
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