3/16 Saturday. We arrived tired at La Guardia ~11am. Had lunch with my uncle, aunt, and one cousin, within walking distance from where we stayed. But they insisted on driving. Might as well. The snow was getting heavier. After a nap, time for dinner. A different restaurant with the whole family in the same neighborhood. Chinese food cannot be more convenient, except for in China. I took off earlier for Manhattan.
8 pm, Avery Fischer Hall, Bach's Mass in B minor.Alan Gibert, conductor Dorothea Roschmann, soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo soprano Steve Davislim, tenor Eric Owens, bass baritone New York Choral ArtistsThe choir is quite impressive. Bach made fugue like arrangements for the voices. Must be difficult to coordinate. I don't quite care for the solo, nor the instrumental part. Mostly strings, sound old and lack of color. I dozed off a couple of times. Gilbert conducted with big motion. Seems common these days: conductors want the audience to see them?
Avery Fisher Hall is one of the 3 lofty glassy modern buildings in Lincoln Center. At night, lights dancing off the fountain in the central plaza. By now, the snow has stopped. All these well dressed people pouring out of all 3 buildings, chattering in the air, bustling Broadway. Very lively. It's hard not to love New York.
3/17 Sunday. Sunny. Chilly. Dad wanted to visit the Metropolitan Museum (now $25 admission!). He goes there every time he's in New York. So, after a late breakfast at a randomly picked hole in the wall on Main Street (excellent soy drink), we headed to town.Last day of Matisse, a temporary exhibition at the Met. Very nice arrangements, showing quite a few works by their progress. However, we didn't linger long here. Matisse isn't my favorite artist.
Another temporary exhibition Impressionism Fashion is more to my taste.Sau-Wing Lam 林寿荣 Collection of Rare Italian Stringed Instruments lead me to Met's large (5000+ pieces) musical instrument collection. vielle à roue, cecilium, melophone, sita, sarinda, mayuri, vina, tar ... Some look really bizarre. Too bad that you can not hear their sound. In this photo, Lam's daughter is posing in front of some Guarneri's Baltic and Stradivari's Bavarian and Scotland University. Met also planned two concerts in April and May using these violins and lectures about violin making and collecting.
The temple of Dendur area, the Tiffany courtyard are two of my favorite areas to rest between galleries. The 700 year old Buddha of Medicine wall painting is quite impressive. The works by Florine Stettheimer is funny. Lots of tourists today. I didn't see any St Patrick's Day parade. Maybe was yesterday?
Another big dinner, this time with uncle's family and some relative of my aunt's. Afterwards, aunt took me to a big grocery store, and I bought some Chinese veggie and dry food.
3/18 cloudy - snow. Breakfast at the same hole in the wall. I bought some more junk: a pair of slippers for $3, 2 pairs of sunglasses for $2/each. Time for food again. Lunch with a former colleague of dad's and his wife. They have reached 80 already, just came back from a trip to SE Asia. Good to see them both healthy and happy.
