Queens, NY + The Christmas Knife
I'm a little bit enamored of the idea of Queens, NY. I've never been there except for riding to and from JFK and LaGuardia, which doesn't count. But I've heard there is a large population of Mandarin speakers in Flushing, Queens, and I really, really wanna hang out in Mandarin-speaking Chinatown for a day or two.
Historically, the majority of Chinese who immigrated to the U.S. were Cantonese speakers; hence Szechuan food instead of Sichuan food. (I'm gonna call it: Sichuan wins. But actually they speak Sichuan dialect, not Mandarin, in Sichuan province. China is kinda complicated.) But some of that is changing and Flushing is one of those areas. I supposed not many people dream of a vacation in Queens, but I've rescheduled my Boston trip for St. Patrick's Day/Evacuation Day next March and I'm trying to work out swinging by NYC a few days prior. If so, I'm definitely going to Flushing. I need to eat some delicious foods and buy sketchy Chinese products I miss.
(As a side note, I went for dim sum last week-- $44 dollars! That can buy you about a year's supply of street food in my city. I was horrified.)
Is there someplace you've always dreamed of going that isn't a common tourist destination? And why it is a meaningful place to you?
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In my family we have something called The Christmas Knife. My mom loves wrapping our gifts in boxes with LOTS of tape, so you can't get into the present unless you rip the boxes open with your bare hands or use a knife to cut all the tape. So before we open gifts, we grab a knife and sit in a circle with our Christmas Knife in our lap. I think this tradition would make an excellent kids' book.
Can I admit how much I hate wrapping gifts? It runs in my family. My sister said on Sunday she is tempted to just bring all of her presents to my mom's house in a big bag and hand them out unwrapped. I said, do it! At least we won't need our Christmas Knife.
We always open presents on Christmas Eve, it's the Chilean way. You have to eat every hour from 5 PM to whenever you finally go to bed, then you sleep in, wake up and eat again. Chileans eat all night long on Christmas Eve. It's amazing to see. I usually conk out about 11. (But that's two hours later than my normal bedtime!)
Historically, the majority of Chinese who immigrated to the U.S. were Cantonese speakers; hence Szechuan food instead of Sichuan food. (I'm gonna call it: Sichuan wins. But actually they speak Sichuan dialect, not Mandarin, in Sichuan province. China is kinda complicated.) But some of that is changing and Flushing is one of those areas. I supposed not many people dream of a vacation in Queens, but I've rescheduled my Boston trip for St. Patrick's Day/Evacuation Day next March and I'm trying to work out swinging by NYC a few days prior. If so, I'm definitely going to Flushing. I need to eat some delicious foods and buy sketchy Chinese products I miss.
(As a side note, I went for dim sum last week-- $44 dollars! That can buy you about a year's supply of street food in my city. I was horrified.)
Is there someplace you've always dreamed of going that isn't a common tourist destination? And why it is a meaningful place to you?
_____________
In my family we have something called The Christmas Knife. My mom loves wrapping our gifts in boxes with LOTS of tape, so you can't get into the present unless you rip the boxes open with your bare hands or use a knife to cut all the tape. So before we open gifts, we grab a knife and sit in a circle with our Christmas Knife in our lap. I think this tradition would make an excellent kids' book.
Can I admit how much I hate wrapping gifts? It runs in my family. My sister said on Sunday she is tempted to just bring all of her presents to my mom's house in a big bag and hand them out unwrapped. I said, do it! At least we won't need our Christmas Knife.
We always open presents on Christmas Eve, it's the Chilean way. You have to eat every hour from 5 PM to whenever you finally go to bed, then you sleep in, wake up and eat again. Chileans eat all night long on Christmas Eve. It's amazing to see. I usually conk out about 11. (But that's two hours later than my normal bedtime!)
Comments
I don't have a untouristy spot I want to visit...but I need one.
The Christmas knife? Sounds dangerous. Love the eating part though...your family rocks!
We do eat a lot, that's not an exaggeration!
My weird vacation idea? Devil's Tower to reinact Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Sculpting it out of mashed potatoes just isn't doing it for me anymore!
Go to Queens!!
My 13 yr old daughter and I made home-made gingerbread cookies today. Tomorrow: Santa's Whiskers (my fave) and oatmeal/raspberry squares. The eating NEVER ENDS... it's insane.
Feliz Navidad!!
Minus the Christmas Knife though.
That's your special thing :-D
Your March vacation sounds ideal and perfectly tailored to you, my dear. You'll have a blast, I just know it. Personally big cities bring out the agoraphobe in me so I avoid them like the plague, I dream of touring the coasts of Nova Scotia from beginning to end some day, in a tiny winnebago - even a VW camper.
*dreamy*