I managed to sleep until 6am. I felt so much better today. Excited to be here, excited even to wake up in darkness to find the World Trade Center hidden in fog and to know that there was a wonderful Chinese bakery downstairs waiting to sell me Hong Kong milk tea and fresh steamed bao for breakfast. Nourished and caffeinated I proceeded to have a wonderful day. The City is truly magical, especially from my window in Chinatown from where I hear its constant sound: a cross between a a roar and a summon. I know it’s the sound of engines and sirens but it feels like something produced by a living being, a mysterious beast I feel compelled to search for and befriend. I ended up walking a lot, walking in Lower Manhattan, a part of town that fascinates me, where I have some very distant memories of my uncle driving us all because my mother liked to walk around in Seaport. In the evening I walked around in Chinatown. I ate lots of dumplings. I bought a lucky rat. I saw a dragon outside my window. I saw a flying horse. Then I went back to my room and had a long phone call with my cousin. I told him about the fur coats and how I might not want to sell them after all. Yet I’m happy I trusted my intuition and took this trip. It’s turning out to be a really interesting adventure after all.
