Emotional Caffeine

Thanksgiving in New York City

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It's only been a little over a week, but with the Christmas air seeping in, it feels like months ago since Thanksgiving. Nonetheless, I'm still doing a Thanksgiving post to share how my family and I spent our very first one here in the East Coast.

My parents arrived the weekend before so they can spend the holiday with us. In all the years they've lived in the United States, they've never been to New York City. My moving to this side of the country finally gave them a perfectly good reason to come and see the Big Apple.

For all the years my late grandfather lived in California, he'd always made it a point to watch all those nationally-televised parade, albeit from the living room. The Macy's Annual Thanksgiving Parade was one of his favorites. Unfortunately, we lost him last year, and never had the chance to see it live. The parade watching must have left a lasting impression to my dad that, as soon as the idea of a possible Thanksgiving in NYC surfaced, he immediately said that he wishes to experience the it. And so, we did.

We were trying to get to the Sheraton Hotel and Towers on 7th Avenue and 53rd Street where my friend, Audrey, has rented a room with a view. Unfortunately, 53rd was among the roads that were blocked and an NYPD cop (I could have just typed "cop", but "NYPD" just has a special ring to it) told us to detour on 52nd. What divine orchestration it was that, despite the size of the city and the sea of people who also came out for the experience, we chanced upon Ken's relatives on 7th and 52nd. They were able to secure themselves a good spot and they squeezed us in as they did so in their home before our place became available, that we abandoned the original plan of watching the festivities from Audrey's hotel room. Although, of course, before seeing Ken's folks, we already told Auds that, given the roadblocks, we couldn't promise to make it to her room. It was very apt, too, to have seen Ken's relatives. I was so thankful to have had the opportunity to spend the occasion with family, especially with those who have helped us so much - the very people that I'm so thankful for.

The plan was to just walk around Midtown Manhattan after the parade until the hotel rooms we were renting overnight were ready for us to check in. So, we went straight to Central Park for the kids to play and had lunch at one of the cafes in Columbus Circle.

Remember Audrey? That friend whose hotel we were going to crash for the parade? We invited her and her family to join us for Thanksgiving dinner, but they had to cancel on the last minute for reasons I will not divulge. ;p

We had reservations at Albert Tavern Hall in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. We decided to forego the Thanksgiving prix fixe and just ordered from their regular menu.

Top left: cheeseburger; top right: halfed half roasted chicken; bottom left: lamb shank; bottom right: fish and chips.

We ate. We drank. We were are merry. We toasted for all the blessings we received this year, particularly my family's move to the east coast. Because in spite being miles away from their apos, my parents know, as much as we do, that the decision to move here is a right one.

Here's to this year's bounty!

Have a great holiday season, everyone!