Wow, so I wasn't having a great day, because my sleep last night was sandwiched by panic attack/crying jags about the sorry state of my life. But then at lunchtime I got my daily email about free things to do in the city, and the highlight of today was a discussion between Anthony Bourdain and David Chang (of Momofuku fame, who I mentioned a few posts ago) about Chang's new hit cookbook at the Barnes and Noble in Union Square.
So I went early, I waited, I watched. It was glorious. Both Bourdain and Chang were hilarious. Tony mentioned Singapore and our hawker centers like 4 times in one hour because he wants New York to have hawker centers too. I felt comforted listening to that wonderful voice that guides me through many a Tivo-ed No Reservations episode. My spirits were lifted. I laughed, I cried, I Tweeted.
Then the reading was over and Chang started signing his books, while Tony skulked out the back. My friends and I walked out of Barnes and Noble, happy to have gotten our Bourdain fix, and I muttered something about how much he liked Singapore ... and then we all almost collectively ran in to him. My friend screamed a little, I gasped, and we all did a 180 and huddled in a corner nervously laughing, trying to figure out which one of us should muster up the courage to ask him to take a photo. This was how the negotiations went down:
M (to me): You do it! You're from Singapore!
B (to M): What does that have to do with anything? You're in PR! You went ... to Harvard!
B (to H): And you ... you just got promoted! You do PR, this is ... your job to talk to people!
M (to me again): But you're from SINGAPORE!
Evidently, we got nowhere, but this entire conversation happened while he was standing well within earshot of us. And then he left in his chauffeured black car and we left picture-less. But its okay, we got to share the same breathing space as our favorite travelling chef for a brief moment. Even if he did look one of us straight in the eye as if we were batshit crazy.
So I went early, I waited, I watched. It was glorious. Both Bourdain and Chang were hilarious. Tony mentioned Singapore and our hawker centers like 4 times in one hour because he wants New York to have hawker centers too. I felt comforted listening to that wonderful voice that guides me through many a Tivo-ed No Reservations episode. My spirits were lifted. I laughed, I cried, I Tweeted.
Then the reading was over and Chang started signing his books, while Tony skulked out the back. My friends and I walked out of Barnes and Noble, happy to have gotten our Bourdain fix, and I muttered something about how much he liked Singapore ... and then we all almost collectively ran in to him. My friend screamed a little, I gasped, and we all did a 180 and huddled in a corner nervously laughing, trying to figure out which one of us should muster up the courage to ask him to take a photo. This was how the negotiations went down:
M (to me): You do it! You're from Singapore!
B (to M): What does that have to do with anything? You're in PR! You went ... to Harvard!
B (to H): And you ... you just got promoted! You do PR, this is ... your job to talk to people!
M (to me again): But you're from SINGAPORE!
Evidently, we got nowhere, but this entire conversation happened while he was standing well within earshot of us. And then he left in his chauffeured black car and we left picture-less. But its okay, we got to share the same breathing space as our favorite travelling chef for a brief moment. Even if he did look one of us straight in the eye as if we were batshit crazy.
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