Cirque and Chinese
Aug. 30th, 2009 12:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bex77Saturday was a day of extremes.
I started with the somber send-off for Senator Kennedy in the morning, shared with my parents who are in "completely low-key" mode. Then I switched to the high energy celebration that is the magical and marvelous "Alegria" on Cirque du Soleil filling my afternoon, and topped it off with the cacophony and Chinese food at the Shanghai Gate in the evening.
I don't think much about Boston these days, sticking to this side of the river and all that Cambridge, Somerville and Arlington have to offer. But yesterday was a Boston-centric day, with the unfamiliar scenes around the church in Mission Hill, to the brand new Agganis Area near BU, and finally to the busy corner of Comm Ave. and Harvard Ave. in Allston.
The send-off they gave Teddy at the Kennedy Library Friday evening was a hoot...filled with upbeat tunes hymns and "When Irish Eyes are smiling" and humor and modern grace of that building. The funeral on Saturday was a somber affair...Mahler, Brahms, Ave Maria and Panis Angelicus...oof. But good speeches all around and amazing logistics in moving all those people around that gladdened my little administrator's heart.
My favorite story all week was on the radio when a reporter asked a janitor in line at the wake why he was there, and he told them of working in a downtown office building and shyly approaching the Senator who was waiting to make a speech. He told him of his mother in Ireland who loved the Kennedys so. The Senator grabbed a phone and said, "Let's call her right now!" And he kept the big-wigs waiting for 10 minutes while he chatted with the guy's mom in Ireland! The other sweet story came from Gov. Patrick on Friday evening, talking of Ted going to Rabin's funeral in Israel, and when it was over and the cameras were gone, he sprinkled over the grave some dirt over he brought from the Arlington National Cemetery near Bobby and Jack's grave.
Then, thanks to the incredible generosity of my little sister, it was off to Cirque du Soleil's show "Alegria." It was my first Cirque show. I was enthralled with the magical combination of the elements plucked from a circus, a ballet, a gymnastics competition and the theater, swirled around into the most amazing show! We had fourth row center seats, where the ringmaster Fleur came right at us, and the Nostalgic Old Birds were close enough to pinch their protruding butts, and the clown "boinked" N. on the head! We were in the swirl of snow at the end of the first act....and could see every ripple and bulge of the muscles of the gymnastic men. Yum. The only downside was that it took half an hour to escape the clutches of the underground garage!
We sped off to Allston to meet up with the rest of our gang for a Chinese supper at Shanghai Gate.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/shanghai-gate-allston
It's more authentic than many of the Chinese places we frequent, which is both exciting and scary. Not an egg roll in sight! We ordered a delicious round of appetizers including scallion pancake, cheese rolls, wonton soup, a minced tofu/mushroom/spinach cold mix that seemed like Chinese tabouli, and some of the best pork dumplings I've had in a while. Then it was on to the entrees - Paradise Mountain Chicken (dry chunks stir-fried with chili peppers), ma pa tofu, sauteed string beans in garlic, black bean chicken, scallion beef with onions, yu shiang pork that came with buns to make little tacos of yumminess. The dish names are the same as many we order regularly, but had different ingredients or prep that made them new and wonderful. All this bounty for seven people was under $100! It was a very special treat. Many of the dishes are getting better and better in my memory so I may have to go back soon.
Many thanks to the Kennedys, my parents, my sister, the athlete/actor/singers of Cirque, the Chinese chef and the patient babysitters who made all the wonders of yesterday possible.
I started with the somber send-off for Senator Kennedy in the morning, shared with my parents who are in "completely low-key" mode. Then I switched to the high energy celebration that is the magical and marvelous "Alegria" on Cirque du Soleil filling my afternoon, and topped it off with the cacophony and Chinese food at the Shanghai Gate in the evening.
I don't think much about Boston these days, sticking to this side of the river and all that Cambridge, Somerville and Arlington have to offer. But yesterday was a Boston-centric day, with the unfamiliar scenes around the church in Mission Hill, to the brand new Agganis Area near BU, and finally to the busy corner of Comm Ave. and Harvard Ave. in Allston.
The send-off they gave Teddy at the Kennedy Library Friday evening was a hoot...filled with upbeat tunes hymns and "When Irish Eyes are smiling" and humor and modern grace of that building. The funeral on Saturday was a somber affair...Mahler, Brahms, Ave Maria and Panis Angelicus...oof. But good speeches all around and amazing logistics in moving all those people around that gladdened my little administrator's heart.
My favorite story all week was on the radio when a reporter asked a janitor in line at the wake why he was there, and he told them of working in a downtown office building and shyly approaching the Senator who was waiting to make a speech. He told him of his mother in Ireland who loved the Kennedys so. The Senator grabbed a phone and said, "Let's call her right now!" And he kept the big-wigs waiting for 10 minutes while he chatted with the guy's mom in Ireland! The other sweet story came from Gov. Patrick on Friday evening, talking of Ted going to Rabin's funeral in Israel, and when it was over and the cameras were gone, he sprinkled over the grave some dirt over he brought from the Arlington National Cemetery near Bobby and Jack's grave.
Then, thanks to the incredible generosity of my little sister, it was off to Cirque du Soleil's show "Alegria." It was my first Cirque show. I was enthralled with the magical combination of the elements plucked from a circus, a ballet, a gymnastics competition and the theater, swirled around into the most amazing show! We had fourth row center seats, where the ringmaster Fleur came right at us, and the Nostalgic Old Birds were close enough to pinch their protruding butts, and the clown "boinked" N. on the head! We were in the swirl of snow at the end of the first act....and could see every ripple and bulge of the muscles of the gymnastic men. Yum. The only downside was that it took half an hour to escape the clutches of the underground garage!
We sped off to Allston to meet up with the rest of our gang for a Chinese supper at Shanghai Gate.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/shanghai-gate-allston
It's more authentic than many of the Chinese places we frequent, which is both exciting and scary. Not an egg roll in sight! We ordered a delicious round of appetizers including scallion pancake, cheese rolls, wonton soup, a minced tofu/mushroom/spinach cold mix that seemed like Chinese tabouli, and some of the best pork dumplings I've had in a while. Then it was on to the entrees - Paradise Mountain Chicken (dry chunks stir-fried with chili peppers), ma pa tofu, sauteed string beans in garlic, black bean chicken, scallion beef with onions, yu shiang pork that came with buns to make little tacos of yumminess. The dish names are the same as many we order regularly, but had different ingredients or prep that made them new and wonderful. All this bounty for seven people was under $100! It was a very special treat. Many of the dishes are getting better and better in my memory so I may have to go back soon.
Many thanks to the Kennedys, my parents, my sister, the athlete/actor/singers of Cirque, the Chinese chef and the patient babysitters who made all the wonders of yesterday possible.
