on a green day in manhattan

saint patrick’s day falls on tuesday this year. i experienced the irish celebration for the first time a year ago in manhattan. i loved it and as well as fun-loving people in new york. masaco and i visited jason and ivo last march. jason placed a vase of cheerful egg-york yellow daffodils welcoming us in his guest room. the night we arrived at their upper east apartment, jason brought us 4 champagne flutes and a bottle of veuve-clicquot from his fridge and offered a reunion toast before going out to a restaurant for our first dinner. how i loved the night. and how i’ve treasured the memory for a year. that was one of absolutely fabulous evenings i’ve ever had in my life.


on saint patrick’s day, tomona, masaco’s new yorker girlfriend, invited us to her ex-boss’s party at the peninsula hotel on 5th avenue. he is rich and of perky irish descent and i heard he’d throw a saint patrick’s day party every year. neither of masaco and i prepared anything for the green party, but at least we both fortunately had our own green scarves to wear for the party. to my surprise, the majority of his guests were from the fbi. that was what tomona told masaco and me. they were in plain clothes so i couldn’t figure out who were the fbi staff and who were not, though. they all looked more than light-headed, anyway, enjoying the live performance of irish music.


after the party, we walked up 5th avenue to meet my darling friend, gary, who had invited masaco and me to a broadway musical the previous night. in front of the barney’s, where we were supposed to meet, i spotted movie stars: robin williams and michael j. fox. although i am no big fan of them, it was fun to see hollywood stars. gary was leaving new york for his los angels home later that day. the sad thing now is, he’s lost contact with me since i last wrote him expressing my concerns over his financial commitment with a new man last summer. i could've have written what gary didn’t want to hear from me? well, it hurts. on the other hand, i was so happy to hear when jason and ivo was getting married in san francisco last autumn.


meanwhile, that new york trip was my first time i’d seen quinoa – what was it? what would its taste like be? i had no idea. ivo cooked it. i learned quinoa had a unique texture. it was so tasty as well. mostly owing to ivo's talent: he is an excellent cook. i can never find it back home. i should've bought a small bag of quinoa then. as i am so keen on food shopping even on a holiday, i enjoyed cooking in their kitchen, too. i shopped food at their nearby rather “posh” supermarket almost everyday. i was a greedy piggy to taste america, while the flavour of argula (rocket or rucola), which is my favourite green, less nutty than ones in britain or japan disappointed me a bit.


anything green reminds me of saint patrick’s day i adored during my last new york trip. simply, i miss manhattan. like crazy.