NYC 2004

The family had never been to New York for Christmas, so we decided to make that our big family outing. We arrived safe and sound at Judy's Mom's house. The boys call her 'Por-Por". Everyone else calls her 'Ma'.

We visited Ma's church on Sunday. There are two separate congregations -- Chinese speaking and English speaking. She was so happy to introduce us to her friends.

We went to lunch after church. Great food!

Little Italy and Chinatown are traditionally separated by Canal Street. But now, Chinatown has moved across the street.

Helen, Judy's sister, invited all the Chan family over for a get-together while we were there. Judy is talking to her niece, Jordan Shakeshaft.

Susan (Judy's sister) and Dean, Susan boyfriend, sit next to Jerry.

Sitting down for some dinner.

Several grandkids -- Elliot Allen, Sammy Allen, Aaron Waldman, Mikey Allen.

Most of the family is in this picture.

Elliot, Judy's nephew.

Judy and her sister, Beanie.

Beanie and her husband, Richie, went with us to see the Manhattan Transfer at the Blue Note. Fabulous!!!

We went to see the Rockettes at Radio city Music Hall.

Fabulous decor at the Radio City.

We're in the theater waiting for the show to start.

Grandious!

Near Rockefeller Center, we stopped to watch ice skaters. It was freezing outside that day!

The decor at Rockefeller Center.

Pretty darn cold!

At home with Judy's mom and sister Susan.

Judy and Ma.

We drove down to see Princeton. Jerry was considering going to school there.

Some of the fabulous Princeton campus.

More of Princeton.

This is the main entrance to Princeton, right behind the gates off Nassau Street. It is a lovely campus.

We went down to see ground zero. Most of the digging is done now.

Ground zero.

More ground zero.

more ground zero.

At a church and cemetary across from ground zero.

One of the oldest churches in New York.

Geof in front of the church.

We visited the fireman's museum in NY.

There were a lot of cool old engines and equipment and stuff.

There were retired firemen telling stories about their experiences.

This is outside Jacques Torres' candy factory in Manhattan.

Here we are at Chelsea market having lunch.

We got most of our lunch from the seafood market, and it was really tasty.

We're walking around near Trump Tower. Jerry had been spending the day with his friends, acting as tour guide. He would call me to ask for locations of landmarks, and then take the subway to these places. His day pass made him feel like a NY native! They ended up at the Trump Tower just when we were there.

This at F.A.O. Schwartz.

We walked on to central park.

We were looking at all the artistry on display.

Geof suggested that we get a charicature of one of the boys, but Judy let a real artist sit David down and start a pencil drawing. He was amazing to watch! He would dab on a little charcoal, smudge it, and poof! An eye would appear.

We knew the artist was really good once David's eyes were done.

Next was Joey.

Almost finished. The price tag for the drawing was almost all the cash we had, but it was worth it. Fortunately for us, the artist is Chinese, so he gave us a lower price. The drawing is great! It hangs in our sunroom.

We're Christmas shopping in NY.