A well stocked Chinatown is another well stocked Chinatown as far as
retail. However each Chinatown is inscrutable and the more you think
you know the more you don't know. One of my favorite pastimes
observing the coming and going of beauty salons. As far as I can tell
the guys and gals frequent the same place. I like to discover what the
locals do on Friday nights.

Jim

Dominic T. wrote:
> Lewis Perin wrote:
> > "Dominic T." > writes:
> >
> > > [...joys and sorrows of New York...]
> > >
> > > Not even being biased, but I would believe you could find just about
> > > everything in NYC in PGH more condensed and easily accessible.
> >
> > That's a pretty strong conclusion to derive from spending a few days
> > in New York.
> >
> > /Lew
> > ---
> > Lew Perin /
> > http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html
>
> It's no offense, or slight on NYC, it is just my opinion. If you have
> never experienced the Strip District on a Saturday morning then it is a
> worthwhile trip to PGH. It is lively and filled with ethnic groceries
> of all kinds, fresh produce, and seafood, as well as a few decent tea
> shops and a number of Chinese and Thai groceries.
>
> NYC has the same, but more of them. For the most part though they are
> one after another all selling the same items. So you have 6 blocks of
> stores that are exactly the same, we have 4 stores in 3 blocks all with
> different stuff. We have a whole Jewish area of town, Korean, etc. A
> cultural district, Market Square, small boutique shops, etc.
>
> Don't get me wrong I liked it, it just seemed like a lot of the same I
> see here... I was expecting all new sights/sounds/smells (well you got
> us on smells, at every turn there is a new scent reminiscent of some
> form of armpit or foot to assault your senses
>
> I really enjoyed it there, and we had a good time all around, it just
> didn't wow me like I thought it would. To be fair, it is just a city, a
> really big city... so it makes sense that it is similar in most ways to
> most other cities. I found a few really cool small shops and
> restaraunts and I'm sure there are hundreds more if you know the right
> places and have the inside scoop... but as a tourist and a fairly
> adventurous one it was just a bit less awe-inspiring than I thought it
> would be.
>
> - Dominic