one night we went to staten island (the ferry is free and takes us right under the statue of liberty) at sundown, became so disenchanted with this forgotten borough that we ate chinese food and fled soon thereafter. heather does look wonderful with the sea wind blowing in her hair, though. one night we went to chinatown and had, hands down, the best chinese food we've each ever had. after our meal we walked down canal street where an ornery old coot insisted i buy his strange fruit. "i give you two pounds, one dollar!" he said, obviously doing me a favor. but i wasn't in the market for street fruit, let alone fruit i had never seen before. he gave me a sample, and i sucked its juice. it was slightly sweet, mundane if not tart. i didn't like it that much, and the man shook his fists at me as heather and i walked off. we turned north on mulberry street, into little italy. and looked at shoes and the wannabe Sopranos. if the mafia is dead, tourism killed it.