This monkey wasn't meant to ice skate...

Hola amigos,

Came back from a good NYC/NJ weekend. Went to Nutley, New Jersey to visit the cousins and family there. Four hour drive wasn't bad. Cousins didn't even ask to stop, by which I was highly impressed. They made it by munching on snacks the whole way there. We arrived a little after 12pm Friday. Lo and behold, mi madre was standing there with a cynical, happy smile. Apparently, her, the father figure and siblings came the night before on a surprise visit. Pretty cool.

Went to Times Square that night and reveled in the mass adverstising and light show that probably takes more electricity than all of Pakistan. If you've never been, it's quite the experience. A tad overwhelming if you aren't used to big cities, but cool, no less. Our destination was Rockefeller Center. We made it, only to go to the bathroom and walk right back for the bus we came in on. But still, we managed to check out the Hershey store and what not. Good times. Need to ask my brother for the pictures he took...if you're reading this...send 'em.

Next day we went bowling and kinda just chilled at the house, playing video games, watching the Street Fighter movie (cannot believe how bad that movie is...). I think the rest of the family watched 'Finding Nemo' twice in a row. Counted down the New Year with Dick Clark. That stroke has really taken a toll on him, but good to see him still out and about.

Next day, ma familia left for Ohio. The rest of us went ice skating. My Maryland cousins (the ones I live with) had never gone before (I think), but they got the hang of it pretty quickly. I was doing fairly well myself until I decided to be a klutz and sprain my right ankle. It's about twice the size now and feels really pudgy. Still hurts. Probably wasn't a good idea to drive six hours with it, but I didn't have many other options. Anyway, after the ice rink, a support bandage and some Tylenol, we headed into NYC to get food from this place called Platters. It's actually a cart on the corner of 53rd and 6th I think? But apparently, it's the most well known cart in the city. We waited two hours for that food!! The line was huge!! But ah...it was worth it. Some of the best chicken-and-gyro-with-rice combo around. For $6, it could feed me twice. So good. Came back home, chowed down on the food and ended up watching an Indian flick called Bunty and Bubbli. It's a take on Bonnie and Clyde (sort of) with a little "Catch Me If You Can" thrown in. Pretty decent flick. If you're into Indian films, check it out. Amitab Bachan shows up again though...he's turning into the Samuel L. Jackson of India in that he's in freakin' everything! But I still give props to Sammy J. Baddest mofo around.

Left Monday afternoon...took 6 hours on a bum foot due to traffic and rain...grrrr. Ah well, we made it back ok.

All in all, a good weekend. We'll see how the ankle does. Hope everyone had a good new year. More Mad Monkeyisms coming in 2006!

Peace!