Saturday recap

Sarge is boriqua. Just a term for me to remember.

Anyways, we got up rather early this morning and headed over to Chinatown for dim sum--we decided to go to Chau Chow City, since we weren't feeling particularly adventuresome today and Chiu Chow City is reliable, even if the ha gow is not that great (Sarge loved them nonetheless, and had 6 or so--almost 2 steamers). But they did have ja leung this morning.

Next time I'd like to try Hei la Moon.

Sarge and I took a walk to Downtown Crossing; we were going to stop by the Barnes and Noble there, but it had gone out of business! So, off to Boston Commons and Newbury St. There was a rather attractive greet at FCUK--blonde, Sarge's type. But we didn't go in. No woman accompanying us who could go in and give us an excuse to go in as well... Sarge checked out The North Face. I went to Virgin Megastore, as the store at Newbury and Mass. Ave. was having a going out of business sale (30% off music and movies, 50% off clothing). I of course was in the Early Music Section. Sigh.

In the evening, we met up with Fujian Gal for dinner and a movie. Sarge likes Italian food and the "ambiance" of the North End. Note: parking at Landmark is free for the first 10 minutes. Sigh. We found a parking space on the same street Sarge parked on last time we went to the North End--we were quite lucky! I'd like to think our guardian angels had something to do with it. It was Saturday evening, and the streets were packed with people looking for restaurants and waiting in line. The line at Artu went outside the door (and there were plenty of people inside waiting at the bar and in the waiting area.) I went over to 5 North Square, where the wait was an hour for a table of three. Down the street I went, towards La Summa. It too was packed, and the wait an hour and a half. We didn't even take a look at Il Villagio this time around.

So what were our options? We could have gotten take-out at Artu, but where would we eat it? Or we could go to one of the "fast-food" Italian places on Hanover St. We decided to settle on 5 North Square and wait in line there. So I went back inside and talked to another of the hostesses (there were two--the hostess I talked to the first time around was younger; I'm not sure if they were related to each other) and I wanted to make sure the wait was only an hour. She told me that there had been a cancellation and a table for three was now available! Suprise surprise! Of course I accepted it, and went back outide to get Sarge and Fujian Gal. I'd like to think our guardian angels had something to do with that as well.

Sarge went with the chicken marsala; Fujian Gal ordered the Shrimp Margaretta, and I finally settled on Braciolettini (with chicken). We also ordered the pomodoro--fresh mozzarella cheese, tomato, fresh basil with pure virgin oil, etc. I thought my dish was good, though the chicken was a bit dry--then again, it's hard to keep chicken breast moist, isn't it? Fujian Gal liked hers, but Sarge felt like he had food poisoning. But he survived. Fujian Gal said the quality of the food was about the same as Carlo's Cucina Italiana on Brighton Ave., but the portions at 5 North Square were bigger. She prefers the antipasti at Carlo's. I wonder if Alfredo's Restaurant, also on Brighton Ave., is any good.

After dinner, we did not stick around too long, as it was already 9. After a few attempts to get onto Storrow Drive (my fault for misdirecting us, the sign for the onramp was confusing to me), we made it to the theater, 30 minutes ahead of time. But the theater was packed with movie-goers! Fortunately, we had purchased movie tickets earlier that evening ($3 wasted for 15 minutes of parking!)... the movie? The Departed, Martin Scorcese's re-imagining of the HK film Infernal Affairs. Sarge didn't feel like getting Coldstone since his stomach was still a bit upset. Sarge went in first to get some seats, while I stayed outside in the concessions area to help Fujian Gal buy her drink and some popcorn. Alas, Sarge was able to find seats for us only in front of the rail and the first row of the stadium seats. (There were some Chinese people siting behind us--I'm not sure if the person who had their feet on the rail was Chinese, but that was a bit obnoxious. But his (or her?) feet weren't dangling over my head...)

As for the movie, was it good? I thought it was ok for the most part, but the ending was enough to give me a bad overall impression, especially since it did not take advantage of the obvious ways that had been hinted at to end the story. Fujian Gal disliked the amount of violence in the film; it didn't bother me so much. Undoubtedly there were some scenes cut from the film; one scene didn't really make sense--*when one of William Cartigan's fellow gangsters doesn't reveal that he is the mole, it's not clear why he feels so betrayed by him--the film does not do anything to develop a relationship between the two; in fact, the first time we see this gangster is before the big scene with Captain Queenan*

What do I think of Scorcese after watching this film? I'm not sure. I think William Monaham is credited with the script, but there are plenty of digs at the Church which make me wonder if Scorcese had a hand in it. Can I recommend this movie? I don't think I can, because the letdown of an ending makes it a huge disappointment... the actors do a good job, and I was rather impressed with Leonardo Di Caprio, who was convincing as a tough guy. I didn't get any pretty boy vibes from him at all.

pics to be uploaded later...