Cousin from Japan...

[LuvDuke]

In 1981, my cousin from Naples, Italy came to visit us for 1 week. He had 1 request: He wanted to visit Gilley's Bar in Houston, TX. Houston, TX was 1800 miles from us .......... 1 way.

Yanno, we had 3 drivers and we did it. We had a blast. To this day, he still has the photo of all of us at Gilley's.

 

[L107ANGEL]

Rick you have me laughing so hard here!

 

[laurie31]

ROTFL!!

When I read the OP I thought, "Man, they're going to have a busy week! They'll never see half that!" And then I found out it wasn't a week, but a DAY?!

Okay - here's what you do. Over the next few days, take some nice photos of the aformentioned desired landmarks. When Dear Cousin arrives, take a nice photo of her. Then just photoshop her in! Volia - proof positive for all her friends back home that she saw it all!

 

[FroggyinArk]

rick i reiterate,, if you do not write a book soon,, i'm going to compile your posts into an unauthorized autobiorgaphy and offer to share the royalties with joe for extra tidbits, you are too good man,,,

 

[Froggyswife]

Hello Rick!
Frog behave yourself!
Rick I love your posts but I have to ask....How DO you get yourself into these situations! Oh and what pray tell is poor Joe going to do through all this....listen to a martini induced gripe session from his significant other? Poor Joe!

 

[DaisyD]

We did all that in 3 days! You have it easy! LOL!

 

[RickinNYC]

Hello Rick!
Frog behave yourself!
Rick I love your posts but I have to ask....How DO you get yourself into these situations! Oh and what pray tell is poor Joe going to do through all this....listen to a martini induced gripe session from his significant other? Poor Joe!

Joe? He can't take the time off from work. Big bad teacher man that he is. He did, however, kindly offer to join us for dinner. Aint that just swell?

 

[Froggyswife]

Joe? He can't take the time off from work. Big bad teacher man that he is. He did, however, kindly offer to join us for dinner. Aint that just swell?

Yes that is very nice of him to offer up his little amount of spare time to help out with the entertaining of said cousin and mom.

 

[shirleyb]

A few years ago a friend of mine had a friend visiting for a week from the UK. Keep in mind she was coming to Pennsylvania. While she was here, she wanted to visit NYC, Miami, Washington DC, the Grand Canyon, and Hollywood. I'm thinking she didn't really understand how large the US is.....

 

[CinderellaIam]

You are truly a Saint for even attempting to do this! Your plan sounds great!

Can I make one suggestion? If it's not too, too late after dinner on that last night, why not take a trip to the top of the Empire State Building? I think that would be a great way to cap off her trip! Most people don't realize that they are open until Midnight Sun-Thurs and 2 AM Fri, Sat & Sun. In my experience there is very little to no wait at night, especially this (freezing) time of year!

 

[L107ANGEL]

A few years ago a friend of mine had a friend visiting for a week from the UK. Keep in mind she was coming to Pennsylvania. While she was here, she wanted to visit NYC, Miami, Washington DC, the Grand Canyon, and Hollywood. I'm thinking she didn't really understand how large the US is.....

 

[fabshelly]

Wow, I'm glad I'm not your guest.

In Japanese culture, it's not enjoying something and taking time when you go to visit somewhere; it's being able to say you visited all of the sites while you were there. It's an honor thing, not a bragging thing.

And if you go visit her in Japan, she'll pay for everything. Japanese graciousness and hospitality is legendary. Tell her "Yonsama Shelly" says hi!

 

[Mad4Mickey]

Tell Joe when I come in the spring to see you ( if my invatation is still good LOL) I may bring Toby to play with joe if he is a good boy LOL
I will want to do all these things and I will add an extra 4 things so it is a nice 20 item list . I will want to do it in 1 weekend . MAKE IT SO NUMBER 1 LOL

 

[ChrizJen]

WOW! You poor thing!

Jen and I made our first trip to New York about a year and a half ago. (We can't wait to go back!!)

We won the trip from a local radio staion, and it was for the Bewitched Premier and afterparty (which were AWESOME by the way!!) We really only had 3 nights and 2 days (and one of those days we had the premier).
Here's what we did:

SATURDAY:
Fly in to JFK on Saturday evening at 4:30. Get to Grand Central around 6:30, check into hotel (Hyatt Grand Central).

Rest in hotel for a few minutes, then go in search of food. We ended up walking to the Empire State Building, and then grabbing some pizza for dinner. That was about it for the first night.

SUNDAY:
Sunday, we were able to get to Central Park, the Guggenheim, the Village, Rockefeller Center, and finally Times Square! (Mind you, most of these places were a quick stop just to get some pictures and to say that we'd been there...the only places we spent any real time were the Guggenheim and Times Square. -Oh, and the Village because we sorta got lost! LOL) Needless to say, we were absolutely exhausted by the end of the day!!!


MONDAY:
We decided to hit The Statue of Liberty on Monday. That was really the only thing the whole time that we underestimated the time it would take. We thought we would maybe get one more thing in that day, but it pretty much took the entire day until we had to get to the theater for the Bewitched premier. Monday night we went to the premier and party, then went back to the hotel and slept.

TUESDAY
Then Tuesday our flight was out of LaGuardia at noon.


While we would LOVE to have been able to throw in a nice Broadway show, and maybe a little more shopping, we absolutely LOVED our marathon trip, and we were SO impressed with the people, the city, and the efficiency of the public transportation!! New York ROCKS!

Anyway, back to your predicament: Your cousin is just going to have to deal with the fact that she can't do and see everything in just a couple of days! She'll just have to plan another trip. Good luck and have fun with your Mom and cousin!!

-Christal

 

[RickinNYC]

Wow, I'm glad I'm not your guest.

In Japanese culture, it's not enjoying something and taking time when you go to visit somewhere; it's being able to say you visited all of the sites while you were there. It's an honor thing, not a bragging thing.

And if you go visit her in Japan, she'll pay for everything. Japanese graciousness and hospitality is legendary. Tell her "Yonsama Shelly" says hi!

1. My mother is Japanese
2. I am half Japanese and am very familiar with the culture because
3. I lived in Japan for six years

I suggest you reread my post and understand that my tongue is firmly placed in cheek.

ETA: Please understand that her expectations and requests in terms of what she wants to do in NYC in the very, VERY short time she will be here is completely and totally 100% impossible.

 

[bigmerle1966]

This is going to end in a really funny story isn't it Rick?

Rick, I had no idea you had jet packs and Donald Trump to make that plan possible. Two nights and one full day?!? I did a mental pricing and time accounting of just the first few. Empire State, $40 and 4 hours ... Chinatown, probably $100 and 5 hours ... Steakhouse, with wine, at least $250 and 3 hours ... Blue Man Group, $300 and 5 hours ...

She's nuts. You're a nice man. Handling this with a lot of grace.

P.S. Having met him, I think that Joe is probably faintly amused by this.

P.P.S. go look at the video.

Lets break it down:

Empire State Building- $40
Chinatown- $100
Steeakhouse- $350 (made this larger, something tells me there will be lots of alchohol)
Blue Man Group- $300
Spending time with Mom and cousin- Priceless

rick i reiterate,, if you do not write a book soon,, i'm going to compile your posts into an unauthorized autobiorgaphy and offer to share the royalties with joe for extra tidbits, you are too good man,,,

Do it!

 

[rkrivas]

Your story reminds me of what my husband and kids (ages 8 and 5) recently endured! We had a family of four visit from FL and they wanted to see NYC. Since my husband and kids were off over Christmas, they got the pleasure of taking them, while I enjoyed the quiet sanity of my office.

They went to the city on Thursday and left around 9:00 a.m. I came home from work and received a call around 9:30 p.m. from my husband. He said that in the course of one day, they visited the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, 5th Avenue, Central Park, Chinatown and they just got to Little Italy for dinner. I asked if the kids were still alive!

Keep your sense of humor -- it will be definitely be tested!

 

[RickinNYC]

Your story reminds me of what my husband and kids (ages 8 and 5) recently endured! We had a family of four visit from FL and they wanted to see NYC. Since my husband and kids were off over Christmas, they got the pleasure of taking them, while I enjoyed the quiet sanity of my office.

They went to the city on Thursday and left around 9:00 a.m. I came home from work and received a call around 9:30 p.m. from my husband. He said that in the course of one day, they visited the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, 5th Avenue, Central Park, Chinatown and they just got to Little Italy for dinner. I asked if the kids were still alive!

Keep your sense of humor -- it will be definitely be tested!

That's almost exactly what Dad said to me years ago. "Keep your sense of humor as you get older, you're gonna need it."

 

[Lachesis00]

You crack me up!! Thoughts to myself If I ever want to hang with Tourguide Rick give him at least 2 weeks to show me around! LOL

Seriously I was amazed at her list! It's too bad you couldn't say "pick the top 5 things you really want to do..."

You are a good man and a good son Rick!! I'd probably hand her a map and say go for it!

Actually, I wouldn't dream of saying any of the above because the other Japanese chick in the room, aka Mommie Dearest, DOES speak English and will crank up the Momzilla for the rest of the day and do constant back head slaps through the morning into the evening. She's 5' tall, I'm 6'4". How 71 year old woman is able to hop up and smack me while walking full tilt boogie down Fifth Avenue while clutching a purse and Sachs bag, I'll never know, but she's done it before. -I was gonna say don't think it can't be done Just ask my son!- It's a constant source of amusement for Joe.

By this time, it's getting on dinner so we head back to their hotel so they can drop off their loot. Mom will complain that her feet hurt and that she's an old woman and shouldn't be doing this kind of thing, all in English of course. Then she'll turn to the Wacky Chick and say something in Japanese, all bright and cheery, along the lines of "Aren't you enjoying yourself? This is SO exciting and I just can't wait to see what Ricky has planned next!!!" To which I'll call her a big fat liar (in English of course) and then bribe her with another margarita.

Then back to the hotel so Mom can take off her shoes, Wacky Chick can put away her bounty and I can sit and mull over the events of the day. Because they will be chattering away in Japanese, I'll smile and nod as usual. Occasionally Mom will gesticulate wildly at me and they'll both giggle, I'll start in on "What'dyousay? What'shappening? Quittalkingaboutme."

 

[rascalmom]

Ok - I am in the process of planning a "dream trip" to NYC with my two teen daughters. I don't have any relatives to abuse (sorry - meant visit ), so I am wondering how much time to plan to see pretty much all of things on that list and see 3 or 4 Broadway shows.

I don't have to do the fancy steak house or Blue Man Group, but we will need a bit of shopping time . I can ditch the teens for the martinis!

Let me know how much time we need to plan & I will send you our dates - we will be needing those tour guide services!