The Missed Adventures (Part 2)

In this episode of The Missed Adventures, we'll take a look at New York City's vibrant Chinatown! You may remember a few weeks ago (July 29) when I tried to visit there but the pouring rain ruined my plans. Well, I think it was the next day when the sun came back so I finally got to go out and explore the busy streets of Chinatown. And boy, was it bustling! The amazing thing about Chinatown is the sheer number of jewelers, as well as shops with Asian gifts, trinkets, decorations, and collectibles--not to mention the overwhelming selection of Asian restaurants. I'm in heaven! But I didn't go to Chinatown just to check out out all the neat little buddhas, dragon statuettes, and jade jewelry. I had a list of specific stores I wanted to visit--stores with anime collectibles. As usual, I had my radar set on DragonBall. Like my experience here last winter, most of the stores turned out to be a little dissappointing--maybe some keychains, unimpressive mini figures, and random crappy bootleg action figures. However, I found an underground gem in a sort of mini-mall called the Elizabeth Center on Elizabeth Street. The basement floor of this mall is crammed with a bunch of little shops devoted to otaku culture! There are toys, plushies, DVDs, manga, cards, posters--you name it. Some shops are stuffed with cute Sanrio and Japanese Disney stuff, others are lined with Gundam models and shonen action figures. I found a number of great DragonBall figures and sets, but with my poverty I could only get one. It's a pretty badass one though.

Anyways, I won't bore you anymore with that. Take a look at the photos below to see around Chinatown. You'll see a few photos of the Mahayana Buddhist Temple, which is a somewhat touristy temple, but still a sacred place I love to visit. I also really like the statue of Confucius which stands in Confucius Plaza. The plaza itself, though, doesn't feel much like a plaza at all. It's basically just an intersection. Confucius deserves better. Hehe. And of course I love the Chinese style architecture that pops up here and there. Fun stuff!