What does one with no income for three whole months do in New York? Alright, two summer classes in June occupy most of the month. But what about the weekends? When even movies are restrictive at $10.75, one must be resourceful. I begin this series of blogs that I call "Jologs in New York" to show how one can have fun in New York with virtually no income and a hell lot of self control vs. shopping, because I was referring to myself as the one with no income. The perils of grad school...
Anyway, to the unfamiliar, i will attempt to define the word jologs. The term has been said to be coined to refer to fans of the masa idol Jolina Magdangal. But since that has yet to be confirmed, the term is another version of the early 90s' skwaking which is another term for squatter.
I do consider myself jologs for the following reasons. First, and obviously, I am not one who has unlimited funds (especially since the shame of asking from parents at my age has started to surface!). Next, and more importantly, I am openly a Juday fan. Although Juday has become less jologs over the years, I believe that you can take the person out of the jologs, but you can't take the jologs from the person. WHA??? Nevermind.
Anyway, I start this series with the Public Theater sponsored Shakespeare in the Park. Central Park, that is. The day begins with a purchase of a $7 fun pass (unlimited for the day). Then off to Astor Place (downtown) where the Public Theater keeps its HQ. I start lining up for the ticket (you're given 2 per person) with some friends at 1030AM. They start giving out the tickets at 1PM. I know it sounds like hell, but bring a book, pack a lunch, and spread your mat and you're all set. The wait was actually pretty interesting--watching people pass by... if you're lucky, famous people pass by. Like Julia Stiles who paid a visit to the Public Theater HQ. Sidewalks can be pretty interesting. So once you've got the tickets (takes two minutes for them to give out all the tickets once they start), you've got a hell lot of time on your hands before the show which doesn't start until 830PM.
Well, since you're pretty full from your packed lunch, you can take the 6 train to the Brooklyn Bridge. Snap a couple of pics, sit down and watch the cyclists and joggers a bit, just enjoy the breeze on the bridge. Crossing the entire bridge takes up quite some time. Once you get tired of this, you can take the 6 again to Chinatown where you can grab your dinner. This place by Manhattan Bridge on Bowery offers a meal of 3 dishes for under $5. Talk about a good deal, huh. After the wonderful Chinese buffet you just had, you're ready to continue maxxing out your fun pass by taking an uptown train to Central Park. The theater is right by the Great Lawn where you can, once again, spread your mat and wait for the show to start. Hopefully, you'll find Liev Schreiber as Macbeth worth the entire day of free fun (well, almost free).
