Last Saturday, the family decided to go for a "Family Program" at the Cloisters, a faux-medieval abbey-like building that houses the Metropolitan Museum's medieval art collection at the northern tip of Manhattan island.
The Cloisters is so named because it holds the reconstructed remnants of 4 medieval cloisters from French monastries ruined from the religious wars and the French Revolution. Anyway, I am sure you will hear more about the Met Museum (as we call it) because it is one of the true marvels of living in NY.
We got out of the subway station into somewhat of a mysterious land. Shrouded in thick fog, we walked through a little park, past an old revolutionary era fort and onwards to the (abbey like) Cloisters building - cobble stone rampants and all. It somewhat reminded me of walking up to old castles in Prague.
This Family Program was great fun. For an hour the children was brought around the Cloisters by an educator/guide on the theme of "Food in the Medieval Times", so they heard about what people used to eat, looked at eating utensils and paintings of how people used to eat and heard a vivid description of a medieval feast in Europe as they sat in a tapestry-draped great hall originally from the Flanders. And towards the end, they were brought to make some crafts in an old stone room.
That was when I decide to walk around to look for a cloister I didn't remember having seen before. As I stepped through the door way, a man quietly ushered me left, "Please turn this way, sir". Incredulous at seeing a secret service guy at the Cloisters I squinted to see who he is guarding. I could see only two secret service guys, so I thought whoever that is could not be that important. Then I saw this white middle-aged lady in a calf-length orange coloured coat and my first thought was that she must be some Latin American head of state (! quick think of what President Bachalet of Chile and President Cristina Kirchner of Argentine look like). Then it dawned on me that was Sen. Hillary Clinton ... along with some old man with glasses dressed casually in a blue fleece vest (President Bill Clinton as it turns out). They were just walking about by themselves looking at the displays like any other visitor.
Quickly I hurried back to tell Mewyee. She went off to check them out while I stayed with the kids. On our way out, we saw them again milling about in the next hall (a medieval chapel). I explained the kids who they were, got our cameras ready and decide to walk up to say hello and merry christmas (Ning insists it should be "Happy new year because Christmas is over!). Anyhow I wasn't sure what the protocol was. In Brunei, we would rush up to the Sultan and he would be happy to shake hands and have his pictures taken. As we passed the secret service guys again, I asked if we can go up and say hi to which he said, "Please leave them alone, they are on vacation".
So we left with only a sighting. But on the otherhand, I am sure this time last year, who - least of all the Clintons themselves - would have thought that Hillary Clinton would be spending 27 December 2008 by themselves at the Cloisters ..... and running into us?
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1 comment:
after reading your post, i kept on asking myself how many times in life that we bump into someone famous or simply our friends or acquaintance.
My almost weekly flight between HK and BJ have allowed me to pick out several public figures and celebrity and in a few occassions friends. One of whom is a fellow hometown boy I haven't seen for close to 20 years.
of course, none of my encounter approximate your chance running into the Clintons. The closest was Li Chaoxing , former foreign minister of PRC which I had related to you sometimes back
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