17 August 2008

We departed for China not, technically, from Kennedy airport but from the New York car service, a fact I mention for the smell. There is no experience more redolent and usually more odoriferous than a New York car service. Like celebrities with licensing contracts, each Lincoln has its own peculiar odor. I have shut the door and inhaled leather with notes of cigar plus window cleaner. I have smelled decaying flora, fake pine and armpits. When I left for J.F.K., the car smelled of kimchi and dry-cleaning.
‘‘Which airline?’’
‘‘Korean.’’
‘‘Ah. You’re going to Korea?’’
‘‘No, China. Shanghai.’’
‘‘Why Shanghai?’’
‘‘I’m going to a party.’’
The party was being given by Ferragamo in part to introduce a new perfume called Tuscan Soul...
Nasal Passage: CHANDLER BURR GLOBE-SNIFFS HIS WAY TO CHINA...

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