While I was on my flight from NYC to Miami I tried to write down as much as I could about New York so it would make for easier blogging! 🙂
So here goes –
On the Friday morning – the Mike and Juliet show was soooo much better than I expected. With breakfast provided by News Corp 😉 and the local Au Bon Pain we were all so hyper on sugar from their danishes, I think that is why everyone else was just so loud and couldn’t stop clapping. The warm up comedian, Jessica Kirson was HILLARIOUS. She was just so natural and had us all in hysterics. I love how over here, people don’t mind making total fools of themselves for a laugh – she invited four guys and four girls to come up onto the stage and dance with her – they were all mums and dads and it was just the funniest thing – people just making their own laughs. I loved it! Mike and Juliet were soooo nice in real life – I have been watching them since they used to appear on ‘Fox and Friends’ and seriously this show would have to be one of the best ‘after 9am morning shows’ going!
I then ventured down to Macy’s at 34th to look for a coat but basically cracked it because there were too many to choose from and they were just everywhere and laying all over the place. Forget it – I’ll get one when I get home! It was then warm enough to make the trek down the road to Old Navy – PFFT. NO JEANS hardly AT ALL! I said to the guy how I just basically fly over to stock up on their jeans (my fave bootleg style) :((( And they hadn’t had a shipment since DECEMBER!! But I bought lots of other goodies anyway and will wait until I am in LA before hitting Old Navy again. At the Manhattan Mall I made my usual pitstop at the Hallmark store. I would love to work in a Hallmark store!! And then had a late Creole lunch of Bourbon Chicken, greens and red beans and rice. This was just usual food court fare in a near empty food court and one homeless man picked me – out of the 5 trillion empty seats – to sit next to and yell at the wall. Sigh. Amy arrived late from Boston and we stayed up talking which was a blessing – staying up late enabled my jet lag to disappear!
On Saturday ’twas COLD and we walked from 5th Avenue up to the Shrine of APPLE. As you can tell by my Flickr account, I am no longer taking photos of St Patrick’s Cathedral on 5th… it is now the Apple store. heheheheh It was so cold we decided a great way to escape the cold would be a Broadway play and as stated earlier, we saw the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Such a great musical and just so good because it was so original. I think we were impressed because we got to see it for half price without lining up for 5 hours at 8am! Yay!
With a stop in at M&M world and the grouse popcorn place (the name has slipped my mind) we headed back to the Big Apple to warm up before dinner. We ventured out quite late and just plonked down at TGIF’s which, being in probably one of the most touristy places in the world, charged a premium. It would do and is the usual American chain restaurant fare.
Sunday morning saw it being even colder – I can’t describe how cold the cold actually was. Basically – so cold it hurts. It made my legs red and rashy and my eyes were constantly bloodshot. I thought it was my mascara but after being here in Miami – my eyes are fine. We did the subway and buses all day to escape the cold and still see a lot, first making a stop at the WTC site. It is amazing since after I first saw the Towers in 1999, to seeing them after they were destroyed in March 2002 and then in 05, 06 and now 07 – the development that is taking place is really good. Having the Path station open has bought a lot back to the site and has bought the commuters back. It needs people. Bloomindales was our next stop – such a lovely store inside and then we headed to Dylans Candy Bar. Wow. This has become one of my favourite NYC places. It was fantastic and we stocked up on goodies. It is also one of the best smelling places ON EARTH. The smell was just pure sugar and sweetness. YUM. If I could eat the whole shop, I would! We then trekked across town, back to Columbus Circle after stopping in at Daffys, which reminded me of Ross Dress For Less in LA. At Columbus Circle I went and bought those Bose headphones – BEST PURCHASE EVER. Ok well my Mac was the best purchase… but the headphones would go down as the best accessory. They are so soft, comfortable and the sound has bought my iPod to LIFE! All worship BOSE!!!
We then trekked down to Greenwich, my favourite area of the City. After all the shopping and walking we stopped in at John’s – my favourite pizza place and I was glad to show it off to Amy! We shared a great pizza and it definitely didn’t disappoint. I hope that place never changes. We walked along Bleeker Street to Magnolia but the line was ridiculous for a freezing day so I had to skip my Banana Pudding *sobs* so Amy and I warmed up at Bigelow’s where I did my big stock up on ‘girl stuff’ and stuff for Ev before taking the bus right up 6th Avenue to take in the sights and sounds of NYC.
Dinner that night was at Maxine’s Deli in Times Square. It was wierd. The service staff all seemed somewhat… illegal perhaps? The people dining there were just as strange – the whole setup was just.. strange. The girl behind the bar looked like she had taken fifteen valium and spent the whole time just staring into space and yet this was in Times Square… it just cracked us up and I think we spent the whole of dinner just saying “What are we doing here??!”
Monday we were getting tired but made it to the United Nations for the first 9.30am tour. It was really good seeing it all and the tour went for about an hour. But that place is in desperate need for a makeover… bring in Martha! The whole basement area with the giftshop, bookstore and post office resembled the old Dental Hospital at the top of Elizabeth Street. Each of the chambers need new carpet and seating… badly. Maybe it is time to start a UN makeover fund? The tour was really informative and at least now I can say “I’ve seen it!” as that was the one last touristy thing I hadn’t done in NYC before. We then headed down to Century 21 where we battled through the piles of stuff for some goodies and did the 6th Avenue bus trip again all the way up to Midtown. We had our best meal at this pub a few doors down from the hostel and it was the best of our few days! The English guy that was our waiter had been to Australia and even Crowded House came over the radio while we were there. Amy left and made it safely back to Boston and I wasn’t that tired so I decided to head up to 79th to vist Zabar’s and H&H Bagels (right next to each other).
Firstly, Zabar’s was FANTASTIC. The minute I walked in I got blown away by the smell of… Olives. I looked to my left and there were what looked like 1000 different kinds of Olives! If I lived in NYC, I would basically do all my shopping at Zabar’s. It was awesome. I left with some vine leaves for a light dinner. Now H&H appears in all the guide books as the best bagel experience ever. I have to agree. I got a plain and a cinnaraisin bagel and it was so deliciously chewy and fresh… oh wow. There is such a demand for their bagels they bake 24 hours a day. My carbs skyrocketed – I could seriously live on H&H bagels. Best bagels. Ever!
I then walked along Central Park to head back to the Apple store for one last worship. It was packed and forget the old Mac Lab at RMIT. This takes the CAKE! Thanks Mr Jobs!! 🙂
As my New York visit was drawing to a close, my homemade balaclava that I was able to put together using my ear muffs and scarf actually froze. The condensation from my breathing was hitting the cold air and my scarf developed ice. My nose couldn’t run anymore as even those contents were frozen in my nose. What a great memory!
Checking out the next morning there was a great fight in the foyer of the hostel between this girl and the staff. She had already lost her ticket to South Africa to get home and then had stuffed up with her key deposit. It was entertaining while waiting for super shuttle. I made it to the airport in one piece and boarded my AA flight. As we took off, I got a great view looking back to New York City. As crazy as it is, I am already missing it. The city though. Not the cold!