Two International Cities, Two Famous Parks, Same Old Jack

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After 6 months in Latin America I was sad to leave its amazing sights and culture. It would have been much harder if I knew I wasn’t going to return before this trip is over. I flew from Peru to a changeover stop at Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Our pre-dawn flight path took was over the Florida Keys, where the dotted lights below indicated the line of small islands and connecting bridges Shazza and I had driven over 9 months earlier. On landing, the culture shock of being back in the USA was startling. Apart from the outspoken and pushy people at the airport, I was once again selected for a “random” search and interrogation, beginning with the allegation that I had started another, rogue line-up for the x-ray machine.

NYC
From Florida, I took another flight up to New York City, where the term used by the flight attendant on landing “we are now commencing the de-planing process”, really stood out as being foreign. The consumerism focus of the USA was also much more noticeable, with all kinds of advertising visible everywhere, although getting the bus through Queens’ Latin district briefly had me wondering if I’d returned south already. There was no mistaking it when I turned up at my mate Reece’s apartment in Manhattan. Coming from a month in the family oriented neighbourhood in Cusco, with simple markets and a nearby Catholic church, it was a shock to come to the mostly single and gay ‘Hell’s Kitchen‘ neighbourhood, with department stores and a Scientology church right next door. Rather than other volunteers and orphans as house mates, Reece had a nice girl and a promiscuous gay housemate. One common interest that was shared between both South and North America was the Euro Cup. While far from having the popularity of the U.S.A.’s big sports, football (soccer) still enjoys a big following in multi-cultural NYC. Our first stop once I arrived was to go and load up on greasy western food and the Turkish owners of the local pizza joint were glued to their tv’s as the Turks were playing their way through the tournament. It became a theme of my stay- to load up on all the types of food I hadn’t had for a long time. The first week we made sure that I had at least one pizza slice, hamburger or hot dog every day.

Since we’d last hung out at Cape Cod last year, Reece had moved down to the ‘Big Apple’ for work opportunities and it provided a great chance to catch up and stay with him. Last time I was in NYC with the boys and Nat we had an amazing time from a tourist’s view, but this time I was glad to see more of a local’s perspective. Apart from food, my main reason for returning to NYC was to get my UK working holiday visa, which I could get it processed there rather than returning home to do it. After some finger prints, photos and eye scans I just had to wait for it to be approved and in the meantime I could see some sights I missed last time as well as re-do some old favourites in the city that defines the meaning of cool.

Appetite
On the food front, while NYC has a great variety of eating options, the really good places still attract a huge crowd as word spreads throughout the city like wildfire. The best example is NYC locals’ most popular burger joint- ‘Shake Shack’. Everyday people cue for crazy lengths of time to get the organic burger, chips and amazing thick shakes from a small take-away place in Madison Square Park. Lunchtimes are nightmares and they have a website with a camera of the line up so you can check its length before making the dash there. I had to make a couple of visits just to make sure it was just as delicious every time. Artichoke Pizza in the Lower East Side was a similar story- a big line-up with big rewards. Our old favourite falafel place was as good as ever, as was the Afghani restaurant in Queens.

But despite all the eating out options in the city my best meals were definitely home cooked, courtesy of Reece’s mate Omar. Omar loves his BBQ and takes it very seriously. So seriously in fact that when he heard a new guest was coming over, he took the whole day off work so he could attend to his slowed cooked ribs and pulled pork and made his own tasty BBQ sauce. His equipment of choice was a meat smoker named R2D2 (for its resemblance to the Star Wars droid). We turned up at the business end of the process and tasted R2’s produce, which was amazing. We sat on Omar’s rare NYC back deck and ate ourselves senseless until we could barely move. It was BBQ heaven. We later played the drinking game ‘Kings’, incorporating the mobile B.A.C. (blood alcohol content) device into the game.

I took the boys to our favourite Irish bar, ‘McSorleys’ where the only drinking option you are given is “light or dark?” before beers served in twin glasses are slammed down on your table. We found out what happens if you can’t decide when our server came back and said “took too long, one of each”. We visited a few other bars in the Lower East Side which seems to have limitless options.

Jack in the Park
One our favourite activities last time was ‘Jack in the Park’. The idea is simple- its Jack Daniels in Central Park, the rest can be made up as you go. The first time Jimmy, Luke and I did it; we just turned up with our mixed bottles of Jack and a frisbee and lounged around in the sun all day. After building up the 2nd annual event before my arrival, Reece, Matt and Mark were keen to step it up, and we started with hand-written t-shirts, a bocce set and cigars. The day we picked coincided with an organised water fight in the park, so we bought some water guns and floaties as well. We took the water fight, frisbee and bocce very seriously and were well equipped for when it started to rain later in the day. Jack in the Park grew in stature in its 2nd year and people were very interested in joining the next one. We ended up getting invited to a party from people we met in the park and ended the day playing ‘Beirut’ on an apartment rooftop later than night- still in our floaties.

Events
After just missing out on getting in last time, Reece and I got up painfully early on a Sunday morning to go to the Abyssinian Church in Harlem. It was far from your regular church, as every week hundreds of people crowd in to listen to one of the great gospel choirs around. The reverend was a real character, making all kinds of plugs for his friend’s shoe store or making jokes about people sending postcards of Barack Obama’s new house- then holding up a picture of the Whitehouse. But the choir was the real highlight, and can best be described as being like the scene in ‘The Blues Brothers’, where James Brown and his choir get everyone up and dancing in the aisles. Just to highlight NYC’s diversity, that afternoon we went to a watch Spain win the Euro Cup Final in a German beer garden in Brooklyn. We could have gone to several Spanish bars instead, but figured the German beer was better even if their football side was not.

I missed getting to a Broadway show last time, but luckily Reece scored some tickets for us. While they were intended to be for him and a date to go along, he generously took me instead. We quickly realised that a couple of guys walking from the ‘colourful’ Hells’ Kitchen neighbourhood over to watch ‘Spring Awakening’ together might be taken the wrong way by our largely female fellow audience members. To combat this, we made a great effort to hang out near the bar at “halftime” (our new name for the intermission) to drink beer and discuss sports. For the record, the show was really good.

Apart from all the eating and drinking, we went for a few runs through Central Park, borrowed Reece’s friends’ dog to walk around in the Lower East Side’s dog parks and I visited the extensive Met Museum, UN building and did some clothes shopping. We also got up at 5am to watch Australia’s most fiercely contested sporting event- the deciding State of Origin rugby league game in an Aussie bar, along with a group of ex-pats before they began their work day.

4th of July
With my visit in July, I was really looking forward to being in the USA for the most American of days- Independence Day. Reece drove Omar, Angelique and I up to his parents’ place at Cape Cod the night before and we ate at their great waterfront restaurant on the way through. Afterwards, in true American form, we loaded up with party cups, ping-pong balls and Busch Light beer (or ‘blue yummies’) in preparation for the big day. For the 4th, we started with some great bagels and spent the day hanging at the beach. I tried to count the number of USA flags on display around town, until I lost count. We spent the afternoon drinking while playing Beirut and horseshoe before watching the traditional 4th of July fireworks down over the water. The big news of the day was the American kid called ‘Jaws’ restored the nation’s pride by beating the Japanese ‘master mouth’ Kobayashi at the annual Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Competition down the coast.

The rest of the weekend was spent playing more drinking games, having local Cape Cod seafood feasts and swimming at the beach. It was some good old American fun and a great escape from the bustle of NYC. At the end of the weekend, Matt, Reece and I went up to Boston to meet up with John and go along to a Red Sox game. Picking up some scalped tickets at the ground, we headed in to one of the country’s most iconic stadiums, Fenway Park. While for me baseball is still just as much about the eating, drinking and talking as it is about the actual game, it was a good finish with a late win for the locals. We returned to NYC that night.

Back to the Cape
Frustratingly an issue with my visa paperwork meant I had to delay my flight out by a week, but it meant I had some more time in NYC and would get to return to Cape Cod with Reece, Dan and Joe for their lacrosse tournament. With better weather this time, the beaches we even more packed and we had a couple of fun nights out at the local bars with their team. While the boys went to play their first day of ‘LAX’, I took a ferry across to the lovely ‘Martha’s Vineyard’ and rode along the island on a rental bike. On day 2 of the tournament I joined the boys as their self-designated drinking mascot. Carrying a loaded esky and donning ‘sports black’ on my face, I took my role of having to skol a beer for every goal scored very passionately. I also helped keep the injured players take the edge of their pain with a cold one, although some of the boys did point out I was supplying beers to underage players. By the time they had been knocked out of the competition with a final score of 7-6 I was already well ahead in the stakes. We headed for post-game drinks at a local bar where everyone began to catch up. The next day we returned to NYC via Providence to check out Reece’s old Brown University. I had one final night in NYC before heading out to JFK to catch my flight to London.

London
London has some similarities to NYC in that it’s a big, multi-cultural city with major events and attractions to offer. Where it differs vastly is the atmosphere and feel of the city and in particular its residents. New Yorkers have a reputation for being rude and in your face, but I find that they are simply upfront and say what’s on their mind; whether its good or bad. They’ll ask you to move if you’re in their way, but they’ll also help you if you look lost on the street. Londoners, on the other hand, keep to themselves, they don’t like to interact unless they have to and they push their way through others on the Underground without saying a word. While there are some great historical sights and buildings and beautiful parks in London, there’s also plenty of ugly buildings, dodgy pubs and poor food options.

I first began my love-hate relationship with London 9 years ago when I met up with some family and friends there. While the big-city attractions and proximity for travelling in Europe appealed to me, the poor weather, high cost of living and rude commuters put me off. As an overseas city that’s easy to get a work visa and some well-paid work, living in London is a convenient option for Aussies, which is why there are so many over there. I had organised to move into a new place with Jimmy, Luke and Carlos who were all already living in London. It was great to catch up with the boys again and check out what would be my new ‘home’. I was so glad to once again have my own room and bed, which was provided brand new with our lease. I was happy to be able to have some regular home-cooked meals and took full advantage of being able to use a kitchen again. We had a house warming party when I arrived and caught up with several friends who were also living and working in town. The boys took me to a few of their favourite restaurants, including a good yum-cha place in Chinatown and an amazing Pakistani restaurant in East London, which had the tastiest lamb chops I’ve ever eaten. We also went to some of the boys’ regular bars around alternative East London and SOHO areas, and we explored some new ones nearer to our place at Angel.

London’s neighbourhoods are mixed together so the well-off areas are often next to the government commissioned housing. It means you can walk in one direction and have fancy houses and parks and in the other, dodgy back streets and cheap food outlets. While there isn’t much gun violence in the UK, they have a serious problem with knife attacks. When I arrived, London had been in the middle of a knife-murder spree and was up to 21 for the year. The 4 bedroom house the boys found was on the verge of two such areas- to the north, was the world’s most CCTV’d street and to the south, plush fields and some of the city’s more expensive areas. Our place was situated opposite the famous Arsenal Football Club’s new Emirates Stadium in centrally located Islington. Our next door neighbour was an ‘Off Licence’ (bottle shop) which was handy as well as dangerous. Once we got our tv and Sky connected, everything we needed for surviving the London winters was close at hand- beer and football.

After 18 months of travelling, I was in serious need of replenishing my bank account. I registered with several recruiters both online and in person but found it quiet slow over the UK summer holiday period. The UK is set up so you have to go through a recruiter to apply for almost all jobs, so you’re always relying on a middle-man. I seemed to find only useless middle men or even online matching engines. One of my “tailored job matches” for my online profile was for an Arabic-English translator position!

Jack’l and Hyde
While persisting with the job search I enjoyed the warm sunny weather which everyone kept warning me not to get used to. Jimmy, Carlos and I did a London version of Jack in the Park, named ‘Jack’l and Hyde in the Park’ due to it being held in Hyde Park. Unlike the NYC version where we had to be careful and subtle about drinking in public, in England they almost encourage public consumption of alcohol. They had only just stopped people drinking on the Underground before I arrived. It meant we casually took along our Jack and Coke and set up a little park bar to mix up our drinks for the day. We had a hot (for London) day and joined the crowds in the city park. The sporting equipment of choice being in England was, of course, a football.

I also passed the time seeing some of London’s many great museums and sights. The Imperial War Museum and Tate Modern were two of the better ones. The Beijing Olympics were a welcome relief when they started and I watched more than any other games, although it was mostly the winning events of the British team being televised. The large Jamaican contingent at the lively Notting Hill Carnival held soon afterwards was singing the praises of Usain Bolt’s efforts.

When the football season kicked off our neighbourhood came alive on game days. People were spilling out of pubs and food outlets before and after the game as 60,000 chanting ‘Gunners’ fans attended every game. Without a job, I was looking to set up a game-day hot dog stall and organised it with some local suppliers. It was only on a warning from some local businesses about council restrictions that halted my plans.

One of the great things about London its a transport hub for travellers going to Europe. I caught up with more friends and relatives in 2 months in London than I did in 18 months in the Americas. Its also so easy to get the train to several countries such as France or Belgium. We booked to go over to Paris for a weekend to catch up with some friends and a cousin living there. In the week leading up to it, I scored myself a contracting role with Thomson Reuters based in the business park area of Canary Wharf. It was to be one last travel adventure before I re-entered the workforce.

Paris
With an easy 2 hour train ride, we went from St Pancras Station in London (only 2 tube stops from our house) to Central Paris. Coming from a single country continent, I could never get over the novelty of quick international travel by road or rail. We met our old friend Tess and her fiancée who worked in the Australian Embassy, where they also lived. The view from their place was spectacular and I could see why people rave about the beauty and elegance of Paris. It was an amazing sight to wake up to, especially on a clear morning. We spent the weekend riding around on the extensive bike rental stations they have all across the city (Velib) to see the city’s sights. We acted like we were in the Tour de France by riding up the Champs Elysees and around the Arch de Triomphe, except they were packed with cars not following any rules. We stocked up on the delicious bakery goods and cheeses available and drank wine on the Aussie Embassy’s balcony overlooking the Eiffel Tower. In the distance we could see up to Montmartre on the hill where we had ridden to earlier in the day. We returned to London on the Monday morning so the boys could go straight to work. Our trip to Paris was short but bakery-goods sweet. It had been a great taste of what European adventures were now so accessible, but in the meantime I had to start work.

Highlights
Having another 3 weeks in New York reminded me of how alive and exciting it is. Going there after being in Latin America for 6 months I was walking around like a kid in a candy store at all the big city sights. If only we could get working visas for the USA as easily as the UK.

Getting my own bed and sharing a home with my brother and good mates after a year and a half also rated pretty highly.

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Photos

States Symbol
The iconic U.S. school bus

Strawberry Fields
Brothers in a forced pose for their parents one of the most famous sections of Central Park

Shake Shack
That line is the reason to check the web cam first. This is only a moderate line

R2D2
Omar and his prized meat smoker

Notorious B.A.C.
Blowing hard while Matt flexes in the background

Jack in the Park
All the essential ingredients: a bottle of Jack and Central Park

The Boys
The rest of us spot some targets while Matt wonders how he managed to write 'Jack in the Box' on his shirt.

State of Origin
All in blue in the Australian Bar to watch the big game. Let's not talk about the result

Cape Cod Drinks
In front of the lovely Beachmoor. If you're on the Cape: http://www.beachmoor.com/

Sign Post
Apparently its this way

Let the Games Begin!
Reece and Matt battle on unorthodox table set-up for beer pong/ Beirut

USA! USA!
Showing huge national pride, as well as a love for flags, both are out in force on the 4th

Cape Cod Beach
There's a bar just back from the beach that does great margaritas

4th of July Fireworks
Looking really close with a long exposure

Weekend Aftermath
Our collection of 'Blue Yummy' cans and bottles from the weekend, and Reece's dog Remmie

Fenway Park
The famous home of the Boston Red Sox

The Boys at the Game
Lining up for the post game photo

School Sign
I would be offended if I grew up near a sign like this

Jaws Scene
If you picture a big fin going under this bridge, you can probably remember the scene in 'Jaws'

Martha's Vineyard
A very New England looking harbour

LAX Tournament
Getting ready to perform my mascot duties