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Published: February 22nd 2010
I made it New York on the evening of the 24th of December. I was sooooo excited! Jack was there, by way of the fact that he has been living there for the past 9 months, mum and dad were there, by way of the fact that Jack was there and now I was there, by way of the fact that everybody else was there! Even Rayna was there! We were all in New York! Lets here it for New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do, now your in New York, these streets will make you feel brand new, the lights will inspire you, let’s hear it for New York, New York, New York. Ahhh you’ve got to love that song!
So first task was to get to the apartment where everybody was. Now I’d just like to take a minute to do a bit of boasting before I continue. The apartment was right in the middle of central Manhattan. As in a few blocks from Times Square. As in surrounded by the bright lights that will inspire you. It had a door man. A real genuine authentic New York doorman with an
accent so thick that I thought that he might have been putting it on for effect. It was huge, two big bedrooms, a lounge with massive flat screen TV, kitchen and office. You get the idea, this apartment was awesome! And here’s the best bit...it was free! Muchas gracias Dave ‘the Lid’ aka Jacks work friend who had gone to the UK for Christmas and kindly leant us his humble abode! OK so boasting over back to my New York arrival. I flew into JFK and then took the subway to Manhattan. The subway trip from Mexico City to the airport had been brilliant. Simple, efficient and clean. And it only cost 11 pence! The trip from JFK to Manhattan was horrible! Slow, smelly and cold. I had to wait nearly an hour on a freezing cold outside platform for a train, and when it did finally arrive it stunk of piss. And I mean really stunk. It was foul. And then when I had to change trains I got lost because they don’t have any subway maps on the walls in the stations, only outside the stations!? The only bit about the journey that I enjoyed was when a
guy selling CDs came through the carriage shouting ‘CDs, CDs, 5 dollars. I got hip hop, R&B, all your favourite Christmas songs, 5 dollars each. Ohhh come on guys don’t be scared, I’m not selling drugs I’m selling entertaaaaaaaainment’! Ho ho ho that really tickled me. When I did finally make it to the apartment, said all my hellos and doled out all of my hugs, dad cooked us all a steak. It was the best meal that I had eaten in nearly four months!
Christmas day was lovely. Mum had got us all stockings and filled them with all kinds of goodies including the obligatory Satsuma and Toblerone. We went for Christmas dinner at a nice restaurant which had been in Sex and the City. Dad was particularly excited about that and had his picture taken about a hundred times. The meal was absolutely delicious, but there wasn’t a single bit of turkey on the menu or a Christmas cracker in sight which was a bit disappointing. After we had finished indulging our bellies we went for a walk around Central Park which was covered in a blanket of snow. It was beautiful. You couldn’t have wished for
a more perfect New York Christmas.
Boxing Day was a lazy day. Me and Rayna went for French toast for breakfast. French Toast in New York is awesome! It comes with bacon, egg and sausage! It’s enough to make you sick. Actually it did make Rayna a bit sick. But I think she thought it was worth it, because it was so big and fatty and amazing. And so NOT Mexican. Mum was really ill on Boxing Day; she had been for about a week, so we stayed in with her watching Christmas films and napping on the couch. It was so nice to have a couch! It was so nice not to be backpacking.
The following day we all went up to the Top of the Rock with Hannah and Jay, two of Jacks friends who had just flown in. The view of Manhattan from the Top of the Rock is AMAZING. The weather was perfect; it was a beautiful crisp bright day with a clear blue sky. You could see for miles. Miles and miles of concrete jungle where dreams are made...... God I love New York!
After our trip to the Top of the
Rock we had to move out of Dave’s apartment because he was on his way back to the Big Apple. Rayna went to meet Katy (who was very excitingly flying in to join us for new years) and check into their new apartment and mum and dad moved to a hotel. My plan was to free ride my way around New York as much as possible so I was going to stay with mum and dad in the hotel and then when they left on the 30th move into jack’s apartment which he shares with some other interns and sleep on his couch. Amid all of this kafuffle I decided that I needed a haircut and so tottered off to China Town where I had found out via the wonders of the World Wide Web that you could get a decent cheap haircut. I went to see a little China man called Skyy and told him to give me a number a 34 with a side of 108. Ha ha ha only joking. I told him to give me something short and choppy that wasn’t a mullet. An hour and half later I emerged with my little Chinese haircut. And
I’m not joking about that. I went to see my Nan the other week and the first thing she said when I walked into the room was ‘oooooowwwwww you look like a little Chinese! Andrew Andrew doesn’t she look like a Chinese’! Admittedly I have coloured it black since I’ve got back to England but it’s all in the cut.
The following day we went on a tour of an old tenement apartment building in Manhattans Lower East Side. The tenement was home to nearly 7000 working immigrants who arrived in New York in the 1800’s and 1900’s. We followed the story of the Moore’s, an Irish family who moved to New York in the 1860’s. We looked around their apartment and learnt all about their way of life, the kinds of jobs they would have had and found out what happened to their children through the births, deaths and marriage certificates. The tenements themselves have pretty much been left as they were so you get a real feel of life back then, basic, dark and very cramped. A few of the rooms have been furnished to show you the kinds of furniture they would have had. It really
is a great tour. If you are in New York do it. The most interesting thing that we learnt was during the tour of the back yard where the outhouses were. ‘Imagine this, only four outhouses for a building that housed over 150 people’ our guide said. ‘Can you imagine how putrid and smelly a place this would have been. And let’s not forget that there was German bar on the ground floor. So not only did you have all of the tenants using them but all of the bars customers and well. And I dare say a few ladies of the night! And then on top of that there was The Bummer! Yes the Bummer. Imagine him sauntering through the bar on a cold winter’s night. Into the back yard. And then knock knock on the outhouse door. You never knew who would be in there’. Well this was just comical! Dad started elbowing Jack. Jack looked at the floor trying to suppress a laugh. I started giggling. Dad started laughing. Jack started shaking his head and chuckling. Mum got very embarrassed and told the group to ‘just ignore them, they’re English’. The tour guide stopped and made a
point of telling everyone that it was OK to laugh because we were talking about dirt and faeces and yes it might make us feel uncomfortable. Ho ho ho. I think someone really needs to tell that lady that in English a Sauntering Bummer has a rather more debauched meaning than someone who sleeps rough.
That night we went to Arlene’s Grocery, the home of Rock and roll Karaoke. And boy is that some karaoke bar! There’s a live f-ing band to back your vocals! It’s immense! I’ve never seen anything like it. It was more like going to a rock concert than a karaoke bar. The place was rammed, the beer was cheap and everyone was going for it. The guitarist was head banging, the singers were stomping, the host was getting the crowd to yell ‘holey shit’ all the time. It was fun times!
But the best bit of the night was a little surprise that was waiting for me when I got there! I was super excited anyway because I was meeting Katy there and I hadn’t seen her since last August. So there I was chatting away to Hannah on the way into the
How do you like you
Most of the food on this table belongs to Hayleybar when I see this girl out of the corner of my eye that looks just like Laura Loo number two. So I do a double take and think my god she really does look like Laura, oh and that girl with her just looks just like Hayley as well! OH MY GOD that is Laura and Hayley!!! I couldn’t believe it! My mouth dropped open and couldn’t close it for a good hour. I had trouble getting anything out of it for the rest of the night. They had had it planned for months! And I hadn’t had a clue!
Over the next few days we did all of the usual things. A trip on the Staten island ferry, lunch in Little Italy, a drink at 230 on 5th which has the most amazing views of Manhattan but it was way too cold to stay out on the roof top terrace, a look around The Plaza hotel where Home Alone was filmed, Ground Zero, Macy’s, Bloomingdales and the Brooklyn Bridge. We went for breakfast in a real American Dinner type place. Hayley, being a wee bit excited to be in an authentic dinner and still a bit drunk
from the night before got a bit carried away and ordered herself enough food for three people. She even sang the waiter a song when he asked her how she would like her eggs ‘how do you like your eggs in the morning, I like mine with a kiss’. And she did indeed get that kiss when her eggs arrived!
On New Year’s Eve we went on a boat cruise along the Hudson River. There was a buffet, DJ and open bar. We sailed along the Manhattan skyline, past the Statue of Liberty and watched the Times Square fireworks from the water. It was magical. Hayley bawled her eyes out. Rayna fell on her arse. Ten minutes after we had celebrated the New Year Rayna inquired as to whether it was midnight yet and then proceeded to celebrate it for the second time! After the boat docked we tried to hail a taxi to take us to a club, but we couldn’t get one so we got a limo instead! We thought we were the bees knees and imagined ourselves pulling up, side stepping the queue and being taken in via the VIP entrance. And I’m sure that would
have been the case if it weren’t for the fact that EVERYONE seemed to be arriving in limos!? We stumbled home at about 5am the next morning via a fast food joint where Rayna sampled a corn dog, a food item which I found absolutely fascinating. It was a hot dog sausage covered in what I guess must have been corn on a stick! Amazing!
The girls all flew back to London on the 3rd of January; I had an extra day as I was flying on the 5th. I spent my extra day exploring Hoboken a little city opposite Manhattan on the other side of the Hudson River. Hoboken isn’t in New York, it’s in New Jersey, accessible by train from New York in about 10minutes. It’s tiny, just 5.1 km squared and 35% of that is water. An interesting fact about Hoboken is that it is the location of the first recorded baseball game in the United States. A second is that Jack lives there. It’s a real old fashioned American town, nothing like Manhattan. It’s got a main street lined with shops with wooden signs and little canopy’s. There isn’t a neon light in sight. It’s
brilliant. Jack took me there for dinner on the 3rd. We went to a 1950’s style burger bar which had red PVC stools and booths, mini juke boxes on all of the tables and waiters in little white hats. It was everything I had always wanted in America. And the view of Manhattan from the water front was breathtaking. The best I have seen. I couldn’t believe Jack hadn’t brought us all to Hoboken. I went back the next day to have a proper look at the place in the daylight and to gorge on pancakes and bacon for breakfast.
I had a brilliant time in New York and it was the perfect end to my four month trip away from the UK.
So what’s next I hear you ask? Well I’m actually in Brazil at the moment! I was back in England for five weeks and then I jumped on a plane to Manaus. That was 2 weeks ago. I’m here for another couple of weeks and then it really is back to England to find a job and start behaving sensibly 😉
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Larissa Shalot
non-member comment
New York State of Mind
Your blog has me once again in the New York State of Mind! O to be in New York now that April's here...could well have been a refrain by the Bard - had he been living in our times...Well well well. I am actually in London and its just a hop away. New york is becoming a favorite haunt of mine even if just to walk the streets!