Advertisement
Published: December 6th 2005
Edit Blog Post
Been there, done that
He's trying to look interested, you can just tell!! It's a bit of a retrospective post, this one, but he's been bugging me non-stop about when his visit is going to appear on my blog =0P. If you MUST know, I was waiting for photos to be developed. Now that I've joined the digital revolution, my mega camera now only comes out on very special occasions. I've finally had the remaining film developed though and now, by means of this glorious little anecdote (which I'm sure you all appreciated) I can say here you go hun, this one's for you.
So far anyone that doesn't know already and hasn't had to listen to me whine on about my lovely boyfriend being on the other bloody side of the world, my lovely boyfriend Simon is currently on the other bloody side of the world. While I'm here, slavishly blogging my guts out in New York, he is leisurely wandering the world, taking in the great sights and doing frightfully mundane things like leaping off bridges and hurling himself out of planes. His itinerary takes in the delights of Canada, Lord of the Rings country (AKA New Zealand), the Philippines and south-east Asia, India, Nepal and then parts of Africa. Quite
Where I go for lunch
No really. A wonderful little place called Cavonberry's on East 46th. frankly, I'd opt for 46th Street over Angkor Wat any day, but then there are those for whom the high of malaria is the biggest buzz imaginable. If you'll excuse the pun...
First stop on his trip was Canada, where he stayed with a number of people (notably almost all girls, not that anyone's counting) he'd met at University there. Hamilton, where he was staying, is really little more than a short 12 hour jaunt away from New York, so you can imagine my absolute horror when he announced his lack of intentions of visiting me. Needless to say, however, his plans soon changed and it was little time at all before he was making that merry 12 jaunt down to the Big Apple (*Note: Author assumes no responsibility for said reaction and change in plans. Impartiality was absolute. There was a complete lack of guilt-trippage and no mention whatsoever was made of the fact that the author plans on visiting said wanderer in Cambodia at the beginning of March, which quite frankly, is a lot further away than Canada.... Oh damn!!).
Simon arrived early on Saturday morning to be greeted by that delight that is the Port
Plugging the brand
Just to prove that backpackers aren't really averse to globalization. The product of JP's generosity - thanks hun! Authority Bus Terminal. In all honesty, the place is an absolute hovel. Actually, thinking about it, it's worse than a hovel. At least you can find your way AROUND in a hovel. But somehow it all seemed a lot rosier at the time. Eventually I arrived there to greet him and we made our way through Times Square. Now the question is, what do you show the person who has already seen most of the touristy things that Manhattan has to offer. I tried Times Square. He'd seen it. I tried Rockerfeller. He'd seen it. I event pointed at the Empire State Building through the murky rain and clouds. He'd seen it, and in much fairer circumstances. So I gave up on the touristy version and went for the subjective. Yup. I showed him the place that I come to for lunch every day. Welcome to NYC. Would you like a bagel?
The rest of the day was spent wandering through Midtown, the area with which I am now exceptionally familiar. The weather got the better of us though and so by late afternoon we made our way back to the apartments and Simon gushed at the murky view.
Sunset over Coney Island Boardwalk
You can almost see the tumbleweed gusting in the breeze... The following day proved much sunnier though and so we took the time to walk over Brooklyn Bridge (which you may have noticed I'm somewhat a fan of). In this, I had finally found something that the non-tourist hadn't done and so decided that this ought to continue. If you read his blog (www.travelblog.org/bloggers/mayrad), the first line that you're greeted with in his first ever blog mentions his love of 2p arcade machines. Brooklyn has a whole host of things to offer the NYC gambler, but frankly if you're going to do anything, you ought to do it in style.
At peak season, Coney Island is like Alton Towers would have been 50 years ago. It hustles, it bustles and the sounds of small children screaming can be heard miles across the bay. Old rides, stalls, garishness without the tacky commercialism - it's a 2p arcade game hoarder's paradise!
One problem. Peak season does not extend to the 23rd of October. Instead of hustling and bustling, the place was more like a ghost town than anything else. We went round in circles without realizing and eventually found an enclave with, you've guessed it, a quarter machine! Like
Simon and Cookie Monster
And just for the record I won him fair and square. Having a bad eye and "perspective difficulty" does not qualify as an excuse for being beaten in a water pistol match.
I'm referring to Cookie Monster, by the way... its cheaper sibling, the quarter machine sucks in all your money, tempting you to push those quivering quarters over the edge and into your pocket again. Except that this one came with a difference. Instead of depositing the money that you had rightfully won into your pocket, the machine dispensed tickets that you could compile and put towards something massively valuable and rewarding. Like a squishy ball. Or a poncho. We were absolutely in our element.
It was a glorious couple of days that passed far too quickly and went without enough getting done. March is still a long way away but we're already planning what to do once we're there, and I've got to admit I can't wait to see him again. I hope you're happy with your blog dedicated to you my dear, and I hope it hasn't been too sickening for everyone else to read!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.074s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 9; qc: 40; dbt: 0.0445s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Mayrad
Simon Wadsworth
Mr Moaner
You make me sound like a moaning minnie! I'm not that bad am I?! :) Scary photos! Funny blog! xxxxxx