I LOVE New York

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Hey hey guys,
Well it's been a while since I've sent a blog but that's because it's been go go go! So I'm sitting here in an internet cafe in Paris but will give you the low down so far....
New York! Loved it, want to live there but will need to win the lotto before actually being able to do so. So we flew into NYC at night to have four days there - I wasn't too sure what to expect, apart from the fact that we would be hanging with a race of people who loved their cocktails and a "cwarp of cwarfee" which quite frankly suited me to a tee!
So our blessing was getting a taxi driver who took it upon himself to be our tour guide and in hindsight, he taught us alot - he told us how to get the best value tickets to all the sights, he places you will get ripped off, he even tried to educate us on the best way to get a cheap lunch. He did go into wuite a lot of detail about Subway sandwiches and how you must never, ever buy a 6 inch sandwich, you MUST buy a 12 inch sandwich becasue it is only an extra dollar and you can share it...he want into all sorts of detail about the available toppings and range of options for people wanting a hearty but cheap lunch (hhhmmm - i was slightly sceptical that he might own a few stores himself ) and I think was quite crushed when we explained that we also had Subway in Australia. He didn't let that defer him though, he kept on going and whilst Wal and I were listening, we were admittedly a little fatigued from an entire day on the plane and at one point when we stopped muttering oohs and ahs at him he exclaimed very loudly "hey, you listen to me??!!!" "oh yes yes" we replied praying that the trip would be over soon and we might be able to have some time to marvel at the the big apple without detailed intructions on how to save $1.50 on a subway ride - I felt like saying, 'Dude! It's all going on the AMEX, right now I'm not feeling the cost of anything!" Another point the taxi driver was very big on was tipping - the cost of getting from the Airport is a flat $45 but when he found out we were Australian he made a big point of telling us how there was an awful Australian lady in the taxi the other day who refused to tip, and when we told him we knew about tipping and were ok with it he happily continued thinking if he became our own lonely planet guide to NYC he might get a big tip - which he did, but only because American money looks like monopoly money and you can't tell the difference between any of them - especially the 5s and 100s! So tipping really is a different cultural experience and I know it takes most Aussies a while to get used to it. The main gig with tipping is that people are paid so badly they rely on tips to get buy. Now if you grow in this environment and at one time served burgers and fries to people on a stupid base wage of bout $3 per hour desperately needing peoples tips just to be able to afford the bus ride home from yuor job, you can imagine that when you finally make it to a point in life where you're able to go out and eat in fabulous restaurants that you'd be happy to return the favour. However, when you're Australian, and as youngsters the base wage was pretty good, and the tipping culture is fairly non existent, to be told that on top of the cost of the meal you need to pay tax AND tip 20% it really does make you wonder if you really did need that entire main course and whether or not just a piece of bread and tap water would have sufficed... luckily as mentioned before the AMEX has come in very handy - am yet to log on to internet banking to see the damage and may choose to float in sea of denial for a bit longer (!)
So having arrived at our destination, the holiday Inn in Midtown (which as the name described is actually kinda in the middle of Manhattan) Wal and I got to our room and decided to have some dinner so we chatted to our friendly concierge who pointed us to a fabulous restaurant up the road (thanks buddy - awkward silence - geez do we tip you for giving us advice - oh dear - awkward -just walk off!) So we arrived and it was fabulous...one thing you should know is American wine is a lot stronger than ours and after two galsses of merlto each Wal and I were ready to walk. So we found our way to time square and cruised along and found ourselves in the Whiskey bar cutting the rug with some of NYC's finest office workers who, on that Friday night had clearly been drinking since 5pm (definately regretted wearing a skivvy to dinner once we made it into the bar - how embarassing - dancing in a skivvy - but I got over it!) So as you can imagine, after making it home around 3pm our first official day follwoing that evening was started with a dull headache and slightly later than imagined. Having said this, the headache didn't stick around for long - we walked to the Empire State Building and went up to the main veiwing floor and the top floor. As it's really, definately winter (have never felt cold like it before, air can cut you with a knife - especially when you bring your 'Australian wam clothes" which are about 20% thickness required for NYC cold weather) it wasn't crowded at all and you could see everything, the financial district where the twin towers used to be, Statton Island, statue of liberty, the bronx, the bridges (of course the names escape me!) andit was just stunning. We then caught the FREE ferry to Statton Island which provides and great view of the Statue of Liberty and provides great people watching. Then as it was getting later we went off to Little Italy. This is basically a small area in NYC ontaining many Italian resturants and let me tell you, I could have eaten there forever, the food was divine - I really hope when we get to Italy they have Little New York as we ate Italian all apart from one night, but t was fabulous...and garlicy. The best thing about the food was they were so liberal with the garlic which is why I'm sure we were never harassed too much by people trying to sell us touristy sightseeing turs or we weren't robbed, no one wanted to get near us.
The following night we met up my fabulous girlfirend Amy who I used to work with. She's living in Tribeca (stands for TRIangle BEneath CAnal street - information courtesy of our taxi driver) which is the trendy part of town just near SoHo. We went to an amzing bar restaurant called The Mercer Kitchen (cnr Prince and Mercer for anyone heading to NYC) and it was so cool and the food was fabulous (another tip, try the raw tuna and wasabi pizza - divine!) We then kicked on to a few more bars around Soho -great mix of trendy and fabulous versus old school "Noo York bwars "and the last thing I remember is waving goodbye to Amy in a taxi... and another headache the next morning, but it was all worth it as a great night was had by all and Wal and I had fallen in love with SoHo and vowed we would get there again -and we did, great shopping there (oh yes girls, take your back up VISA card, the one you keep in the dark part of your wallets that you only bring out for special occasions) as well as in some of the bigger stores. Wal found the G-start shop and shopped up a storm. The other great thing about NYC is a store called B & H - its a huge electrical shop which is the cheapest shop in the world most claim for cameras and very cheap for electircal goods. Having bought one camera there on our first day, we found ourselves there on our last day agonising on whether or not to buy a laptop and another camera, simply because of the savings we could make compared to Australia...but after considering the logistics of lugging around a camera and a laptop we ditched that gig (what were we thinking, I know we'll regeret it when we get back to Sydney!)and legged it to Central Park. Now this park runs for blocks and blocks (about 50 up and the equivalent of a number of avenues along)- it's HUGE and it's typically a romantic place to be but on the last day we were there it was around -8 degrees and FREEZING so we cut it short after 15 minutes and headed to the safety of a cwarfee (coffee) shop...sometimes it's just too cold to stroll! The thing we both loved about NYC is the atmosphere, it's juts buzzing and alive and we loved te fact that you can get anywhere becasue taxis ar so cheap - a typical $35 cab ride in Oz is like $10 in NYC so it's much easier to get around to spend your dollars in other ways, like tipping in restaurants! the other thing we did was to go to the MOMA (Museum of modern Art) but to ne honest this was like pulling teeth and reminded me of studying art at school (yar man, this is my analysis of modern man's stuggle with being, his inpact and integration of himself with the world, old and new...blah blah blah" when really what the artist had done was painted two brush strokes on an ernormous white canvas...WHATEVER. I don't know what it is but I always feel tired when I go to exhibitions like this - luckily Wal did too so we didn't spend too long ther (sorry for anyone who truly loves the MoMa!!) I think the last straw was a video piece with a depressing looking dude moving in ridicualous forms repeating over and over "I am making art, I am making art" and I said he is making me head hurt, he is making my head hurt" so we blew that popstand and headed to the Photographic Institute which was fabulous and very very good and would appeal to almost anyone - only two stories of exhibition is had everything, photographic mixed media, installation and just plain fabulous photography. the last toursity thing we did was go the World Trade Centre memorial site and this is a must do for anyone but I would say it is not a pleasant experience. It is incedibly moving,m with a gallery full of the story of the buildings, pictures of those who died, stories of peoples experiences. It is somewhere whereyou entre in an immediately fight tears and to be honest, you do this until you leave - and whilst I know some of you might be thinking that I am a cry baby anyway and it doesn't take much to make me cry, others were in exactly the same state so take the tissues and be prepared. It is clear that this will always impact New Yorkers and Americans alike and whilst part of me wonders how much pain in a similar fashions the western world has inflicted on other cultures alike, the fact remains that a terrible, terrible atrocity occured on Sept 11th and so mny inncocent lives were lost and even more innocent peoples were affected by the tragedy so whilst it may sound tacky to go to the site, consider it paying respect and getting a reality check on the fragility of life. To combat the sadness we walked and walked and ended up having anopther meal at Little Italy, what a way to celebrate life than with more garlic, olive oil and pasta - and red wine! We felt really sad about leaving NYC because it was so cool and diverse and very loveable (although to live in NYC it costs about $5000 for a tiny one bedroom apartment per month so won't be approaching SHL for a transfer anytime soon) but I was really excited because we were on the way to see my Grandma and other family in the U.K who I hadn't seen in 7 years... will write another blog this afternoon to tell you all about Wal surviving tea with Grandma and her 3 sisters and Paris (have already managed a pair of boots, jackets and jean purchase here - I have issues with shopping!!) too but am being kicked off this machine... sending much love and will try and respond to everyone's messages too - missing ya'll!

G x

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