Katie Arrives

So its been a couple of days since we last updated everyone. Things here in NYC have been ticking along nicely. Today is Zab and Ruth's last day with us, which is very sad. Its almost two years to the day since we met them at the Legislator Building. It was an interesting day as Ruth had just come of night shift and Zab had just discovered that the office he was supposed to be going to work in for the UN in Africa had just been attacked. My my my time fly's when you are having fun. We will miss them a lot.

Thursday Morning was rather  boring. We went for a workout in Central Park using some chin up bars we found. Afterwards, I went to the laundromat (which I swear is one of my favorite things to do here) while Sam went and got some more groceries. The weather was pretty bad given we'd had such a hot sunny day at Coney Island the day before. There was a thunderstorm and it rained for most of the day.

In the afternoon we explored Greenwich Village a little bit more. While Sam was at a Cafe doing his thing, I went and explored some of the high end fashion shops. I ended up bumping into a dog walker, who was walking four dogs at once and struck up a conversation about the time I worked as a dog walker in Auckland (ah those were the days - Sam's convinced that I actually paid more money in fuel driving to the places to pick up the dogs than what I actually got paid walking. It was worth it though).

From Greenwich Village we caught the E-Train to Queens and met up with Katie. She had flown into JFK and this was the best place to meet her based on the subway routes. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a pretty crazy neighborhood. Its a funny stop because this is where everyone from the wider NY area would catch the subway to get to JFK, so it was a weird mix of travelers with suitcases moving as quickly as they could from the Subway to the Air Train while the rest of the world on the street was a chaotic mix of taxi cabs, angry New York drivers and possibly the most multi-cultural crowd I have ever seen. Anyway, we managed to find Katie (actually we thought we saw her several times before we actually did see her - turns out from behind Katie can easily be mistaken for a African American women (or four). I can't believe that it's been a year since I saw her last. 

Katie was doing pretty well given the long haul flight that she'd just been on (Wellington-Syndey-LAX-JFK) and once we got her back to the apartment and all set up we convinced her to come out to dinner with us at Lombardi's. Lombardi's is hailed as being America's First Pizzeria and was first licensed in 1905. The pizza was amazing we ordered one with meatballs and a garlic spinach and had a refreshing glass of sangria on the side.

Yesterday we let Katie sleep in while Sam and I went for a run in the Park. Once we prized her out of bed, I.V'd her with espresso and got her oriented with our hood (Yes, it is a hood - a least until we get two blocks South then it becomes a really nice area), we headed downtown. We got off the subway at Grand Central Station and let Katie have a bit of a look around. Then we took her for an explore around the Library and then to Time Square. So basically being to Katie what Zab and Ruth have been to us.

 Once we had a bit of a look around and taken in the sights we got on to more important business. Shopping. Well I say shopping, I can't really buy anything as I have no room in my backpack - so Katie went shopping and I lived vicariously through her. We literally shopped for four hours (when I say literally, I mean literally in the true sense - we shopped from 1pm until 5pm).

Katie - shopped out after our four hour session.

After we finished shopping we went home for dinner before once again heading to our local in Bleecker for a cupcake (Molly's Cupcakes that is), heaven forbid that Katie misses out on that key NY experience. Afterwards we went with Ruth and Zab to the Comedy Cellar for some classic NYC stand up comedy. It was hilarious and surprisingly not as rude as we expected. There were five comedians that did their routines during the night, many how made fun of some of the aspects of NY that we have been here long enough to appreciate. It was a fantastic way to spend our last evening with Zab and Ruth.

Coney Island

Yesterday was a day of experiencing extremes in terms of locations....

In the morning we headed off to Coney Island with Zab. While Coney Island is regularly listed in the top 10 places to see in NY but we kept expectations pretty low, a quick scan of the review showed that while its an iconic place its in dire need of a face lift - which translates too its trashy. The weather was piping hot, over 30 degrees so it was a nice day to head to the beach.

It took is about a hour an a half to get there on the subway as its on the Southern Tip of Brooklyn. Our first port of call was to find some lunch - which despite the many food stands was actually quite difficult to do. We had a few options including William's Candy, It's Sugar and Nathans Traditional America (which by the way is traditionally deep frying everything. Things we're looking pretty bleak and we were contemplating hitting McDonalds when Zab managed to track down a little Mexican place on Yelp. Despite its looks and location it turned out to be a real little gem. We haven't had taco's that nice and fresh before.

Anyway, we had lunch - waited for the chili to wear off our mouths (not a good idea on an over 30 degree day) and went for a stroll down the boardwalk. There were so many people people on the beach but not much swimming going on as the water looked kind of dirty (it didn't deter some though). There is a theme park and an aquarium which are the main attractions along with the classic american fried food stalls. We stopped to have an ice cream which I had to eat extremely fast to stop it melting everywhere! We enjoyed the sun and spent the afternoon people watching. It really is quite a trashy/cheesy kind of place....but it proved to amuse us for a couple of hours.

After we tired of the beach and the heat we the subway into Brooklyn to meet up with Ruth at the hospital she works at. We got off the Subway at Prospect park and walked for 20 minutes to the hospital. It was an eye-opener for sure. It was a little intimidating as everything was really run down. There were lots and lots of hair and nail salons - so many we really couldn't tell if they were hair salons or just places were people hung out because they have no where better to be. To be honest we stuck out like dogs proverbial's and I think we have a better appreciation of gangsta-rap. We didn't think it was appropriate to take photo's so you will have to conjure up a picture in your mind of what it might look like.

Once we met up with Ruth  we all went to Bosie's Tea Parla which is just off Bleeker street in Greenwich Village where we chilled out and drank some fine tea. It was a really nice place just to sit and relax. I think we will head back over there today and explore the neighbourhood.  To cap the day of extreme's off Zab and Ruth treated us to Lebanese food at a restaurant called Ilili, which is in Midtown. The food was amazing, the kind of place where you order for the table and just bask in the wonderful array of meats, breads, salads and garlic... mmm garlic. So we really must say a big thank you to Zab and Ruth. It was an amazing meal - contender for the best food we have had since being in NYC.

Tonight - we have a new guest arriving.... who will it be.

9/11

Sunday turned into a full on day despite another slow start (I think we have developed some bad sleeping in habits). We caught the subway down to the famous New York Financial District. We explored the iconic Wall Street (noting the remnants of the Occupy Movement still protesting in a park nearby) and on our way to Ground Zero. The security checks and long lines (on a Sunday morning of all days) made it take longer than we expected but everything moved pretty quickly, we were both glad we made the effort to go and see it. It was a bit surreal to be standing there where 9/11 attacks happened, thinking about what we were doing at the time and how we found out, would have never thought back then we would be standing here where it all took place. The area has now been turned into a memorial park with two large water feature pools as monuments. The names of all those who died have been engraved along the outsides, there were also computers set up where you could find information about someone who had died by searching their name. The new world trade center has almost been completed and they are putting together a museum there as well which will open in the spring of 2014.

A view up Wall Street looking at Trinity Church. New York Stock Exchange on the Left.

Ground Zero

One of the Memorial Pools

After walking through ground zero we took a stroll along the sky line garden which was really cool. It's an old railway track one story up in the air that they have turned into a garden/walk way, such a clever idea! It helps that its in the Chelsea area and surrounded by fairly space-aged apartment buildings. Its very cleverly designed (with the exception of all the people) turns an urban jungle into a really nice space. Afterwards we then returned back to Chelsea Market so I could purchase a dress i'd spied the other day and Sam chilled out in a cafe. We had a quiet night in both thoroughly exhausted from all the walking!

Today was non eventful, we did some more groceries and went for a run in the morning around central park and then while Sam and Zab did some work I explored the streets of Union Square. We are currently having dinner back at the apartment and then are going to go out for cupcakes at Molly's - my new local!

Party on the roof

After our big day exploring Brooklyn we had a bit of a sleep. In the morning Sam got some much needed grocery shopping done and I headed down with a few plastic bags to the laundromat. It was a relaxing experience, I just sat there watching a Spanish soap opera while waiting for the clothes to finish washing after loading the machine up with quarters.

We had a little lunch back at home then went out to explore some new places which included Chinatown and Little Italy. Chinatown was pretty much as we expected. It was full of people either buying cheap knock-off of designer products or people selling cheap knock-off's of designer products. There appeared to be lots of food places as well. Sam set up at one of the local tea shops to do a little work while I did a bit more exploring. I think the sheer volume of people was a bit much for me and I soon got a bit tired of it all.

After an hour or so I met up again with Sam and we left the tea shop and explored Little Italy together. It was really lovely, still full of people but it seemed pretty tranquil in comparison to Chinatown. There were blocks-upon-blocks of cute Italian restaurants with waiters dressed in suits. We will make the effort to get down there and have a meal before we leave I think.

Once back at the apartment Zab & Ruth joined us for a run around Central Park. We did the loop around the reservoir and boy was it hot, Sam decided to for-go wearing a t-shirt and saved making dirty laundry. After running we had some dinner at home - its very expensive to eat out all the time here so we are making as much effort as we can to do food back at the apartment - not that the groceries are cheap either.

After dinner we met up with G and went downtown. As it was G's last night Zab organised us to go to a rooftop bar. The one we went too was called "Rear View", it was 16 floors up and gave us a wonderful view of the back of the Empire State Building. It was a really nice and relaxed atmosphere and we must have spent a few hours just relaxing and enjoying views.

Its Saturday here today. G has gone back to Edmonton and Zab and Ruth have gone to Washington D.C. for the weekend. Sam did a bit of research this morning and organised us plan for visiting some of the local markets. This included the young designers market in Bleeker, the Union Square Green Market, Chelsea Market (which has a small Artists and Flea's market attached). Everything was just lovely, I could have bought pretty much everything I laid my hands on but alas there is precious little room in my backpack and Sam (deliberately) refuses to play beast of burden for my market-shopping-addiction. I did manage to get a few little earrings (okay - 5 pairs, but they were 5 for 10 and they don't take up too much room).

Not sure what we will get up too this evening. I think Sam wants to workout again, so we will likely head down to Central Park.

No sleep till Brooklyn

Hello all, 

I hope everyone at the bottom of the North Island and top of the South Island is doing okay. It was a bit of a shock to wake up this morning and see the news about the earthquakes in Seddon. 

Yesterday was had a really fun day exploring Brooklyn. We took the subway (I probably don't need to specify as its pretty much the assumed transportation here) to the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge - interestingly our apartment is on a very handy Subway Line which runs North to South along Manhattan Island just to the East of Central Park - which links us to pretty much everything from one or maybe two connections. Anyway, we got off the Subway (which is very close to ground zero - which we will check out probably sometime next week).  Map below shows the distance between Brooklyn Bridge Station and Ground Zero.

View Larger Map

 
Anyway, I digress - using Google maps none the less... sorry Esri. We got off the subway and walked across the Brooklyn bridge. It was really interesting learning a little about the history of the bridge as we walked across. The view was pretty fantastic looking back towards Manhattan and seeing the cityscape.

Once we crossed the bridge we went for an explore through Brooklyn Heights. We stopped for coffee at this interesting little coffee shop and it all felt a bit surreal with all the Seasame Street like conjoined housing and little hole in the wall shops. We even bumped into a little park decidated to MCA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Yauch) from the Beastie Boys who grew up in the area.

We had El Salvadorian for Lunch at a place called Bahia and spent the afternoon exploring the suburb of Williamsburg. Which reminds me a bit of Whyte Ave but on hipster steroids. It was a neat place to hang out and explore with some cool shops and a sort-of-Beach. I say sort of beach, it was coastal and there was a little sand. There were people sunbathing and it had a great view of the Empire State Building. 

After Ruth finished work for the evening went for dinner and had best Sushi we had ever tasted. Before heading back to the apartment we went for a quick explore around Union Square and had dessert at Molly's cupcakes over a quick card game. This morning our feet and legs are feeling it from all the walking - but I suppose that is to be expected.

Some quiet exploring

Tuesday was a rather wet so we had a quiet morning inside our apartment until it stopped raining around lunch - I think we're a little messed up still from the timezone change and the red-eye flight.We spent the afternoon around the Midtown-Flatiron area of town. I left Sam with Zab at Stumptown Coffee, which is a bit of a hotbed for entrepreneurs and new start-ups. So they spent afternoon drinking some of the cities best coffee and brainstorming new business ideas.

While they were being boring I hit the nearby shops and malls including JCPenny. I purchased a denim patterned shirt to fit into this hip fashion culture and some gold bangles from a random Indian store. I think i'll have to bring Katie over to this part of town for some serious shopping, too bad there is not much room in my pack :(

In the evening Sam and I went for a run around Central Park which was beautiful but incredibly hot, will try stick to the mornings in the future I think. Lots of runners out with their dogs and a beautiful view of the city over the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir.  Afterwards Sam cooked dinner for everyone back at the apartment and then we went out for desert to this cute wee cafe Ruth found on YELP.

Today we pried ourselves out of bed to go back to the park for another work out, turns out fitness can be quite creative with an empty children's playground. Once we were breakfasted and ready to go we caught the subway downtown and checked out Grand Central station, its funny to think how many books I've read that have scenes right in this very place. I sent Sam off to the library to work on stuff and I went for an explore back through Times Square to check it out in the daylight.

This evening we went for another stroll around Central Park - its so cool living so close to it. We are literally two blocks. Me thinks we will be spending some more time there over the next few weeks.

Yankees

This morning we got on to getting some groceries to see us through the next couple of days and quickly learnt just how expensive eating healthy is here! We then took the subway downtown and explored the New York Public Library, which is a crazy mix of tourists taking photo's and people actually studying. I left Sam there to do some work and went for an explore around mid town east including Bryant park. It was a great place to chill out and have a coffee with everyone on their lunch breaks. Quintessentially what you would expect to see in a New York park on a summer day - people playing chess, reading books and just chatting. Later we met up with G and headed to our first baseball game - Yankees vs the L.A. Angels. On the way we crammed into the subway and listened to a homeless man sing a song about sardines and all the different varieties of sardines you will find crammed into a NY subway - including a mexican sardine, a black sardine and a "that guy" sardine.  We got lost in a pretty sketchy part of the Bronx trying to find the shop to pick the tickets up from and in doing so managed to complete our exercise.
It was all good though, we managed to find the place we were looking for, got our tickets and found our seats. Of course we had to order hotdogs to complete the experience! The stadium was full estimating about 32000, and we got to see a home run.