JandJmeetNYC

NYC Days 4, 5, 6

2009-06-17T16:17:00.001-07:00

NYC Days 4, 5, 6
Originally uploaded by josiejose

Our booty by mid-trip: our trip to sephora (lower right), that candy store of cosmetics, our three pairs of very hot shoes (S&P's: right, in box, and on her feet; Jocelyn's: upper left, on the guidebook) from Macy's world o' shoes; My paraphernalia from the UN, including my "peace through health" and refugee health books, S&P's gender equity and diasporas in conflict book; the blue bag in the middle is one we both bought at the UN bookstore - with a dove in the middle carrying the A from War to the word Peace - I think a fundraiser for UNHCR. (The roses are real - a freebie from one of the ubiquitous sidewalk flower shops.)

Together with our postcards and our guidebooks there's little doubt we are two single girls in New York City. Woot!

Taken in our hotel room, the Bentley, in the Upper East Side.

When in Rome

2009-06-14T13:03:00.001-07:00

Well, S&P has already covered some of this, but while we're doing the month-long "debrief" of our visit, I've been thinking of some of the customs that we came across:

- Tipping: Well, this goes without saying. It's in all the guidebooks, horror stories, and the eyes of every waiter and hotel bellman. My guess is that it originated from when these entry-level service personnel weren't paid, thus a generous tip is expected for good service to enable low- or no-wage workers to live in an expensive city. Well - I highly doubt that such workers don't make a wage nowadays, but the tipping practice lives on. AFter our first day we made huge efforts to retain singles in our wallets for the inevitable tipping need. I still feel guilty though that our bellman didn't really get anything from us - and he wasn't on when we checked out.

- Crossing the street - another one I'd heard about, but this took a bit of getting used to. As S&P mentions, they have no real delay between the end of the crossing period and the start of the crossing period for the other street. I also found it confusing that the intersections near our hotel seemed to have a crossing pattern that was unrecognizable to my foreign eyes. It's no wonder that there are so many intersection cops everywhere - they are needed, and believe me, they are the only effective way to enforce the crosswalk rules. Elsewhere, crosswalks and streets were ruled by the smart - woe to the cars who get stuck in the intersection, for you will be stuck there for longer if you get trapped by the swarm of crossing pedestrians.
It didn't take too long to get used to how people cross - especially on the small one-way streets I didn't have much trouble, but I did seem to have a blind spot for cabs and more than once S&P or someone else saved me from stepping in front of a speeding cab turning the corner at mach 10.

- staring - I can't recall whether I've mentioned this already on this blog, but boy did we ever notice how much people there stare. We began to be able to tell locals from tourists by the amount they stared. It became obvious to us that they weren't staring at me in particular - it's sort of a non-verbal New Yawker greeting - and if you stare right back, they know you're local. If you look away in embarassment, it's a dead giveaay that you're not from around here, Toto.

FOOD!!

2009-06-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

So Jocelyn and I ate our way through NYC, sort of. So I figured it was about time to do a run down of the things we liked, loved and were not so crazy about...

LOVED:

Luscious Thai: I will say it again, the best martini EVER, I'd go back just for another, because well it's been one of those weeks...

Pink Berry: Because we all need to be able to eat Fruity Pebbles on our Froyo or well whatever you'd like - I think J and I both settled for a mix of good and less good toppings... like mango and coconut on green tea.

Pret A Manger: It's like Subway and Whole Foods had an Upper Westside budget love child, all the food is freshly prepared and organic where possible, their latte's are organic milk and fair trade coffee - I'd have sampled one, but I'll leave that to those with lactase enzymes in their digestive tracts.. we ate there several times, and while it is slightly pricey, it is the guaranteed best bet for lunch after slogging around in the UN for hours.

Mad Dog's Rice and Beans - Wonderfully featured in our video, was excellent, again large portion sizes, an excellent selection of both entrees and drinks and the ambiance was likely the best in the city.

LIKED:

Madhur Jaffrey's Dawat Indian Restaurant, the food was lovely, but the prices and the option of not serving the rice/naam/roti with the main dish is slightly frustrating. However I have to say as a former vegan, that the extensive listing of both vegetarian and vegan dishes was surprising and honestly wonderful. The service we had was likely some of the best we've had in NYC.

Dean and Deluca: While it was lovely to look at the food was slightly over priced and in the end, just good/okay.

Gobo: It's a chain vegetarian/vegan restaurant, which while lovely, the portion sizes are huge - to it's detriment, because well unless you're going home right away, looking at your 15 dollar meal almost entirely untouched because you can't cram anymore in is well sad...

NOT SO CRAZY ABOUT:

Italian restaurant, who's name escapes me, J was really not impressed, in the end it was okay, the mussels were excellently executed, but the salad was poor, the dessert meager, and no drink list? The only redeeming factor being the Spanish waiter, who was not our waiter...

Careful How You Walk

2009-06-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

J and I realized quickly that the flashing hand at NYC cross walks is not something to be ignored like we do over here. No, that flashing hand is telling you to get the hell out of the cross walk because once it's stops flashing you're in trouble. That being said it seems to be normal to ignore the solid hand altogether, I guess for the same reasons I do here, most are one way streets, so with no on coming traffic in on direction and a narrow street, why wait? J wasn't too hot on this idea in the beginning, but when in Rome?

On the subject of walking, there are quite an number of sidewalk hazards, if it isn't the potholes and uneven sidewalks it's the scaffolding, J found it quite amusing that the majority of the scaffolding looks like it's a permanent fixture, painted to blend with the building it is encasing, and luxurious in it's head room, most of our scaffolding is just barely comfortable for me, so it was actually kind of nice, other than having to dodge poles and being conscious of where you walk, of which I am not normally... thankfully I escaped unscathed.

A video briefly highlighting the city of New York...

SNL

2009-06-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night from the comfort of our wonderful hotel room, J and I watched SNL, we had been crushed that we couldn't see a taping, given our love (mostly mine) for the show's satirical humor, and while we both miss Tina and Amy profusely - I don't think the weekend update will ever be the same, we will forever have this skit to make us giggle and now I know all I have to do to make J smile/laugh is sing, "your mediocre face, oh your mediocre face..."

Slowly Updating...

2009-06-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the absence, J is trying to fight off the plague and stuck wearing a sexy mask at work because of it, and I? Well I don't have the plague but I do have an inescapable need to sleep, I wasn't under the impression that we did that much, but it seems we did because I'm still logging over 12 hours a night in attempt to prevent my head from hitting my desk at about 1pm, or passing out on the train... anyways. I've decided to post some of the few pictures I took in New York. Maybe consider these some of my favorite things about the city.

Flowers, of which the majority were peonies:

Humorous signs, if you can't see it says hair & nail deli salad... oy vay

Parsons Design School/Bryant Park - I love fashion, I may not look like it and my sewing skills amounted to the sewing of a dress in Grade 8, but hey I can love Project Runway can't I? And I do believe I squealed when we stumbled upon Parsons, to which I have to say again, J is one patient lady.

More to come, like a run down on all the food we consumed...

Things that make you go

2009-06-02T08:39:00.000-07:00

Ewwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!

Yes that is what it looks like and if J had been able to take a picture of me taking this lovely shot you would have seen me on tip toe straddling another puddle and praying that I wouldn't touch the wall behind me. This was the worst experience we had with the subway elevators/washrooms, as apparently they are useful for not only transport but also releiving oneself. J and I both know that this is not the worst when it has come to refuse, but I think we both assumed that given the metropolitan/western nature of the environment that we would not be comparing the stench to a squatty potty in Kungyr or Kosovo.

Ground Zero Museum debrief (and margaritas)

2009-06-02T07:54:00.000-07:00

NYC in Pictures

2009-06-02T03:21:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone! We are both back safe and sound, with weeks of sleeping to do to catch up. I've uploaded all of the photos to Flickr (though a few are still to come from S&P), and posted slideshows by day here on the blog - note that I backdated them so they would fit in with the posts we did on that particular day, so scroll your way back to Day 4 to pick up where the pictures left off! Stay tuned for a vlog from J and S&P as we drown away our trauma from the WTC museum.

We haven't even come close to documenting the experience, so don't stop tuning in.
Thanks everyone for your attention and comments!

(Those of you who are listed as "friends" of mine on Flickr have permissions to print any of the photos in my Photostream. If you aren't and you'd like to, send me an email.

NYC Day 6 in Pictures

2009-06-01T03:19:00.000-07:00

NYC Day 5 in Pictures

2009-05-31T03:14:00.000-07:00

Day 4 in Pictures

2009-05-30T03:10:00.000-07:00

Top 10 Things I wish we'd brought to NYC

2009-06-02T01:55:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm home in the relative comfort (and thrift!) of my own apartment, I keep remembering things I wished I'd brought to NYC with me. The first of likely many more such lists to come, and in the spirit of the Big Apple's most annoying son, I give you.... (drum roll please, Phil....)

The TOP TEN Things I wish we'd brought to NYC:

10. Purell. No, really. If you'd seen the subway elevators (which you soon will when we post S&P's photo of one such), you'd need no explanation.

9. Fancier Clothes. It's true that NYC's citizens are the hippest and brightest people in the country - while a nation struggles with an obesity epidemic, I'm convinced I was the fattest person in Manhattan while I was there. We were surrounded by hip, wealthy, beautiful people, fully a third of whom were pregnant. S&P rocked the Park with her tangerine dress and decollete, but I struggled to put two pieces together that matched and weren't streaked with genuine NYC road dirt from my hands.

8. A better haircut - As above - This may be horrifyingly superficial, but this was the week on which my poofy mane of blonde hair decided to grow itself all out again after being tamed by my hairdresser's thinning shears only two months ago. In almost every picture, I appear to have a mud-coloured mop on my head. I plead humidity.

7. S&P's running clothes - here I thought that I was travelling with a marathon runner, and the one thing she didn't bring was her running clothes - and we had access to Central Park and the coolest, most beautiful 3.8 mi running route around! I lovingly packed my "running" gear and visualized myself running off the poundage I was doomed to gain at the seemingly neverending yummy places to eat by sprinting through CP in the afternoons. I have to say though - even if S&P had brought her stuff, I'm not sure how we would have fit it in. We packed as much in as possible and we were STILL coming home at midnight and waking up at 8am exhausted and slightly delirious.

6. The Baby Whisperer: Dad and/or Buffy would have been a good fit for the plane ride from Vancouver to NYC, and even for the countless screaming children who seemed to follow us (read: S&P) around. It was uncanny - from the moment we set foot on the airplane and noticed that no fewer than four small children were tucked around us, we were beset with shrill screams and wanton cries at bone-chilling levels. The hellions kept us up most of the red-eye flight from Van to NYC, and their ilk showed up all over the city. A good baby whisperer would have been just the thing to soothe these calls from the wild - and saved us hours of bellyaching about "parents, these days!"

5. A journal like I usually carry while traveling: It was silly of me, but I tried to be all digital and set up a great set of lists on EverNote, a web and PDA-based service I have an app for on my iPhone - in the days leading up to our trip, I collected bits of info about where we should go, websites, opening times, discounts, subway stops, etc. all in well-organized searchable lists... all of which were not readily available because for some reason I couldn't connect to the 3G system (iPhone internet) while I was in NYC. S&P's crackberry, on the Edge system, did just fine and in fact bailed us out of a few mean Pinkberry cravings.

4. A few hollow legs. Seriously - the sheer plenty of tasty things to eat and try was a bit dizzying. The stress I've spoken of in our last few days was at least partly made up of too many options that we couldn't decide. Nobody wanted to eat too early lest we get too full and pass a Pinkberry we had to leave untried. I'd say we ate well and not too decadently, but the prevailing sense for me was one of being too full too often.

3. Some sort of small purse on my person - not just an excuse for a syllabic pun, I really struggled with keeping things at hand but secure enough to not be a target. Safe to say that both of us were very cautious of our selves and belongings what with the stories we'd heard about personal security in the Big Apple - but for me, as the one who brought around the laptop and carried odds and ends for both of us, it was too hard to always be taking on and off my backpack just for my camera and wallet. Yet keeping it between my knees proved hazardous both to my belongings and S&P's sanity as she was constantly scooping up errant belongings off of the ground. I have never dropped stuff so much in my life. I've decided I need to design a sort of chair-based pack much like the chic waist pouches that the designers were making a year or so ago and you sometimes see on makeup artists or (or handymen, in leather). This would string around the front "knee bar" of my chair frame and allow for secure tucking into pockets on the inside of the frame while providing easy unobstructed access at any time with no chance of the dropsies ruining the holiday. It's the next big thing, folks. Line up for your shares here.

2. Packaged Oatmeal. We had this great idea that we would save ourselves the cost of breakfast by bringing oatmeal to eat in the morning in our hotel room - breakfast we both eat daily anyway. However - it proved just too inconvenient what with a Starbucks and hot, fresh coffee just around the corner. We ate breakfast in our room the first night and not since. It just wasn't the same to what we make at home, and they wouldn't let us put anything in the bar fridge of our own - so no milk or yogurt. I think a box or two of the packets of flavoured oatmeal would have done the trip and saved us a lot of fuss.

1. Gloves. The fact that I was too disgusted at my hands throughout the trip to take a picture to show you the genuine (TM) New York Dirt that clung to them despite vigorous scrub-brushing every day and night should tell you how awful they were. I generally dislike wearing gloves to wheel but I've never wished I'd brought my gardening gloves on holiday so much!

NYC Day 6

2009-06-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

Our last day contained about as many stresses as anyone should put in a day and a full slate of events. J still wanted to see Wall Street and the Financial district and I knew I needed to/had to see WTC/Ground Zero. We packed our belonging, I found room for my haul of shoes and the such like...J for her educational material.

Once packed we made our way to the financial district and Ground Zero. We wandered though City Hall grounds and then down to Ground Zero, which is still eary, a void still in many respects, and as you walk through the streets you can't help but wonder what it would have been like that day, running in fear through the streets with the dust, fear and confusion filling the air. We visited the memorial and almost instantly I found myself blinking, and reliving the events. The wall of pictures surrounded by boxes of tissues, which are quite necessary, it is bittersweet to look at the pictures family members have selected to represent their beloveds, their wives, husbands, brothers, sisters,children, friends and other family. Pictures of pastimes loved, proud graduations, weddings and births filled the wall. Pictures that made you laugh and other that made the chasim of lost violently apparent, a newly born child in the arms of a mother no longer present... the paper cranes really made me cry though, the continuation of violence, resilience and the fall out when we act out of violence and not compassion and understanding.

After it was all said and done I have to say that while it was said in jest in the video to be post, that I would strongly recommend that anyone who sees the memorial be aware that it is emotionally draining, the grief and the memories are very present when you leave.

From Ground Zero we wandered over to Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange and as we were meandering through the narrow streets I saw an open air restaurant which turned out to be an open air series of cafes, we opted for the Mexican restaurant because well cheese, salt and tequila are about all you want post WTC Museum. So at 2pm in the afternoon I was sipping on a guava margarita on the rocks and trying to ignore the fact we were leaving. After we were finished our lovely meal we power walked over to the Staten Island ferry. Despite our time crunch we decided to take the ferry to Staten Island and back so that we could get a true sense of the skyline, Brooklyn Street Bridge and of course Lady Liberty, whom I have to say is petite. In some respects I think we would have preferred not to take the ferry and have saved ourselves the rushing to the hotel to catch our shuttle, but in the end given that we did make it to our shuttle it was entirely worth it.

Thankfully this time our Cathy flight home was relatively uneventful, other than well landing at 2am at YVR and then making the trip home. I of course arrived home to a messy house, after the clean up and shower I stumbled into bed about 3:30am and then I was awake at 7:30 and out of the house by 9am, and now here I am trying to work, concentrate and figure out what I need to get done today...

BIG day - NYC Day 5

2009-05-31T18:13:00.000-07:00

After Friday's snafu what with the WTC subway station not having an elevator (as advertised), we swapped our days around a bit - another great development - SUN! And HEAT! I was beginning to wonder if NYC was taking a page from the Vancouver playbook for late spring and bathing everyone in drizzly warm downpour.

Saturday we trekked up the 6 blocks from our hotel to Central park on an absolutely gorgeous day - 77 degrees and a light breeze. We walked from the corner of 5th avenue and Central Park South, past the little vendor booths, caricture artists and cheap paintings of NYC sights. We realized early on that it was both too hot and not enough time to see such a great park but we figured we'd walk until we got hungry/tired, or until we got to Museum Mile (5th ave from roughly 81st to 110th), whichever came first.

Turns out, it all happened at once. We passed the Central Park Zoo, the children's petting zoo, the Conservatory Water (and people sailing their r/c boats), several buskers, and several hundred thousand people sunning themselves, playing, picnicing and walking their pets. S&P keenly noticed that this city is LOUSY with pregnant women - as she put it, "every uterus, like every living space, is full in this town!" Interestingly, every woman we saw pregnant was married - verified by either an incredibly expensive rock, or the presence of a doting husband/partner/spouse/daddy/other. Central park was simply the proof - we've seen this phenomenon in every neighbourhood we've been in since we got here.

We came out of the park briefly at 81st ave seeing the white stone walls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) rising up out of the greenery. It was enormous, and S&P, who has traveled to Russia and visited the Hermitage, said that it seemed almost as large. It was beautiful, very classically designed, and the steps and square were overrun with people, vendors, entertainers, and tourists. We took a time out to get food (which has gradually become more difficult as our trip goes on - I'm sure we'll fill you in in another post on this). Happily today we stumbled on the decadent grocer Dean & Deluca, and we feasted on yummy sandwiches, fruit, yogurt and (gasp) a raspberry cupcake split in two. We debated the finer points of gourmet cupcakery as we sat on a shady bench by the Met and ate our lunch.

The Met is hard to describe. Almost every major piece of greek sculpture that pops readily to mind seems to be in their Greek and Roman Antiquities section. The architecture of the building is phenomenal and lends itself to a wild sense of size, grandeur and glory. The light itself is beautiful. I was anxious for the Egyptian wing (having seen the amazing collection in the British Museum), however it was very crowded. I don't remember much of it at the moment, but S&P sure does! and unintential part of the museum's attractions that day was pop star and actress Mandy Moore and her husband Ryan Adams (whom if I had known was there I would have mobbed him and made a fool of myself. Good thing I didn't notice). My favourite part was the Temple of Dendur hall, with an ancient Egyptian burial temple and archway reconstructed in the midst of a stunning wall of windows and pond.

Another highlight for both of us was the traveling exhibition, Model as Muse (sponsored by Marc Jacobs!). Buffy, you should have seen it. It was fantastic, and featured a century of classic fashion art pieces and the models who inspired them. The 60's Yves St. Laurent dress, for example, featuring vivid cubist (?) squares in red, blue and yellow on a white background; the Dior gown from the golden age of Haute Couture, seen on the model posed between two elephants.

Our flight is about to be called, so we'll continue this in another post. We are tired, really dirty, and glad to be coming home - though the consensus is that New Yorkers are much friendlier than anyone gives them credit for, New York City needs at least two weeks to do it justice, and we are both now looking for graduate programs at NYU.

Now, talk amongst yo'selves....

(Oh and S&P says that we have also agreed that we are pretty much at our end and are looking forward to some sleep - despite Mom's admonition from earlier this week - we walked an estimated 30 blocks today alone, on average 3-4 miles a day. S&P's feet hurt. Mine, not so much.)

Jazz Hands!!

2009-05-30T07:03:00.001-07:00

I wanted to see a show with JAZZ HANDS! and West Side Story did not disappoint, as there was an entire song with jazz hands, there of course was a full collection of familiar songs, high kicks and young love. We had been a little concerned after overhearing a conversation in the Village about the faults of the musical. She profusely apologized and promised us that we would enjoy the show. She was right, we enjoyed it, and I found myself so consumed with the story, that I was tearing at the end of it all, it really was as magical as the jazz hands promised they would be.

Yesterday had started with the intention of going to see Ground Zero and the Financial District and related sights and then with us returning up to Broadway for the show. However the WTC Subway was not accessible and so we back tracked and changed our plans spending the day in Greenwich Village and eating at Gobo - a wonderful vegan/vegetarian restaurant that made me (S&P) realize how much I miss vegan food, and yet how much work goes into the whole process. After a day of perusing the shops we wandered over to NYU and found ourselves wondering what our lives would have been like if we like Felicity had perused our undergrads there or if some how we could somehow justify the debt and get out masters or PhD's respectively just so we could spend more time in the magic of the city.

J&J Phone Home

2009-05-28T17:29:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your comments and views! Rest assured, we will come home, eventually. Meanwhile, we've set the comments settings to "anyone" so you don't have to sign up with a profile to comment.

See, we do love you!

J & S&P

Shopping, Shopping, Rain and more Shopping

2009-05-28T16:55:00.000-07:00

Today dawned, or rather drizzled, with the best of intentions to go downtown to Lower Manhattan to see the WTC site and memorial, the financial district, City Hall, Staten Island Ferry, and Wall Street... but after getting off the subway (we took the subway!! On our own! And it smelled like PEE!) at the nearest accessible stop to Broadway so we could by tickets to the theatre, we got a little stuck.

In Sephora.

Maybe it was the rain, maybe it was the fatigue, maybe it was just the reality of two girls and unfettered access to shoes and cosmetics, but we came to a mutual (and easy) decision that we would swap our shopping day (scheduled for Friday) so we could wander around Midtown, Times Square, 5th avenue (yes, THAT 5th avenue) at a leisurely pace.

We waded through the crowds of tourists and hawkers with pamphlets for comedy shows, tapings and bus tours. We got stuck in Sephora (a cosmetics candy store), frustrated in Macy's shoe level, giggling in Victoria's Secret (at the rows of husbands and boyfriends stuck waiting at the front of the store - see pic - in eager anticipation of purchase)...

...and people-watched in starbucks, where the absolutely shocking lack of fashion sense kept us amused and hoping that Stacy and Clinton would show up any minute.

We finally have crashed (and are exploiting our allotted 2hrs per day of internet usage) in Starbucks, our home away from home, and are trying to figure out where to drag ourselves next. The weather is terrible, but would you believe we are currently in the Starbucks INSIDE the Empire State Building. It's fabulous and very Art-Deco-y, and has fantastic metal artwork dedicated to the captains of industry and resource. Despite the terrible weather, there are scads of yuppie-types here in the Sbux chilling out and trying to look fab.

Food: I know you are all dying to find out what nationality of cuisine we will be enjoying tonight. Well, if S&P has her way, we will be having pizza from Lombardi's, noted as the first pizza joint in the whole nation (and that's saying something, considering that pizza was pretty much invented here).

S&P & J

JandJinNYC -Day 1

2009-05-28T07:00:00.001-07:00

J and I (S&P) have decided that the way to tackle the food issue in NYC is to do oatmeal breakfast in room, lunch where we can find it - Maureen, our fellow shuttle buser, recommended we visit whatever deli is closest to us at the time and see what's in store. And for dinner? We've decided that we are going to try and eat through the various ethnic cuisines our general area has to offer. Last night being that we were completely exhausted beyond our comprehension, we picked the Thai restaurant across from our resident Starbucks haunt, since we knew it wouldn't require navigating the Subway exhausted and hungry or paying an exhaustive amount for a cab.

Luscious Thai - 60th Avenue and 1st Ave

Not that I'm an alcoholic, but I must say their Guava martini was probably the best martini I have ever had, the glass was rimmed with sugar, salt and chili, giving a wonderful combination of 3 of 4 flavour profiles central to Thai cooking (salty, sweet, sour, spicy). We followed it with Som Tom (Green Papaya Salad), fresh, crunchy and a perfect combo of salt from the fish sauce, sour from the green papaya, sweet from the tomato and cane sugar, and spice from the chili. Pad Thai was our entree of choice and while it wasn't perfectly authentic it was fresh and a large serving. We splurged for dessert - deep fried ice cream and I finished the whole evening with an amazing cup of coffee. I cannot say it enough, I am sure it was probably the best cup of coffee I've had in a restaurant and maybe ever.

In total in worked out to be $48 + tip.

Day 2

2009-05-28T07:35:00.001-07:00

IMG_0289.JPG
Originally uploaded by josiejose

(Jocelyn) Getting up was physically painful – and we spent a leisurely morning waking up, watching music videos and getting on J up to date on the Hills drama, on the hotel television, and trying to get the Internets to work at Starbucks around the corner from our hotel.

When we discovered a few weeks ago that our hotel was right by the FDR expressway, we were worried that noise would be a problem. Strangely enough, the highway is the least of our worries. Turns out that the intersection in front is the louder, with at one point 19 yellow cabs in a row. Honking, yelling, screeching and generally creating an urban cacophony. S&P I know found it difficult to sleep due to the honking, waking slightly every little while to respond with a bleary, “Oh Hush!” when the noise got particularly bad.

We discovered after our long morning drinking coffee and staring at the subway map, that the UN building was a straight shot from our hotel down the street about 20 blocks, so we set off on a mostly overcast but mild day. We were almost on the property before we realized we were there, and it was, well, awesome. A little anti-climactic because a new building was under construction and half the property was hidden behind it.

Once inside, we took a 1 hour tour around the eavesdropped on a diplomatic conversation in front of the Khofi Annan tapestries, and spent a small fortune in the UN bookstore. Enjoyed walking around in the tacky gift shop and spectating on the internationals bartering with the gift shop clerk. Walked up 42nd street (yes, THAT 42nd street) to Grand Central Terminal. It was as beautiful as everyone says (and as pictured in every other episode of Law & Order), but by that point we were dead tired and more than a little jet lagged. Despite this, S&P couldn’t resist the lure of Banana Republic, which the charged through with fervor.

(S&P) Dinner was a hard decision as we were trying to figure out Subways and which direction we were prepared to go in. We decided on Dawat, Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian restaurant. Now if you don’t know who Ms. Jaffrey is I urge you to run out to your nearest bookstore or try and procure her videos off the Interwebs because she is a wonderful guide person to Indian cuisine. Dinner was wonderful; we had onion pakoras for an appetizer and shared lamb curry for dinner and the managed to celebrate one of our birthdays with their specially reserved coconut and mango ice cream dessert. My only complaint being that the Cosmo was very weak, which I will attribute to new bartender who it appears they were in the process of training.

Our first day in pictures

2009-05-27T07:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry - we know some of these require explanation but we have more fun things to do at the moment! We'll fill you in in later posts.

S&P's witty repartee on the trip thus far

2009-05-26T09:12:00.001-07:00

J and J meet J

2009-05-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

Well we chickened out after the ordeal of flying and the concerned expressions on all the faces of those when we indicated we were taking the Subway. We took a shuttle bus which while it was suppose to drop us off at our hotel, dropped us at Grand Central for a while, during which time we met J, specifically Jose, we also met Maureen, and a music director for the Fully Monty at the Playhouse and gawked at a young lady wearing a crinoline for a skirt. Jose tried to help us lighten the exhausted mood, as J like I (S&P) worked yesterday, and then bordered what was to be a red eye, but turned into something altogether different, though still red inducing. The redness was more in our faces as we fumed with the frustration of an incredibly cold cabin, overhead lights and screaming, running, shrieking children. Now don't get me wrong, as most days I come across like a child hater, it more the parents who believe that at 12pm PST your child should be jumping up and down on their seat screeching like a little banshee. Maybe I'm just tired, yes you know that would be accurate, wake for 26hours and I've had maybe 2 hours of interrupted sleep. However, the city is beautiful, it's hopeful and positive as J has noticed and it is cultured, because we currently sitting in a clean, safe and lovely Starbucks. We made it to NYC baby, now can I please have a shower?

Breathe

2009-05-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

I'm caffeinated and I'm ready to bs my way through a 500 word "assignment" before I start and finish that... I feel I must add that after reading J's post I realized that I do really and truly need a vacation, not a running trip a VACATION. And this is my theme song at the the moment, I am even tempted to print the lyrics and tape them to my computer screen so when my staff thinks about calling me this week, they can re-evaluate that idea. On that note, take comfort J, I am smiling, it's slowly forming, but it's coming...

Photo:http://www.flickr.com/photos/gogator/2146025506/

T-minus 42 hours

2009-05-24T02:29:00.000-07:00

I can't believe this whimsical idea I came up with back in February actually happened, and that it's here already! I have been looking forward to it, but I guess it wasn't really real until now. Every time my supervisor would take out his palm to schedule something in this week, he'd look up and say, "What's this I have here, you're going to be away? Where are you going?" and I'd explain patiently that it's my 30th birthday, and I'm going to New York City to celebrate with my best girl friend, take in spring in New York and just enjoy myself after a deadly brutal four months of craziness at work. And he would nod thoughtfully, affirm that I needed a vacation, and file the knowledge away for the next time he asked me why I had booked the week off.

Now whether that absent-mindedness on his part was subconscious denial that I was actually planning to leave him to his own devices for a week, I'm not sure, but either way, it's here and there is a sh*tload of stuff to do (sorry mom, and S&P, you CAN swear on your own blog - so there.)

So I'm up super late tonight - partly because my sleep schedule's been out of whack for several months now (but really, has it ever been "in whack?"), and partly because there is so much to be done I'm really not sure what to do first. Yesterday was a flurry of family-ness as we gathered to celebrate Sister and Nephew's birthdays, eat barbeque and watch the little boys play like oversized puppies on sugar cubes. Hence, nothing otherwise productive was achieved.

So here's what's on the docket for Sunday:
- do laundry
- pack bag
- drive down to greyhound station to pick up toiletry bag I forgot on the sunshine coast last weekend and someone had to... oh forget it. long story.
- buy some new jeans and at least one top that doesn't make me look like a fat granny with a penchant for bad business attire/find a top that could be worn in the type of NYC nightspot I couldn't tell my mother I went to.
- Check that I have all of the requisite toiletry type business for the flight
- charge camera battery

The one really smart thing I've done in preparation for our imminent departure is get my chair tuned up. I woke up on thursday morning and the casters were locked up tight. Believe me, the thought of that sort of resistance training wheeling around NYC is not my idea of a great vacation, and the idea of leaving my chair in the hands of a stranger in New York makes me feel a little nauseous. My chair is all greased, tightened and de-hairified, and so I can at least say that the most important form of transportation on our trip is officially booked.

I keep thinking of when we'll finally meet up at the airport (S&P and I haven't traveled together before like this, mostly just road trips to my parents' place), what that will be like. I live to travel. It is my absolute favourite thing in the world, and I'm so excited to be going somewhere to just do that. The fact that I get to have someone smart and fun whom I'm close to to share it with, that's even better.

S&P and I have both had a rough few months at work - S&P is more on the "I hate this job and you can all go screw yourselves" side of things and I'm more in the "I just cant sustain this craziness for one more second" realm, but suffice it to say that both of us deserve a good massage by my husband, Chris Martin, and to be custom fit in the Christian Louboutin factory.

So now - before I keel over and fall asleep on the floor, I will conclude this post by wondering exactly how I'm going to survive the next few hours without a meltdown? How lame is that, to have a stress breakdown about your own vacation. Truly LAME.