New York in stereo

I'm walking in the rain with my hoodie up. I'm surprisingly used to rain now :) Tiesto plugged in, deep beats playing as I run across giant wet streets.

"Wasted all this time, searching...
Brought me to my knees..."

10am, sitting on a bench outside Balthazar waiting for the girls. The Ting Tings rocking through me.

"Folks got high at a quarter to five,
Don't you feel you're growing up undone!
...Imagine all the girls - ah ah ah aaah ah ah ah!"

Catching the metro downtown with PvD and a perfectly timed track.

"I watch the sky turn black to blush,
Head still spinning from the rush,
Of all the things I did the night before...
And looking down from my hotel,
These dawn lits streets begin to fill,
With memories of you and I...
On a New York City night..."

I like this. It's like I'm watching New York as a 24/7 movie. The personal soundtrack puts an even bigger smile on my face. Suddenly being unemployed isn't such a bad thing. Not when I get the rare chance to ketchup with those I hearts. Lots of giggling, lots of cocktails and beers, hotdogs in a phonebooth bar, taxidermied animals, peeking through holes in fences, *squeealing* out loud Bon Jovi lyrics somewhere on Avenue C... It's just me being... happy (^_^)

Gracias especiales:
:: AdF, PdF & SH for the birthday flight over :D
:: Pepper Pants *grin*, Tocca, SM & H for the good times. Again! Again! :D *MUAH*

PIKACHU

...I CHOOSE YOOOU!

I could almost see the giant Pikachu breaking free from the ropes and rampaging through NYC. Stomping on those little screaming kids, "Mommy! It's Pika - *squish*" Pikachu's soo cute :)

Our yummy Butterball turkey (good job Becky!):

The story goes, Butterball turkeys are so-named because they've been injected with butter to make it tender and tasty. I just did some research on Google: "Butterball has become a Thanksgiving staple and is known for its tender and juicy turkeys. In fact, the Butterball name was chosen to characterize a new, special breed of broad-breasted white feather turkeys, not because the turkeys contain butter, as many mistakenly believe."

Hehehe... Next Turkey Day, I might actually try injecting a turkey with butter just for fun :)

Conflicted

In the land of consumerville, I'm torn between what to buy.
The girly girl in me goes, "Get yourself a nice clutch!"
The nerd in me goes, "*Gasp* 1TB hdd!"

Is there a compromise? Well, in 6 days, I've bought:

• A top from Armani Exchange
• A hoodie from Abercrombie & Fitch
• An iPhone
• A singlet top & jumper from Esprit
• 3 pairs of socks that I didn't really need (but were really cheap!)
• A haircut and an eyebrow wax
  
• A pair of Jessica Simpson heels (*shocking*, I know)
• Half a copy of Leopard (family version to be shared with KC)
• A 500GB external hdd!

Everything seems unbelievably cheap. I'm not sure if it actually is, or if I'm just buying for the sake of buying. I walk into Armani Exchange to be greeted by Felipe.
Felipe: "Hello, is anyone helping you?"
Me: "No, but that's ok, I can help myself."
Felipe: "Oh, let me take that for you. I'll start a room for you and when you're ready, you just let me know."

"Start a room" for me? Wow. Well, if it's really necessary, I guess I should make the most of it. I'm assuming he's on commission.
Me: "Felipe, I need a smaller size... Felipe, this one has hanger marks on the shoulders, can you get me another?... Felipe, they _all_ have hanger marks. Can you get me one that hasn't been hung up?"

Sometimes, I just like taking the piss *grin*

So, what was I doing in Armani Exchange to begin with? Well, I was on Fifth Avenue, and I was store hopping just for fun :) I didn't really think I'd be buying anything. Until I tried on a really nice red top from AE, "just for fun". And realised, "Hey, the exchange rate means divide the price by 2. HEY, it's only 30 squids for an Armani top!! I could never get an Armani top for 30 squids in Rondon!"

There begins my first taste of American consumerism.

The iPhone is a whole new ballgame. I should've done my research better. Don't really want to get into it here, but I'm really not cool enough to have one. I have too much fear of bricking a very expensive toy. However, with the help of BL and AdF, I've managed to get it to some sort of state. The rest remains to be seen. Thanks BL & AdF :)

What's with the 500GB external hdd? Well, to be realistic, I don't really need one TB. However, I do need to backup my sht before I do an upgrade to Leopard ;) So 500GB is my compromise. It also means no more deleting my fave movies from my laptop! :D

Unfortunately, it also means that until I do my expenses for the month of October, I shouldn't be making anymore extravagant purchases. The gorgeous red Gucci clutch will just have to stay at Saks *sigh*

How on earth am I going to lug home all my crap?

Bon Chon

I really look forward to dinners in NYC. Especially when there are locals to take me around :) Food here, it's on a whole different scale from Rondon. Something as simple as Bon Chon crispy chicken wings, can keep me happy for the entire night. Happy enough to even survive a night out at an RnB club! *lol*

I have decided. If I could create an animal, it'd have at least 10 wings. No drumsticks :P Yummmm...

How to eat chicken wings:

The "Pincer" technique
Use two fingers on each hand only. Less mess, however, more chances of wing flying out of your hands if munching too enthusiastically.

The "Praying Mantis" technique
Use your nifty forefingers to clamp and position the wing while feasting.

The "Oriental Hybrid" technique
When fingers aren't enough, bring on the chopsticks.

How NOT to eat chicken wings:
The "Serenade the Wing with a Boy Band Song First" technique.
+10 points for style, -50 points for effectiveness :)

Balthazar!

It's the place everyone keeps mentioning, and when we tried to get in on Saturday, it was packed. So Missy W and I decided to try our luck this morning. We got there just in time for...

... the change over. Meaning, at 11:45am, we were 15 mins too late for brekky, and 15mins too early for lunch! D'oh. Didn't stop us from splitting a croissant while waiting for the lunch menu to kick in though :)

Biggest bowl of mocha I've had in my life:

And it's not just the camera angle:

It was big enough to cover the menu!

Everything looks like Lego

This city will eat me alive. I got lost on my first day here, and I was only a block away from KC&B's place *lol* Serves me right for getting distracted by M&M World.

1.5 hours in a line, and 86 floors up the Empire State Building later, the view looks like this:

Can you spot the Statue of Liberty? :)
The New York skyline blows my mind.

Guggenheim

The trick is, start from the top and work your way to the bottom :) I walked up one level before I realised there was a lift :P

I love just looking at this museum. Clean lines and minimalistic.

Actually, it was a bit of a shock for me to see it in real life. I had only previously seen it in scenes from Matthew Barney's Cremaster 3. I don't think I realised it was the Guggenheim when I was watching the movie. So it felt eerily familiar to walk through the doors and see the spiralled levels. If I had to say what was worth it about the 8 hours of my life that I lost in watching Matthew Barney's Cremaster series, I'd say the scenes from the Guggenheim were amongst my favourite. They were visually spectacular. From my blurry memory anyway.

The rest of the 8 hours in Cremaster were pretty much rubbish. However, I did remember the Chrysler building scenes and made a special effort to visit that building too. Meh. Not very exciting, especially since visitors are only allowed to enter the lobby area :( But, I can at least tick it off my list.

Central Park

I never realised how huuuge this park is!

MoMA

I think it's hilarious when people stare at paintings like these up close.

Yes. It's red :)

The great thing about the Museum of Modern Art, is that you're allowed to take as many photos as you like of the artworks.

Guess the artists:

(Top: Seurat;
Bottom: Klimt & Van Gogh)



(Top: Warhol;
Bottom: Magritte - bet you thought it was Dali ;) )

This took me by surprise. Well, I wasn't actually suppose to photograph this one since it's part of an exhibition :P

This is a drawing by Seurat! The guy who paints with dots (pointilism). His drawings are pretty close to perfect. It's amazing.

Welcome to the Big Apple

Traffic here in NYC is horrendous. It took me TWO HOURS on the shuttle van to get from JFK to KC&B's place. I was traumatised. Lesson learnt: Always listen to the locals when they tell you to catch a cab ;)