Tis the season to go shopping

It was the weekend before Christmas and it felt like everybody in the entire hemisphere was out shopping in Manhattan. I had a lot of Christmas shopping left to do, so on Saturday I was up early (afternoon) and excited to get going. Armed with my credit card and shopping list I started at Central Park and Fifth Avenue. The plan was to walk down Fifth, shopping and admiring the window displays.

I was not let down! It was unbelievably busy - the streets were swarming with people. The NYPD were out and had police tape up at the lights to stop people from crossing at the wrong time. There were barricades to prevent shoppers from walking on the road. It was nuts. I spoke to some British tourists who argued that not even London Christmas shopping crowds could compare to this.

I loved the window displays, they were incredible. The lights and decorations were so great I kept stopping and causing busy (and angry) shoppers to collide into me. On two occasions I was hit by one of the street vendors pushing their carts along.

I could not help but stop and peak into Tiffany's to check out the decorations. It is breathtaking inside. I felt like I was stepping into a set from a movie. The staff are super happy, friendly and strangely rehearsed "Welcome to level two, where dreams come true!"

Further downtown on 34th Street, Macy's was something of a spectacle. I have never in my whole life seen that many people inside a store. One shopper phrased it well - "It's the one time of year tourists and locals alike flock to the same places with the same goals."

There were long queues to board escalators and guards and the top and bottom controlling the riders. I am ashamed to admit I found this such a novelty that I took a ride to the same floor twice. It was too much fun to only try once! On my second trip up I overheard two shoppers talking:

Shopper One: I saw a coat upstairs and it looked just like 101 Dalmatians! I want it so badly!
Shopper Two: Isn't the point of 101 Dalmatians that you aren't supposed to want the coat? The puppies would have to die for the coat! That's why Cruella De Vil was the bad guy...

When my arms could hold no more shopping bags and my credit card was getting tired, it was time to go home. I was quite reluctant - the crowds were such a tourist attraction that I could have cruised Manhattan shopping hot spots all day.

The Nutcracker

Christmas would not be complete without a visit to the New York City Ballet's production of the Nutcracker. (Well look who has let the city get to her head). Eager to experience the famous ballet, Noodles, Lizard and I booked tickets for a Sunday evening.

We met in the early afternoon at Lizard's apartment then headed to the Upper West side for brunch. The place I chose was called Isabella's. As with all good brunch options, there was a large group of people outside enduring a long wait in the cold for a table. Anything for a good brunch! In the name of getting a table, we chose to sit outside in the heated area. The food was great and coffee and cocktails were included. Perfect!

Finishing up brunch with plenty of time to spare before the show, we took a slow stroll down the west side of Central Park. We stopped at Starbucks and picked up giant cups of gingerbread latte. We sipped away in the park. There is a Starbucks on every corner in New York, so it always perplexes me how many people there are inside! I am enjoying their holiday editions, however I still argue that there is something inherently wrong with the whole Starbucks coffee concept. I found this Macchiato picture on their website and couldn't help but laugh.

That just is not a Macchiato...

After our Starbucks we headed over to the Lincoln center where the ballet was being held. We found the David A Koch theater and picked up the tickets. Outside there were some young boys with their cheeks painted rosy red doing ballet moves.

Me: What's wrong with those kids and where are their parents?
Lizard: I think they're in it! You just insulted the performers!!


While we waited for the doors to open we had a sticky beak at the War Horse movie premier outside.

Inside the lobby of the theater is gorgeous. I have been there before to see the New York City Ballet's production of the Seven Deadly Sins. It was even more beautiful than I remembered.

We had to climb a lot of stairs to get to our seats. I find that whenever I go to see a show the usher says to me - "just keep going all the way up the stairs!" So up we went. When we thought there were no more stairs to climb we handed our tickets over to the usher, who surprised us by taking us to another secret stairwell. At the top we went through a curtained door well and to our shock we found amazing seats!

Our seats were single file in a box with only five other people. We had an incredible view of the stage and entire theater. At first their was a little bit of dizziness being so high up. Looking down we could watch all the people. The children were adorable. The little boys in suits were so cute. The girls were even sweeter in their velvet dresses with sashes and huge bows in their curly hair. They were all so excited to be there.

The ballet itself was brilliant. The music, the costumes, the dancing. It swept me away. The little girl in front of me loved the music and was pretending to be a conductor throughout the show. For the next few days every time I closed my eyes I could hear the wonderful sounds in my head.

It was such an amazing show. The dancing blew me away. The effects were impressive - the sleigh flying through the air and the Christmas tree growing to a monstrous size. The children dancers were very good too. My favorite part was the second act, when the little girl visits the land of toys and candy - the act inspires the imagination. I felt like a little kid as the performance transported me into a magical world.

The performance left me sleepy, happy and rested - like after a yoga class or a massage. I could go again and again. What a wonderful Christmas tradition. I wish I could adopt it as my own!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Christmas in New York has been romanticized in songs, books, movies and television for generations. In fact, over the past few weeks, I have discovered that despite growing up in Sydney, New York in December is the embodiment of what I perceive to be the perfect Christmas. From the Macy's Santa Clause on 34th Street, to silver bells ringing. The Rockefeller Christmas tree towers over the city and people flock to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and the New York City Ballet's production of the Nutcracker. A white Christmas in New York City is what Frank Sinatra crooned about. There is nothing quite like Christmas in New York.

Christmas in the city begins immediately after Thanksgiving. The fall decorations come down and are replaced by magical green wreaths and trees. The pine smells amazing and the decorations are uniformally red, green and gold. There is no Christmas tree too big and no decoration too many. Evergreens that have been cut down are wrapped up and ready for sale to line the streets.

The trees that have lost their leaves and those that line the paths are wrapped tightly in fairy lights.

People everywhere are adorned in Santa hats and Salvation Army volunteers line the streets ringing their bells and singing for donations. Every store plays Christmas carols between the regular pop music. Even the radio throws in some Christmas hits.

Starbucks offers holiday flavors in red snowflake cups. Peppermint mocha, gingerbread, pumpkin spice and eggnog. On a cold afternoon Lizard and I tried the gingerbread latte. It was strange at first, but it warmed us up inside and the ginger was spicy and unusual. Since then, I have made it my mission to try each of the holiday flavors. I am yet to try creme brulee, but so far I am loving eggnog. It's amazing! It tastes like caramel and condensed milk. So good, so sweet. Sooooo many calories!

I took a friend to try American pie at Bubby's. We had the pumpkin pie and it was life changing! As much as I am craving my Nanna's fruit mince pies, I'm loving this American Christmas food.

The city streets are like a war zone with shoppers everywhere. Children are excited, running into walls and pressing extra buttons in the elevators. Parents are out adorned with thousands of bags and strollers. Crowds that flock to see the Rockerfeller tree and ice skate at one of the many outdoor rings are unbelievable.

The city went crazy this weekend with Santa Con, where most of the city seems to dress up as Santa (or an elf) and wander the streets. The city feels crazy with Santas everywhere. Good chance to save money on a picture of your kid with Santa though.

As with at home, there is sensitivity around Christmas being a Christian holiday. Unlike in Australia where we are given two days holiday, Americans take Christmas day alone. It is the only religious day that is given a national holiday. This doesn't stop the city from adorning itself in Christmas decorations. Of course, there are Hanukkah decorations too... if only to make the Christmas ones kosher politically correct.

Christmas trees are everywhere, so my visiting friend from Boston was surprised when I stopped to take a picture of the tree on Wall Street.

Boston: Why that tree? It's not even a good one!
Me: I'm not taking a photo of the tree! I'm taking a photo of the Menorah! 


Why is it so small?

I love Christmas, but I should add here that I am not a Christian. Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Family, food, fairy lights, shopping and presents! Santa Clause, Christmas carols, fruit mince pies and traditions. I just love it. So I think it's a bit much when people get sensitive about Christmas trees and magic puddings. Having said that, I was sympathetic when a Jewish friend told me about waking up on Christmas morning and stringing pop corn to a potted plant so that she too could have a Christmas tree. In contrast, in my Muslim household, we had everything but the Christmas ham.

This year I have enjoyed creating my own American style Christmas at home.

So now I can tick off Christmas in New York with a big joyful Merry Christmas! ... and Happy Hanukkah!

Black Friday

Bolt's first morning in New York City was Black Friday. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving  and while is is not a holiday, most companies (including mine) give employees the day off. Amazing!

The day in the US is essentially the equivalent to Boxing Day in Australia. It's all about the sales. I thought Australian's were hard core boxing day shoppers, but we have nothing on Americans. New Yorker's take Black Friday seriously. My colleagues spoke about lining outside stores at midnight and shopping until three in the afternoon.

The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.^[4] Use of the term started before 1966 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "in the black" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)

Bolt and I started the morning with a whirlwind tour of downtown. 9/11 Memorial. Statue of Liberty. Wall Street. Tick. Tick. Tick. She was a little disappointed by the Statue of Liberty. Is that really it? It's so small..

We then headed to SoHo to check out the chaos of the sales. I was surprised to find very few people out and about. Actually that is an understatement. It was packed, but no more packed than on any other day.... I suppose most people were at factory outlets... or sleeping after a long night of shopping!

Stores were decorated with balloons and had performances and give away's outside. Bolt scored a carry bag and some stick on nails. Another store was giving free taxi rides in brightly painted cars. With Thanksgiving over, Christmas was beginning. The stores had the decorations out and there were Christmas carols playing. I love it how New York manages to seamlessly transition from one holiday to the next! It makes for a fabulous time of year. It was great that Bolt got to see it all. She scored some boots on sale which I think made her weekend.

To celebrate the purchase, we finished the day with frozen Margaritas served in jars at Sweet and Vicious. Best Black Friday ever.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the most amazing holiday ever. I absolutely loved it.  Four days off work. Turkey. Pie. Parade. Family. What could be better?

Americans treat Thanksgiving much like Australian's treat Christmas. The day before everyone travels home. So much so that Thanksgiving Eve is the most popular travel day of the year. At work the office was empty and the mood was festive. We left a little early and retreated to a Mexican bar to eat nachos and drink Margaritas. The plan was to take it easy and observe the famous Thanksgiving Eve night out. We were disappointed when the place closed early at 8:30pm.

Never mind! Most of our party had early flights and Lizard and I wanted to be up in time to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. My plan was to be at Lizard's house by 9:30am. I left my building and was surprised the find the street lined with Yellow Cabs. Normally it is close to impossible to get a cab outside my apartment, but with everybody gone for the holiday there was a surplus. The luxury. Already this day was shaping up to be wonderful.

Lizard's apartment is on seventh avenue and her roof top gave us a spectacular view of the Parade. On the street it was crowded and it was impossible to see anything - so we were lucky to be able to go upstairs and watch from above.

Despite the unseasonably warm weather it was freezing on the roof. We bundled up and cuddled up as we watched the floats move slowly down Seventh.

It was exciting and so much fun. We could hear the music from the marching bands and see the costumes and crowds. The Power Rangers were impressive (Green did a flip), but I liked the guys dressed up as bread and butter. The Hawaiian marchers in tracksuits and hula skirts were fun, however my favorite part of the parade was easily the giant floats. These huge characters towered over the city. Lizard and I guessed which character would come around the corner next and took thousands of pictures. Snoopy...? Snoopy...? Snoopy!!! It was like being part of a magical toy land. I was buzzing!

When the cold was too much to handle we retreated to Lizard's apartment for a short coffee and pop tart break. It was wonderful being inside in the warm and I watched the parade on TV while Liz Googled interesting parade facts. We were not upstairs for long though - we didn't want to miss too much!

We were back in time for Kermit and the grand final of Santa Clause. Santa was a bit of a let down though. I was expecting a little more magic.

With the parade over we had a few hours to kill before Bolt arrive from Houston. She would be staying with me for the weekend and joining Liz and I for Thanksgiving dinner. As we awaited her arrival, we watched a few episodes of I didn't know I was pregnant, then headed downstairs to inspect the damage from the parade.

The streets were closed and construction workers were focused on getting the traffic lights back up and running. The lights are taken down during the parade to reduce the risk of  injuries. Giant floats can be dangerous!

The worst accident came in 1997, when...winds blew The Cat in the Hat into a lamppost, causing the metal arm to fall off and hit 33-year-old Kathleen Caronna on the head. Caronna spent nearly a month in a coma, then sued Macy's and the city for $395 million
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1862565,00.html#ixzz1fFpZbqlo

When Bolt arrived from the airport her phone was dead. We were concerned she would be unable to find us. Never fear, the NYPD were there to help. The official-helpers-to-the-tourists out did themselves when a wonderful lady cop offered to lend Bolt her personal phone.

When I first saw Bolt she was lit up with excitement, a ray of sunshine. After one month without a day off she was happy to be free and be in NY. Seeing her made an already wonderful day incredible. Liz and I took her up to Lizard's apartment and she was impressed.

Bolt: I love it!
Lizard: It's terrible
Bolt: No way... It's awesome! You have your own apartment in New York City!
Lizard: Most nights I cry myself to sleep


With a few hours to kill before our turkey dinner Liz and I took Bolt to see Time Square. With the streets still closed to traffic it was a good day for it. We wandered along the middle of the road, only occasionally having to jump to the side when a police car sounded its siren. At one point the car stopped and the Officer wound down his window and announced into his microphone "Move along Sponge Bob!"

Huh? ... What did he just say? The Officer got out of the car and we realized what was going on. There was a man right by us dressed up as Sponge Bob behind us. Sponge Bob must have been doing something wrong because the Officer gave him a stern talking to. This upset Sponge Bob who departed, hunched over and visibly deflated. Poor guy!

With that, it was time for us to go to and we headed downtown to SoHo for dinner. I had made a reservation at Burger and Barrel for 4:30pm.. that seemed like the time that people eat Thanksgiving dinner. When we arrived at the place, to Bolt's amusement, it was already getting dark.


Bolt: Can you blog about how it gets dark early
Me: That's not blog worthy
Bolt: But remember that time it got dark early!
Me: Yeah everytime.... for three months


The restaurant was cool, with a dark and funky New York vibe. However, we quickly realized our reservation was pointless. We were the only people there. Guess it makes sense... most people have a family... lives...

yelp.com

Ordering was easy... Turkey, turkey, turkey!

I forced Lizard and Bolt to say what they were thankful for (like a real American family). Bolt took the cake for best thanks: "I am thankful to not be at work for the first time in 24 days."

And with that... we ate!

Afterwards we headed to a local pub for a quiet drink. After a month in the very American Houston hanging with the boys, Bolt complained that she was in desperate need of girl talk. We gossiped and Liz and I made up stories using place mats and napkins. When the waitress finally took our props off us it was time to go home. We were full of delicious food, buzzing from an exciting day and ready for bed.

What a wonderful Thanksgiving and the perfect way to welcome Bolt to New York. Happy Thanksgiving!

Columbia University

On Sunday I made the trip all the way uptown to Columbia University. I had not explored the Upper West Side and I certainly had not visited the Columbia campus before. In terms of New York universities, I have become accustomed to NYU. Not much of a campus university, NYU has buildings scattered across the city. In contrast Columbia has a campus on 116th Street and Broadway.

I was eager to visit, but not expecting much after my visit to Yale where the brandished wealth left me unimpressed.

I loved Columbia's campus. It was gorgeous. Gigantic buildings. Full of sunlight and space. Students perched on the library stairs have a view of the entire campus. I was impressed.

Noodle's and I spent some time wandering through the buildings. I took pictures of the campus in the fall and Noodle's played in the leaves.

I know Columbia as the campus from Gossip Girl - Blair, Nate and Serena have all studied there.

So after my trip to Columbia it was only fitting I should see Nate (Chace Crawford) at the shop under my building. He was buying an umbrella at the same time I was buying a punnet of blueberries!! As I was paying I kept looking over thinking "It's Nate, it's Nate!!" After I left the Duane Reade store I ran upstairs and called home. My brother answered and I told him 

Bro: That is cool

Me: It was the most amazing thing that ever happened to me!

Bro: Hahaha

Me: Um I mean celebrity wise..?

After all that wandering around uptown and Columbia I see Nate in my own apartment building. I guess that despite the beauty I discovered in the Upper West Side the Financial District is still the place to be. 

9/11 Memorial

My first seven months living in NY my apartment was overlooking the World Trade Center memorial. For the most part it was much like having a view of a construction zone, however it was interesting and special to see the memorial come up.

Last weekend Noodle's friend scored tickets for a group of us to visit the memorial. It's quite a line to get in, but once inside the number of people is very well controlled.

It is incredible. There are two huge waterfalls which mark the footprints of the towers. Around the edge are the names of the people who were killed. The memorial has machines where people can search for a their loved one based on name, company or hometown. You can then print a receipt with the location of their name.

In the centre of the sight is a lone tree which is remaining from before 9/11.

The memorial is extremly moving and somewhat difficult to process. All of the people who went to work and never came home. I was impressed by how well the memorial was done. It's nice to think that people from all over teh world can come and show their respects to the people who died.

Let it snow

My first Saturday in New York I woke up to miserable weather. Argh. Freezing cold and rain. After some TV I headed upstairs to the gym and I picked a treadmill with a view out the window - another building - Manhattan is glamorous like that. As I stared out I saw it start... Snow. Snow. Snow!

I had planned brunch with some friends, but it was not a suprise when they rang up and cancelled. It was too cold to go out.

It was tempting to stay inside and watch it from my couch. But I just had to go out and experience it for real. It was horrid! Raining and snowing at the same time. I ventured up town to SoHo to try and buy some sort of weather friendly coat. I think what I needed more was weather friendly shoes. I was slipping and sliding all over the place. With the raining and the snow falling simultaneously it was just rotten.

When I got home I was cold and wet. It was tempting to cancel Halloween dinner with Liz - but no, we had to do something. We decided on pizza at Grimaldi's, known for having the best pizza in NYC. And obviously NYC is the birthplace of pizza so that means best pizza in the world.

The next day the weather was nice. Lizard and I ventured out to Central park to see if the leaves had turned orange. They hadn't. Disappointing, however it was cool to see the park after the blizzard.

It was an absolute mess and I had so much fun taking pictures of lumps of snow and fallen trees.

Me: How are we going to get past that fallen tree?
Lizard: We go under!
Me: It's dangerous...
Lizard: That kid is going under. Although he is wearing a crash helmet

It was lots of fun experiencing my first snow storm, however I am not sure if I will feel quite as affectionate next time. 

US Open

To mark the end of my first US stint, I headed to the US Open early in the tournament before all of the nonsense with the rain. I had a general admission ticket and big dreams of all of the games I wanted to see.

I made it to the grounds in Flushing Meadows in one piece - beating the odds after missing my stop twice and spending some time wandering around random streets in Queens. I quickly found the Jelena v Jelena game and sat down to watch... stay awake.... stay awake.... stay awake.... Perhaps a hideously over priced bottle of water would help? Nope.

Sporting an intense sunburn from all of that napping in the sun I finally gave up and headed out of the stadium and to the park. I found a shady spot and happily watched the next game from the big screen. Ahhh this is the life. Now that was money well spent!

The flying wombat

The beginning of a second New York adventure meant another Qantas flight. Exciting! At nearly 24 hours, it's a long flight, but it's an adventure. Food, movies, unlimited apples... free PJs. Living the dream.

When I booked my ticket my Mum told me I would be flying on the same flight as three of her friends (Izzy, Patty and Sandy). When I said a teary goodbye to my family in Sydney I had no time to dwell - I was joined by these three gorgeous ladies in the Qantas lounge. They were bubbling over their up coming holiday and the energy was contagious.

Izzy: Am I swelling up?
Patty: A little...
Izzy: I'm allergic to champagne...

Our trip was one week before the grounding of Qantas flights. There was a lot of talk of the ground staff strikes at the airport. On board the pilots gave their pitch about how Qantas should look after the people in uniform because these are the folk who have made the airline iconic. I totally agreed. After all, where would Qantas be without their pilots? And the PJs, of course.

Flight attendant: Would you like Pajamas?
Me: Umm, ok, why not?
Patty: This young lady only flys Qantas for the PJs!
Me: Er... true...

After all of this talk of pajamas, Patty was surprised to learn I don't even wear the PJs on board. "I'm saving them!" True enough, I have worn them everyday since. I'm wearing them now.

Despite our flight being unaffected by the grounding, it was delayed - one hour in the terminal, then an additional three on the runway. Nothing to do with the strikes... rather, an engine problem. Come on Ally J - pull it together!

On board it was super hot. Miserable. When the pilot announced we may miss our connection in LA everyone freaked out. Far out, we just wanted to get to New York!

I was concerned, but not for long. My travel buddies were laughing at the news - "I've always wanted to go to Disney land!" Hmm they made a good point. I guess there are worse things than a stop over in California. I could get used to these girls.   

Eventually we did take off. We rushed through LA airport. Izzy took the lead - "Come on ladies, move, move, move!" Sandy and Patty groaned light heartedly "We're going to need to get her an umbrella to hold up. She can take tourists around Central Park."

Touching down at JFK felt nice. It was good to be back. Only... my earphones were stuck in my seat. I tugged. They didn't budge. I tugged some more... they disappeared further. Next thing I had a flight attendant and another passenger helping to untangle the mess.

Me: Forget it... it's ok
Flight attendant: No, no we'll get them!
Me: They cost ten bucks, it's really ok

At that the passenger ran, but the flight attendant tugged a bit more. Finally I insisted he stop - "I have to go, my friends are waiting for me.."

All was not lost - While I was collecting my luggage I heard the flight attendant running up behind me. "Got your earphones!!" That is good customer service.

Patty, Sandy, Izzy and I bid goodbye after making a dinner date for later in the week. Despite the rain, our dinner at Bubby's was lots of fun. We laughed and ate and drank. The girls told me about their adventures in New York and I told them about my adventures at work... Then we ate pie.

All in all, a wonderful evening.

Mum: Did you enjoy dinner with my friends?
Me: You mean my friends?

Fall in the park

Since returning to New York I have been anticipating Central Park in the fall. Lizard and I have been checking out the park on a regular basis awaiting the orange and red leaves. Finally, this Sunday, we were not disappointed.

We started the day with lunch at the Plaza Food Hall - this is a really cool place. I've been once before and this time Lizard and I were joined by two newbies. The hall is downstairs in the Plaza hotel. It is set up with a number of stations where you can see the chefs preparing the food. You are seated by a waiter and then can choose food from any of the stations. The waiters place the order with the respective food stations and when it's ready, bring you your dish.

The food is amazing! This time I had Greek yogurt granola - it was even better than my own breakfast yogurt combo. The others ordered butternut squash ravioli and burgers. Everything looked and tasted great. Of course, it was extra special because we watched it being prepared.
After eating Lizard and I headed outside, leaving the others to explore the magic of the Plaza. Across the road, Central Park park greeted us with gorgeous orange and yellows.

Of course Lizard forgot her camera and mine was on its last leg of battery. Typical!

It really was wonderful... It felt like the New York of movies.

Walking past a large group of eccentric rollerbladers and jugglers we were quickly reminded we were not inside a Mary Poppins remake.... Still, could not have been a more beautiful afternoon in the park. So now I have seen Fall in NYC I can happily say "bring on the snow!"

Kid in Manhattan

One Sunday afternoon I jumped on an R train home. I normally try to avoid the R, it's the worst. Apparently I am not the only hater. I was sitting on the train (somewhat) minding my own business when I noticed a small boy crying to his father. There were tears streaming down his face "I want to catch the 4 train!"

His father consoled him "We can't catch the 4, we have to catch the R. We are going to Brooklyn." The boy was not comforted, "But I want to go to 86th street! I want to take the four!"

His younger brother was much more sensible "The 4 is good, but I like the R too! We can go to Atlantic Ave, Union Street..."

 The passengers sitting by me were all amused by the child's deep knowledge of the subway stops. I guess it's essential when you are a kid in Manhattan.

For a light hearted New Yorker's take on kids and the Subway read The Boys and the Subway