The New York To Do List

I'm still yet to see parts of the city that your average tourist would be dying to get done.

So I want to make a list of things that I should be doing while I'm here - to make sure I get as much out of this city as possible. And anything that will get me out of my room is fine by me.

So comment this list and add things that you think I should do - it's an easy way you can travel vicariously through me. Which I know you want to do.

1) Eat a bagel (done)
2) Eat a hot dog
3) See Statue of Liberty
4) Go to Times Sqare
5) Go to Central Park
6) See Orchestra play in centrl park
7) Go on ferry round Manhattan
8) Go to the top of the Rockafella center
9) Go Ice Skating at the Rockafller center
10) See Sienfeld Diner
11) Walk over the Brooklyn Bridge
12) See the World Trade Center site
13) Go to MOMA
14) Go to that massive toy store near central park.
15) See some rediculous bands.
16) Eat a muffin from Magnolia Bakery (done)
17) Go to a broadway show
18) Go to a baseball match
19) Go to a NY Nicks game at Madison Square Garden
20) Go to a Gospel Church in Harlem
21) Get into Bungalow 8
22) Order chinese food to be home delivered at 4am
24) Go to the Hamptons
25) Go to Fire Island
26) Get a horse and carriage ride through central park
27) Go to the the high line festival in may!
28) Go to the soup nazi
29) Go to yankee stadium
30) Go to the Entertainers basketball challenge in Harlem - so much cooler than the globetrotters..
31) Go to the empire diner cnr 10th and 22nd and eat the sundaes
32) Go to Patricia Field (the stylist's) shop.



What else? Now that I'm here I cant think (comment an suggestions...)

The New York Howl

So I didnt think alot has really happend since I last posted. But my brain no good for nothing - as I list all the events - the has been a mega amount of goings on.


Random.

Well - Since moving into my room - I've managed to get a new desk for my computer and a big mother load of non perishable food that I'm hoping will last for the nest month and a half. The room has become a bit of a killer - even though my room mates are great - no light is starting to bug me. So I'm hoping I can move out in a couple of months. A couple of things I'll have on my new criteria for a room will be 1) power points in the kitchen 2) reliable hot water 3) a window in the bedroom 4) near the train station. So fingers crossed I can break the 6 month contract.


My house. Is a very very very nice house. Or not.


This inside of my fridge - I've been drinking a lot of Coke since I've been here. This is what happens when I'm trying to save money so I need a quick energy fix and can't be bothered boiling rice.


Heres my computer pre-desk. I was developing massive back problems crouching down to surf the internerd.



American bread - it's bizarro. I had brunch with Clare and some of her friends in an amazing bakery in Manhattan that had some great bread - it was probably the first really bread I've had in a long time. And that's because most of the bread tastes like cake or donut bread. This bread has no crust at the end - it's weird. And don't trust that whole wheat' advertising. It's complete processed garbage. I learnt that lesson when I bought some muesli that was 'naturally sweetened' - turns out it was 98 percent sugar - blurgh

There are a few other really weird things about my block. For example, there is an ice cream truck in my neighborhood that loops my block - over and over and over. As ice-cream trucks do, it plays such nostalgic hits such as mary had a little lamb and other cute little jingles. It also has a semi hip-hop beat that plays over the top of a few of the tracks. Ghetto. It's getting a little annoying though - because this isn't a rarity. The damn thing loops the block for hours. Apparently in Summer it's going to get worse.


This is the Marc Jacobs store in West Village near Chris's house thats doing a promotion for spring. A guy dressed as a chicken sits in the window and you can your photo taken with him for free and after woods they stick your photo on the store window. See....


I think that it was actually Marc Jacobs that was inside that chicken.

When Australians here about snow in New York - they think of romantic Christmas's and walking through white central park. But here some naked truth - after it melts and collects the dirt from the ground - snow get feral.


New York has an interesting waste disposal system. They all have 'trash' cans for plastic and recyclables and rubbish etc. But then they just trough it on the side walk. 2 times a week the sidewalk is covered in trash.




Waiting for the train...


Heres what the trains look like. I spend an hour a day on these. You see all kinds a NY wakkos...


An ad on the train for some beauty product. It's not much of a before and after transition...mmmm


A pic of the view of manhattan from the train on the way home

Since I last wrote - I've also been forced to get to the nearest laundry matt to get some washing done. It's near impossible to have a washing machine of your own in this city because of ultra restrictive flooding restrictions.


first load of washing. Kindly taken by the loud spanish mama that helped me work out the machines.

Work has been going well. No real news there. I'll be starting a separate blog to document my activities at work - cause I have to keep a work journal for uni. Sure you all dying to read it. pfft.



Me at my desk









Some little heads



I'v also been partying with some cool cats in NYC. Mostly Australian so far...

Seeing Nicole was a definate highlight. Cause she's so fucking funny - in a sick and twisted, wrong and broken kinda of way. Had an amzing veagan dinner in east village with Nicole and her equally quick friend Amber.




Mr Andrew


Julia - Adrians buddy. Who I just ran into at a party in Brooklyn - small world.


Grace Jones and Dan. Who just went to South by South west in Texas. Crazy.


work mate katie


Mr Andrew - Lou

When I first met Brooklyn

(It's not snowing again - this is a photo I forgot to include from the first week)

I'm just getting to know Brooklyn, it's been sold to me as the cool alternative to high priced Manhattan where all the younger crowd migrate and artistic communities cluster among the ethnically and culturally alienated. (Hasidic Jews and Hispanic) So far I've noticed some very cool little bars and restaurants, sandwiched between some ghetto dinners and dodgy looking nail emporiums. It feels a bit like Carlton - with many attributes of say...Footscray or Victoria Street.



I've also discovered the great rooftop of our building. You can sneak up there from our kitchen window - up the very New York fire escape. There's a view of the Chrysler building and the empire state. I'm a sucker for rooftops - and since I've got buckly's chance of getting a membership to the Soho club (Sex and the City rooftop pool) then this suit me fine.


Fuck yeah.

Here’s my attempt at making my bedroom nice. The blanket didn't look so porn star on the shelf - but I can dig it. It feels like my dressing gown back home.



And here is me in the kitchen - making my first home cooked meal.



This sign is hanging in my kitchen.



And me with the meal. A meal cooked with very very few cooking utensils, no tea towel – or glass. More shopping needed. I also don’t have a toaster – no toaster? That means no toast. No toast? No no.



the bowl of pasta al la Le Messurier



The empty bowl



and - with no TV for after dinner entertainment - I took photos of myself.



Another bone I've got to pick and chew and spit out - is the American currency design.

Firstly - a $100 note and a $1 dollar note look almost exactly the same. I had like $35 worth of one dollar notes the other day and I thought I was loaded. I thought wrong. And the coins don’t have numbers on them. Jesus. IT'S CURRENCY - The numeric value is a very important piece of information - dare I say more important than the umpteenth patriotic phrase about rights? So I’ve got a work out the value of the coins – especially considering my salary…

(just in case there aren't enough photos of me)


Another foible I've notice bout the yanks is that none of them have kettles that you plug in. They all have the 'on the stove - whistle when it's ready' variety. They annoy me.

Anyway - I've seen some wicked buskers on the subway - there's this one girl who just sings Maddonna songs and sound exactly like her (circa 1985 when she had a higher voice). There is also this really really good group of break dancers - but they must get so grubby cause the subway is dirt on dirt on rat on dirt. Kinda like this (minus the red sparkling spandex suits):



Wish I was home for the Hunter to Hunter pub crawl - and Golden plains - but I'm going to call Kate at the right moment - so be drunk enough to talk to me.

Oy Vey

Nick

Room-a-toid-move-itis

So last night was the first night in my new room. I went to the giant 'Bed, Bath and Beyond' store in Manhattan to buy all of my sheets and pillows etc. Ended up with a huge amount of stuff that I was barely able to carry with me on the train home - but I made it. On my way home I was semi abuse by a cat wielding hobo -my first real NYC hobo interaction- she was trying to convince me that the unarmed black guy that was shot 50 times by 11 policeman deserved it cause he had two kids and was out at a night club (on his bucks night). Riiiiigggght.

I'm totally exhausted today from getting the room set up - and it's not over. Still have to get my clothes organised and try to get a desk for my computer. But I'm glad to have my own space - albeit a little dark. The room adjacent to mine (the one I have to walk through to get to my room) will be empty till 1st of april - so it gives me window / natural light access for a little while. And there’s a TV and couch so it's pretty sweet .

Seems my 'character' building is a bit of a cultural melting pot. Met the next door neighbours - one of which is a guy from Turkey call Tunch. (Toon-ch) He was very pissed when I asked him if he was from Germany.

To add to my 'funny things Americans say' section

"Dovey" for doona.

"Power strip" for power board

"Shopping hours" for trading hours. And 'trading hours' directly translates to the stock market trading times.

they dont get 'jumper' either. It's a sweater. I think that’s like calling undies poopers.

Not the most exciting post - but a post none the less.

Maybe this weekend I'll actually venture out and see some of the city?

Serperated at Birth

A model. Idiot...

Spring a ding ding

Today is the first day of spring - and all the snow that’s fallen and turned into ice and collected all the dirt from the streets is melting. I'm about to move into my new apartment / pee pee soaked heck hole - so it's a fresh start all round.

See - it's really sunny - and there's the snow melting away - and theres me squinting (taken on Union street) - Spring a ding ding



Since I last wrote nothing huge has happened - work's been coming along fine and I've been doing more of the same stuff in my spare time. On Saturday it was St Patrick’s day - which is massively celebrated in New York. There were drunken louts everywhere - you could pick them by the way they would fall into puddles of slushy freezing water or wrestle each one another in the snow. Claire and I decided we should get out and do a big load of window shopping, went round eye off items I couldn't buy for the day. It was almost as satisfying as buying something, almost.

Went out for st pat's day beers that night and in honour of the Irish, got completely spastic. First semi bender of my time here - and I'm guessing not the last - but hoping none the less. Spent the Sunday attempting to move my stuff over to Brooklyn with a badly throbbing head. Note to self : don’t write yourself off before needing to lug 60 kg (132 lb's) cases up three flights of stairs.

Here’s Chris and I on the night. Related? To be sure..


So here’s my house - it's the tall brown building in the middle. I like to call it - the 'Character Building'. I'm on the third floor and my rooms in the middle of the right hand side. The annoying thing about it is - there could easily be a window - I just need to knock a whole in the wall for a bit a light. oh well. That’s a Pentecostal church next door - I can hear the preacher going crazy American style from the kitchen.


For bigger shot -http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g65/nicklem/My-house_big.jpg

Here’s a little collage of my room - it's a bit hard to picture - so try and imagine your face being wrapped in badly painted plaster until you can't breath, that’s my room. But seriously - it's my room.


Clcik here for a bigger shot - http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g65/nicklem/my_room2_big.jpg

I've ordered a double bed that’s being delivered soon - and I hope my primitive measurements of the room (made with my feet) actually come through as accurate. We'll see (am also hoping that the base can actually be maneuvered into the room)

On my way to purchase a bed - I walked passed like three old mattresses that had been turfed on the sidewalk (footpath) Must have been hard trash (rubbish) collection or something - but I was mighty tempted to drag one home and keep the 250 US for myself. When I considered it though - I thought having both a soiled garbage mattress AND a windowless room of death would probably be too grotty for my affluent taste. Call me crazy...



I forgot to put this in my last blog - but it's my favorite thing about NY so far. I spend like 3 strait hours laughing when I found it in a little store in Grenich village. (referring to the houseflies) And while I was there I bought these funny little t-shirts for my keys. Made my day.



and for the bargain price of on 99 cents. Bliss.

I also wanted to document some of the wierd things I've noticed about AMericans:

* They arent as pent up and polite as Australians or the English. If some one leans on you on the subway - you let them know - using the most colour adjectives and four letter words available.

* They actually listen to what you say and respond. Were as Austalians often trail off at the end of sentences - they also talk for 20 minutes about something that, back home, would take us all of 10 seconds. 'I hear you on that' 'ok great, so I guess my thought is..'

*They use silly words like

'silverware' for cultlery.

'drugstore' for Pharmacy.

'super nice'

When I told my brother - he told me that South Africans call traffic lights -'robots'. That trumps all of mine. Robots? ....Come on.

Alright. That's the goss.

Will set up my computer soon and be much more connected. Which will be nice.

Oy vey

Nick

My first week.

My first week in New York, the first of the next 50. If this week is anything to go by - I'm in for a pretty sweet year.


Fuck YEAH.

My flight over was good - the movies were good and quantas did pretty good food etc. But I was seated in between two rather large men who really loved talking to each other and slept like logs as soon as the lights dimmed. Not only this but they started playing fart tenis in there sleep - one would fart (which is understandable for a 14 hour flight) but then the other would fart and the game would continue. I was an unimpressed unwilling umpire. Fat men 1, Nick 0.

After touching down and getting settled, my cousins girlfriend Claire took me out in the Grenich Village (where I have been staying for the last week w my cousin) to a little old speakeasy for dinner. We entered the ordinary way and then exited through 'the cops are here' emergency exit. The area is so cool (it's where sex and the city is filmed)and the thing that suprises me is that parts of Manhattan (Grenich village/west village/soho etc) are really petite and residential - not the bussling crazy boom boom town NYC is hyped up to be.



This is Chris and Clairs apartment on the very chic Cornelia st.

It's really cute and cultured with little stores, bakeries and beautiful people everywhere. Chris (my cous) has a little apartment in Grenich village just next to the bulding where Bob dillan lived for 20 years. Random famous things are everywhere, { thats where Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker lives - thats where Mike Myers eats breakfast each sunday - thats whats-hernames store etc etc etc}. It's bizarr.


Bob Dylan lived here for 20 years. Now it's a one of many many many sex shops.



The lovely Claire.



snow



basketball court.



Nick again.



Burberry picnic





Me with Cousin Chris outside the flat this morning.

The snow is pretty - but gets kinda gross when it starts to clear.
I've had a great time strolling around on my first few days seeing the subway and a few of the tourist sights. Went a bit crazy and H&M - ate one too many bagel's - and tried talking to as many NYorkers as possible. The accents are halarious. I went to the supermarket to get some museli, and they were so confused when I asked were the health food section - three of the supermarket gimps took me to the sunscreen section.

So my first week at the job has been great - I'm working on the top floor of of a three story house in Queens. It's a really small studio with three other emploees and the two owners ( a married couple) All the people at work are really nice and I've learned lots so far. It's all newly renovated and there are two cats in the office.



Marc and Ellen in the office. Thats a giant cup - not trippy perspective.

Having a job has really changed my experience when I compare it to going to Europe, theres more of a purpose to what I'm doing and I'm not in a rush to see the city. Theres time to chill out and my free time is so much sweeter. The studio does some great work and it feels like a good fit. They make fun of my accent and I make fun of theres, answering the phone has been a bit of a challege. All new yorkers have such bizarr names and they dont really understand me. I find myself doing my american accent all the time - esp if I need dirrections or a train ticket or something.


Nick, Sheri(boss), Marc(other boss), Ellen, Katie, Emil.


Lou Lou - the insane office cat. Adicted to cat nip.


The office. No - not the house - the office.

I have been apartment hunting since I got here - and on my budget, I have seen some really really disgusting rooms - for outragous prices. And the whole process has - to be honest - completely exsausting. But after many a late night viewings and trecks on the subway - I found my self a room in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. (union ave) Now it's not cheap cheap - but it's cheap. Sure - theres no window - and it's the size of a shoe box - and I have to leave the apartment to get to the shower which is down the hall - but it was available and I could move in straight away. And I'm living with two other guys - one of whom is a German guy called Donut. Yes - he's called Donut. Probably why I took the room. The building is inbetween two churches and accross from a police station so it's safe and near some cool bars and cafes etc.


Snow?

Another freaky thing that happend this week was that only a few blocks away from where I'm staying - a guy shot a waiter and then killed two cops before being gunned down in a five minute shoot out on the street. 4 people dead. Chris, Claire and I were out at dinner - but luckily had moved downstairs to the jazz bar. Very scary. He also had a huge amount of amunition and a semi-automatic weapon in his bag. Lucky - would've totally blown if I was shot. Blown.

If you've read this far - I commend you - my blabber is hard to disifer and my spelling/grammer, worse.

New Yorkers all have dogs. They love dogs. Despite the tiny places that they all live in - alot of them have MASSIVE great danes. Many of the tiny parks around downtown have fenced off sections for the dogs to play in. I've seen a few dogs around that wear little outfits - which is nothing new I know, but some of them have little matching sneakers.


Dog walker - walks dogs.

I'm not missing home yet - but I'm sure I will soon. I'm on the computer all day at work so send me an email (nick@mslk.com) If any one knows where my favourite leather vest is let me know - and also...

Any photoa from my good bye party - send em to nick.lemess@gmail.com. Please please.

Big Love

oy vey

Nick