london journals :: april 2006
After my year in Australia, I lived in London for two and a half years, but always with the intention of moving back to Sydney eventually. But I carried on writing my journals in London... mostly because I just liked writing them, and my friends in other parts of the world (and some in the UK) still liked to read them. Here they are! You can keep up to date with what I'm up to now in my new Sydney journals, far out!
Friday, April 28 2006, 17:09
A first bite of the Big Apple
When I landed at New York's JFK airport last Thursday, the pilot decided to sing us all a song - New York, New York - and he did it well too. I was mometarily worried it might turn into a general cabin sing-song, but my fears were mercifully unwarranted. I had congratulated myself on having only two bags as carry-on luggage, but I soon realised that any suitcases would have been ready for me to pick up once I'd got through the incredible immigration queues and been photographed and finger-printed!
Poor Lisa just about had time to let me into her apartment, get the sofa bed out, and give me some keys before returning to work, so I went off to meet Manuel, who was in Manhattan for one last night on business. Manuel's idea of a quiet drink was staying out quite late at Splash, a nice club in Chelsea that for evidently keeps people queuing outside for ages to make the place look trendy despite it being rather quiet inside. Nevertheless, it was well worth it, notwithstanding the novel contrast between boyish go-go boys and beefy barmen. I finally made it home at 3am, sweating alcohol, without my jacket, and still beating Lisa by two hours, poor overworked chicken.
Friday was a blur of sightseeing. I'm surprised my shoes didn't give out (but I bought two more pairs the following day just in case). I went from City Hall to Battery Park, scorned the Staten Island ferry and accompanying Miss Liberty views for want of my jacket, immersed myself in the well-fitting threads of the Abercrombie & Fitch store, trudged up through SoHo, took photos relentlessly, savoured every word of exotic Nu Yoik accent, and generally enjoyed being a tourist!
Despite all this walking, Lisa still insisted I walk to meet her (and her friend Rishma) so her tardiness wouldn't show so much! Her choice of restaurant was an excellent Mexican in which a waiter made chunky guacamole at our table - delicious! From there we went to a bar in the Time Warner Centre, which was filled with tall, healthy-looking, trendy Americans. My jetlag (or the previous late night) caught up with me though, so I was happy to return home at a sensible hour (although it meant an end to catching up on all of Lisa's gossip and embarrassing tales recounted by Rishma), and more than happy to hop into bed.
Friday, April 28 2006, 17:21
Wet and wild on Lisa's roof
The only word to describe Saturday's (and Sunday's) weather is "shitty". I ventured out to see the sights of Midtown, but returned quickly with two pairs of trainers for about £60 (bargain), before running from Grand Central to the Chrysler Building to St Patrick's Cathedral, and dashing past the Rockefeller (too wet to stop) to Lisa's office. From here, I took in what is probably an amazing view over Central Park, but it was just too grey and rainy to see it at its best.
I had known before coming that Lisa would undoubtedly be working at points over the weekend, so I was lucky that Eduardo, who Manuel had introduced me to at Splash, was happy to be my unofficial NYC tour guide. We'd caught up for a stroll on Friday, and after leaving Lisa to her work, I went to meet him at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I couldn't flag a taxi down for love or money. Now I'm not a lazy person (ok, I probably am), but I didn't much fancy walking the twenty-odd blocks along Central Park in the pouring rain to the Met - but I had no choice. Cab after cab went sailing by "off duty", so I trudged the whole way, stopping only for my third hotdog of the day. My feet were soaked by the time I found Eduardo, but my huff evaporated when I saw the beautiful Met. It is so like the British Museum in ambience, I really took to it, and I spent a happy hour or two just wandering around aimlessly, chatting with Eduardo :)
I was luckier than Lisa, and managed to get a taxi home through the rain, but we decided to push our dinner back so we could relax with a beer while getting dressed - but before that, we headed to the roof. Lisa's Midtown apartment block is fifty storeys high, and with the Empire State Building so close by, I knew I was going to get a good view. It was stupendous! We had a hysterical ten or fifteen minutes racing around the roof terrace, trying to keep our umbrellas the right way up while I snapped the views, getting thoroughly blown about and rained upon. It was a good thing Lisa had suggested this before getting changed...
I can heartily recommend Va Tutto as a great place to eat. Great atmosphere, tasty food, slightly ditzy staff, but hey... it all adds to the character. Unfortunately it was still raining cats and dogs when we left, so it was into another taxi to whip us off to Crobar - a club that Lisa had picked for us, and it was there that we whiled away most of Sunday morning, dancing, drinking, and watching people breakdancing (of all things) on the floor... Lisa was gone by 6ish so she could catch some sleep before a conference call, but Eduardo (who'd joined us around 1am) and I hung on for another hour or so before stepping out into the grey morning.
Friday, April 28 2006, 17:22
Lazing in Manhattan
On the whole, I wasn't up to much at all on Sunday; I lay in bed for a bit - looked out the windows, but I had no energy for leaving the apartment and entering the downpour outside. Lisa and I finally emerged around 5pm to meet Eduardo at Times Square for food at the Hard Rock Café. Sex on the beach was clearly a good decision, but the background music was not. I'm not accustomed to Nirvana and their ilk thrashing at my eardrums while I'm trying to put away my dinner, but it was an experience nonetheless. Sadly Lisa had more work to do, so Eduardo took me to XL Bar (of Sex and the City fame - not that I've seen that episode, but I'll be looking out for it), and we had a few drinks there.
My New York adventure was drawing quickly to a close, and before long I had to think about the long ride to JFK; this wasn't made less stressful by watching Eduardo get on a Subway train and turn to find me stuck in the barrier as the doors closed in front of him! If only I'd had my camera ready... ;) I think I waited ten or fifteen minutes for the next train, but luckily he knew a quicker route to JFK than the one I'd taken in reverse last Thursday. He and Lisa waved me off from Penn Station and I turned my thoughts to the trip home. Not a long flight really, but I discovered at JFK that the flight was overbooked, so there was a disturbing half hour while I waited to see if I still had a seat. Luckily, I managed to be one of the first to pounce on the hapless American Airlines agent and demand my seat allocation, and before too long I had my eyemask on and earplugs in, and I slept like a log until we bumped to a halt on the tarmac at Heathrow.
New York is an amazing place, and I'm slightly miffed with myself for not going before! I know better now. It was certainly great to catch up with Lisa and get a glimpse of her crazy (unbalanced!!) life, and excellent too to make a new friend in Eduardo. :) If you haven't been, book your flight today!
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