Apologies

This will turn into a post trip blog actually since a lot of the entries will probably be finished in Shanghai or back in Sydney. The main problem is that China blocks blogger so I won't be able to update.

I sure like many are not interested in my travel exploits after my actual journey but it's a thing of personal prosperity that I finish this project.

I'm in Berlin and heading for Shanghai tomorrow. Hope to see you all back in Sydney in 2 weeks.

Day 56 - From Salzburg to Vienna - 25th Jan 2008

I got woken up early again by the 2 jap chicks who though waking up at 6:30 would be a great idea. So they got up and decided to turn the lights on and I was like Muthafucka!!!! ARRGH. Anyhoo so I didn't get up till about 8:30, had breaky, finished packing, checked out and some quality internet time. I also realised it was raining and I groaned at the prospect of lugging my shit across cobblestones in the rain. I guess this is when backpacks come in handy.

Luckily once I got to the train station the rain had stopped and it wasn't as arduous as expected, however getting a seat on the train was somewhat more difficult. I entered on the wrong carriage and had to lug my shit through the reserved cabins before finally finding a free seat opposite an old lesbian lady and across from two German skanks, one of which shouldn't be allowed near any more make up but still managed to keep applying it throughout the journey whilst being on the mobile the entire time.

The train trip was nice again, saw a bit of snow here and there, lovely little villages. Makes one all warm and fuzzy until you realise you won't ever fit in the village since a. you don't speak german and b. you're asian.

In the 5min from Vienna West Station to Wombats Hostel I already had the feeling that I was going to really like this city. I had the same feeling in New York. There were heaps of supermarkets, food stores, a Miele shop ...hehehe Miele. I also discovered that Wombats also had a kitchen. I haven't seen a kitchen in about a month and I went nuts. I hit the nearest supermarket, bought some pork, pasta sauce and pasta and went cooking and had a very late lunch at 4pm, but boy was it satisfying. I also had a good chuckle been put in the "Pink Wing"...sigh...ghei4life!!!



I went for a night stroll down Mariahilferstrasse to the inner ring (aahahah, sounds dirty doesn't it but I promise I didn't make it up). Mariahilfer is my nightmare, it is one of the main shopping streets and I got distracted on every block. I went to the sports department to check out ice skates and they also had hockey equipment and ski and snowboard equipment. I was like dude I want this entire store.

Anyways, I make it to the MuseumQuarter which is like this district full of arty people and art and media students (like me) and newish museums and exhibits etc. I guess like Newtown but with class, structure and much better architecture? It rates extremely highly on my coolness factor, but again I was distracted by the gift shop. Have I become a compulsive window shopper or just developed a weakness for kitschy pieces of modern art?

Through the MuseumQuarter I duck into the Hofburg which is a collection of buildings and parks forming the centre of imperial governance and residence and although it was dark it was still freaking huge and awesome and a testament to imperial excess.



Having heard that the Vienna State Opera was one of the best in the world (and yes I do like a bit of Opera now and again) and hearing also that they had cheap standing tickets, I though what better way to enter Vienna than with a night at the Opera. Except finding the opera house took several wrong turns, roads which I couldn't find on my map, a stop at the tourist information office and then the realisation that it was in front of me the entire time.



It was 6:40pm and the performance was at 7pm. I rushed to the standing ticket booth and asked for 1...2 euros please...WtF??????? 2 euros to see the best opera in the world? Is this real? I didn't even look at the ticket I just threw my 2 euros at him and ran. Because I was late I couldn't nab a good spot and instead got stuck right at the top on the left hand side and only managed to see about half the stage. But like who cares, it was 2 euros. The performance I finally found out was Manon, I wasn't familiar but the coolest things this theatre had was small screens attached the railings which had the subtitles in both german and english, awesome.



Manon was one of those tragic love story operas were boy meets girl, they fall in love, get separated, find each other again and then bad things happen. Quite universal really. But the main male lead was just phenomenal and every time he finished a solo, the applause would go on for at least 2-3min and he would just have to stand there. His voice was seriously smooth, had power but full of emotion and unlike a lot of opera singers, he had some pretty awesome acting chops too. Nevertheless it was obvious that the entire female population (and some male) of the audience fell head over heels for him, I know I did.

It was a bit soap operaish and not knowing what to expect I told myself that I could leave at intermission if it got a bit boring or I was too tired. But I found myself really drawn into it the longer it played out and soon I was giving it my own commentary. Cursing the stupid girl and the bad men wooing her and feeling sorry for the guy and his anguish...yeah I'm a sap, sue me.

In the first hour I had a group of dipshit hongkies in front of me, one whose mobile ran mid soprano solo and he just froze, he didn't move or turn it off or walk out the door, and it ran FOUR times, with one of those incessantly annoying and loud repetitive ringtones. He was holding the phone between his hands and thighs probably hoping that it would turn itself off, or he could muffle the sound or for him just to disappear into the ground. But EVERYONE just looked at him and collectively wanted to headbutt him. Seriously I was so close to throwing him out of the door, but he finally moved outside after the 4th ring. The rest of the hongkies couldn't stand, cause obviously standing was too hard for them, Some chick dropped her camera on the ground really loudly (and theatres echo man, you can hear shit from the stage easily). Thank god they left the act before intermission. I was about to move away out of sheer embarrassment.

So the opera finished, and now I'm in love with another opera and the leading man...happens a lot really. I know I'm so going to die old and alone half eaten by alsations, I'm heading towards the solitary female lifestyle expect for the fact that I hate cats.



I walked back to the hostel, took a shower and hit the sack, all mind you without turning on the main light, because I'm highly considerate of my roomates. But then by 12am, some chick in the bunk above me gets in, turns the main light on and proceeds to pack her suitcase for about half an hour, I'm like wTF???? 3 people are sleeping have you no brain at all? I was so close to telling her off.

Day 53-54 - Salzburg - 23-24 Jan 2008

Day 53

I was woken up around 7:30 am by the locks going again outside. It is the weirdest locking mechanism and so bloody loud it echoes through the entire house. I got up to go to the bathroom but alas someone was in there. And suddenly there were like 8 people milling about on our level. Seriously weird since my roommate and I thought it was just us and one other couple. Where did all these people come from? Anyway, I tried to go back to sleep but at 8:20 my bladder was begging for mercy so again I trudged out and yay the bathroom was free.

I had the hostel breakfast and again it was really nice. I stuffed myself with the bread rolls and perhaps had one too many but my god it was good having a Nutella roll with a hot chocolate. Mmmmm yummy, too bad outside it was pissing with rain and I realised I had to lug my shit around in the rain again. I was definitely going to miss Fussen, I like small towns and a small town right beneath the alps...heaven, but in the rain it's nearly not as pleasant.

I finished packing, paid, bid farewell and went off to the train station. My train was at 11:05 and like everything in Germany it was spot on time. I made myself comfy for the 2 hour trip back to Munich. Sleeping in the train was nice but I had a freak out moment when I though I was on the train to Augsburg.



I got to Munich around 1pm and I got some supplies, fruit which I haven't had for days and a salami roll from my now fav sandwich store at the station. I passed the chips stand and couldn't stop myself from buying a cone (yeah a cone) of pommes frites. Shitty thing was some evil teenager emptied the tomato sauce container just as I got there and I was left with the mayonnaise. The good thing was the mayo was a bit tangy and more like sour cream so I wasn't overly sick.

I got to platform 11 and the train was already there and boarding. Holding precariously the fries with the mayo and all my luggage I got on the train and settled myself in the short term compartment cause I couldn't be bothered lugging my crap to the proper seats. So I finished my chips whilst and old lady looked on across from me.

The trip to salzburg was another 2 hours because I saved at least 20 euros taking the slower train which stopped at all the small towns. Halfway through it started snowing on the plains which was brilliant. I had my mp3 player on and was having a pretty good time, the seat wasn't that uncomfortable although the passing scenery gave me a spot of motion sickness. about 30min to go I ducked to the toilette mid-station since I thought no one would be able to runaway with my stuff it we're in motion ahaha. But I have to say Germany has been definitely one of the most civil and safe countries I have been to.



I get to Salzburg and make my 10min journey on foot to the youth hostel. Then waited 10min at reception for the girl to finish her phone call. The hostel overall is fine except for the fact that it has no elevators and I was given a room on the 3rd floor. Ouch. But at least it had free wireless, so lots of net time, buzzcocks and much ado about nothing tonight.

---

Day 54

I was woken up at 6:30 by the girl below my bunk leaving, but I didn't get up until 8:30. I looked outside the window and was greeted with the fresh scent of snow on the Salzburg rooftops. I had some quality net time in which I found out about Heath Ledger's tragic and untimely death. Really that single event impacted on the rest of my day. Not to say that I was a huge fan or something but realising how mortal we all are, no matter what age or what socio-economic status. The fact that I'm by myself in a foreign country, isolation does weird things to your psyche and today wasn't an entirely enjoyable day.



Breakfast at the hostel was alright I guess, although the supposed Austrian scrambled egg special wasn't that spectacular. I headed for the Mirabella gardens first, and as stunning as they were covered in snow I'm sure they're even better in the summer. I walked across the bridge into the old town and familiar cobblestone alleys greeted me. Soon I walked past Mozart's birth house which I completely would have bypassed if I didn't on the off chance look up to where it said so.



I took a random stroll around and managed to visit about 4 churches all within 200 metres of each other. Seriously Salzburg is just full of churches and shops selling Mozart Chocolates and overpriced souveniers. I was bored and it's really the first time in Europe that I've wanted to leave the city the minute I got into it. Perhaps it was the overwhelming feeling of sober sadness but Salzburg just seemed unseemingly dull and I really needed something to cheer me up.



I sat in the Salzburg Dom for a while, contemplating celebrities who met early and tragic ends. Leslie Cheung's I think still makes me want to cry. It's strange, I'm not remotely religious but I still feel the power and enchantment of places of worship and prayer. It's not necessarily the religion but rather the outpouring of human endeavour, emotion and hope which makes such places extremely poignant and special.



Another wander through the streets and I found a 7 euro Chinese buffet. I spent 3 euro on yesterday's copy of the Daily Mail so I'd have something to do whilst eating. But by far it was the saddest excuse for a buffet I've ever encountered. Minimal amounts of food sat limp and dead and the bottom of metal pans, barely been heated. I feel sorry for Europeans cause damn you gotta really look hard for good Asian food.

After lunch I found some sun on the other side of the river that runs through Salzburg, the name which alludes me. But the sun was nice and made me somewhat happier, the Daily Mail though didn't so I stopped reading it and tried to make my way to the Nunnery featured in the Sound of Music. Oh yeah that movie was filmed here. The locations are everywhere but because I never really paid too much attention I'm not going to the extra effort of seeking them all out.



Salzburg is basically situated on a lake bed and it's surrounded by mountains. The nunnery is on a pretty steep mountain and for the life of me I could not find my way up the mountain. 30min later, a detour to the toilet and another church I finally found the staircase after asking for directions when I was buying a Sprite. The view was excellent. I've decided perhaps I actually like hiking more than museums.

I made my way back to the hostel along the cliffside of the old town. Many of the buildings were actually built into the cliff side. It was starting to get cold and so I got to the other side of the bank visited a supermarket I passed in the morning for some fruit and chocolate and managed to remember the way back to the hostel without the map.



It was a bit of a weird day, perhaps I was still too exhausted from the 12km trek the other day and maybe also because Salzburg has been the loneliest I've been in the last 2 months. I dunno why I managed to pick up random friends really easily the past week.

But at least I've found that some things really make me happy...

1. Brilliant Scenery
2. Soda
3. Chocolate
4. Mid-Afternoon naps

All this been said, I had dinner downstairs at the hostel and managed to meet some really awesome people. I guess I just need to get off the laptop ahahah.

Day 51-52 - Fussen - 20-21st Jan 2008

Day 51 - 20th Jan

The Korean girl from the Munich hostel came with me to Fussen today. It's funny how many new people you meet whilst traveling. And maybe it's a character flaw but I'm generally very trusting of new people I meet, and usually become friends with most of them. After checkout we got to the train station and loitered for an hour. I had another one of those brilliant sandwiches for breakfast, I also discovered to my delight that they put sunflower seeds on the bread....Mmmmm schmeckt gut.

I slept a lot on the train but when I did wake up I was greeted by the yellow-green fields and towns a few streets wide, but then the first glimpse of the alps and I had to pinch myself. Alps...things I have only seen in movies and on TV and here right in front of me are alps rising to the heavens, speckled with white snow...Wow

Fussen itself is right beneath the alps and it's a really quaint village. I adore quaint villages however Fussen also had it's share of juvenile delinquents. One Turkish boy tried to acoster 5 euros from us because he was taking us to the hostel. He spoke no English and I was playing dumb and kept saying I didn't understand German. Same night my Korean friend was mobbed by some girl saying Konichiwa to her, and she got pretty pissed off but I just laughed. Maybe it's small town syndrome where the kids have absolute shit all to do and are bored out of their minds, so of course it's fun to play with the tourists.



The hostel was a bit B & B like. The man running it was very nice and spoke English very well. We were put into a 4 bed dorm which had a balcony looking directly towards Neuschweinstein. Like OMFG, It's so wonderful I don't think I could leave. After a brief refresher we sought out the bus to the castles. And luckily we found out that we could use the Bayern ticket from the trains on the bus as well score.



There were heaps and heaps of asians on the bus, and in Munich as well, especially Koreans to the utter disgust of my friend ahahah. But on the bus we met 2 Americans who coincidentally where staying in our room. Small world. Anyhoo we got to the castles and headed up towards Neuschweistein. The road up was steep and scattered with horse manure from the carriages that were using it. But the view was just amazing, cameras can't capture it at all. When we got to the castle we were disappointed to find that the small route to the Marienbrucke (A small bridge overlooking the castle) was closed off due to ice and snow. The castle itself is actually unfinished both inside and out and it is not nearly as marvelous as one thinks it is. But rather it's position on a cliffside is deeply enviable and solidifies its status in the annuls of castledom.



Back at Fussen we had Italian for dinner which was hilarious. I ordered minestrone soup and it came out as a clear broth with broccoli, cauliflower and string beans. No tomato? seriously? What part of Italy are you from?

Back at the hostel we discovered that the coin draw for the internet station was unlocked and you could get free internet by putting the same coin repeatedly through the thing. At 5 euros an hour, it was kinda awesome that the drawer was unlocked. The 2 Americans had some massive issues to sort out including lost train tickets to Berlin which were needed the next day and so the free internet was cool, until the owner walks in at around 9pm to check up and sees that the drawer is open. Bum BUM!!!!

So obviously he locks it again, but by the time he goes I pop out my laptop and manage to ethernet it straight to the router. Voila...free net again. I really think governments consider free wireless for everyone. How cool would that be?

---

Day 52 - 21st Jan

I sent off my Korean friend this morning, she was off to Stuttgart. I came back to the hostel and had a nice nap since I was woken really early by everyone in the room getting ready to leave.



I didn't make it to the castles till 11am. At the ticket booth I considered getting a tour to the inside of both Neuschweinstein (The fairytale one) and Hohenschwangau (the one Ludwig II's parents lived in). Supposedly the latter has more interesting interiors and because I wanted to visit Schwangau later in the day I didn't think I'd have time to do both, especially as I wanted to make it up to Marienbrucke along another route.

So Hohenschwangau was nice, but however the interiors weren't all that interesting and the guide had that slightly weird German sense of humour that rarely makes you laugh but more smile meekly. I was kinda glad I didn't get tickets to the other tour, it really wasn't worth another 40min trek up the moutain. The views were still amazing from Hohenschwangau and I spied the Alpsee which I headed to next.



The alpsee is a huge lake and it was mostly frozen over that morning. I squealed in absolute delight. I have a thing for frozen lakes. I took so many pictures I lost count. I saw a guy walking on the banks, getting rocks and flinging them onto the ice. I'd thought that'll be fun too so I found an opening to the bank and beneath my feet were lots of pebbles big and small. When you fling a rock, it skids across the ice and makes a whipping noise which echoes across the ENTIRE lake. Any noise you make echoes through this amazing acoustic hall. It was so awesome. I spent at least 30 min doing this. But the ice wasn't thick enough to really step on although I had a mighty good time trying to break through the layer near the bank. I tend to find amusement in very simple things.



Anyhoo I had to drag myself away from the alpsee so I could start my trek up towards the marienbrucke, because the route was still closed at the top, I had to take the extra long route normally buses and cars take. It was an exhausting climb but the road was wide and not that icy. But again the view was spectacular and this time I didn't have to deal with the smell of horse crap.

I think 35min I got to the Marienbrucke and fucking hell it was scary. It was an iron reinforced wooden bridge across a ravine which had a waterfall underneath and neuschweintein to the left. It was magnificently gorgeous but I didn't like it when the wooden panels moved ever so slightly on each step. Again pictures nor video could capture the feeling of sheer terror and natural beauty.



On the way back it seemed that everyone who got there had taken the small route from neuschweinstein. Obviously big danger signs and barriers didn't stop them. I though okay why not take that way back. 10 metres later down a very very icy slope I end up hanging for dear life on the railing next to the cliff as my legs slide from beneath me. Suffice to say I learnt my lesson and went back the way I came up. I don't really think I wanted to tempt fate by falling down an alp.



I spent some more time at the alpsee and then decided to head for Schwangau. I was originally going to catch a bus but since it was one every hour I'd thought I'd just walk the 2km. The route was gorgeous and I did a lot of it backwards admiring the open fields, then the castles and the alps. I have never seen anything so devastatingly beautiful in my life.



The reason I wanted to go to Schwangau which is like the next village is because it's on the Forgesee. Since I had a thing for frozen lakes I thought why not. So it was 2km to the city centre but another 1km to the Forgess. I was pretty tired already but decided to press on. So I got to the Forgesee and what happens? It's a mud pile. Seriously I was so fricking disappointed after the alpsee. Anyhow I didn't know if I could get a bus back to Fussen from Schwangau and it was a 3km trek back to the castles but only 3.5km trek to Fussen at my current point. So I thought, what the hell I'll just walk back. So essentially I walked a round trip between 3 villages. It was bloody tiring and then it got dark, I started thinking. Are there serial killers or wolves lurking in the Bavarian woods? And every German goes past on their bikes staring at me going wtf is a lone Asian doing walking in the Bavarian woods?



But luckily I got back to the hostel at one piece and my new room mate was a chick from Minnesota, had a similar sense of humour and used to play ice hockey. I was like Ha dude you're like my new fav pal. So we ended up having a great time at an Asian restaurant (note no distinction between cuisines, it's just ASIAN). It was run by a mini Viet lady who was watching some Viet soap on a laptop at the counter. Then we had cheap ice cream at the Italian restaurant last night.

I walked at least 12km this day. Like I'm still surprised I was moving.

Day 39 - London - 8th Jan 2008

So after a particularly bad night for both of us we didn't get out of the hotel till 1:30pm. We popped into Mark's & Spencers down the road which is like the brit version of david jones except with actually quite a good food hall. But today they had refrigeration problems so half the food wasn't even available, Megan got her soda and we managed to find the nearest park, Finsbury Circus to bum at for a bit. It's a bit weird when a circus is actually just denotes a round piece of land. Finsbury Circus is an actual park with a bowling green in the middle but Piccadilly Circus is a glorified roundabout at the intersection of 3 roads or something.

Anyhoo, we set off for downtown and saw the London Stock Exchange and all that, we got to the Monument to the great fire of London and saw it being restored which is disappointing. I guess that's one of the issues with traveling in winter everything is under renovations or closed. The other problem with traveling in winter is that you have to stop every 2 hours and eat. Your body just burns through so much food. So I got myself a sub of the day for 1.99 pounds at subway, Mmmm meatball sammy.

We headed for the Tower Bridge and on the way also bypassed the Tower of London and saw an ice rink which I squealed at. But of course we also squealed at Tower Bridge, and after 6 years since I was last in this city I finally walked across it.



The weather was still windy and cloudy but relatively dry. The southbank walk was nice and we passed the Globe Theatre and had a wander through the Tate Modern, which has as its most recent installation a gigantic crack down the middle of it's exhibition floor called amusingly the turbine hall. I love modern art. Afterwards we trotted along the newish millennium bridge towards St Paul's cathedral. I was thoroughly disappointed that they fixed the wobble of the bridge.



A attempt to make it to Leicester square on the tube was thwarted by "passenger activity", aka the tube's version of saying someone jumped the tracks I guess. So the Piccadilly line was all but shut down and we ended up walking from Holborn through Coventry Garden. We had dinner at the West End Kitchen which I found using some dubious directions like off a treasure map. I also discovered that Gammon steak is some piece of salty ham.

In our bid to find chinatown we ended up walking around in a circle through Piccadilly circus and Soho, the red light district. In fact it was only about 1 street away from where we were but we walked in the opposite direction. London is funny, even it's red light district is more quaint then seedy. Chinatown itself was small and spans about 2 streets. Not incredibly exciting.

We tubed it to Tower Hill for the Ceremony of Keys at the Tower of London. Whilst waiting we were watching people ice skate and this girl fell 4 times in succession the last of which was pretty hard. I couldn't stop laughing. I know it's bad but it was hella funny and the skate marshals couldn't really skate themselves and one of them just looked at her and shook his head. The ceremony of the keys was very interesting, something that has happened non-stop for about 600 years or so. It's basically a bunch of soldiers locking up the Tower of London in a very formal fashion. Possibly fantastic if it wasn't for the blizzard winds descending upon London at that very minute.



Going down the tube stairs on the way back to the hotel I managed to stack it. I guess it was karma for laughing at the girl but at least my stack was very graceful in comparison. We got back and all I craved was a hot cup of Tang. If you're mainland Chinese you'd understand. It seems that the UK doesn't have Tang, nor do any of the Hongkie Asian supermarkets. Major disappointment.

Sometime I wish this blog would write itself

Okay so new plan now. I'm so behind it's not funny. I'll start writing for the current day from now on and try and polish off some old ones. Otherwise this blog is going to end up like it's stuck in a time warp or something, always perpetually 2 weeks late.

Although it also doesn't help that I haven't had internet access or rather very expensive internet access. My last hostel in Fussen charged 5 euros an hour which was robbery basically so I resorted to plugging in my laptop into the router and stole a few minutes to blast off some emails home so my parents new I was alive. But now I've got free wireless for 3 days here in Salzburg which is fantastic cause it means I can catch the Torchwood ep tmr night. Ah yes don't you just love priorities?

Anyhoo, more posts, I promise...I'll even sacrifice my youth hostel partay time with drunken Aussies and Kiwis (I cannot believe how many Aussies and Kiwis there are, is there anyone left at home?). Socialisation just eats away all my free time but I tend to stay away from the bar anyhoo.

DAY 37-38 - NYC to London - 6-7th Jan 2008

Day 37 - 6th Jan

Nothing much today other than lots of time spent traveling from place to place and spending time at the airport. Megan said an emotional goodbye to her family and we were off.

Our shuttle (funny how they use that term instead of flight) was late to Philidelphia, which funnily enough is only about a 1.5 hour drive from NYC, so we could have been there earlier with a car. Anyhoo, the shuttle was actually a propellor plane. Yes folks, no engines, just 2 nice propellors to keep you in the air. They didn't provide for a smooth flight either, then again I didn't expect them to.

In Philly I was so hungry I couldn't think so I ended up getting a Maccas salad...why I don't know but it seemed good at the time. I was still hungry though and 6 oreos later I was very regretful that I was hungry in the first place. All whilst US Airways announced that they overbooked the flight and would like volunteers to give up their seats for a return ticket to anywhere that US Airways flies, a meal ticket and a free night's accommodation in Philly. Both Megan and I were like over our dead bodies, we need to be in London tomorrow.

So we got on the plane and although the guy at check-in said we were sitting together, it was obviously not to be. Both Megan and I were stuck in middle seats 10 rows away from each other. Yeah together my arse. And then what happens? I see like 15 free seats. Either US Airways have problems counting the number of clients they have or a load of people missed their connections.

Thank god we got dinner on the plane, although by then Megan had already bought dinner for us. The state of US airlines is just shite, you're happy if you get food on a flight. It was barely a 7 hour flight to London and although I got some sleep I wasn't too enamoured of being woken up at 2:30am for a rectangular breakfast donut. WTF??? who serves that for breakfast?

---

Day 38 - 7th Jan

So we get to London in the morning and we're all happy at Gatwick airport. I get our train tickets to Cardiff and Birmingham sorted and got to Farringdon station via a first capital train. Even though there was lovely scenery of green Megan and I both slept most of the way. We got to Farringdon and realised...FUCK...the station has no escalators or lifts. 2 staircases later with a LOT of luggage (Megan's going to France for an entire year, one look at her suitcase and my back waves the white flag) we make it to the otherside of the platform so we can get the tube to Liverpool Station were we can check our bags since it was only 11am and Travelodge doesn't let you check in till 3pm.

We should really have headed people's recommendations of not traveling on the tube with mighty amounts of luggage. Alas it wasn't peak hour at least. London really needs to look into have disabled access to it's public transport system cause they are going to be fucked for the 2012 olympics if they don't. 70% of the tube stations don't have lifts or escalators...like come on, we know we have legs but our suitcases don't.

So after what seemed hours checking in our luggage, where the women kept asking questions like...Did you pack your bags yourselves? and making us take our laptops out, we finally got out. And the first thing we did? Tube to Westminster, walk out exit number 2 and turn around...and stare Big Ben RIGHT IN THE FACE. I love it. This is exactly the feeling which makes me love traveling so much.



Too bad it was pissing with rain and windy, ah London, so predictable. So we walked across the bridge to the southbank, walking backwards and taking pictures of course. I acted nonchalant like an old hat since I've been there before. We got to the south bank and it was still windy and pissing with rain and what do we see? A McDonald's...or rather shelter. I was hungry and we both baulked at the prices, but I parted with 10 bucks for a big mac meal. But it was damn satisfying.

Once we got out it was sunny. So we made hay. Went around the sights nearby, Westminster Abbey, St James Park, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square all the while the weather couldn't make it's mind up about whether it wanted to be rainy or sunny. I think it was quite confused. We had a quick run through the national gallery where Megan kept falling asleep on every bench and then decided perhaps it was time to pick up our bags and head for the hotel.



I looked at the map and the Travelodge we booked at was quite near Liverpool St Station so we decided to walk it but not before asking the left luggage person, who said something to the effect of "I've lived here forever and I ain't heard of city road", perhaps it was my mispronounciation of "ci-y"? Next we asked a taxi driver, whose reply was oh yes just over that way and up. So we started walking...it was wet and lots of cobblestone, we were in the old town after all.

But still 15min we weren't there. Twisting and turning through a group of roads called Finsbury Square, jet lag, rain and heavy luggage was taking it's toll and tempers were starting to flare, and it wasn't any better that my map was saying it was only a little bit further but still no sign of city road. Another 10 min and we pass a brightly lit foyer...hey wait...isn't that?...the sign said TRAVELODGE, in the hallowed words of RTD...HOORAY!!!! On second thought it was actually quite close but everything combined and not knowing where the actual place was made the trip seem like hours.

So a bit of a refresher later at a new yet somewhat motelish Travelodge we decided to go in search of food, heading towards Old Road Station. This is were jet lag stupour really hit in. What we should have done was got some food, ate it and headed straight back to sleep. Instead we found supermarkets around a 20min walk away and decided that it'll be a good idea to haul back fruit, a jar of jam and 6x1.5 litres of water whilst it's pissing down with rain.

I was so close to chucking a spaz, but I kept my cool and then we just crashed at the hotel and ate some inedible psuedo Asian takeout.

---

more pics here http://picasaweb.google.com/LJK131/London

DAY 35-36 - NYC - 4-5th Jan 2008

Day 35 - 4th Jan

Went straight to Moma this morning. And although Moma had a fantastic collection especially the graphic design and product design sections one particular thing left a sour taste in my mouth. No eating in the museum, not in the foyer, not in the gardens, not ANYWHERE. But they only enforce the rule when you're on your last bite. But why have ubiquitous bins around in the statue garden if you're not allowed to eat? Do people discard a lot of paper in the statue garden? Am I not allowed to admire Henri Matisse whilst sitting on a chair in the middle of a pavement munching an apple?



Seriously, MOMA definitely wins on museum anal retentivity. I was so hungry I nearly managed to chomp down an exhibit.



Afterwards we met the rest of the Hau clan for a very late lunch at serendipity. Famous for its frozen hot chocolates and massive deserts. Writing this makes me insanely hungry. But not having had lunch I first woofed down a footlong hot dog, as massive as it sounds, it really wasn't all that filling. Then came the pinnacle of my time in the US. Peanut Butter Pie. I can't say I love it, but it was a definite memorable experience. I would liken it to eating a half jar of peanut butter along with 2 cookies. Absolutely sickening, yet a life experience.



I woke up today, and I was already tired and by Serendipity, I wanted nothing but a bed. So afterwards whilst the others all headed for MOMA's free friday night, I headed back to the hotel and ultimately crashed for about 4 hours. I've been running around NYC non-stop for about 8 days, and my body was just saying no.

---

Day 36 - 5th Jan

Today was shopping and supplies day. I hit Century 21 first after sending off some postcards at the US postal office. Century 21 is NYC's answer to the factory outlet. It's a department store but has all the unwanted stuff from other department stores and top brands.

So essentially I went pretty crazy, well not that crazy cause I didn't have much room in my suitcase and I didn't want to be lugging extra shit around for the next 1.5 months. But I did leave with a red polo jumper and 2 pairs of nike sneakers. Oh if I had more room for sneakers I would have bought HEAPS. They were like 40 bucks for a pair which would go for around 160 in Aus. Note next time bring empty suitcase.

I hit Modells for some more thermals, and the pharmacy for some stuff. Then I settled down, ate a really shite burger meal and packed whilst watching Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves. Tonight was my last night in NYC and it was the only chance I'd get to see the Blue Man Group perform. I first heard of them through the Intel Ads and fell totally in love with the music they were making.

Going to NYC I definitely wanted to see 2 things, Avenue Q and Blue Man Group. So the first was done but the 2nd kept getting delayed longer and longer. So I rang them up to see if they had $26 student rush tickets on offer (they go on sale 1 hour before the show), the guy said very unlikely, so I asked if the 10pm show was possible (they had 3 shows a day on Friday but the 7pm didn't have student rush), he said yes definitely. I was elated because the original price of a ticket is $78. So it's a huge saving.

I get to the theatre at around 8:50. And it's a really small theatre. That's the thing with New York that really surprised me, most of the broadway theatres and this one (even though it's not actually on Broadway) are really quite small. The Avenue Q one is probably smaller than the Seymour and the BMG one was essentially a basement theatre.

So I got to the Ticket booth at 9pm, asked the chick. Are you selling student rush yet? She looks at me and goes, oh I dunno if we're selling student rush tonight. I looked at her like my soul has been crushed and went...but but...I phoned and the guy said you were. *pout*...she then looks at the guy across the room and he says something like yes and then she goes okay and i'm like OMFG< thank you for making my night. And yeah 26 bucks for front row. Sure it was right in the corner but still front row baby. To thank them I also bought a 25 buck t-shit, see when you're nice to students you actually end up earning money.

The show itself is just phenomenal. Part comedy, surrealism, music, music education, music humour and audience participation. And this is all done with the 3 blue guys never saying anything. I got sprayed with some banana gunk during the middle. Oh and did I mention the first 5 rows get ponchos? And on your ticket it actually says seating area...PONCHO...how friggin' awesome is that? In the end giant rolls of crepe paper were unravelled and passed down from the back of the theatre to the stage entangling the audience whilst strobe lighting cause you to see single frames of everything during a gigantic session of electronic. It was an experience, and bloody hell it was one of the best this entire trip. I came out and was like, omfg, I might have to go see them in Berlin, I don't care that I don't know any German. They are that good.

Funnily enough I got back to the hotel at about 12:30am and Megan's clan also arrived just as I was waiting for the lift, they'd just come back from Atlantic City and I was like...my night was so fricking awesome.

Day 32-34 - NYC - 1st-3rd Jan 2008

I'm running around 15 days behind right now. And my memory isn't to be relied upon at the moment so I'll give my best shot with the rest of NYC with the notes I currently have, which are running about 50 words a day. So depending on how much my photos tell me, these entries might be a bit short.

Here we go.

---

Day 32 - 1st Jan '08

Ahoy we're finally into the new year and we started off by getting kicked out of our rooms and moving into new ones. Our new rooms were only slightly bigger than our old ones but now at least I had a bed. A shared bed, but a bed nonetheless. Settling into life in Tribeca (where supposedly Robert De Niro also lives) I basically lived off the 2 24 hour markets a block away from the hotel. Soup, pound food, bagels with cream cheese and of course all the general supplies, fruit and water. It's so brilliant having markets which never close. Craving something at 1am? No problems.

So after starting the day with some soup and bread I headed off to Bryant Park to skate in the early afternoon. I've probably mentioned it before but Bryant Park has free ice skating...like OMFG. I got there and there was hardly a line and I got in pretty quick, but problem is that it was packed to the rafters. Although you couldn't skate really fast because of the people, and despite the fact that all the people have made the ice very choppy, it was still nice dry ice, none of the wet crap in Sydney.

At 17:00 they cleared to ice to Zamboni it. 20min later I was one of the first people on and although I got told to slow down, my god was it cool. The feeling was absolutely sensational. Fresh ice, middle of New York, flying and then SCHhhhhh STOP. Skategasm.

When I had enough I went back to the hotel and was told that Megan would bring back dinner. So I waited hungrily for a long time and ended up with Pho, which is totally fine except for the fact that raw beef was put on top of noodles which were separate from the now warmish soup. Fine if I had a microwave but I didn't want to take my chances with the raw beef, especially when half of Megan's clan was sick with some viral crap. So a very soupy dinner was had along with a tv menu of Kill Bill 1 & 2 and the new Superman.

---

Day 33 - 2nd Jan 2008

I went skating in the morning after a bagel with cream cheese...Mmmm. I'm going to get back to Sydney and totally be craving that. It was cold and about 10 people were on the ice which should have been fantastic except that after about 20min the blisters I received from last nights marathon session started playing up and I couldn't go for any longer. Which sucked. Anyhoo.



I trotted up to the Avenue Q box office and managed to get quite good discount tix to tomorrow nights show. Then I headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art which was fantastic baring a few things.

- random exhibitions which closed early
- dickhead staff
- the sea of people

Museums really start sucking when there are way too many people, and there where way way too many people. But on the plus side I saw a lot of Picassos, Miros and Monets...Mmmmm awesome. And they have an entire Egyptian Temple rebuilt inside it. Like Whoa. They had an entire wing of Rembrandts but then I wasn't really a big fan so I passed through pretty quickly. Andy Warhol's huge portrait of Chairman Mao was however, brilliant.



Came back to the hotel and had expensive Japanese for dinner near the hotel.

----

Day 34 - 3rd Jan 2008

Today was FREaking FReezing....-9C. I walked out with Megan's cousin Michelle and it was so cold we had to run most of the way through the city. It was so cold water froze from the fire hydants and I cold feel my thermal pants cracking when I walked. In other words, it was BLOODY COLD!!!.



So the day went like this, cream cheese bagel, nintendo world, get top of the Rock tix for later and then to the Natural History Museum.

The Museum was freaking awesome. Much more friendlier than the Met, cause largely it was aimed at kids. As a big kid myself I absolutely loved it. I went totally giddy at all the Dinosaur fossils and went around embarrassing myself shouting...OMFG STEGASAURUS...and the like for most of it. The other stuff was generally creepy dioramas but sure hell beats the Australian Museum which I think has like butterflies and that's it.



We met up with Megan and her Dad at the Top of the Rock at around sunset. Going up it doesn't seem that high but it is. And of course it was freezing. The good thing was that all the outside decks had perspex walls stopped some of the wind. It was nice cause we got to see the sunset and also NYC at night. And it was pretty bright.



Got back to the hotel via the Rockefeller and got some pretty bad pound food (it's like a buffet but you get what you want and then they weigh it and it's like 6 bucks a pound) from the market and then Megan, Tracey and I headed to Avenue Q on Broadway.

Since I've already seen the bootleg I new what was pretty much going to happen but it still didn't diminish the awesomeness of this musical. You will never look at puppets again and I also had a brief freakout moment when I realised by this time next yeah I'll just be like Princeton, 23, with an Arts degree and no purpose. ARRRGH.

---

More photos are here http://picasaweb.google.com/LJK131/RestOfNYCLotsOfMuseums

hmmurgh

Hi People, I'm still alive, I just haven't had the internet for about a week and I have written nothing because insidious cough has come back and travel fatigue has really taken it's toll, even meeting John Barrowman didn't help too much.

However I'll try and finish off the bulk of NYC and start on some fascinating tales of old Britannia cause god knows this is the leg of the trip where EVERYTHING fucks up.

I love this country so much, but by golly the past few days have really taken it's toll on that love.

Too tired to really hate things though, I've just realised that I've spent more time overseas than Amazing Race Winners. I have strange dreams about returning home to rest and then continuing my journey, but then I wake up and realise I won't see home for another month and a bit.

I love and miss you all, I just wish things would stop fucking up for a few days cause I really need rest. Currently in Stratford-Upon-Avon...and hungry.

peace out,

LJ

DAY 31 - NYE in NYC - 31st Dec

This was my downtown manhattan escapade. I got up pretty early and walked to and over the brooklyn bridge. It was cold but pretty awesome. So I got on the other side to brooklyn and kind freaked out a little. I mean it was brooklyn. But I ended up have pancakes at a diner near the exit of the bridge. 3 huge pancakes, coffee and 2 sips of orange juice was supposedly $3.95 but add tips and tax it was quickly over $6. That's the problem with this country, sometimes things are deceptively cheap, it tends to fuck with my head.



I got the subway to the financial hub. It was pretty empty since everyone was off for NYE. However once I got to wall st, there were hordes of tourists doing the obligatory of visiting the New York Stock Exchange, I was no exception. But wall street is like any other financial center in the world, hideously dull, so taking a stroll past the harbour I went down to Battery Park.



The lines for the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island ferries stretched for an eternity. Obviously I was not going to get to either today, so I walked to the Staten Island ferries, which go to Staten Island obviously but other than that, they are free, and go straight past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

On the outside of the ferry, the wind chill added to an already chilly day, and it was absolutely FREEZING, but I managed to last long enough to see both sighs. The statue was kind of disappointing really, it's tiny, all the movies and pictures make it out to be this awesome sight right next to Manhattan, but rather it's this tiny thing way in the distance. You can hardly see it from Battery Park.



I got back and managed to make my way up to the Bull near Wall St. I wanted a picture with it, but poor thing was being harrassed by a horde of barbarian tourists whom were climbing on it and everything. So I decided to give it a reprieve of a few days till my fat arse lands on it.

Kept heading north and found the WTC sight. There wasn't much to see other than an obvious construction sight, but it was still a bit emotional standing there. I was in time for the sunset on the Hudson river which was glorious as sunsets always are.



After some soup and a bagel with cream cheese (which is shaping up to be one one of my fav foods ever) I had a nap in prep for NYE at times square. The clan headed to Chinatown for some shanghainese style dinner at around 8. We didn't actually make it to Times Square till about 10pm and thus were penned on 40th St facing the back of the Crystal Ball, meaning we couldn't see jack.



It was well that we only waited 2 hours cause the resulting crappiness had to seen to be believed...no countdown no nothing, 10 seconds worth of fireworks off one building and that was it, everyone either went home or to an after party. Perhaps it was my lack of inebriation but by god that was probably the most sucky NYE I've ever had. I think NYE in Sydney is probably the best in the world now.



We got back to the hotel and ended up watching the South Park movie on telly. I think that was the highlight of my night. I love that movie.

DAY 30 - Random NYC cont... - 30th Dec

I was going to go skating this morning but then decided to get up at 10:30, and the Knicks vs Bulls game at Madison Square Gardens I had tickets to, started at 12pm. I got off at Chelsea and took a nice little stroll up to the gardens with my bagel in tow, how very New Yorker of me.

The game kinda sucked, the knicks really sucked at the moment, especially with the entire crowd chanting .."fire isaiah"...Isaiah Thomas been the much useless and maligned coach of the current Knicks. But to be actually watching a live NBA match at the gardens when I'm a huge basketball fan...priceless.



Finally had my first NY hot dog after the game, tasted good but it was actually quite small. I'll have to demand all my hot dogs with sauerkraut now.



I had time to kill so I headed up to Cathedral of St. John the Divine on the upper west side. Supposedly it is the largest cathedral in the world. Part of it was destroyed in a fire a few years back so it is under heavy construction. On my way there I actually got lost and a couple of German backpackers asked me for directions and I directed them the wrong way. Funnlly enough I've been asked directions a lot, maybe I act like a true New Yorker ahaha, usually I'm actually pretty successful directing people.



When I got out of cathedral it started raining, pretty tired I did some fruit shopping before heading back to the hotel. I had a dinner of classic buffalo wings, ribs and seasoned fries with the the younger part of the Hau clan. Dinner was great only marred by the fuckwit service I received at Baskin Robbins after.

DAY 29 - Random NYC cont... - Dec 29

I had another late start to the day, sleeping on the floor hardly puts me in a good mood. However after having what could be considered lunch I headed to the ice rink and picked up my skates, lined up for about 30min and finally got in.

It was fantastic, skating in the open. I haven't done that since I was 10 in Beijing. But this was in between skyscrapers. Although it was so full you could hardly skate, and that I also had to break in my new skates, I couldn't do much, but the prevailing feeling was of utter sweetness. The rinks in Sydney could never compare, even when the surface is choppy the ice doesn't turn into slush and by the end of the sessions you're not swimming in a shallow pond. Did I also mention no actual session times? So you can literally skate from 8am to 12am, a whole 14 hours if you wanted. But I was pretty spent after an hour and desperately hungry too, so I decided it was time to leave.



I headed to the burger joint on 57th St which came highly recommended on several top burger lists. I bypassed it with really knowing a couple of days ago when I was near Carnegie hall. However the actual address directs you right into the Le Parker Meridian Hotel, the thing is that the Burger Joint is a hole in the wall place in the lobby of the hotel. No signs other than a neon burger directing the way, and both days there was a hefty line outside. So I join the back of the line.

35min I was finally inside. It was small 6 booths, 1 stool table and 2 normal tables, the kitchen resembled some of those floating stalls in Blade Runner and the Fifth Element. The food was quite expensive for the fare, $11.75 for a burger, fries and a drink. The burger was small compared to most, but the pattie was thick. It was tasty, but I can't help thinking I would have enjoyed the entire experience if I had lined up for less time and had more time to enjoy my food rather than scoffing it down because everyone behind you is giving you the death stare. Then I found out you could actually call in and order, I think I might do that next time, but still, I guess you'll loose the atmosphere, and the price is a tad too high for takeout burgers.



I digested in the lobby of Le Parker Meridian. New York nearly doesn't have enough resting spots, I think hotel lobby's are a fab replacement. Usually I guess in Sydney, I just bum on the UTS couches.

I headed down 5th Ave later, and squealed thoroughly over the NBA store, pity that it only sold adiddas stuff though. And there wasn't anything particularly old school to tempt me. Walking down 5th Ave I realised that New York fashion is so much more hip and heaps cooler than the west coast. Although San Fran had its indie moments, I just want to take all of NYC with me in my suitcase. Every clothing and shoe store I pass I'm like ohhhh, that's nice. Whereas in LA it was like, yeah that's nice if I'd like to go hang with my homies in south central.



The crowds around Rockefeller and Times Square were insane, shoulder to shoulder and to cross the road you had to shuffle. Through the rockefeller, I found something that I was looking for since I got to the city.



The nintendo store, 2 levels, full of Wiis and DSs for your pleasure....and pleasurable it was. I need to go back and get countless nerd T-shirts I've always wanted. But I could just spend days in there playing every single game they have. And they even had the Wii Raygun system setup too, *salivates*...heaven.



At night I had cheap roast duck wonton noodles which were cheap and totally fabulous and a wonder through chinatown and little italy. Maccas and Burger King both had signs in Chinese, like wtf? And little Italy was like a bright more neon sparkly version of Norton St, not very Godfather at all. I was a little disappointed.


times square at night

DAY 28 - Random NYC #2 - 28 Dec

Another late morning resulted in a hurried dash to central park. I got to the Wollman rink and proceeded to devour the leftovers of last night's Korean and an apple still from San Fran. Central Park itself was quite bare as it was winter, but it's vastness is breathtaking. Beyond the literary walk and some ponds and nice architecture I found myself in the random bushes called the rambles. Think Blair Witch project and that's what it was like, very serial killer movieish. In a guide book I read it actually warns against walking through it's area at night. I wonder why, it felt pretty creepy even in daylight. I was so excited to see an area marked on the map as the Shakespeare gardens, cause been the uber Shakespeare fan I am, but once I got there it was a tiny patch of dirt with plaques hailing quotes from Twelfth Night and the like. Note to self...come in summer next time.



I got as far as the Jackie Onassis Reservoir which felt bigger on the map, but it was still pretty damn big. One thing I hated about central park was that since it was winter was that they turned off all the water bubblers, presumably so the pipes don't freeze and crack, omfg, if I was running in central park I'd be totally pissed off.



One thing about America and to a degree the northern hemisphere are squirrels. Everytime I see one, I squeal in delight and now my camera is just full of squirrel pictures and there are many a squirrel in Central Park. Possums don't even come close in novelty and cuteness.



I head back down to 9th Ave Pizzeria for lunch, it came as recommended on menupages.com but frankly it was pretty average. The food was relatively cheap so I didn't really mind. Then I made my way down to 44th and found the much famed Actors Studio started by Lee Strasberg and made such greats as Al Pacino. It wasn't greatly exciting though, I'd though they might have had pamphlets but they probably don't even need the extra publicity.



9 Avenue through the 40s is the area known as Hell's Kitchen, a district known for its links to the theatre and the arts, it's close to the Broadway theatres and many famous actors made their homes here since rent was cheap. Now the area has been much gentrified but the remnants of the old district still survive, the ubiquitous delis, small restaurants, laundromats and greengrocers. It has the largest collection of essentials which I have seen around mid-town and although 9th avenue is a bit old and dingy compared to say 6th or 5th, it really embodies a great cultural atmosphere.

Megan's flight still hadn't arrived so I thought I might go check out Bryant Park which I knew from my research had a free ice rink during the winter. Consulting my map I realised it was actually behind the NY public library I went to yesterday. How did I miss an entire park? I definitely need my eyesight checked when I get back. Seeing the ice rink made me think about the ice skates in the sports store i encountered yesterday before I got to Grand Central Terminal. So on a whim I thought I'd go seek it out, since they sold cheap thermals. So around i walk, 41st, 5th ave, nothing, i got another 3 blocks the other direction nothing. Ask 3 cops and 1 security guard...do you know a sport store around here?...No. Nothing...1 hour later, 5 circles of around 4 blocks each I finally find it, adjacent to Grand Central terminal and a block away from where I started. And indeed it was a sports called Modells. Perhaps people would understand if I actually asked for Modells...*collapses from exhaustion*

So I'm browsing skates at Modells, $50 with 20% off, so $40 for a pair of Bauer Supreme Elites, or CCM hockey skates and Bauer Vapours for $57, Bauer vapours are like AUS$300, I squealed then realised the last 3 pairs are all not my size. I debated heaps long, and ended up purchasing the $40 CCM ones, + skate guards, bag and my thermals, it was like $80. I didn't even think about the fact that I'll have to lug around ice skates through half the world, I just wanted to skate.

So I hurriedly got back to Bryant park to drop my newly bought skates to be sharpened, upon taking them out of the box, I realised...shit, only one skate had laces. I asked the sharpener dude he's like sorry can't help you. So I run the 4 blocks back to Modells, take some laces out of another box and run back to my hostel since it had been an hour since Megan called to say her flight had landed. I get to my hostel drenched in sweat, look up the address of the hotel we're meant to be staying at the made my way downtown. I'm so glad everything is so insanely close and runnable and subwayable in New York.

I met up with Megan's clan and ended up having a very unsatisfactory dinner of Viet food cooked by Japanese people.

DAY 27 - randomly walking NYC - 27th Dec

I woke up late cause couldn't sleep, got woken up during the night by a very loud street and people coming back to the hostel very late, but that's what you get when you share a room with 8 people. The hostel was situated in mid-town, very handy with only a 2 block walk to times square, i guess which is the centre of NYC.

The day was very wet and quite cold. The rain was misty and light but just didn't stop. I didn't really have a plan for the day so I just started walking. I walked up 8th avenue through the entire theatre district all the way up to Carnegie hall, which was a tad ugly on the inside. I'm sure it's all pretty on the inside but I couldn't manage to get tickets to the last concert for the year and the only on in the period I'm in NYC.

I headed down to 8th Ave and 38th St to have lunch at the village 38, which was cheap and very filling. I kept walking along 38th through the garment district which was full of material stores with my personal favourite, Spandex World. The NY Public library was just up ahead and they are currently having an exhibition on Beat writer and pioneer Jack Kerouac. I just wish I was more well read and actually knew some beat literature. Anyhoo, the library is quite awesome, very classic design.



About 2 blocks from the library was the Grand Central Terminal, so much has been said about it but personally I was a tad disappointed. It just didn't seem as grand as I thought it would be. But it was still pretty cool.



Another few blocks up was the Rockefeller centre It's a huge collection of buildings, stores, with an ice rink and a huge Christmas tree to top it off. Pedestrian traffic here is insane. I thought Shanghai would be the only city to have that kind of pedestrian traffic, but like whoa. It was a human sea, elbow to elbow and you had to bump people out of the way to get anywhere. I absolutely loved it, just being around so many people.



Back from Rockefeller, I went through 37th street which was literally diamond alley, lined to the hilt with jewellery stores and diamond dealers. It was like a piece of Dubai stuck in the middle of Manhattan.

Times square at night is possibly brighter than it is at daytime. There is an aura of bright white light which emanates from the square it's visible many streets down. I walked into the 2 level M & Ms store, marvelled at it's level of commercial crassness and use the 2nd level windows to take pictures of the humongous Rambo billboard which was up. I seriously love this city.



I went down to 32nd St for dinner at a Korean (buffet by the pound, presumably they have a buffet, you pick your food and they weigh it $6.49/lb). I quickly realised that 32nd st was Korea town. Manhattan is funny in away, everything, every culture is condensed down to one street or a series of streets. Every avenue also has it's own flavour and culture. It's a society of amalgamation, a cultural hot pot of goodies around the world.

The streets are also covered with these steel doors on the pavement, you think they're just grills but in fact they lead to the cellar of every street store and all the deliveries are made down this front hatch every morning and every night. In crowded and competitive environments humanity invents ways of meeting its needs and economy.



I guess that's why I've totally fallen in love with this city so quickly. It doesn't bother me at all that the streets are dank, the subways filthy and funky smells come from everywhere. But it's seriously global, it's smart, hip and very cool. I'd like to think of myself as somewhat a global citizen and since I got here I've realised I've developed a NYC swagger. The minute I stepped out onto the streets, I felt like this could be home. It's FANTASTIC and London watch out cause New York could become my next fav city.