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.

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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.