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.