Ball Drop? What Ball Drop?

So I ended up leaving Dubai on New Years Eve around lunch time and arrived in New York on New Years Eve at 2pm!

Dan was also flying in that evening from his holiday in the Caribbean so we were both really looking forward to this particular New Years. We hadn’t seen each other since October so the two weeks we had together were very special.

the gang

Funnily enough, a bunch of people from my group at home were in New York at the same time – so after Dan and I went to a lovely dinner together at a fabulous Japanese restaurant we trekked it down to the Meatpacking District and met up with them on the street. They wanted to head in to a club, but the entry was around AUD170 (which included drinks) but I was so exhausted from traveling we opted out, we wished them all a Happy New Year and proceeded up to the Upper West Side to one of Dan’s high school friends house for drinks and nibbles. It was a perfect and civilised way to see in the New Year. I had never seen the ball drop before so was anxiously waiting after seeing Lady Gaga perform… we waited…4…. 3…. 2… and the TV cut out! We didn’t get to see the ball drop! They say how you spend your New Years is how you’ll spend the rest of the year… does this mean I’ll be surprised? We had a bit of a laugh, and not too long after the midnight celebrations, Dan and I bid Chrissy and Johnny a Happy New Year and departed.

The next day we met at a diner with all of my heavily hung over friends, (one even falling asleep with a sandwich in her hand! Ha ha) what a nice change it was for me to not be in the same boat! They all devoured greasy food and after they felt moderately better we strolled up to mid town and walked through Rockefeller Centre… MY GOODNESS it was packed with tourists! We had some great photo opportunities with everyone and as Louise, Dan and I had been to the ‘Top of the Rock’ previously, we chose to stay warm in a cosy little café a few blocks away.

We all ended up leaving and went back home to Dan’s apartment and then on to a Chinese restaurant close by – delicious! Unfortunately Jordan and Justin were departing the next day so it was a last supper, they both however fell in love with the City!

Dan and I spent the next couple of weeks just shopping and enjoying each others company, we went out for dinner, went to his friend Trevor’s one evening for a good ol’ fashioned game of beer pong. My skills were a little dusty, I hadn’t played this game since Summer Camp in 2007 so was fun to get back in to the American Spirit!

We strolled through the Park most days and we exchanged belated “Chrismukah” presents, a lovely compromise for both of us. The following evening we drove to Dan’s brothers’ house for a Hanukah celebratory dinner, they all exchanged gifts and it was lovely to see their family interact like ours would on Christmas day.

Dan had to work a couple of days whilst I was there, so I entertained myself by catching up on university work and met him for lunch most days down town. I’d then stroll through the streets of Soho and Canal Street picking up little bargains wherever I went. Another day I had stalked the cast
of Gossip Girl on Facebook and went to watch the filming again of the show!

A few days before my departure, Dan had organised for some tickets to see an Ice Hockey game – I’d never been to one before so this was super exciting! The game ended up going in to penalty time complete with fights and slamming bodies in to the Perspex windows. The highlight though was when the game went in to a penalty shoot out! I had mentioned to Dan I’d hope this would happy as I’d seen it in the ‘Mighty Ducks’ before! Ha. Clearly a rookie. Rangers had a fabulous game and ended up winning, it was bedlam on the streets, everyone was celebrating. We popped in to a neighbouring bar for a celebratory beer. I can now check that off my bucket list!

The temperature fluctuated dramatically, some days it was negative ten another day it was mild and sunny sitting at 19 degrees! Bizarre! We also met with Dan’s Mum (Mom) for a lunch as well as a dinner and she was lovely, even offering to help partially sponsor Dan’s trip to visit me in Australia: our next goal.

The two weeks we had together was just lovely and saying goodbye was definitely difficult however I’m looking forward to the next time we see each other!

A sandy kind of land

So 2011 marked a fortunate year in terms of travel. I was lucky enough to head back to the deserts of the Middle East – Dubai. My parents had relocated there at the start of last year, so packed my bags about a week before Christmas and jetted off to be met later by the rest of my family – my brother Brendan and his wife Nikki as well as my two nephews – Oliver and Fraser.I stopped in Singapore for 24 hours and stayed at the Swissotel (seriously amazing property) the staff were extremely friendly and the property is conveniently located on top of a mall – not a bad way to spend the 24 hours by myself! I arrived in the evening so it was naturally humid and raining. Singapore is actually one of my favourite Asian cities, it is extremely clean and the people are simply lovely. After having my fill of shopping I popped over to Raffles Hotel which was made famous by the ‘Singapore Sling’ Cocktail, in their ‘Sling’ Bar – definitely a highlight to add to your stay in Singapore! The bar has this amazing English-Asian influence and has beautiful palm frond fans floating gently backwards and forwards. This is also the bar they encourage littering at, they give you a whopping bowl of peanuts with their shells still on and as you eat them you throw the shells on the floor… I felt really naughty. A few hours later I was off to Changi Airport again, this time for my connection to Dubai, whilst waiting I had bumped in to an old high school friend on his way to London. Small world huh!

Arriving in the evening in Abu Dhabi my parents greeted their weary daughter with open arms and off we trekked to Dubai (an hours drive) after showering and settling down I was ready for my much anticipated sleep!

Dubai is a melting pot of races, nationalities, religion and beliefs. You walk through one of their many glitzy malls and you’ll hear an array of languages and accents. So, girls being girls Mum and I hit the shops fairly hard on my first day there, we were racing around and the sales had just started too as Dubai’s shopping festival (I know, right!) was just about to begin – this is where they import celebrities (Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and a questionable celeb – Kim Kardashian) to come and endorse shops and malls and funnily enough people travels from all sorts of weird and wonderful places to snap up the bargains!

We went out for dinner a fair bit, the wide selection of cuisines are delicious and very healthy as they are heavily influenced by the Mediterranean style of cooking.

The rest of my family followed a couple of days later and we were very excited to see them all, they also arrived late in the evening so waking up to greet them was a lovely gift! I had also just received another shopping buddy – my brother! We visited Marina, Dubai and Emirates malls and even managed to squeeze in last minute shopping until 10pm on Christmas Eve. The first day they arrived we jumped on a ‘dow’ cruise and went up and down the waterways, taking in the skyline of the incredible Middle East!

Christmas Day was spent as a buffet feast at the Pullman Hotel – we had a lovely expat group with around fifteen of us Aussies all sitting together. The food was delish and as per normal a food coma had hit us, until we found the chocolate dessert room. Everything in this room, including the plates was made of chocolate – BLISS!

We spent the following day on the famous “Palm” in Dubai with a group of family friends and their extended group of Pommy mates they had met from their 12 months of living there too. We of course, had a Boxing Day test! The Poms ended up beating us and I soon realised that I unfortunately did not inherit my Dad’s or nephew’s cricket skills! Oli was in his prime, chasing after every ball and being a fabulous Wicky!

Apparently this was the active part of our trip! We did the Ski Dubai on the first day and then the two boys did Ice Skating the following evening in another mall! Definitely recommend doing the skiing – how many times can you say you played in the snow whilst being in the middle of the desert huh?

The following days we spent relaxing, shopping and eating! We popped down to Deira (Little India) and did a lovely day of cheap shopping (all of the knock offs are here, so it’s definitely worth a visit!) Another area to go to and is really interesting – Dubai Museum. After having our fill of shopping we jumped on another boat – this time an ‘Abra’ and off we went up and down Dubai Creek – this “creek” is bigger than the Brisbane River… Apparently there is no such thing as too big here!

A side of pickle, please!

As another overseas trip fast approaches and the length of time from my previous blog post. I realised it’s time to update the adventures I’ve had recently!

So, late September last year my girlfriend Cammie and I took off an adventure. Typically I like to travel by myself, but it was really great having a friend with me particularly on the long haul flight.

Off we set from Brisbane and landed roughly 24 hours later on the same day in JFK airport – NEW YORK CITY!

Now I realise that the last few adventures of mine have been to New York however I really can’t get past this city, no matter how many times one goes  (think this was my 6^th?) there is always something new to see and  wonderful to experience.

We were fortunate that my friend Dan was able to collect us from the airport and took us back to his lovely home on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. Both Cam and I were feeling pretty grubby after traveling that far so we had a shower and to try and fit in with the time zone pushed on – popped out to a local diner and had a “Welcome to America” feast – hamburgers, fries and ketchup, with a pickle on the side… Pickles come with everything.... (I hate pickles)
The next few days we spent exploring around the East side of town – up and down 5^th Avenue and Madison too, Grand Central station, went out to local restaurants for delicious dinners and as far as China (town) for lunch. We peered over the Brooklyn Bridge, tried to get to the Ground Zero memorial but it was too difficult with the tickets. Went to the ‘Top of the Rock’ for some prime viewing (a suggestion made by a very dear friend – Larry) this is an absolute MUST in NYC the views are better than that of the Empire State.

We spent a couple of days up in the Hamptons which quelled my fascination with shows such as Gossip Girl, had ice cream on the pier and strolled around the cute little shops in Sag Harbour.

After coming back to the city after having a bagel and coffee (or hot chocolate in Cammie’s case) every morning we’d set off on our new adventure – Central Park. It’s hard to actually describe how sizable this park is and so beautiful – mind you filled with tiny, tiny dogs. Next stop was Times Square – boy is this place nuts. Crazy, naked cowboys, Broadway, characters and tourists run rampant! It really is a jungle. The following night we stepped out to the Empire Hotel - those who aren't Gossip Girl fans, a hotel which appears frequently in the show, so we stopped by and the bartender told us the next day they were actually filming, so off we went again and managed to see Lily and Rufus (see my actual photo taken below)

One night we went out to Alphabet City to sample the night life – now this was an experience. Alphabet City is filled with bars and clubs (and University students) for that matter. After getting three-for-one drink cards and advice on which places to visit from locals we departed and found another one a few blocks up. It was awesome; we met up with a group of great people and danced the night away. We left this particular bar after an hour or so and moved on to the next one. This bar looked like its theme was inspired by a Nelly film clip… exposed pipes and fire sprinklers. Kinda cool. In the morning Cammie realised she was down a phone and camera… not so cool.

We stayed at another friends apartment on the Upper East Side for a few days, so we lugged our bags (which had now grown exponentially) around 6 blocks away and set up camp for the next few nights. We had a lovely time and felt very at home.

The last two nights I was fortunate enough to have my parents traveling through New York (they currently live in Dubai) so was a fabulous opportunity to see them. We were staying in a hotel in Chelsea, which was a fun different part of the city than what we were used to… definitely a lot less peaceful and apparently Chelsea is the gay area of Manhattan – this turned out well for us as there were some

 great restaurants and nail salons!

Our two weeks there seemed so very short, we had many; many adventures and it lead me to go back for New Years Eve a few months later – story to come soon!

Reunited with First Love!

So it has reached that time of the year again where itchy feet means a new adventure is on the horizon. This time, this adventure begins with my very good friend Cammie. We booked this trip after realising we both require some much needed 'girl time' after both becoming recently (and fabulously!) single and ready to venture back to a city we are in love with and in turn loves us right back!

New York has always been my first and greatest love and the place in the world where I feel I have found my little niche. I genuinely believe this place, the greatest place on earth is my real home. Some girls after reading and watching ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ went on a spiritual journey to try and find a place where they belong, or a place where to find themselves. I am so grateful that I found my spot when I was just 18. The city which has shown so much courage, hope and strength to overcome adversity - gives me the resolution to do the same.

After bidding Mum and Dad adieu at the airport, they commenced their trip on Sunday through to America, Canada and then after a month of traveling will head back to their home in Dubai. It has finally dawned on me that the next time I’ll be heading back to the International Departures in a little over a week we’ll be commencing our very own journey.

It feels like an eternity for this trip to roll around however after organising a limo to greet us at JFK Airport (in true 'Carrie/Mr Big' style), staying with friends, make a trip to the Hamptons, have picnics in Central Park, head to a NY Giants football game and a night out on the town in Jersey. We also plan to visit Woodbury Common for a little retail therapy and stroll down 5^th Avenue to dream shop in Tiffany and Co.  – one could understand why we’re a little enthused!

The second half of our adventure will be greeted by backpacker hostels and bars in the hopes of meeting some fellow travellers to experience things we couldn’t by staying in hotels. With neither of us backpacking before, we are certain it will guarantee some laughs and stories only traveling can provide and will be sure to keep updates flowing with comedic hilarity!

I’m so looking forward to seeing what exciting, spontaneous adventures this trip holds! Stay tuned for more updates and pictures to boot!

Prostitutes, Bar Golf and Christmas Trees

Wednesday was a bit of a slow moving day but after a little while we braved the rain and wind (the rain was coming in sideways - it was horrible!) and decided to step outside to head to the South Bronx as Luke wanted to see some famous graffiti (apparently this is where graffiti originated) As each subway stop went by out of Manhattan the more multicultural the train became. We stepped out at Hunt’s Point (apparently notorious for prostitution) Luke failed to leave that out of the disclaimer prior to arriving there and the first Avenue I saw once emerging out of the subway was “Hoe Ave”. I couldn’t help but have a little chuckle to myself. Within ten minutes of strolling around the notorious neighborhood we stumbled across the first prostitute I’ve ever seen. Here she was standing on the street – exactly like in the movies. I had to pick my jaw off the ground and put my head down and keep walking. This is definitely somewhere I would not be rushing back to!

For someone who doesn’t really understand graffiti or the culture behind it the artwork created on the walls was pretty impressive. The South Bronx has two famous Jewish female graffiti artists and we saw of a few pieces of theirs scattered along the buildings’ walls. I really wanted to make it back to Manhattan before the sun started setting so we made the mission home. I’ve now ticked the Bronx off my list now at least!

A few nights ago we went to a lovely Italian restaurant just down the road from his house – just Harry and I. The first date we went on in Australia was also at an Italian restaurant so it seemed fitting that we continue that tradition. We shared a bottle of red wine (perfect for the Winter time) some beautiful entrées and then followed with a main meal.

On Friday Benfield, Ed and I had planned to go to the Guggenheim and had gotten all the way to 5^th Avenue and 88^th Street only to walk through the doors and be told the museum was shut for a private function. The other option was to go to the Natural History Museum which on my previous trip to New York I had been to and wasn’t overly keen to go back so we strolled for about 40 blocks stopping and looking at shops. I ended up buying some legwarmers which to my surprise are actually useful and work! I can honestly say I have never worn them before and swore I would never. I was grateful that I was too young the first time this trend came through however the conditions yesterday called for some drastic measures and am now a converted legwarmer wearer!

We stopped at a diner for late lunch and felt like we had stepped in to a Happy Days time warp. The décor and style of food made me keep checking over my shoulder to make sure the Fonz wasn’t about to step inside as a relief from the cold conditions.

We started making our way back home as Ed had a game of touch football so I made some spaghetti and meatballs for all of us (finally the cooking lessons my mother gave me have paid off!) and accompanied it with another nice bottle of red wine – very civilized and a perfect Winter night in!

Saturday was bar golf day for the rugby boys and friends - basically means you dress as golfers and “play” 9 holes (bars) with a different challenge per stop.  At about the 7^th hole the challenge was set that you had to swap clothes with someone of the opposite sex who wasn’t your partner. I ended up swapping with one of the boys’ team mates who is of a more sophisticated age and a lovely man in general. Poor Larry had to wear my little shorts, baby pink sweater and silk scarf in exchange for his polo shirt and yellow corduroy pants. This made one bar manager not so happy and everyone was eventually asked to leave. After playing golf with my father every Saturday for a few years this was a complete change!

Yesterday we had a very lazy start to the day and around 3pm made a move to Home Depot so the boys could enjoy “man land” (imagine Bunnings on steroids) after collecting a few “essential” tools we then moved to the Christmas Tree section and I wish I could explain to you the beautiful smell that came from that room. Crabtree and Evelyn have a Christmas room spray which sums up the smell of the pines, the sap, and the wood. It was perfect. Ed found our little families tree so off we went with a car full of tools and a tree poking out the back of Harry’s car home via White Castle – which I would recommend to everyone to never enter. You know when you get 20 sliders (mini burgers), 4 packets of fries and 3 drinks for less than $20 there must be a problem. The boys played around with their tools whilst I went next door bought and organized our Christmas tree decorations. I decided seeing as I have two male roommates the most manly option would be to go for blue and silver theme. I had the honour of being able to top the tree with our silver star and Ed and I continued to decorate the tree whilst playing Christmas music. This was blissful and a wonderful start for hopefully a perfect holiday season.

The Art of Eating Pizza

Eating a piece of pizza in New York is much like playing a game of poker: you gotta know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em. I had my first slice last night and boy was it amazing – home of the best pizza in the world certainly lived up to its name. I had my first real New York Slice whilst wandering around the city getting lost in the avenues and stumbling across a building I always manage to find by accident – the Flat Iron Building. Every time I see it, it still manages to impress me - the architecture and what it must look like inside fascinates me.

The boys had another rugby tournament on Saturday so I needed to fill in the day as I wasn’t really too keen on spending another weekend by the windy field. I woke up and took all of our laundry to the Laundromat – 5 loads later and several conversations with Laundromat locals I was finished. I dropped it off back at the house and took myself in to the city. I was planning to go to the top of the Empire State Building however the queue was at least two hours long and having already been up there on a previous trip I could think of a few other things I’d like to do. So after grabbing a bag of roasted nuts I wandered aimlessly taking in the sights and spotting squirrels left right and centre. It was a beautiful day in the city! On a trip to visit Harry at school in Brooklyn we made a brief stop at Union Square where they were holding a Christmas market and on this Saturday I returned and had a thorough look through the stalls. It reminded me of a Christmas market I’d previously been to with my family in Switzerland. It was so cute. I found a few little things along the way and treated myself to a cup of hot chocolate to warm my insides from the chilly temperatures outside.

Tuesday was Ed’s (my roomie) birthday so he had quite a large night on Monday and stumbled in the early hours of Tuesday morning to find the apartment decorated with balloons and streamers. After sleeping most of his birthday away, Luke (Harry’s friend) came for the night as he was visiting from LA and I pulled out the cake I’d bought for his special day (you can’t have a birthday without cake!) Harry finished work quite late and had organized tickets to the New York Knicks verse the New Jersey Nets at Madison Square Garden. This was to be my first NBA game seen live – I was so excited. It turns out we were court side and could see the likes of Jay-Z sitting on the sideline. The Knicks ended up having a great game and won so it gave us two reasons to celebrate! We went to meet up with some of Harry’s team members who were also out on exchange in Brisbane so it was lovely to see them again! We continued our celebrations with a couple of dollar tequila shots and $2 beers we called it a night after making a pit stop via the pizza shop across the road. It seems I have exchanged my late night kebab runs for pizza runs!

Rugby Union in New York?

After leaving Brisbane at noon on the 19^th of November I began my journey to the US of A - travelling for a little over 26 hours (including a 6 hour layover in LA) I found myself landing at JFK airport flying over what looked like fairy lights or in Disney’s Peter Pan when he flies over London. From one end to another was lit up like a call centre switch board (how I do not miss working in one of those). It was beautiful. I was soon met by Harry and off we went to a cute little place in Astoria, Queens – the city’s traffic network is crazy it’s like an ants nest, tunnels leading off in every direction weaving in and out through freeways. I could notice a slight difference to Brisbane!

I woke up the following morning at around 5am due to jetlag and was pleading with my body to let me sleep however it just simply would not comply! So after 3 restless hours I dragged myself out of bed woke Harry up and convinced him to grab some food (most boys will do anything if food is being used as leverage) so off we went grabbed some coffee (pronounced CAWW-FEE) and a breakfast croissant and went for a stroll around Astoria Park which is around 2 blocks away from where I’m currently living. It’s beautiful. There are basketball courts, tennis courts, a skate park, a swimming pool as well as a running track. The park overlooks the city’s skyline and is certainly impressive! The Autumn leaves are finally giving way to  the harsh Winter which feels like has already set in. The fallen leaves have painted the park floor a burnt orange and red colour whilst the squirrels have fun scavenging through them.

I spent the next two days watching the boys play Rugby Union for their team NYRC which is a little unusual considering where I currently am. The Union following is starting to increase in the US with Women’s teams also having depth and quite a lot of competition. I managed to have a chat to a couple of them as I was interested in how they became involved in such an Australian staple sport, a lot of them became involved through American football and then swapped over.  After explaining all of this they then tried to recruit me. I really don’t envisage myself as a rugby player by any stretch maybe they have netball fixtures over here? The boys ended up losing the first and winning the last so finished on a high but with injuries galore between them spent the next two days listening to them whine and moan. (Typical)

We had the intention that night to head out to Manhattan for end of season drinks for the boys however poor Ed wasn’t feeling too well and ended up having to take him to the hospital from suspected food poisoning. Each trip I’ve made to the US has been hindered by at least one trip to the hospital I’m hoping that this is it for the trip and am very grateful that it wasn’t me this time!