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!