Gone upper west side

On Wednesday, we woke up early as well to go an try to catch the sights around Grand Central station before going upper west side and crash at our next pad.

So we walked to Grand station shorty after 9, and admired the high ceiling, the lights, and the big clock. I personally love the echo in that station. A stage was being set up for a concert in one of the aisle of the station. it is the kind of echo that makes me want to sing out loud.

 

Outside the station, we got tempted by a shop selling caps and other American sports. We each bought a Yankees cap, and posed like oblivious tourists in front of the station, capturing the Chrysler building in the background at times. The fog was still a constant drag, and the weather was a bit sticky. 

Then we crossed over to 5th avenue, and actually had to wait for the library to open. This is my favourite library, as I love libraries in general, but this is my favourite as I feel so cozy hanging out there. I enjoy the sunlight coming in softly, and the big decorated ceiling, and the romantic atmosphere that results in all those books and serious readers. I remember how I got myself a library card there and used to come often to get internet!

Walking back to the hotel, we stumbled on the Empire State building to being hidden by fluffy fog, so we finally got to see the top of it. After many many failed selfcam, we finally got to picture ourselves with the entire building

So pretty much before 11, we already walked for quite a bit. Finally, we had to check out of the hotel and make our way to the Subway to go to the flat I managed to rent for 2 days. While dragging our luggage towards 6th Avenue, I decided to take a cab to avoid transferring. So we hailed a cab not far from Macy's and got dropped in front of 2xx West 81st Street, Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue right at noon as decided with the flat's manager. It was literally 2 blocks away from the 81st street entrance of Central Park. It cost us $330 for 2 nights, for 2 people, with all included, even the soaps and shampoos in the bathroom.

The flat was a 1 bedroom apartment rented by owner while he was away on holidays or work, and the person giving us the keys was a musician managing other similar flats in the area. We goofed around, taking pictures and video before rushing out again to catch a clipper cruise from pier 17 at 2pm.

 

Alas, the weather was supposedly expected to get thunderstorms and the cruise was cancelled. After much arguing, I gave up and opted for another company, the watertaxi, that was still running. It would also bring us back west side, around 42nd street.

The weather was dry until then, but 10min into the cruise, we got soaked and had to leave the upper deck to dry in the lower cabin with the other passengers. We couldn't take many photos but could only admire the skyline through line of raindrops on the windows. Once we passed the beautiful rain clouds, a somewhat black and white world contrasted with the vivid colour of the vessel.

 

I am glad this was a different experience than expected, as the light and clouds in the sky gave a totally magical feel to the skyline. As we came up the west side of Manhattan, we could even see clearly all the landmarks: Empire State building, Chrysler building.

 

 After getting off the watertaxi, we still got some drizzling rain, so we hurriedly walked into Westway diner (on 9th Ave. between 43rd St. & 44th St) for some well deserved food. 

New York is full of artists and aspiring artists, so this diner was surely a watering hole for some celebrity or other. We took our time on strawberry milkshake (yum, my favourite), sandwiches with pepper-jack cheese, and waited for the rain to stop.

Eventually, we managed to get to Times Square, and we hit the shops. I needed some change of clothes as everything I had were dirty or soaked. Then N. rang me up and we decided to meet up in Times Square before going for dinner. We waited for her in Levi's shop, and I probably learned by heart all the prices in that shop waiting for her. A. was exploring Toys R us in the meantime. Finally we all met up...

I had asked her to grab Indonesian food together, so off we went to Queens, to Minang Asli in Elmhurst. It is a family style restaurant that probably sits 20, and there seemed to be 4 regular ladies chit-chating inside with the owner when we came in. We took 2 tables and N ordered like the full menu by the looks of it. Nevertheless, we ate everything, from cartilage to satay to krupuk to very spicy rendang to....jus thinking of it makes me hungry. We ate happily.

 

 

We were drunk on es teler and other sweet summer drinks and I personally cannot remember how or when we got home. All I know is we got home quite late again, and we both just crashed in this really comfy bed.  If only I could cook such delicious food....

Strolling in Chelsea and got dazzled

Although it was sad to wake up with an alarm clock while on holidays, it was with excitement that we started the day by grabbing breakfast by 10 at the nearby Costa (or was it something else?). A nice hot chocolate and muffin later, we started walking westbound to 6th avenue, by Madison Square garden, and then southbound, passing by the Fashion institute.

The wind was blowing a rather cold breeze but we marched on, towards Chelsea. It was my first foray in the 9th avenue and 10th avenue areas and I finally understood that village feel, attributed to the brownstone low buildings, leafy quiet streets, and colorful little shops. After much walking we finally found the high line entrance (10th ave., 17th st.) . I was glad I did some research for this trip and planned some new sight-seeings like this.  I loved the way they transformed this old railroad line into a beautiful garden, while preserving its natural side into the walkway's architecture.

 

The wind still battered on but it felt somehow warm to wander on the promenade while the high building around us  was reminding us we were in Manhattan. The garden was not entirely finished and a second part was not opened to public yet, but the yellow-clad gardeners were proudly watering the plants in this ominously rainy day.We did get some sun briefly and even wore sunglasses, but it soon started to drizzle again and we were forced to take shelter. 

We left the garden behind and continue south, from the meatpacking district to Soho, Greenwich and west village. I discovered that the area was full of brand name boutiques, and eventually we sat down for a late lunch a few blocks from ground zero. We had a delicious meal in an Italian restaurant: the warm lasagna or pizza was such comfort food in the dreary weather. It was almost 4pm when we exited the place and walked passed ground zero, ending up in Century 21 just by following the shopping bags.

We ended up shopping as well of course, turning and turning inside the department store till our heads suffered lack of oxygen, agoraphobia and just tiredness. We looked for shoes, then for dresses, then for sunglasses, then for cosmetics....I could not remember why we got i there in the first place, apart for showing the place around. We strolled by the City hall and ended up at Battery park, overlooking on the Statue of Liberty barely emerging from the fog.

I was glad we had a Mets game at 7pm that evening so that we could get away from the stores, drop our bags at the hotel, before heading to Queens with the 7 train. I enjoyed the overground train ride. And I was getting anxious the wagons were not filled with fans. Indeed, announcements blared in the Metro station, announcing the game was cancelled and postponed! It was 6:45 and all we could do was take photos and find a substitute thing to do for the evening.

 

 

It was decision time, and eventually we opted for a Broadway show, since we could still try to catch an 8pm show. Off we rushed back midtown, and I had to drag Mamelle away from the ads filled giant screens flickering their lights into mesmerized eyes of newcomers to the TKTS office to get tickets for any show that hadn't started yet. I managed to snatch 2 expensive tickets for Chicago and ran to the theatre, Mamelle in tow. We barely made it and we had separate seats, but we were on the first row of the balcony and had a great view of the stage.

 

 

I must say the actress mentionned above was not a match to the other actress's voice. It was even painful to listen to her sing. But I still like the other actors, and Mamelle liked the show. After that we could leisurely take photos on Times Square emptied by the rain before grabbing some americana food in TGIF.

 

 

ON our walk back to the hotel, we tried to see the the Empire State Building needle top, but all we could see was colorful clouds as the fog was still wrapping it up. And so with that vision, we lied in bed in the early morning of 1am.

Random street view in NYC

Random street view in NYC

Landing in the foggy Big Apple

After attending M's graduation, there was a trip that Mamelle wanted to do in NYC. So off we went from Raleigh to NYC, getting a 9 o'clock flight that eventually turned into an 11 o'clock flight due to fog. It's always surprising to hear that the current technology still can't do much against fog. We can put it to priorities in this world: heart transplant=priority. Fog navigation=not so much a priority.

And so instead of  landing before noon, we got to La Guardia pretty much at lunch time, after 1pm. Indeed the fog was thick, and I could only see the ground only when the plane's tires were 2m above. We were in a hurry to get to Manhattan and take catch up with the time wasted in Durham airport, so we hopped in a shared minivan cab and were driven into down rather swiftly. We were dropped off among the first one in the rather miserable rainy weather. The hotel was at 31st and Park Avenue, and had the quickest check-in time ever: they didn't even ask for any photo ID. 

We just dropped our bags, explored the clean shared bathrooms, put on some rainproof attires and quickly walked out. It was only then that I realized we were smack in Koreatown, with JYP office glaring the Wonder Girls (think 'Nobody' or 'Be my baby') in their ground floor window. We walked down Park Avenue down to Union square, where we sat for a slice of pizza while lamenting about the weather.

We also discussed how cheaper it was to get electronics in his town compared to Europe, and a few minutes later, we crossed the square and ended up in Best Buy, looking for a netbook. Mamelle finallys ettled on one and we also bought a cover for it. Not even 2h and we've bought a computer! And that wa the beginning: we skipped through Little Italy to get onto Broadway, crossed Houston St and did many shops to end up in Chinatown. Funnily enough the sight was not as crowded as it was almost 6pm and some shops were closed or packed up because of the rain. Nonetheless, my dear travel companion was into getting a suitcase.

From experience, I knew she was not a quick shopper, but in the time that she took to choose a suitcase and haggle with the vendor, I had time to buy 2 woolen hats in the shape of animals. Eventually, a price was convened and off we dragged the suitcase, exploring the many shops in the area. I could not find the shampoo I was looking for, and ou feet were starting to complain. So on the promise that we would return, we went back to the hotel to drop a suitcase full of shopping, get some rest, and prepare for dinner.

While resting, None managed to ring me up at the right time to give me some tips on food places in the area. of course it was going to be in Koreatown, and she gave me some worthy addresses to fill our stomachs. Armed with those recommendations, we walked towards 5th Avenue and got into a self service restaurant that would allow you to try different things and weighed your tray to evaluate how much you had to pay. I bough a bottle of soju to share, and we sat in a corner to eat. We took so many things but I remember taking gimbap, beef on stick (a bit like satay), some vegetable, and some rice cake spicy dish. We got drunk pretty quickly with soju, drinking it in shots like professionals..heheheh

Pretty soon though, we needed some fresh air, so we started to walk around in the cool refreshing spring air. An outrageous idea formed in our drunken heads, and giddy to materialize it we hopped on a southbound train to get on the Brooklyn bridge and see the lights.

 

We crossed it midway, meeting with joggers, priests, rabbis and tourists, up to the first arch. After a few laughs and photos, we briskly walked back to the station as we were both freezing and in need of toilets. Besides, it was getting late, and we managed to get back to the hotel around midnight. Whether we showered before going to bed was probably not a priority then, as we were dead tired. But it was a successful sightseeing.

Snowboard weekend highlights

I managed to score a ticket tot the company's winter sports weekend in Crans Montana, in Valais. It is about 3h from Geneva by coach and this time we were not stuck in snow like last year. In fact, I didn't see any snow at all when we arrived at the hotel, and got a bit worried we would have to get to the glacier before getting any snow. However as we mingled during the apero, those who arrived in the morning and were on the slopes indicated that they had very good snow. The weather forecast was sunny and 13C at the hotel level (about 1500m), so it didn't really feel like winter.

Saturday morning was stressful as we had to pick up the equipment from the rental shop. That morning started with 25min walk to town, picking up my tiny 135cm snowboard (apparently the latest design), and the not so uncomfortable snowboard shoes. Back at the hotel by bus, I found out the instructor left already (it was only 9:15am!) and I had to join them 150m away from the hotel, at the closest lift cabins. But those 150m were on a 60degree uphill slope so it was a huffing and puffing exercise to warm up for the slopes. Got there in one piece and joined a group of 2 instructors and 5 other beginners. After 2 telecabins, 2 chairlifts and a 5 min walk, we finally got to our destination: jardin des neiges, where all beginners get used to moving on snow...usually at the age of 3...

 

 

Ready for 2 days of "no pain, no shame, no gain", we launched ourselves on the slope and tumbled, crashed, rolled, bumped like a suicide squad for 2 hours, to finally be able to finish that one slope standing on the board...All in all, everyone managed to slide down the slope on their heels, so it was amazing to look back on the falls we had. In term of body pains, there is no words to describe the butt pains or knee pains...The sunny weather kept the mood high, and a drink or 2 helps relax the muscles.

Lunch was very late as 100 people from Nescafe were ahead of us, so we starved until 2pm before getting our delicious pizza. In the afternoon, I managed to do a right turn consistently but still crashed on the left turn.

The next day, I was up at 7:30am to get to the slopes at 9:00am. The weather was still beautiful and I probably tanned just resting on the conveyor belts. I had my knee pads on but still crashed on my back and butts so that i could not even sit comfortably for breakfast or lunch. Neck and headaches were part of the day as the left turn kept putting me on my knees and back. I was having a Zoolander moment. But eventually, I downed that slope in smooth turns before lunchtime and forgot the pains..until I sat down on the bench to get lunch.

Another hour of practice in the afternoon with the other girl that stuck it up and didn't give up, and we were happy to slide down more comfortably without loosing too many limbs. I really enjoyed it more than skiing, despite the painful crashes. For now, I am recovering with my blue knees, stuck neck and sore buttocks in sunny Geneva.

Sore and wet bottom after a full day of snowboard