Nighttime Panoramas

On the Roof of Manhattan

Did I mention that I was staying in the third tallest residential building in Manhattan?

Bye Bye NYC :(

Packed our things and took a tour of the roof before hopping on a bus south in search of Little Italy for lunch. Found a great market and wandered through looking at things and getting gradually hungrier as the smells from the market stalls did their evil business.

Anne found a rather nice looking restaurant (naturally "the best in little italy" according to the press cuttings outside) and we were soon tucking in to mussels, bruschetta, spaghetti and pizza over a rather nice chianti. And so that was the afternoon gone! Well ... almost.

We walked down to battery park to sit on a bench by the sea shore and watch the sun go down for the last time. Plan then was to hop on a number 1 bus back home, and after a short wait a number 6 arrived, pulled over and then left. Now of course I look at the timetable again to discover that the number 1 doesn't run on Sundays ... doh!! And of course the next number 6 seems to be over 10 mins late - so we set forth in search of a taxi instead after a small amount of fretting about actually making it back in time for the car to the airport. Thankfully getting a taxi is relatively easy once we abandon the somewhat deserted street with the bus stop and we arrive back with 5 mins to spare.

Phew!

In search of Eggs Benedict

Day 3 with Anne and last full day in NYC :(

Having helped Anne decide that her luggage choice whilst not cheap, was rather splendid, we had to head out to actually purchase it and had decided to do so after breakfasting on eggs benedict at a local diner. We walked up Madison checking out possible venues and rather sadly, it looks as if eggs benedict was a 90's fad after all as we didn't have much joy in finding anywhere that cooked them :( However, sadness soon replaced by luggage purchase and the spots of rain motivated my own purchase of a particularly splendid and gadgety umbrella.

Toyed with the idea of seeking eggs benedict at the Waldorf as we knew it was close ... however not exactly sure where and given that it was raining and we were with luggage, there was a distinct probability of aimless wandering in the wet and my tummy wanted feeding ... now!

Plan B came into action and we walked the luggage back via a traditional diner that we had found on the way and breakfasted on coffee and pancakes with scrambled egg and bacon. Best coffee I'd had all month so whilst not as benedictine as might have been ideal, a good choice none the less.

So, back to the apartment, dumped the luggage and then hopped in a taxi for shopping part deux. Up to Tiff's to collect the newly lengthened pendant and then on to FAO Schwartz for some toy shopping. Complete with wiggly giggly etc, we headed to the sculpture garden for a small and friendly cup of tea. Strolled back via some other shops and found the downtown branch of Crate and Barrel ... so were forced to do some more shopping :) Headed back in time for a spot of relaxing ... or at least we would have if we'd been walking in the right direction - somehow I'd managed to take us due North rather than South and as time was wearing on, we hopped in a taxi to get us back in time. Brief relax and change and then on out for the evening - this time dining 65 floors up in the Rainbow room and then on to broadway for a show.

Anne was looking gorgeous as usual and so the Rainbow room was a most suitable venue for our last dinner in NY. Were forced to have a champagne cocktail and watch the sun set over Manhattan ... what excellent timing the meal turned out to be. Sadly the food didn't quite match the rest of the evening, more in my case than Anne's I think as I had to send mine back as (and my mum will NEVER believe this), the mash was cold and the vegetables distinctly luke warm! Actually they weren't much better the second time and I think it's safe to say that I would be reluctant to eat there again. Far better to pop in for a cocktail before an evening out I think - as the venue is indeed magnificent but the food is average to say the least. Maybe the a la carte is better than the pre-theatre ... but you'd assume the same chefs do the menu so perhaps not.

Anyway, the night was still young and we had a short walk to the St Jame's Theatre to see "The Producers". Just about made it in time as we'd talked rather too much over dinner (hmmm, no surprises there then) but as everyone else had also decided to arrive at the same time, it was clearly the thing to do. The theatre staff somehow managed to get us all in at the same time (it was an impressive bit of organisation) and a few minutes after we were seated, the lights dimmed and the show began.

I can't begin to tell you how much I laughed at the Nazi saluting dove!

Brilliant show and a great highlight of the trip.

We ambled back (along with what felt like the rest of the world) through times square and up 6th Avenue to the apartment. Lots of people in fancy dress heading out for Halloween parties.

Musical Chairs at "The Garden"

Day 2 with Anne

Time for some more culture! Hopped on a bus on Madison Avenue to take us up to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. You can never spend too much time somewhere like this, they have something like 3,000,000 exhibits of which only 10% are on display at any one time [ possibly a bijou rantette about that in a following blog ] and it's sooooooo huge it's simply impossible to do anything other than scratch the surface at each visit. This time we did a brief bit of Egypt (although we didn't really see the best of it) and then a guided highlights tour which led us to the American art section which looked interesting and different. Naturally a small but friendly coffee was compulsory and the cafe was most pleasant indeed.

Suitably revived, time to explore the American art by ourselves. The Frank Lloyd Wright room was v.interesting as were examples of his glass. Can't help but feeling that there was a degree of plaigarism w.r.t the master, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, but it is just the sort of thing I really like. The paintings were refreshing as well, you get a bit used to what you see round Europe and so it was nice to explore some alternative artists for a change. Explored work by Tiffany too ... which was appropriate :)

All arted out, time for a late lunch, and the menu at a different cafe in the Met looked rather inviting - as did the view out the floor to ceiling glass adjoining central park. The food was really rather excellent and a few cuts above the rather poor selection at the british museum for example - although the cafe at Tate Modern could maybe compete on a good day.

The original plan had been to walk back through central park to FAO schwartz for some nephewly toy shopping for Anne and to stop of at Tiff's to collect the pendant ... and yet somehow the day had vanished so just time to hop on a bus back to the apartment and a quick change before walking to the garden for the evenings musical chairs, sorry, basketball!

Can't think of the last time I went to a live sports event rather than watching it on telly - and it seemed like a good idea at the time to book some tickets to see the New York Knicks playing basketball at their home ground - Madison Square Garden. It was the last pre-season game before the season starts proper and they were up against the New Jersey Nets ... who judging by the pre-match warm up (well, I say warm up, more a gentle lollop around the court chatting to friends) had one major advantage compared to the Knicks ... they had learnt that the point of the game was to get the ball THROUGH the hoop, rather than just somewhere in the general vicinity thereof.

I confess to perhaps being more interested in the prospect of scantily clad dancing girls who are of course "the best dance team in the NBA" and was severely disappointed when the match seemed to start without them. The singer who belted out the national anthem to start with was quite nice though ... and she had a rather good voice as well.

Match underway ... a bizarre experience followed.

Firstly it appeared that a large proportion of the crowd had turned up to basically have a full meal in their seats and chat to their friends, treating the basketball game rather like a loud TV in the background. To aid the noshing, there were menus in the seats and you could get in seat service ... most odd. Secondly it appeared there was more half-time entertainment than actual sport. Now this is aided by basketball being comprised of 4x12 minute periods - so one might perhaps have imagined it being tough to string out 48 minutes of sport into 2 hours ... but that would be failing to fully appreciate how little sport actually takes place!

No sooner had (ie about 2 mins after) the players loped around for a bit and gently jogged too and fro than one of the teams called for a time out. Clearly this was a strategically vital part of the game and there must be a lot to discuss with the coach ... but before we knew it the players on court had been replaced by 2 fans and (phew!) a couple of the aforementioned dancing girls who then went on to conduct ... a dance competition.

Yup. You read that right. A dance competition.

We all had to cheer for the fan who danced the best and the loudest cheering would win them a prize.

By the time that excitement was over, I think we had had more dancing (sadly not quite as scantily clad as might be desirable) than basketball so the teams were ushered back on court for some more sport ... at which point everyone returned to their meals and chatting with friends.

No sooner had they managed to choke on their chicken nuggets than the other team needed a time out as well and this time the dancers returned to the stage and started throwing T-shirts into the crowd.

Sadly not their own.

It looked like being a long evening.

Things looked up a bit when during the interval between period 1 and 2, we had some proper dancing girl type activity ... but soon it was back to the routine of a bit of loping around the court with the emphasis on time outs and fan based activity. Highlights included cheering for our favourite Stevie Wonder song, watching some kids dressing up in over-sized kit and trying to score a basket (they were about as good as the Knicks in that respect) plus of course the dancing girls firing T-shirts into the crowd at every opportunity. Oh and then we had the celebrity look-a-like on the big screen TV etc.

The highlight of the evening however came during the 15 minute break in the middle of the game when we had the joy of watching 5 fans playing musical chairs in giant inflatable .. err .. chairs. Being intellectually challenged, they had difficulty with the concept of stopping when the music stopped rather than when the announcer used the word "stop" and so this dragged out for a while ... at which point I should probably tell you how much the tickets for the game cost. But it's almost too awful to contemplate. Lets just say that a meal at New Yorks top restaurant plus 2 tickets to the Carnegie Hall is close enough ... PER PERSON.

You had to laugh really.

By this time of course it became clear that the game wouldn't be lasting a mere 2 hours ... more like 3 ... if not a tad longer! Now we knew why all those menus were in the seats, our plans to nosh after the game were looking like being rather optimistic!

Oh yes, the game, sorry, I almost forgot. True to form, the Knicks were almost completely incapable of getting the round rubbery thing through the circular wirey thing and how they only managed to lose by 10 points or so is beyond me. There were moments of great excitement when in the final quarter they came within 3 points and had some great chances to move ahead ... but yup, you've guessed it - their ball skills let them down. The cheers from the crowd nearly took the roof off and even through there were maybe only 8,000 or so of a capacity 19,000 crowd in that night, the noise was pretty deafening.

Despite my sarcasm, it was an enjoyable evening ... in a surreal way. I've neglected to tell you about all the organ playing (designed to put the opposition off I think) plus the crowd chanting "de fence de fence ..." when the Knicks were, yup, defending ... but I could probably write a treatise on the game rather than a quick blog entry and you're probably well bored with all this by now in any case!!

Walked home via my local deli for a pannini and some ice cream before bed.

Requiem for a tall building

Day 1 of Anne's visit.

First breakfast (the absence of punctuation is important I should add) of toasted cinnamon muffins and tea before Anne expresses a desire to revisit the Empire State Building which we had previously only "done" at night. Queuetastic I say and off we trott.

Devastated at the lack of adequate queuing facilities, not only did we wait less than an hour but they had the nerve to offer us the stairs from the 80th to 86th floors in order to save queuing. I almost demanded our money back there and then, but my mouth was somewhat engaged in chocolate eclair land and so on we climbed to the summit for my last chance to visit the tallest building in NYC (hence the title of the Blog, but wait, it gets even more aposite shortly).

Manhattan duely surveyed from on high, we continue to walk up fifth avenue en route to the luggage shop - as Anne had expressed a desire to a) shop and b) some new luggage. Luggage suitably investigated, it seems time for a small and friendly coffee and we find a rather nice new Italian cafe serving suitable comestibles.

Next stop destined to be Tiffany's to see if we can get Anne's pendant chain lengthened, however at this point we are assaulted by Barnes and Noble so we are forced to go book shopping :-) I was positively restrained and bought a thriller for the filght back (The Amber Room) plus a business book (The six fundamentals of success) ... and that was all. Anne managed to spend something close to $123 so I felt distinctly under shopped once we finally escaped.

Onwards up fifth avenue and next stop Saks for a brief explore. Anne seems underwhelmed by my attraction to the local goats (you had to be there really) and so it's not long before we arrive at Tiffany's and head in search of customer service. I was kind of expecting a small desk somewhere tucked away at the back of the shop floor ... ah ... oh no ... how wrong could I be.

Tiffany customer service has an entire floor to itself. A rather funky looking receptionist manned the computerised desk and after taking some brief details, ushered us to a sofa (one of many) to await service. After a moment we were summonsed to a booth to explain our problem to a rather friendly and funky assistant who proceeded to take digital pictures of the pendant for verification and take down the details. It was all distinctly ... well ... exclusive feeling.

By this time we had of course not managed to fit in all the planned events for the day and we needed to hop in a taxi back to the apartment to get ready for the evening ahead. Anne does some splendid taxi hailing and after a quick tea and change, we're soon back in a taxi and heading to the restaurant for the evening meal.

And when I say "the" restaurant, I should perhaps capitalise to "The" restaurant as I'd got us a table at Le Bernardin which had just been voted NYC's best restaurant (for quality of food - trust the Americans to have more than one category) in the Zagat survey. It was quiet when we arrived (at about 5.25) but the atmosphere soon improved as we began our eating experience. If memory serves I had scallops followed by shrimp followed by monkfish and finally passion fruit (did I mention it was a seafood restaurant) and Anne had a salad followed by salt cod, then black bass and then er ... a pudding I forget. There was of course an obligatory amuse bouche to start with and we both agreed our bouches were suitably amused ... this really was a fab meal and more than reasonably priced - so given that upon our return to blighty I discovered that it is only one of 2 restaurants in NY to receive 3 (yes, count them all) Michelin stars this year, all in all it was a fab experience.

But wait .. there's more.

Dinner was just a prelude to the main event of the day ... a concert at the Carnegie Hall. A brief walk from the restaurant to 57th and 7th took us to box 45 on the lower tier to see the St Lukes Orchestra performing two of my (and one of Anne's) favourite composers in action - Arvo Part (that's me) and Mozart. Not just any Mozart ... but his requiem (now you're really dead impressed with the blog title aren't you? Go on, don't be shy, add a comment and say "Hi" ... I don't bite).

Wow.

It really was fab. The control of the choir was stunning and sent shivers down my spine at times - these were people who really knew how to sing!

Taxi then bed.

Rainbow Light Show

Rather a splendid light show atop the Rockefeller center this evening ... wonder what all the fuss was about? The photo doesn't really do it justice - lots of spotlights sweeping the skies ... tres pretty.

Bad Day :-(

Quite apart from the fact that it was raining all day, I had a rather depressing shopping trip to Macy's. Remind me not to shop for spring clothes in October. Totally unable to find the sort of jacket I wanted - but was drawn to 1 that was really nice ... $995. Ouch. Found an even nicer one, that I would have considered ... but $595? Maybe in the sales. Did find one that would have been OK, but I seemed to be in between sizes so either the sleeves were too long or it was tight across the shoulders.

Hardly the end of the world, and on the way home see a "staples" shop which I remembered the shop assistant in Radio Shack telling me had a better range of headsets than they did. I have downloaded this SKYPE thingy which would let me make and take free international calls on my laptop - even while sitting in starbucks(!) but I need a headset to use it. Purchase headset, get home, and then discover my uber-trendy laptop is so uber-trendy that it doesn't actually have a microphone socket on it :-( Ah well. A bit of research yields that I can buy a USB headset instead - tempted to order it from amazon just to see if it arrives in time - but to be honest I won't get a chance to use it now so may as well wait until I get back to London :-(

How Trendy am I?

Sitting in Starbucks with my wireless vaio and a latte (ok and a small bun) doing some work amongst all the new yorkers equally busy on their laptops. I can see this being a good way of picking up girls ... especially when one has such as sexy laptop as mine ;-)

Minor consternation in that you have to pay to use the starbucks wireless point unlike in the UK where it is free. However I've worked around that and have connected via some unsecured network in a nearby apartment block from what I can tell :-)

Battery life surprisingly good on this X505, been here over an hour and still showing 2.5hrs left - probably a lie, but it's certainly fine for doing some work out and about.

Apples and Plastic Surgery

You may recall I was not a happy bunny after last nights ipod disaster - but hats off to Apple, when I visited the Apple store in Soho and explained my predicament, they allowed me to queue jump the 50 or so people waiting for the "Genius Bar" and plug my system in for the 30 seconds or so it took to finish the update! Phew!! Was nearly forced to purchase an ipod nano (outrageouly sexy) and a video ipod on the way out ... but will sleep on those decisions and maybe purchase later. The video ipod could be a corporate purchase as if we're going to vodcast reels, then we need a test unit ... or five.

What is it with women and plastic surgery, don't they get the fact that when they reach their 70's and 80's they look frankly frankenstein like? I saw more on the bus today than I have in my whole trip so far - maybe they had all come back from a visit to plastic surgery anonymous or something, but I confess it was hard to avoid staring at them ... they were so, like gross! On the plus side there was a gorgeous NYU student on the bus on the way back who spent the journey on her cell phone talking to a friend, and her accent was ... gorgeous!!! And she had a beautiful neck as well ... I'm in heaven :-)

Still sunny in NYC

Which is nice.

Not a lot to report today, had an excellent meeting in the morning with the worldwide arm of a customer and then came back home to do some chores (sadly the housekeeping is only a bi-weekly visit and I've had the only one I'll get before I leave).

Popped out to the shops to get a new toothbrush as my electric one must have been running all during the flight when someone crushed their bag onto mine as it ran out on day 1 ... and using it manually really doesn't work terribly well. Also discovered some interesting new restaurant opportunities, one of which in particular seems to get good reviews as a best kept secret in NYC and it just happens to be about 100 yards away ... how splendid! "Campanile" is the name if anyone wants to comment on how good or bad it is ... it's in Murray Hill.

Not a lot else really, it was interesting exploring east to Park Avenue as that wasn't a direction I've gone in before ... as ever, by the time I leave I'll just about have worked out where the best places to go for various things are - so I'll be forced to come back just to test myself!!

One thing though - Ipod mini a pain in the neck - made the mistake of ugrading the software and it now insists on being plugged in to the mains adaptor to initiate the EEROM flash. My adaptors are in the UK as I charge it off the USB ... but that's not good enough for the flash. Wouldn't have minded if the software had told me that I was about to render the ipod unusable ... there seems to be no way of undoing the upgrade and until it gets plugged in, it's dead :-( Intend visiting apple store in soho later in week - but suspect they will want to sell me yet another adaptor ... we'll see!

Sun sun sun

At last the weather has turned for the good (and yes thanks, I know the picture above is taken at night ... last night if you must know). Turned TV on today to see a fire on the 59th St bridge ... and then looked out the window to see the helicopters providing said live pictures and the associated smoke!! Thankfully it was 30 blocks North, so no need to panic per se.

Worked most of the day and then popped downstairs to collect the 2 jackets I got dry cleaned and to drop off the disclaimer forms to the gym - you know the sort of thing, I promise not to sue if through my own stupidity I drop a weight on my toe etc etc. Then I took a trip to 5th Avenue for some more credit card assault. Was intending on taking the bus as my destination was near central park - but of course that's where the (now closed) 59th St bridge is and so the traffic was basically at a standstill until I was half-way there and I was able to hop on a (now very crowded) bus.

Crowded perhaps, but the journey was made all the more pleasant by the rather gorgeous girl who sat next to me and spent the whole journey on her mobile complaining to customer support about a fault ... god her voice was soooooo sexy. I could have married her on the spot. Actually that reminds me, when I was leaving the apartment a woman on the way in gave me a serious look up and down ... with a smile ... I imagine she actually lives here unlike a mere interloper such as myself and perhaps she was just curious ... wonder which floor she lives on?

Anyway I digress, back to the impending marriage. There is definately something really sexy about a female NY accent ... I could definately get used to living here. Hmmm ... there's a thought, maybe I'm attracted to strong accents ... New York ... Essex ... from the sublime to the, well, not so sublime eh?! ;-)

Had a few nice comments by email today.

(of the photo in my profile) "Seriously, in real life you’re much more animated and your eyes twinkle, which is all missing from the pic."

And;

"Read your blog diary, you are the funniest man I know, your humour cracks me up."

And from a woman of few words;

"xxx"

I like days like today :-)

New Trainer Alert

OK so I haven't actually taken them down to the on-site gym yet, but at least my feet are now appropriately shod - and darn comfortable they are too ... quite possibly the most comfy and well fitting trainers I've ever had (you may spot the desparate attempt to justify the cost here) and most unusually for me, I actually let the chaps in the shop give me some advice. They seem much better doing that sort of thing here in NY compared to back in blighty ... so it was actually a pleasant experience!

Will wear them in for the rest of the day and then give them a bit of a workout tomorrow morning ...

Lovely evening light

Shopping Sunday

Today I thought it was time for a fragrance upgrade! Sadly my Jasper Conran "Homme" which I like so much has finally gone ... well ... off! I guess the fact that the bottle is clear doesn't help, but something in the scent has degraded into a nasty niff after the 7 or so years I've had it and given that I seem to be living in the centre of the perfume district, I thought a NY whiff was in order. Trotted off to Sephora near Madison Square Park and sampled a range of 4 or 5 that I had looked up on the web. Now girls, what is it with patchouli??? I ruled 4 of them out straight away due to the undertones of this horrid herb - do you lot find it sexy or something 'cos I certainly don't!! Bleuch!!!!

I settled for "Be Delicious" which seems to hit the right notes ... well I like it.

Aparently it's "masculine to the core and melds the raw lushness of nature with the powerful sophistication of the big city with crisp wet greens and intoxicating coffee." Who writes this??? Come on, own up!!

On the way back, I found a skechers shop and was forced to buy a pair of shoes ... not actually the trainers I need, but a nice pair of leather casuals that look better than my cruddy photo of them!

This is a strange place

The longer I spend here, the more the maxim "people divided by a common language" seems to hold true. This morning I witnessed a half-hour TV programme about a ladder. Yup, you read that right, a ladder. Now I confess from what little I saw, this does seem to be quite a versatile ladder - and so it ought to be at something like $300, but does it really need a 30 minute TV programme? Worse, that's just one of the 1024 TV channels I can receive on cable - and by my estimate something like 1021 (ok, maybe a small exaggeration here) of those are selling ladders ... or power tools, or fitness equipment etc.

Inspired by the retail opportunities afforded through my TV, I decided to go shopping for the trainers I need. Hopped on a bus that took me up Madison avenue to just south of Central Park and then wandered down 5th Avenue ... which seemed strangely devoid of shoe shops until I finally ended up almost back home. Both shops did indeed have lots of trainers, however being a Saturday afternoon the whole experience was a tad too queeful for my liking and so now I know where the shops are, I'll go back on Monday morning when it's likely to be quieter.

The rather excellent bit of shopping I did do however was in the Wholefood Market that I had read about on google and turned out to be just a few blocks south of the apartment on 7th Avenue. This was a seriously excellent organic food shop and it soon relieved me of $50.

Tea was provided courtesy of said market and was a rather nummy selection of curries - chickpea / chicken and spinach that I helped myself to from the self-service asian food bar. This is definately one thing that has surprised me in New York - almost all the food shops have a huge selection of self-service salads etc in preference to selling "real" food - ie fresh ingredients. Maybe it's a symptom of being a time poor cash rich society?

The range and quality can be stunning - the small deli round the corner from me must have something like 16 cold salad variations and 16 hot dishes at any one time and this wholefood market had something like quadruple that!! All the salads etc lie on a bed of ice to keep them fresh and the range of fruit on offer is fantastic. I confess I've become a bit of a fan of morning cornflakes topped with summer berries.

Pleasant surprise in the evening, 2 hr call from Anne - which led me to work out why my attempts at making international calls from the landline have failed by doing some googling. I had a memory of the UK moving to using "00" for the international prefix in order to bring it in line with the rest of the world - and yet when I'd tried that, I always ended up speaking to an operator who wanted a credit card number. Google however revealed that the "00" prefix is just for Europe, and that in the USA, international calls start "011" instead ... doh!!! Might be nice if that information was in the welcome pack here methinks ... anyway, at least now I'll be able to make calls cheaper than the 125p per min of the mobile!!!

Have booked a concert at the Carnegie Hall and a broadway show for her visit later in the month ... should be fun!!

Where we are

Thought some clarification of where we actually were was in order! The pictures here show our apartment buulding and which apartment we are actually in.







Location wise, we could hardly be more central - check out the google map link below;

http://tinyurl.com/anjwa

Oh yeah, and did I mention it's still raining? As of yesterday this was already the wettest month since April 1983 and the 3rd wettest October on record - and we're not even half way yet!! Hopefully that means the second half will be bone dry and hot ... but somehow I'm not holding my breath ...

Enough rain already!!

We've now had 3 months of rain in the past 72hrs and the whole coast is on flood alert ... well those parts that aren't already under water. We're being advised to be prepared to move to high ground ... so here's hoping that 30 floors up counts!! Maybe I'll stock up on cornflakes just in case - that is if the rain ever eases off enough to make it viable to go outside - I made the mistake of opening the apartment balcony door earlier and was nearly thrown over the side by the gust of wind that wrenched the door open with me clutching on for dear life. Remind me not to make that mistake again.

Less raining, more tipping it down ...

... aparently we've had 2 month's worth of rain in the last 48 hours.
Yuk!

Missing Jo

Gosh it's quiet around here ... wonder what's missing, ah yes ... I remember! Treat myself to a lie in until, well, that's a secret. Various work related things to attend to, the system at Canary Wharf has a problem but I can't reach it from here as IT haven't opened up the requested route yet. Catch up on a lot of email etc and generally lounge around as it's raining ... lots. On the evening news it transpires that there has been as much rain in the past 24 hours as there normally is in the whole month of October - so I don't feel quite so guilty about staying in and admiring the view.

On the plus side, Anne calls about 2pm or so and we spend the next hour catching up and generally chatting, as one does. Then the phone dies and I realise that PAYG has its downside when stateside - and am then mildly horrified when I realise that the hundred quid of credit that I charged the phone with before I flew out has just vanished! Attempt to recharge online to discover that vodafone live is "down for maintenance" but thankfully find a text from cingular that arrived when I landed that gives me top up details ... so more money on the phone it's time for me to return the call ... and we natter a bit more!

Egypt now booked for end Jan / early Feb and Anne's also coming out to NY at the end of the month ... so that's something nice to look forward to :-)

Decide that the land-fill site needs some more junk so investigate pizza delivery places. Sadly the nicest doesn't deliver this far north (they don't seem to have pizza delivery mopeds in the USA) but the one I find round the corner is perfectly acceptable ... if HUGE. Portion control not a strong point I think.

Monday October 10th

Jo’s last day, so we attempted to leave the apartment relatively early … not entirely successful but 10am is probably better than most days! Jo only managed 3 breakfasts today (sushi, then cornflakes, then some chicken salad) so not surprisingly we head straight to jambo juice for a carrot juice on union square to restore her energy after a walk south on Broadway. After a brief souvenir shopping expedition, we headed north again to visit an exhibition at the International Center of Photography … which was closed much to our amusement. Actually we both fell about laughing out loud at this one because we had had such a bad day yesterday trying to make our plans actually work that somehow it was fitting that today would have a mini-disaster as well!

To make amends, we took a subway trip south to the fashion area in search of (yet more) boots. Much success on the shopping front which resulted in a new handbag ($10), new sexy slinky top thing (hey, I’m a bloke, how am I expected to know all the names of the fancy stuff you girlies wear) ($8) and another handbag ($10). A few purchases later, we finally made it back just in time to have a quick drink on the roof and then head off to the airport.

Ah yes, the roof.

Did I mention we had a roof?

What a view … as good as being atop the Empire State Building but without all the queues!!

And then she was gone … I’m back in the apartment now and it all seems very quiet and lonely.

Sunday October 9th

Jo seems to be feeling better today so we indulge in some retail therapy courtesy of a boot shopping trip to Diesel – did I mention before that Jo has a foot fetish? Jo finds a great pair of boots for a bargain ($$$!) but in a fit of indecisiveness worthy of a Moffatt she doesn’t want to commit here and now. We head off through Central Park now on the way to the Guggenheim and discover that central park has a rather interesting looking Zoo (well, it has penguins and I love penguins!!). The Guggenheim on the other hand has no penguins at all … but what it does have is a queue all the way round the block to get in!! Looks like the Russia! exhibition has just opened and is proving rather popular then.

We are in agreement that we’ve had enough of queuing for now and in any case the length of the queue means that the inside is going to be packed and horrid, so we walk back towards the Rainbow Room (our evening destination) and I cunningly steer Jo back via Diesel where I convince her that the boots are a “must” purchase! Sexy boots afoot, a newly confident Jo strides down 5th Avenue where we enter the Rockefeller center for a drink in the Rainbow Room – 65 floors up!

Wow!!

What a location. Stunning views, beautiful Art Deco location, elegant and relaxed atmosphere … you’ll love it!! We toast the trip with a champagne cocktail or 3 and laugh when we both guess the same ludicrously high price that the bill (sorry, check) can’t possibly come to. The laughter increases when the check arrives and is exactly what we guessed!

Can’t quite recall if we walked back or hopped in a taxi, not that we were feeling merry or anything! Jo’s appetite returns with a vengeance so we get straight on the phone to Umi Sushi for a delivery and are forced to crack open a rather nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc – after all it is Jo’s last night in NY. Entertainment is provided courtesy of a movie on demand – this time “Hide and Seek” with Robert De Niro … and rather good it is too.

Saturday October 8th

Saturday was a poorly Jo day as her migraine flared up and was causing vision and balance disturbance. I packed her off to bed and got on with some work I had to do on the laptop – including writing her submission for the ICP who I made contact with earlier in the week and were happy to accept a portfolio submission for curatorial review. I enjoy the fact that I can help out, and Jo seems to like what I do, so not a bad combination on that front.

Jo requests a carrot juice mid-afternoon and so I trot off to the Deli for some supplies. The Deli’s over here are really rather interesting places – you can get all sorts of fill your own bowl of salads, fruit, hot food etc and although it is strange not finding any unprepared vegetables etc, after a while the benefits of being able to pick what you want and pay just by weight is actually rather attractive. I decided that Jo probably needs more than just carrot juice and my nose leads me to a rather nice looking chicken and vegetable soup which I can make rather broth like by skilful ladle use. This seems to be a good choice and by the evening, Jo has come back to life and wants to go and see another film…

So into a taxi we hop to Times Square and see “A History of Violence” with Vigo Mortesson playing the lead. Rather good I think, although the ending is a bit weak (the film just sort of stops!). It’s tipping down with rain when we leave so after a brief fight with the umbrella we hail another taxi and ride home in the dry.

Friday October 7th

Did I mention it’s rather hot over in NY at present? Something like 10 degrees above average. That’s fine … but it’s also really, really humid … to be honest, a little too humid for my tastes. According to the weathermen, most of it at present seems to be the fault of a tropical depression over Mexico that is sending huge quantities of hot and humid air up the coast. Should break a bit over the w.end … which would be nice.

Anyway, I digress.

Today had many plans but few translated into reality. First off we headed out to purchase said cute sexy camera and deed done, she then wanted to go to a photo finishers that could support her work if she does a stint in NY and then on to buy some clothes at the Diesel mega-store.

The plans however were sent awry somewhat by Jo developing a full on migraine while we were sampling a small Guinness prior to visiting the processors. I had to get her home fairly fast and just about made it without her throwing up in the Taxi – Phew!!

Jo was really quite ill by the time we got back and retired to bed. I was forced to play with her camera instead and of course make regular trips to the Deli to provide sustenance for Jo in the shape of Carrot Juice (beginning to wonder if all this carrot juice is such a good idea) and herbal tea etc.

Thursday October 6th

Thursday was find a new camera for Jo day. Rather conveniently NY happens to have the world’s largest photo and video store and not being a million miles away from us, we set forth into the heat and humidity in search of a bargain. The shop was indeed huge, and I’m certainly not going to challenge their “world’s largest” assertion, however personally I think it should be re-branded as “world’s most queuing experience” as without a doubt it was full of more queues than Heathrow airport on a bad day! It was also staffed almost in its entirety by orthodox Jews. No particular reason to mention that other than it was a little surprising to see so many staff wearing head hat thingies and other traditional garments for those of the Jewish persuasion – remember this was the world’s largest camera store so there were a lot of staff.

After a suitable amount of queueage we examined a couple of options and then decided to head back to the apartment to do some googling to see if the prices were good and if the cameras were generally well reviewed. After an hour or so of complex currency calculations with Jo asking all sorts of sensible technical questions, she finally revealed her true feminine side by demanding the cute sexy one that was a pretty shade of “champagne” rather than silver. Price was no longer an issue … a true marketing man’s delight! After a bit more web searching (note to self, I wonder what Jo’s last slave died of) we discovered that we could by it much cheaper elsewhere … and so that became the plan … after a small nap induced by the heat and humidity plus I suspect a degree of jet lag still working it’s way out.

After said nap, dashing out to buy a camera didn’t really seem that appealing and so we crashed in the apartment with sushi and sake which the restaurant I mentioned earlier in the week were able to deliver. To round off the evening we cracked open a bottle or two of prosecco and didn’t make the mistake we had earlier in the trip of actually drinking everything! Discovered we had movies on demand on the TV so we lay on the sofa and watched first “Constantine” with Keanu Reaves playing, well … Keanu Reaves and then after a small break a second film seemed to be the order of the night and this time something a little more scary … so “Ring 2” was watched … and generally derided as being a large pile of poo!

Wednesday October 5th

Gosh we did a lot of walking yesterday! Evidenced by the fact that a speedy departure from the apartment wasn’t really on the agenda. We’ve established a bit of a routine now which ironically involves Jo spending more time on the laptop than me. Invariably I appear from my room to find her sitting with a mug of Tea and typing away … but then again she is deeply in lurve with Mario so there are lots of messages to attend to. This morning I find her trying to draw out a heart using Xs on the screen … didn’t quite know whether to think “awww how sweet” or just to throw up!

Easy day today after yesterday’s exertions, Jo has a funding proposal to submit so the morning is spent writing it up and then the afternoon typing on the computer. I go in search of new trainers and also check out the in-house spa and gym as Jo fancies a massage and I quite like the idea of starting my exercise regime again (I’ll report back later as to whether or not this actually materialises!). Trainer search doesn’t really get anywhere as to be honest it’s rather humid to be wandering the streets and I am not particularly focussed on the task in hand. Instead I find a new and rather excellent Deli so I procure some supplies and bring a carrot juice back for Jo.

Probably just as well I did. I return to find Jo a bit down after rather fruitless calls to some local art galleries in Chelsea. Carrot juice seems to do the trick however!

Turns out Jo is a bit of a film buff, so she is delighted when I don’t poo poo her idea of going to the cinema for a second night. Yet more googling reveals that there isn’t exactly a huge amount on that either, let alone the pair, of us would like to see – but we settle for “Capote” and set forth in a yellow taxi to the 25 screen mega-plex that is the AMC Empire on Times Square.

Tuesday October 4th

Tuesday was another “it’s odd being around Jo” day. We set forth to explore the villages today and ended up in a park with some statues by Seurat.

A woman sitting opposite us on a bench interrupted us and said to Jo, “Hey, beautiful lady … you are gorgeous … there’s something about you I can’t explain … I think it must be your aura, it’s remarkable”. I guess you had to be there really, but it was most peculiar, especially because only the day before Jo and I had been chatting about the effect she seems to have on people and we had come to the conclusion that it probably was her “aura” … whatever that might be.

We left the park and carried on exploring … which turned into a bit of a mega trek as we walked through Greenwich, Soho, Little Italy and then Chinatown where there were loads of fresh fish stalls … so we bought some of the largest scallops you’ve ever seen and a swordfish steak that wasn’t so much a steak like you get in the UK, it was a complete slice through the fish so the skin went all the way round in a ring and there was a backbone in the middle that wouldn’t have disgraced a shark! On to the twin towers “hole” and then down to battery park for a sit beside the river watching the world go by before being entertained by some acrobatic chaps who did an impromptu show to the tourists getting off the boats. Walked half way back and then caught a cab … after all we had probably covered almost 10 miles already! Scallops and salad for tea prepared by my fair self and OK it was too!

Monday October 3rd

Urggglrelrugh

Hangover time … Have a horrid feeling I got to bed sometime around 3am, Jo can’t remember anything at all past the 1st bottle so I cobble together some eggs Florentine for breakfast which proves beyond a doubt that Jo is a much better cook than I am.

I then try to blag a meeting for Jo with the senior photography curator at MOMA but come up against a fairly effective PA who prevents me actually getting to speak to him despite my Irish wiles. I do however get her e-mail address and a promise that she will forward the email I then compose to the curator … so we may yet get a meeting later in the week.

Eventually stagger out of the apartment to head up the Empire State Building which as you will have gathered from the photographs, is practically opposite us – well, that’s how it looks given we are 30 floors up and so somewhat higher than everything in the way of the view.

It is at this point that I must digress to inform you of the sad demise of the English supremacy in the queuing leagues. It turns out that you only think you are good at queuing because you haven’t visited America enough because, boy, can they do a good queue these days. Even better (well, worse of course), they are now top of the queue management leagues as well with plenty of people seemingly paid to start and stop the queues from actually moving for, well, no apparent reason whatsoever.

With admirable fortitude, especially given the hangover scenario, we duly made it to the top and generally admired the view – which was of course a daytime one rather than the nighttime vistas you and I have previously shared.

Somewhat in a trance, we eventually emerge into the heat and humidity of what seems to be a brief Indian summer stateside and settle in Bryant park for a small sun worshipping session. After some fruit for lunch I trot off to buy a book (having left the one I was hoping to read on holiday back in London, Doh!) and leave Jo laid out on a pleasantly sunny bench – which sounds innocent enough you may think – but no, the police have a different view and when I return from book buying, a rather startled looking (or maybe it was just the hangover) Jo tells me that the police came over to her and said “hey lady, no laying on the benches” – most odd.

Wombled over to Times Square to check out film times for the evening and then went back to the apartment to see if MOMA had been requesting Jo’s presence yet … but sadly not. Dined at a nearby Japanese sushi restaurant which one of the neighbours had said was the best sushi in NYC … and proceeded to over order big time! Slightly comic as more and more HUGE plates of food kept appearing from the kitchen and heading to our table … and despite the fact that Jo can seemingly eat for Yorkshire, even she has to admit “death by sashimi” is becoming perilously close! We have to rush the meal a bit as we’re now in danger of missing the film but hop in a taxi and make it in time to see a cheery number entitled “The Exorcism of Emily”.

Sunday October 2nd

Remember to call Mum to wish her a happy birthday ... phew!!

Being with Jo is a rather odd experience. Actually I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. She is continually being checked out by passers by in the street, men, women, kids … it really is very disconcerting for me, let alone Jo, and we can’t figure out what on earth is going on. I mean yes, obviously Jo is an attractive girl, but then that’s not exactly uncommon in NYC and nor is she walking around in provocative clothing … but there is clearly some sort of aura that surrounds her that other people are urged to stare at!

I only mention the above to set the context for what must be one of the oddest experiences of my life.

Sunday was MOMA day and so off we went in search of (in my case anyway) Brancusi. We had just entered one of the galleries when a security guard pointed to me and called me, and Jo, over to him. I assumed he had spotted my camera and was going to point out that this was part of the collection you can’t take pictures of (some you can and some you can’t) and so I was completely bemused when he then proceeded to shake we warmly by the hand and said:

“I just wanted to say that I love you (embarrassing pause) for loving her (nodding at Jo) … and I would give $200 to spend just five minutes walking with such a beautiful lady”

There was (quite a bit) more to it than that, but it was all such a shock that I can only remember the start and end of what he said!!

Bizarre or what!!!!

Came home in a bit of a daze via the juice bar we had found on Saturday (cue another mango-a-go-go for me and a carrot juice with a wheatgrass shot and energy boost for Jo) and then found a supermarket for our first serious shop. Jo then prepared a terrific meal of roast asparagus, salad and oriental prawns which we washed down with a bottle (hmmm, OK, confession time, more than 1) of sparkly plonk. It turns into a late evening …

Saturday October 1st

First proper day in NYC then! Jo wanders around with eyes wide open and rather dazed and amazed (or was that just the jet lag.) We walk up broadway to times square and generally explore 5th avenue up to central park where we (by which I mean Jo) find a juice bar to gain some energy before heading off west for a 3hr boat trip around the whole island of Manhattan to take in the sights. Jo’s body is a bit of a temple and gets thoroughly worshipped on the food and drink front … and in comparison mine is less of a temple and more of a landfill site!

Due to a late bus (OK, or maybe we had set off a bit late), we only just got there in time and managed to get on the sailing purely because Jo basically executed some excellent queue jumping!

Handy hint for the future … there is actually rather a lot of Manhattan that isn’t exactly absolutely fascinating from the river … quite possibly two thirds of it!! However, despite a mumbled commentary the weather more than compensated and we were able to soak up yet more sun … I even have a suntan!!

It’s about tea time when we get off the boat and so we walk back through the crowds to the apartment. Discover I can hook up my mini-ipod to the TV so I also get a chance to inflict Emiliana Torrini on Jo …

Friday September 30th

Or should I say the “day of queues”. Actually it wasn’t as bad at Heathrow as I had feared and terminal 3 proved positively pleasant compared to my T4 experience with Concorde. A fair number of queues for check-in, security, immigration, gate security, boarding etc – but all moved pretty fast.

Flight was fine – and the in-flight catering on American Airlines wasn’t half bad either. In flight entertainment was a bit crap though - don’t forget to bring a good book (or a Jo who can prove equally entertaining).

Entering NY proved a bit slower – but mainly because we hadn’t been given customs forms at check-in and so had to fill them in standing up. FYI you do need both a green visa waiver card AND the white/blue customs form before you get to immigration.

Taxi queue pleasantly empty – only 3 people in front of us, so that was OK … and the weather … well the weather was great with blue skies and warm sunshine.

And then we arrived at the apartment … and did I mention before I was nervous about this because we had been changed at the last minute? Well no need on that score – WOW doesn’t quite do it justice. Loads of windows, one of the best views in Manhattan and 2 huge bedrooms with more closet space than you could shake a stick at. 2 bathrooms as well – and a well equipped kitchen – so definitely an “upgrade” if you ask me.

Had Tea (rather thoughtfully the apartment came pre-stocked with some basic supplies) and then did some exploring of the local neighbourhood. Rather conveniently there are some deli’s round the corner so we were able to buy some supplies and then head back for a bite to eat and an early night. Well, at least that was the plan, I think we actually stayed up quite late as we had found a bottle of bubbly on our travels and felt forced to celebrate the arrival in NY in style!