Finally, after a gruelling week I got to relax.
I met Dean for a calorific brunch, had a horrifically overpriced facial from 'Cookie' at Spa Butterfly, and then Dean & I wandered over to MOMA http://moma.org/
I then let my credit card take a serious beating. One digital camera, Sephora visit, Virgin Megasgtore shop and Mexican take out later, I made my way home.
Tomorrow - Yifhat's husband's rooftop party.
Sunday 29 July 2007
Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you
Those of you who have tormented me over my fear of mosquitos (you know who you are), may I take the opportunity to show you why.
Yes, the mosquitos flew up to the 45th floor turned me into a leper. This is just my arm. The little bastards also attacked my face and legs.
Yes, the mosquitos flew up to the 45th floor turned me into a leper. This is just my arm. The little bastards also attacked my face and legs.
Big Night Out
Sadly, work got in the way of big nights out this week. In fact, I did eventually join a big night out, but it was all over by the time I got there.
Arriving back (very tired) at my apartment from NJ at 10.15, in the interests of sociability I went to join the boys in probably the nastiest pub in Manhattan - 'The Manchester Pub'. Saying that, I just tried to find some bad reviews to back me up but New Yorkers seem to love the place. Ah well.
By the time I eventually arrived, it was 10.45 and it showed. My fellow colleagues were a mess. David Turner was doing admirable 'English Swearing' with a Dick Van Dyke accent. Mikey was being scarily nice, but kept getting hit on the head by random women. One hit was so hard a felt a rush of wind as her hand swept by. Dean was being aggressive. David's friend, Bobby, was unintelligable but smiling inanely.
I'd say this is the closest I'd get to giving you a feeling of the level of conversation and behaviour I enjoyed upon arrival
Is it Mikey or is it Dean?
About half an hour after this, Bobby turned from drunken harmless guy to lech. Poor David was mortified. At this point I decided to escape.
The next day, a very glassy eyed Dean turned up, followed by Mikey a little later. Apparently Dean had been forced to 'look after' Mikey after we left. Looking after like this?
Too drunk to drive
Arriving back (very tired) at my apartment from NJ at 10.15, in the interests of sociability I went to join the boys in probably the nastiest pub in Manhattan - 'The Manchester Pub'. Saying that, I just tried to find some bad reviews to back me up but New Yorkers seem to love the place. Ah well.
By the time I eventually arrived, it was 10.45 and it showed. My fellow colleagues were a mess. David Turner was doing admirable 'English Swearing' with a Dick Van Dyke accent. Mikey was being scarily nice, but kept getting hit on the head by random women. One hit was so hard a felt a rush of wind as her hand swept by. Dean was being aggressive. David's friend, Bobby, was unintelligable but smiling inanely.
I'd say this is the closest I'd get to giving you a feeling of the level of conversation and behaviour I enjoyed upon arrival
Is it Mikey or is it Dean?
About half an hour after this, Bobby turned from drunken harmless guy to lech. Poor David was mortified. At this point I decided to escape.
The next day, a very glassy eyed Dean turned up, followed by Mikey a little later. Apparently Dean had been forced to 'look after' Mikey after we left. Looking after like this?
Too drunk to drive
The Met Game
Yes, I have finally gone to a live sporting event. I was in the nosebleed section at the Mets game in Queens. Interesting cultural experience, but the game was essentially a three-hour long rounders match with advanced safety padding.
In fact, such was my shock at understanding what was going on in sporting terms, that I innocently remarked to the astounding resemblence to rounders (in retrospect, maybe a little too loudly). I was hastily shusshed up for my own saftey.
Apparently, I was lucky to escape without being stabbed.
Also today went to both the NY & NJ office. Am v tired. I can see work is really going to get in the way of having fun.
Here's a summary of the game Official Sporting Recap. Amazingly, that boring summary equates to this:
The home team ran faster, hit the ball more often, and managed to get to the final base eight times. GO METS!!
In fact, such was my shock at understanding what was going on in sporting terms, that I innocently remarked to the astounding resemblence to rounders (in retrospect, maybe a little too loudly). I was hastily shusshed up for my own saftey.
Apparently, I was lucky to escape without being stabbed.
Also today went to both the NY & NJ office. Am v tired. I can see work is really going to get in the way of having fun.
Here's a summary of the game Official Sporting Recap. Amazingly, that boring summary equates to this:
The home team ran faster, hit the ball more often, and managed to get to the final base eight times. GO METS!!
The Apartment
En route to my new abode, the taxi driver informed me the road was still closed due to the steam pipe explosion. Seeing as I had three bags, there was 80% humidity and it was raining heavily, this wasn't the best news to greet a girl.Happily, it turned out my luck had finally changed and the road was indeed open. And so I stumbled upon my lovely new apartment.
The doorman and concierge were friendly and helpful which was fortunate, as I ended up asking them a series of questions which I now know must have seemed ridiculous.
For example, I asked where I could buy a hairdryer (blank looks. It's a blowdryer here). They suggested I went to Duane Reade, and it was my turn to look blank.
The concierge seemed taken aback and remarked he was surprised they didn't sell them. I replied that the problem was that I had no idea what 'Duane Reade' was. At this point, he looked at me as if I was from Mars.
After a few days here, I can see why they looked so confused. Basically, there are more Duane Reade drugstores in NYC than there are Starbucks in central London. They're kind of like Boots, apart from they also sell household cleaners, cigarettes and alcohol (and blowdryers). Interesting mix.
Oh and by the way, it's nearly a month now without cigarettes.
I'm up on the 45th floor, which doesn't seem that high when you look out the window as all the other buildings are so high. You start to notice it when a) you are at cloud level some days and b) you look down. I tried to take some photos to illustrate this but it just doesn't do it justice.
One last shopping point: They don't have chip and pin here. You sign your name on a screen and it digitally checks it. I keep panicking - what if I sign my name after a few too many? Will it still recognise it? I suppose that remains to be seen.
In-flight Entertainment
My adventure began as I arrived in the 7th stage of hell (i.e. Heathrow Terminal 4 on a Monday morning).
After a mere hour and a half of endless queuing, I had just enough time to grab a coffee before boarding the plane. All was boding well - we were fully boarded in plenty of time.
Then we waited. And waited. And waited. During this time the on-board electrics were continually flicking on and off (including the aircon), meaning things were getting a little hot and some people weren't smelling too good. Brilliant.
After 40 minutes, the captain helpfully told us what we'd already figured out - there was an electrical fault that they were trying to repair.
After 1 hour of waiting, we received an updated that the fault was a broken wire and they would need to replace an entire unit and rewire it back in. But never mind! They'd be giving us drinks to keep our spirits up. Several people on the plane started panicking at this point that the plane was unsafe and there was a general feeling of unease. Wimps.
1hr 45 mins: Half a glass of free orange juice. Who says BA don't know how to look after their clients?
After 2 hours of waiting, we finally took off. In flight entertainment wasn't bad. Mini-review:
Zodiac: Good, though disturbing
Premonition: Poor. Contains possibly one of the most major plot holes I've ever seen.
The Number 23: Awful. Just awful.
The flight was more or less OK, apart from the cabin crew spilling hot coffee over me. As I yelped she enquired:
"Oh sorry, did I get you?"
"Yes."
"Sorry"
[Stewardess exits stage left. I clean off hot burning coffee stains, unaided]
My anticipation built as we finally entered NY. Then came the captain's announcement:
"...blah blah weather in NY is, I'm afraid, little better than that in Southern England. Temperatures are 21 degrees, with low cloud, high wind, heavy rain and thunderstorms..."
Having watched three thrillers in a row, my anxiety levels were already over the limit when we finally made one of the most dreadful landings ever (people were actually screaming). Standard facial expression:
After a mere hour and a half of endless queuing, I had just enough time to grab a coffee before boarding the plane. All was boding well - we were fully boarded in plenty of time.
Then we waited. And waited. And waited. During this time the on-board electrics were continually flicking on and off (including the aircon), meaning things were getting a little hot and some people weren't smelling too good. Brilliant.
After 40 minutes, the captain helpfully told us what we'd already figured out - there was an electrical fault that they were trying to repair.
After 1 hour of waiting, we received an updated that the fault was a broken wire and they would need to replace an entire unit and rewire it back in. But never mind! They'd be giving us drinks to keep our spirits up. Several people on the plane started panicking at this point that the plane was unsafe and there was a general feeling of unease. Wimps.
1hr 45 mins: Half a glass of free orange juice. Who says BA don't know how to look after their clients?
After 2 hours of waiting, we finally took off. In flight entertainment wasn't bad. Mini-review:
Zodiac: Good, though disturbing
Premonition: Poor. Contains possibly one of the most major plot holes I've ever seen.
The Number 23: Awful. Just awful.
The flight was more or less OK, apart from the cabin crew spilling hot coffee over me. As I yelped she enquired:
"Oh sorry, did I get you?"
"Yes."
"Sorry"
[Stewardess exits stage left. I clean off hot burning coffee stains, unaided]
My anticipation built as we finally entered NY. Then came the captain's announcement:
"...blah blah weather in NY is, I'm afraid, little better than that in Southern England. Temperatures are 21 degrees, with low cloud, high wind, heavy rain and thunderstorms..."
Having watched three thrillers in a row, my anxiety levels were already over the limit when we finally made one of the most dreadful landings ever (people were actually screaming). Standard facial expression:
And finally we landed. And the captain wasn't lying about the weather. I had over 30 minutes to contemplate that as we sat on the tarmac waiting to get off the plane.
But never mind - I had arrived!!
Sunday 22 July 2007
I heart NY, I hate packing
I'm preparing to head off for my NY adventure, and my god I forgot how much I hate packing. I'm taking the approach that I need to pack light as I'll be doing so much shopping - but then again, what about all that weight I'm going to lose? Will the clothes I buy be too big?
... yes I am the only person in the world who's convinced they can go to America and lose weight rather than gain it. I have to believe this because I'm the heaviest I've been in my whole life and it cannot go on in this manner.
I have prepared myself for this using the following techniques:
- Watching lots of SATC episodes (they look thin and they live in NY - hey! It must be easy. You too can wear clothes this weird, but if you're skinny everyone will call you a fashion icon!)
- Renting an apartment that has access to a fitness room
... yes I am the only person in the world who's convinced they can go to America and lose weight rather than gain it. I have to believe this because I'm the heaviest I've been in my whole life and it cannot go on in this manner.
I have prepared myself for this using the following techniques:
- Watching lots of SATC episodes (they look thin and they live in NY - hey! It must be easy. You too can wear clothes this weird, but if you're skinny everyone will call you a fashion icon!)
- Renting an apartment that has access to a fitness room
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