2 for the price of one!

So I have been in New York a little over 5 weeks. How luckly or unlucky am I to have TWO natural disaster events occur in the one week. Natural event number one hits us.....an earthquake! I was out to lunch with a friend and saw the lights flicker in the cafe we were in. Neither of us took any real notice of it. Then a few minutes later Bryan calls me to see if I am all right. "All right?" I say......"Why?"  He then proceeds to tell me about the earth quake.

Then later in the week we get confirmation that a hurricane (natural disaster number 2) is heading straight for New York city (right over Manhattan).

By the end of the week I had started to stockpile some basic food (you know - gross stuff, out of a can you can eat, when you don't have electricity) as well as other basic essentials such as torches, candles and water. By the time Saturday came (D- Day) we were ready.

The hurricane was not going to hit until late Saturday night/early Sunday morning so Bryan and I decided that we would go out to see a movie but everything was shut. Only the trusted Diners and the odd Deli and bar were open. Not even the cinemas were open! They could've made a killing that day. Manhattan had an eerie feel to it.

Experts say that you should have 3 days worth of food and water ready in the event of a hurricane.  But, some people had left it to the very last minute to get food so they were down at the local pharmacy/convenience store buying whatever they could.

Water cooler (holds 20 litres of water)

Some of the basics we bought - just in case!

We thought we would risk it and buy some yummy ice-cream to eat while waiting out the hurricane.

When we went out to dinner on Saturday night the concierge told us that they were locking the lifts at midnight. This had been ordered by Mayor Bloomburg - in case the city needed to switch off some of the electricity grid, So we thought, well if we are going to be stuck in our apartment - let's be stuck with Ben and Jerry! :)

Bryan had set the clock early Sunday morning to be awake for when the hurricane hit. When it did hit, it had been downgraded to a tropical storm. Once again I missed it - this time I slept right through it! But it did continue raining for most of Sunday morning.

By Sunday afternoon the lifts were working again and we were back to normal.

Visiting the UN

The UN is an interesting place. It consists of several buildings. However when you go to visit the UN you can only visit one building. But it's the building that has the General Assembly hall in it - that's the one you see in the News reports.

A sculpture outside the UN entrance.

The General Assembly Hall where all 193 countries meet to discuss issues.

This box is one of the original boxes used to collect votes when East Timor had their
first vote, with help from the UN.

Entrance to the UN.

Security Council room where there are 5 permanent members
(China, France, UK, Russia and USA)
and 10 non permanent members (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil,
Columbia, Gabon, Germany, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, Portugal and
South Africa). 

I was not expecting too much from the tour but if you do have some spare time when visiting New York, take the time to visit it. I love the main building. It was designed in the 50's however I felt that they were extremely forward thinking in their design of such an important place.

Once you get through security you are no longer in New York you are on neutral territory. They even have their own security and postcode with postage stamps that you can only use within the UN boundary. I found the tour very comprehensive. On days when the assembly is not sitting you can go into the hall and take photos - just like I did. However September is the start of the new year in the UN so from September through to December you may not have much luck in getting into the assembly hall.

The same could be said for the Security Council. However, according to the guide the Security Council meets nearly every day so you have to take your chances. I was very lucky.

Our first two guests

Over the weekend Larry and Marty came and stayed with us. We showed them around New York city and had lots of fun. On Friday we checked out "The High Line", "Chelsea Markets" and parts of the "Meat Packing District". On Saturday we did the Staten Island ferry and went to a "Food Truck" Carnival they were having down at the South Seaport. The "Food Truck" carnival was fun but extremely busy. Some of the most famous "Food Trucks" that are located around the city were there. Cupcake foodtrucks, Hotdog foodtrucks, Mexican Foodtrucks, all different kinds of food trucks. Especially dessert foodtrucks...mmmmm.

On Sunday we went to see a musical called "The Fantasticks". It the longest running "off-Broadway" musical. It's been running since 1960 and I think it should have long ago taken it's final curtain call. Some of the family enjoyed it, but I must admit I didn't. I felt like I was watching community theatre.

Anyway, the highlight of my weekend was seeing Lady Gaga. Yep! My first celebrity sighting. I'll tell you how it all came about......

On Saturday evening (I think it was Saturday), we decided to go for a walk up to Times Square to see all the flashing lights that Times Square is renowned for. And as we got closer we could hear all this cheering. Marty asked one of the police officers what was going on and he informed us that Lady Gaga was making an appearance. We were just outside Toy'sR Us when we spotted her doing an interview in one of the glass buildings. She kept turning around and waving to the crowd. So we hung around for a few minutes then continued on up Times Square - pretty cool, huh?

We had such a great weekend. Thanks for coming out to see us Marty and Larry we really enjoyed catching up with you both.

New York Diners

New York Diners are the one thing that I truly love about New York city. Each is unique in appearance. Most are open 24 hours, the true diners have what they call "home style" cooking (the closest thing you are going to get to home cooking), you get the real New Yorkers eating in them and they have a really comfy, casual vibe about them. Alot of them have been around for decades so they have all that retro furniture which is really cool! Plus one added thing is that they are relatively cheap for the portion sizes you get. I can't speak highly enough of them.

My favourite diner that I have found so far is on the corner of 34th and 8th - the "Tick Tock Diner".  Coming next is "Malibu Diner" on 23rd between 6th and 7th Avenue.

I just feel that if you really want to see where New Yorkers go to eat, yeah you could go to a swanky restaurant down in the Meat Packing district or you could make your way to a good local diner.

Handy little tip #1

When you get to the US you may find that you get wads and wads of one dollar bills and lots of coin money.

I found that the 5c piece and the Quarter are very similar in size. So what I have done in the coin section of my purse is that I have one section for pennys (brown in colour) and five cent pieces (silver) and the other section is for dimes (small silver coins - 10 cents) and quarters. It's then easy way for you to hand over the right coins when it comes to paying for something.

When it comes to the one dollar bills - make sure you always have a few (say five dollars worth) on you, because you never know when you need to tip someone.

Coney Island

Some of you may have heard of Coney Island - New York's answer to Bondi Beach and Luna Park all rolled into one. Bryan's mum had mentioned that she may want to go out there when she comes to New York for a visit, so Bryan wi wanted to make a test run out there so we knew what trains to catch.

Well, I must admit it let me down a bit. I was expecting a real carnival feel and let's just say it was pretty much like Luna Park  - pretty quiet. It certainly does not have the feel of Bondi (city beach feel) and there is really nothing exciting to do out there is you are not into sunbaking or carnival rides.

But I did get to have a "Nathan's" hotdog. What is a "Nathan's" hotdog I hear you ask? Well, Nathan's is famous for coming up with the modern day American hotdog. So that was pretty cool!

Two of Nathan's Chilli and Cheese hot dogs (one for Bryan
and one for me) as well as a Lemonade.

I just had to take a photo of this. At the bottom they have
the names of the winners and how many hot dogs they ate.
Now's that's something to be known for - NOT! :) 

Coney Island Boardwalk

Beach at Coney Island
The palm tree in the picture spurts out water. It was cute!

Carnival Rides at Coney Island.

Locals playing Handball.

We decided to head back into town and meandered around

West Side Story

I have done a lot of exploring of the bottom end of Manhattan, so I decided to check out the Upper West Side - the bit that runs down the west side of Central Park. It's also the location of one of the most famous musicals of all time "West Side Story". Yep! It was written about the upper west side of Manhattan.

It's also home to "The Dakota" Apartments, the home of John Lennon and where he was shot.

It is a beautiful ornate building. Unfortunately you cannot go inside the gates, there are security guards at the gate. I wonder how much these apartments are to rent??? :)

Also located in the upper west side is the Lincoln Centre - this is New York's version of the Opera House. I didn't go inside, but Bryan and I are going to see something there in September so I will keep you informed as to what it is like.

Lincoln Centre.

In general, the upper west side is fairly tame compared to Midtown Manhattan and Greenwich Village. And there really is not too much to see.

After meandering around the area for a while, I headed back to Columbus Circle (on the south west corner of Central Park), home of CNN, Time Warner and some really nice stores :)

Columbus Circle

Columbus Circle.

South West edge of Central Park facing Columbus Circle.

I decided to head home via Bloomingdale's. Be aware that Bloomingdales is not located any where near 5th Avenue like I stupidly expected. It is located on 3rd Avenue right up near the south end of the Central Park. So depending on where you are staying it could be a bit of a walk. 

But if you walk along the bottom edge of Central Park you will see all the horses and carriages parked waiting for their next customer. 

Waiting for their next customer - horse and carriage vendors.

Bloomingdales.

Bloomingdales is a beautiful store. I would say it is on a par with Saxs Fifth Avenue. If you want exclusive, exclusive designer clothes, handbags etc Bloomindales (along with Saxs) is your place. They also offer a 10% discount to international visitors, so if you do want to go shopping there make sure you take your passport and tell the Sales Consultant at any counter - they will inform you where to go so you can get your discount card.

After Bloomingdales I decided to walk home via Park Avenue. This is a really pretty avenue. It is wide and has a large island running down it with lovely trees and flowers in it. When the leaves start falling in Autumn I will pop down there again and take some photos. I have seen photos of the avenue in Autumn and it is just bursting with colour. Park Avenue is also where the Waldorf Astoria Hotel is located. Unfortunately it was all covered up with scaffolding so I could not get any good pictures of it.

A sculpture of a Teddy Bear on Park Avenue.

It looks like it is blown up with air but it is solid stone.

Wandering up 5th Avenue

The other day when I got rained out (Empire State Building day) I had planned to wonder up 5th Avenue and check out all the different stores and buildings that makes up this famous avenue. I decided to try again and my first stop was the New York City Public Library. What a beautiful place. I recommend that you stop and check it out if you're visiting NYC. And if possible, if you have the time, bring a book and take a few minutes out reading and soaking up the atmosphere of this magnificent library. Besides the beautiful frescos and detailed ceilings what's fantastic about this library is that is being used, it's not corded off purely for viewing purposes.

Outside of the New York City Library

Hallway inside the Library.

Throughout the Library there are the most amazing candelabras.
This one is just inside the entrance to the Library.

One of the reading/research rooms.

Some of the detail which makes up one of the ceilings.

One of the Fresco's

Stairs going up to the top floor where the most amazing fresco's are

Entrance into one of the reading rooms.

Another research room.

The carpentry and detailed wood work in this building is
truly breathtaking and extremely well maintained.

After exiting the Library, to my relief it was not raining, so I decided to continue up 5th Avenue to St Patrick's Cathedral. Now as Cathedral's go, it's a very pretty one. Not the greatest I've seen but still very pretty.

I couldn't believe my luck there was still no sign of rain after I left St Patrick's, so I crossed the road to Rockefeller Plaza and had a look around. Now, I love this plaza. When I came to New York the first time, I fell in love it the moment I saw it. Yeah sure, it was decorated with the most amazing Christmas decorations (this is something that American's know how to do unbelievably well) and I was rugged up in a coat, gloves and scarf, but even now in Summer it has something magical about it. I can't really tell you what it is........it's just something I feel when I am in that Plaza. 

The Greek Legend Titan - Representing Strength and Power
(outside one of the main buildings in Rockefeller Plaza)

An entrance to one of the buildings that make up Rockefeller Plaza
(nineteen buildings make up Rockefeller Plaza) 

In winter this is where the outdoor staking rink (that you see in
many movies) is located

The Logo Store at Rockefeller Plaza

Pick and Mix of lego pieces - it was an entire wall of
different brick sizes and colours.

Lego's version of Titan. Pretty cute huh!

ABC Studios where they tape Good Morning America.

Another decorative entrance.

Inside Rockefeller Centre. This painting also encompasses the roof.

Rockefeller Centre offers the option for you to go to the "Top of the Rock" another viewing/observation deck where you can see all around Manhattan. I didn't do it this time, but the last time I did and I personally think it is better than the Empire State building. If you are into photography you can get some amazing photos of the New York skyline from up the "Top of the Rock".

After leaving Rockefeller Centre I was on a happy cloud so I headed for SAKS Fifth Avenue, where I quickly came down with a big heavy thud! It's a beautiful store - but I just wanna know where people are getting all this money from to spend on exclusive designer products such as clothes, handbags, etc. I mean, there were loads and loads of people walking around with Louis Vuitton, Channel and Coach shopping bags, and not just one or two of them either -  It's crazy! 

But if you do want ultra designer (such as Salvatore Ferrigamo etc) SAKS is the place to shop. Sales Consultants are just falling over you to help you. And it really is a beautiful place to shop. 

After SAKS I went to the one store I had been dying to get to since arriving in New York city - FAO Schwarz. I was a little let down as it's not as big as I thought it would be. But they do have some great toys such as a real size plush horse for $900 USD. :) And I got to see the big piano that was featured in the movie "BIG" with Tom Hanks.

Entrance to FAO Schwarz.

The Smurfs display inside FAO Schwarz.

Some of the "smaller" plush animals.

The Big Piano.

A Barbie Foosball table. How cool!

A toy soldier made out of Jelly Belly Beans.

By the time I had finished looking around FAO Schwarz I was knackered, so I made my way for home walking down Madison Avenue. I had a great day checking out some more of the famous landmarks of New York City - and I didn't get wet!