Our booty by mid-trip: our trip to sephora (lower right), that candy store of cosmetics, our three pairs of very hot shoes (Jenn's: right, in box, and on her feet; Jocelyn's: upper left, on the guidebook) from Macy's world o' shoes; My paraphernalia from the UN, including my "peace through health" and refugee health books, Jenn's gender equity and diasporas in conflict book; the blue bag in the middle is one we both bought at the UN bookstore - with a dove in the middle carrying the A from War to the word Peace - I think a fundraiser for UNHCR. (The roses are real - a freebie from one of the ubiquitous sidewalk flower shops.)
Together with our postcards and our guidebooks there's little doubt we are two single girls in New York City. Woot!
Taken in our hotel room, the Bentley, in the Upper East Side.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
When in Rome
Well, S&P has already covered some of this, but while we're doing the month-long "debrief" of our visit, I've been thinking of some of the customs that we came across:
- Tipping: Well, this goes without saying. It's in all the guidebooks, horror stories, and the eyes of every waiter and hotel bellman. My guess is that it originated from when these entry-level service personnel weren't paid, thus a generous tip is expected for good service to enable low- or no-wage workers to live in an expensive city. Well - I highly doubt that such workers don't make a wage nowadays, but the tipping practice lives on. AFter our first day we made huge efforts to retain singles in our wallets for the inevitable tipping need. I still feel guilty though that our bellman didn't really get anything from us - and he wasn't on when we checked out.
- Crossing the street - another one I'd heard about, but this took a bit of getting used to. As S&P mentions, they have no real delay between the end of the crossing period and the start of the crossing period for the other street. I also found it confusing that the intersections near our hotel seemed to have a crossing pattern that was unrecognizable to my foreign eyes. It's no wonder that there are so many intersection cops everywhere - they are needed, and believe me, they are the only effective way to enforce the crosswalk rules. Elsewhere, crosswalks and streets were ruled by the smart - woe to the cars who get stuck in the intersection, for you will be stuck there for longer if you get trapped by the swarm of crossing pedestrians.
It didn't take too long to get used to how people cross - especially on the small one-way streets I didn't have much trouble, but I did seem to have a blind spot for cabs and more than once S&P or someone else saved me from stepping in front of a speeding cab turning the corner at mach 10.
- staring - I can't recall whether I've mentioned this already on this blog, but boy did we ever notice how much people there stare. We began to be able to tell locals from tourists by the amount they stared. It became obvious to us that they weren't staring at me in particular - it's sort of a non-verbal New Yawker greeting - and if you stare right back, they know you're local. If you look away in embarassment, it's a dead giveaay that you're not from around here, Toto.
- Tipping: Well, this goes without saying. It's in all the guidebooks, horror stories, and the eyes of every waiter and hotel bellman. My guess is that it originated from when these entry-level service personnel weren't paid, thus a generous tip is expected for good service to enable low- or no-wage workers to live in an expensive city. Well - I highly doubt that such workers don't make a wage nowadays, but the tipping practice lives on. AFter our first day we made huge efforts to retain singles in our wallets for the inevitable tipping need. I still feel guilty though that our bellman didn't really get anything from us - and he wasn't on when we checked out.
- Crossing the street - another one I'd heard about, but this took a bit of getting used to. As S&P mentions, they have no real delay between the end of the crossing period and the start of the crossing period for the other street. I also found it confusing that the intersections near our hotel seemed to have a crossing pattern that was unrecognizable to my foreign eyes. It's no wonder that there are so many intersection cops everywhere - they are needed, and believe me, they are the only effective way to enforce the crosswalk rules. Elsewhere, crosswalks and streets were ruled by the smart - woe to the cars who get stuck in the intersection, for you will be stuck there for longer if you get trapped by the swarm of crossing pedestrians.
It didn't take too long to get used to how people cross - especially on the small one-way streets I didn't have much trouble, but I did seem to have a blind spot for cabs and more than once S&P or someone else saved me from stepping in front of a speeding cab turning the corner at mach 10.
- staring - I can't recall whether I've mentioned this already on this blog, but boy did we ever notice how much people there stare. We began to be able to tell locals from tourists by the amount they stared. It became obvious to us that they weren't staring at me in particular - it's sort of a non-verbal New Yawker greeting - and if you stare right back, they know you're local. If you look away in embarassment, it's a dead giveaay that you're not from around here, Toto.
Friday, June 12, 2009
FOOD!!
So Jocelyn and I ate our way through NYC, sort of. So I figured it was about time to do a run down of the things we liked, loved and were not so crazy about...
LOVED:
Luscious Thai: I will say it again, the best martini EVER, I'd go back just for another, because well it's been one of those weeks...
Pink Berry: Because we all need to be able to eat Fruity Pebbles on our Froyo or well whatever you'd like - I think J and I both settled for a mix of good and less good toppings... like mango and coconut on green tea.
Pret A Manger: It's like Subway and Whole Foods had an Upper Westside budget love child, all the food is freshly prepared and organic where possible, their latte's are organic milk and fair trade coffee - I'd have sampled one, but I'll leave that to those with lactase enzymes in their digestive tracts.. we ate there several times, and while it is slightly pricey, it is the guaranteed best bet for lunch after slogging around in the UN for hours.
Mad Dog's Rice and Beans - Wonderfully featured in our video, was excellent, again large portion sizes, an excellent selection of both entrees and drinks and the ambiance was likely the best in the city.
LIKED:
Madhur Jaffrey's Dawat Indian Restaurant, the food was lovely, but the prices and the option of not serving the rice/naam/roti with the main dish is slightly frustrating. However I have to say as a former vegan, that the extensive listing of both vegetarian and vegan dishes was surprising and honestly wonderful. The service we had was likely some of the best we've had in NYC.
Dean and Deluca: While it was lovely to look at the food was slightly over priced and in the end, just good/okay.
Gobo: It's a chain vegetarian/vegan restaurant, which while lovely, the portion sizes are huge - to it's detriment, because well unless you're going home right away, looking at your 15 dollar meal almost entirely untouched because you can't cram anymore in is well sad...
NOT SO CRAZY ABOUT:
Italian restaurant, who's name escapes me, J was really not impressed, in the end it was okay, the mussels were excellently executed, but the salad was poor, the dessert meager, and no drink list? The only redeeming factor being the Spanish waiter, who was not our waiter...
LOVED:
Luscious Thai: I will say it again, the best martini EVER, I'd go back just for another, because well it's been one of those weeks...
Pink Berry: Because we all need to be able to eat Fruity Pebbles on our Froyo or well whatever you'd like - I think J and I both settled for a mix of good and less good toppings... like mango and coconut on green tea.
Pret A Manger: It's like Subway and Whole Foods had an Upper Westside budget love child, all the food is freshly prepared and organic where possible, their latte's are organic milk and fair trade coffee - I'd have sampled one, but I'll leave that to those with lactase enzymes in their digestive tracts.. we ate there several times, and while it is slightly pricey, it is the guaranteed best bet for lunch after slogging around in the UN for hours.
Mad Dog's Rice and Beans - Wonderfully featured in our video, was excellent, again large portion sizes, an excellent selection of both entrees and drinks and the ambiance was likely the best in the city.
LIKED:
Madhur Jaffrey's Dawat Indian Restaurant, the food was lovely, but the prices and the option of not serving the rice/naam/roti with the main dish is slightly frustrating. However I have to say as a former vegan, that the extensive listing of both vegetarian and vegan dishes was surprising and honestly wonderful. The service we had was likely some of the best we've had in NYC.
Dean and Deluca: While it was lovely to look at the food was slightly over priced and in the end, just good/okay.
Gobo: It's a chain vegetarian/vegan restaurant, which while lovely, the portion sizes are huge - to it's detriment, because well unless you're going home right away, looking at your 15 dollar meal almost entirely untouched because you can't cram anymore in is well sad...
NOT SO CRAZY ABOUT:
Italian restaurant, who's name escapes me, J was really not impressed, in the end it was okay, the mussels were excellently executed, but the salad was poor, the dessert meager, and no drink list? The only redeeming factor being the Spanish waiter, who was not our waiter...
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Careful How You Walk
J and I realized quickly that the flashing hand at NYC cross walks is not something to be ignored like we do over here. No, that flashing hand is telling you to get the hell out of the cross walk because once it's stops flashing you're in trouble. That being said it seems to be normal to ignore the solid hand altogether, I guess for the same reasons I do here, most are one way streets, so with no on coming traffic in on direction and a narrow street, why wait? J wasn't too hot on this idea in the beginning, but when in Rome?
On the subject of walking, there are quite an number of sidewalk hazards, if it isn't the potholes and uneven sidewalks it's the scaffolding, J found it quite amusing that the majority of the scaffolding looks like it's a permanent fixture, painted to blend with the building it is encasing, and luxurious in it's head room, most of our scaffolding is just barely comfortable for me, so it was actually kind of nice, other than having to dodge poles and being conscious of where you walk, of which I am not normally... thankfully I escaped unscathed.
A video briefly highlighting the city of New York...
On the subject of walking, there are quite an number of sidewalk hazards, if it isn't the potholes and uneven sidewalks it's the scaffolding, J found it quite amusing that the majority of the scaffolding looks like it's a permanent fixture, painted to blend with the building it is encasing, and luxurious in it's head room, most of our scaffolding is just barely comfortable for me, so it was actually kind of nice, other than having to dodge poles and being conscious of where you walk, of which I am not normally... thankfully I escaped unscathed.
A video briefly highlighting the city of New York...
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Slowly Updating...
Sorry for the absence, J is trying to fight off the plague and stuck wearing a sexy mask at work because of it, and I? Well I don't have the plague but I do have an inescapable need to sleep, I wasn't under the impression that we did that much, but it seems we did because I'm still logging over 12 hours a night in attempt to prevent my head from hitting my desk at about 1pm, or passing out on the train... anyways. I've decided to post some of the few pictures I took in New York. Maybe consider these some of my favorite things about the city.
Flowers, of which the majority were peonies:
Humorous signs, if you can't see it says hair & nail deli salad... oy vay
Parsons Design School/Bryant Park - I love fashion, I may not look like it and my sewing skills amounted to the sewing of a dress in Grade 8, but hey I can love Project Runway can't I? And I do believe I squealed when we stumbled upon Parsons, to which I have to say again, J is one patient lady.
More to come, like a run down on all the food we consumed...
Flowers, of which the majority were peonies:
Humorous signs, if you can't see it says hair & nail deli salad... oy vay
Parsons Design School/Bryant Park - I love fashion, I may not look like it and my sewing skills amounted to the sewing of a dress in Grade 8, but hey I can love Project Runway can't I? And I do believe I squealed when we stumbled upon Parsons, to which I have to say again, J is one patient lady.
More to come, like a run down on all the food we consumed...
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
SNL
On Saturday night from the comfort of our wonderful hotel room, J and I watched SNL, we had been crushed that we couldn't see a taping, given our love (mostly mine) for the show's satirical humor, and while we both miss Tina and Amy profusely - I don't think the weekend update will ever be the same, we will forever have this skit to make us giggle and now I know all I have to do to make J smile/laugh is sing, "your mediocre face, oh your mediocre face..."
Things that make you go
Ewwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!
Yes that is what it looks like and if J had been able to take a picture of me taking this lovely shot you would have seen me on tip toe straddling another puddle and praying that I wouldn't touch the wall behind me. This was the worst experience we had with the subway elevators/washrooms, as apparently they are useful for not only transport but also releiving oneself. J and I both know that this is not the worst when it has come to refuse, but I think we both assumed that given the metropolitan/western nature of the environment that we would not be comparing the stench to a squatty potty in Kungyr or Kosovo.
Yes that is what it looks like and if J had been able to take a picture of me taking this lovely shot you would have seen me on tip toe straddling another puddle and praying that I wouldn't touch the wall behind me. This was the worst experience we had with the subway elevators/washrooms, as apparently they are useful for not only transport but also releiving oneself. J and I both know that this is not the worst when it has come to refuse, but I think we both assumed that given the metropolitan/western nature of the environment that we would not be comparing the stench to a squatty potty in Kungyr or Kosovo.
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