Thursday the 29th of October

Nice day, but coolish.
Had a coffee- shopped a bit in Chelsea/8th Ave.
Went to Pastis for a coffee and a cheese platter- had a bit of a look around the Meatpacking District then went to the Apple Store for an iTunes voucher and got a cover put on my phone.
Very lazy day.

Wednesday the 28th of October

Another late start to the day- eventually we had a coffee somewhere.
At 3:45 there was a few soccer games on so I went to a place called Nevada Smiths to check it out.
The teams playing were Liverpool v Arsenal and Chelsea v Bolten, at the same time they had a game on from Germany and a game on from Italy! Only the sound for the Arsenal game was up and the Chelsea game was on downstairs.
As time went by the pub was about 80-90% full and people started singing and chanting, especially when a goal was scored. The Italian game was Naples v Milan, and Naples came from behind to draw the game 2-2- the noise and excitement a couple of dozen Italians made when Naples got their 2nd goal was amazing! And the Liverpool game was really good even tho they lost 2-1.
It was about 6 as I left there and headed south to a bar called Hop Devil Grill on St Marks place.
This is another craft beer place I wanted to check out and luckily for me I made it in time for there 4 hour happy hour! I ordered some food and a nice organic IPA. Had a nice porter after that and made it back to the apartment just on 8pm, in time for the base ball.
The World series baseball is on and I don't understand the rules yet.

Tuesday 27th of October

Slow start to the day.
We went to the Morgan Library which also holds a museum. We just looked at the Old Library building which was amazing just in itself- grand and ornate. Well worth a look.
The weather was drizzly and crappy most of the day.
After the library I headed off to The Pony Bar which was on the other side of town- I walked but I'll have to get to know the buses.
At the Pony Bar I overheard a kiwi guy talking about the All Blacks so I chatted to him for a while- he was into craft beers so that was quite good.
After a couple of drinks i meet Di around Herald Square and we caught the subway back to the apartment.
We then went to a local Thai place for dinner.

Monday 26th of October

We got up late, eventually made our way to Cafe Grumpy on 20th.
Did a bunch of washing, took a pair of trousers to the dry cleaners.
I managed to break the zip of my blue Icebreaker top and I was hoping I could get that fixed at a dry cleaners but it's pretty unlikely so far.
A little later in the day, I meet Di @ TJ Maxx and we went to a Dinner for an early meal.
After this we went to Dave's New York and bought two pairs of Levi's.
Back to the apartment for a quiet nite in.


Di has sussed out how to get the cable tv channels!

Sunday the 25th of October

Yesterday (sunday here) was such a great day- Ben (carol's partner) picked me up and we drove over George Washington Bridge, great views north and south of NYC and New Jersey. Drove up the highway which was tree lined and all the leaves are a shade of gold at the moment, as we got into Nyack Ben stopped at this bottle shop that I went to last time we were here- all they stock is beer! So i got a quick dozen different beers to sample-alright.
We got to Carol's place and then walked down to a nearby jetty and Ben took us out in his boat. We went up river for about 30+ mins and looked at the houses and turned around and raced back toward the Tappan Zee Bridge and looked at some more houses. The sky was blue and the tempature was mild.
After this we went for a bite to eat (burger of course & two glasses of Southampton Double White which were all super!) + back to Carols.
Ben and I took off about 6pm to Meadowlands (in New Jersey) to see the New York Giants play the Arizona Cardinals (a cardinal is a stupid little red bird!) and the Giants lost- it was pretty cool to be there amongst 80,000 punters even if they did lose. Something the punters do is turn up early to get a car park and pull out the BBQ and have a feed and a few brews before the game-in part 'cos the price of food in the stadium is so expensive.
It was pretty close and a draw was on the cards right down to the last seconds. The game finished 11pm or so- v. late for a Sunday.
So, thanx Ben and Carol for making it such a top day!

Saturday the 24th of October

Slow and late start to the day.
I went and got some takeaway coffee's which are just so-so here and usually over priced.
Di was tired so I decided to venture out by myself.
Went to Rattle & Hum Bar.... this is another bar I was hoping to get to and try some of their rotating beers. They had some Rogue beers on tap so I tried a couple of them... I got a tasting flight of 4 different beers but it wasn't exactly clear what glass was what, so I had to guess.
I also ordered some mini burgers which are made up of a long bun cut up to inch and half pieces with a little meat Pattie with a bit of sauce on top. I got 5 of them for $13.
It started to get a bit busy 'cos a college football game was own.
So I go back to the apartment.
Carol and Millie arrived 6 or so and Di and I got changed and we headed out to find a place for dinner. It was a bit wet but we headed towards the Meatpacking District and managed to get into The Standard Grill. We had an Aussie waiter.
I had Iceberg lettuce with blue cheese and bacon for an entree, which was super.
Swordfish for my main, something I've never tried before- it was pretty good, fairly raw and sparsely presented.
For dessert the three of us shared a bowl of chocolate mousse that was delivered with three spatula's!
We walked back in the rain- the rain was wet, yes wet I tell you.
Carol went up to stay with Ben and we looked after Millie who much to my horror is use to sleeping on the same bed as Carol.

Friday the 23rd of October

I think we had a bit of a sleep in- the weather has dropped down a bit for today.
We caught the subway to 86th Street to the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum going past the Guggenheim on the way. The building is amazing- it was owned by Andrew Carnegie and we tried to imagine what it would of been like to live in- each room had it's own feel to it.
The exhibition was quite good, included some iPods and more stuff can't remember.
After a look around, which was free as it was National Design Week, we headed south to a a church we saw on the way, called "Church of the Heavenly Rest" which had it's own little cafe basically in the church itself. We grabbed a sandwich and coffee and then had a quick squiz around.
We caught the train and went seperate ways at 14th street- Di went home and I made my way to The Bowery- specifically to The Beer Room @ Wholefoods Market.
They have about 1000 different beers for sale! Where as in Sydney I'm always dissapointed with bottle shops, here i was overwhelmed, so much so that i couldn't make up my mind and left empty handed! oh well i'll have to go back next week!

got back to the apartment.....
Since it's Friday it's Date nite, so we went to 5 9th Restaurant for dinner. We sat out under a awning but it rained so i shifted my seat.... Di had beetroot carpaccio and I had goats cheese tart for entree and for main Di had Lobster in foam butter and I had a lovely lamb shank.
Dessert was creme brulee for Di and molten chocolate cake for me. Mmmm super.
Had a glass of Californian Cab Sav that was faultless.
Had to catch a taxi home 'cos it was wet.

Thursday the 22nd of October

A view of The Standard from the High Line.

A beautiful day- clear, sunny and about 22 degrees.
HBO were filming a show called "How to Make it in America" in our apartment building today.
We got off to a slow start- headed down 7th Ave to look for a cafe I saw the nite before- we found it but they didn't do espresso coffee so we headed north looking for a place. Had a decent coffee and went back to the apartment.
We then walked along 15th and headed for the High Line- this is an old elevated train line used for delivery goods to factories in that part/side of town- we entered on 16th and walked south getting off where it finishes. We then walked around the Meatpacking District check out all the swanky boutiques that had no customers, saw another film crew filming the same TV show and made a booking for a nice restaurant.
We popped into the Apple store on 9th and 14th and got a cover for my iPhone-cool.
We came back to the apartment and had a bite to eat and to chill for a bit.
We then did a bit of shopping- heading first to Urban Outfitters on 6th and 14th and headed up 6th Ave to Old Navy, Filene's and Bed, Bath and Beyond.
I came back with a cheap pair of shorts and a tee and Di got a nice jacket.
Got back and then popped over to the Westside Market and got some flounder which Di heated up and served with a rice salad. Pretty good, and a nice wheat beer to top it off.

Wednesday the 21st of October

Near Times Square.
The Dakota Building-couldn't see any blood!

After a late start to the day we went to Cafe Grumpy on 20th St- we both had decent coffee's.
Came back to the apartment for a bite to eat.
We then caught the C Train up to 72nd street and had a look at the Dakota Building, made our way into Central Park and Strawberry Fields when a special person broke out into the theme song-so we quickly got out of their and walked to the Zoo.
The Zoo was pretty good - saw a few cute animals including the Snow Leopard.
We then made our way to Central Park South and meet up with Carol- after a coffee we made our way south and drove around the Meat Packing District.
Tonite I walked down to the Blind Tiger Ale House for 2 quick beers- the place was packed and the streets were buzzing on my walk back-people at 10pm just about to order a meal!
Bewdaful weather today, 20 degrees and thursday is meant to be super too!

Tuesday 20th October

Today we made our way to Brooklyn, specifically to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The gardens were open and free but the Museum was closed.
The garden was nice, very pleasant to have a wander around in.

Monday the 19th of October

We walked along 14th and had a look around Union Square. Lots of fresh produce as it's a Farmers Market a few days a week,

We both had a look in the big Barnes and Noble, I went to Paragon Sports. ( I got a black pair of New Balance shoes.

Got a bite to eat at some stage and had a look at Filens Basement and 1 other store. Made our way to WholeFoods Market for a coffee- we were going to have a look around buy it was so packed we didn't bother.

Came back to the apartment- we got the internet fixed as it hadn't been going properly.

It was a bewdaful day, about 15 degrees in the sun.

Sunday the 18th of October

Di and Carol took off to Nyack.

I caught the subway to meet Ben at a bar btwn 82n and 83rd, called Ship of Fools.Ben had to book a table as it gets so busy-it was packed out with people watching the American Football.

Their was 43 TV screens, 2 guys were on a couch on top of a pool table, just to save space!

One guy was so into it he was sweating and yelling at the screens-needless to say his team lost.

It was really noisy and quite an experience.

After the game Ben and I drove to his place in Harlem and watched a bit of TV.

Di and Carol arrived about 7 ish and we went to a BBQ Ribs place for dinner- it was alright.

I haven't been sleeping well.

Cold again,

Saturday 17th October

Had a quiet morning.

We went to Filenes's Basement and then to Dave's New York- I got a pair of Levi 501's for $35.

We then went to T-Mobile and got two phones.

Went to a supermarket on 17th and got some stuff for diner- a roast chicken no less. I got Carol a bottle of wine but unbeknown to me it was low alcohol.

Carol came round later.

It's still been cold.

Friday 16th OCTOBER

This is what I put on Facebook:
"Ok we are in NYC-I'm @ the Apple store as we don't have the Internet connected yet.
The flight from Sydney was sweet but the connecting flight was a big pain- not enuf security were on service to clear us for our flight to NY and so we were queing with minutes to go - luckily they held the plane for us and others that were in the same predicament.
We luckily bumped into Carol while we were searching for our bags- which was another drama! So Carol took us to the city and we went out for dinner.
Still, the apartment is good
It's cold- 6 or 7 degrees.
OK more later"
I also posted this at about the same time:

I reckon the weird expposure makes this photo neat!
Helloween is big here in NYC.
we saw this display at the Chelsea Market (cnr of 9th Ave & 16th St) the building use to be a biscuit factory- Oreo's were made there- now it's foodie heaven with all sorts of deli's & markets. We had a lite brekkie in one place and while we were eating a group of people came in on a food tour- they all had a glass of chocolate milk that sounded like it was very nice.
After a look around at a few delis and du purchased a couple of mini pumpkins to get in the festive mood- we braved the cold, a high of 7 degrees, and walked back to the apartment.
Di felt like a nap so I thought I'd go and sort out my iPhone.
Waked to 6th av and 17th St and popped into an AT&T (phone company) to see about there plans-the only thing they could do for me was $100 for calls and text and no data- the guy said your better off trying T-Mobile which was across the road. They could give me locals calls, text, date and cheap calls to Aus & NZ but it was still going to cost $100! Still I knew this and signed on. We put the sim card in but the phone wouldn't recognize it even after heaps of rebboots! After a bit of discussion they said that maybe it may take a couple of hours to connect to the network - also they questioned if the phone was unlocked - they said they would refund me if it doesn't connect after a couple of hours.
So I went for a walk- I checked out this grocery store on 17th for everyday basics-it was OK, not particuarly cheap but convenient.
Next it was down to the Apple store on 9th and 14th to see if they could help- the guy I spoke to was very helpful but all the same their was nothing Apple could do for me.
I used the wireless to add a post to Facebook and check the weather-took off to the apartment.
Di was napping still-so I filled out my lotto and headed up to the T-Mobile store to get my refund- that took a while but I got the cash.
Came back to the apartment and it was time to eat.
We headed up 7th and found this busy little French restaurant- it was nice, I had lamb shoulder and di had pork.
On the way two girls stopped us to ask for direction to get to Union Square- I said down to 14th and catch the L train across- simple. That was my odd new York moment for the day!
We went to the market closest to the apartment and got a few things for brekkie and I got a beer- a Laguintas IPA which was very nice- di thought it was horrid and not what a beer should taste like.
I tried to hook up the internet but it didn't happen- bedtime.
Don't know if I won 200 million $'s in Lotto."