Monday, February 27, 2006
Travel Log - Day 4 (What is the deal with "New" York anyway?)
... it's almost 400 years old (yes, I butchered a Family Guy joke)
Thankfully day 4 wasn't quite as cold as the day before, but it still wasn't toasty. On our way to the Internet Cafe (single dirtiest mouse I've ever touched) we got our first taste of American star-spotting. We actually saw one of my favourite actors - Samuel L. Jackson. He was just standing out the front of Madame Tussauds - but wasn't overly animated. I guess the stars are different in real-life then they are in the movies.
Sam Jackson - didn't seem too impressed when I offered him some triple-thick milkshake though
After picking up our tickets for the Phantom of the Opera for later that night we started "Kramer's Reality Tour". For those that don't know the story, Kenny Kramer lived across the hall from Larry David, co-creator of Seinfeld. When Jerry Seinfeld was offered a pilot for NBC he and David came up with "The Seinfeld Chronicles", named Seinfeld when picked up. One of the characters was based on Larry's neighbour Kenny Kramer, and he was actually hesitant to use Kramer's real name because he figured Kenny would try to profit off it. Sure enough, Kenny oragnised a bus tour around New York pointing out the real sites that were shown in Seinfeld (which was later parodied on the show with the J. Peterman Reality Tour).
It's chocolate, it's peppermint -- it's delicious!
The tour was definitely watered down, as a lot of the sites were things like "although this is a hotel now, it used to be ..." - but it was still great. The best bit about it, in my opinion, was the 20 minute introduction that Kenny did, which was mainly describing Larry David and his "brand" of comedy. I found it all quite amusing - and I think I might give Curb Your Enthusiam another shot (saw 1 episode and didn't really like it).
Some of the highlights of the actual tour were Monk's Restaurant (or Tom's), old footage of Larry David's standup, and The Soup Kitchen. Kramer showed some footage on the bus of him informally interviewing the "Soup Guy" (he doesn't like the whole Nazi thing) which was very funny. He said that Seinfeld ruined his life, and now only idiots came to his soup store. Didn't seem to ruin it too much - as he's now starting to franchise.
No witty photo comment for you!
Bell did some nice cropping for the full Seinfeld effect
Over half of the people on the tour were Australians - quite a few from Melbourne
"His struggle is man's struggle...he's a loathsome, offensive, brute, yet I can't look away." - and I bought the T-shirt!
After the tour we had dinner in an "authentic diner" in the middle of Times Square. It was actually quite good, but I was almost getting sick of cheese (almost). The cherry soda with chocolate icecream was very nice - and I've just realised that most of this Travel Log is just around what I was eating. Anyway...
A bit of a compromise for my (our) hockey tickets was that we would see a Broadway show. While I could be interested in a few different options, Belinda wanted to see The Phantom of the Opera. I was a little surprised - but I loved it. I especially liked the way they changed the sets "on the fly" and the music wasn't that bad.
Believe me, I didn't pick out that hat for Bell!
The Majestic from when we picked up the tickets
I haven't spoken about food for a while!
Thankfully day 4 wasn't quite as cold as the day before, but it still wasn't toasty. On our way to the Internet Cafe (single dirtiest mouse I've ever touched) we got our first taste of American star-spotting. We actually saw one of my favourite actors - Samuel L. Jackson. He was just standing out the front of Madame Tussauds - but wasn't overly animated. I guess the stars are different in real-life then they are in the movies.
Sam Jackson - didn't seem too impressed when I offered him some triple-thick milkshake though
After picking up our tickets for the Phantom of the Opera for later that night we started "Kramer's Reality Tour". For those that don't know the story, Kenny Kramer lived across the hall from Larry David, co-creator of Seinfeld. When Jerry Seinfeld was offered a pilot for NBC he and David came up with "The Seinfeld Chronicles", named Seinfeld when picked up. One of the characters was based on Larry's neighbour Kenny Kramer, and he was actually hesitant to use Kramer's real name because he figured Kenny would try to profit off it. Sure enough, Kenny oragnised a bus tour around New York pointing out the real sites that were shown in Seinfeld (which was later parodied on the show with the J. Peterman Reality Tour).
It's chocolate, it's peppermint -- it's delicious!
The tour was definitely watered down, as a lot of the sites were things like "although this is a hotel now, it used to be ..." - but it was still great. The best bit about it, in my opinion, was the 20 minute introduction that Kenny did, which was mainly describing Larry David and his "brand" of comedy. I found it all quite amusing - and I think I might give Curb Your Enthusiam another shot (saw 1 episode and didn't really like it).
Some of the highlights of the actual tour were Monk's Restaurant (or Tom's), old footage of Larry David's standup, and The Soup Kitchen. Kramer showed some footage on the bus of him informally interviewing the "Soup Guy" (he doesn't like the whole Nazi thing) which was very funny. He said that Seinfeld ruined his life, and now only idiots came to his soup store. Didn't seem to ruin it too much - as he's now starting to franchise.
No witty photo comment for you!
Bell did some nice cropping for the full Seinfeld effect
Over half of the people on the tour were Australians - quite a few from Melbourne
"His struggle is man's struggle...he's a loathsome, offensive, brute, yet I can't look away." - and I bought the T-shirt!
After the tour we had dinner in an "authentic diner" in the middle of Times Square. It was actually quite good, but I was almost getting sick of cheese (almost). The cherry soda with chocolate icecream was very nice - and I've just realised that most of this Travel Log is just around what I was eating. Anyway...
A bit of a compromise for my (our) hockey tickets was that we would see a Broadway show. While I could be interested in a few different options, Belinda wanted to see The Phantom of the Opera. I was a little surprised - but I loved it. I especially liked the way they changed the sets "on the fly" and the music wasn't that bad.
Believe me, I didn't pick out that hat for Bell!
The Majestic from when we picked up the tickets
I haven't spoken about food for a while!
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Travel Log - Day 3 (I can't believe it got colder)
While it had been cold for the first two days that we were in New York, it was kicked up a notch on the third day. On our way to the Statue of Liberty, we found a pothole that would usually be filled with water - completely frozen. The trash that was encased in a frozen, sludgey prison was a nice touch.
Watch out for that first step, it's a doozy! (Bing)
I was going to make a joke about the squirrel freezing it's nuts off - but thought better of it
When we got to the ferry bound for the statue we noticed that it was extremely busy (and still only about 8am). It looked like all of the volunteers from the parade were using their long weekend to "catch the statch" (I'm sure New Yorkians use that colloquialism all the time). So we got a hot chocolate instead!
After the hot chocolate warmed us up a bit - we went to the world's biggest Disney Store (3 levels of Disney goodness - though hardly any of Walt's Nazi Paraphernalia). Bell bought some Winnie the Pooh crap - and flush from my celebrity spotting, I bought some Muppets.
Never did meet Santa Goofy unfortunately
I took the Muppets from Manhattan
After the Disney store Bell and I went to Central Park, which was ok, though generally anti-climatic (turned out it was just a park). Saw lots of trees, lots of squirrels and went ice skating (that was pretty cool).
I only just realised this now, but what's that kid doing to Balto?
The memorial for John Lennon...
... and the hotel he was shot outside of
Joel Dixon - rock conqueror!
Wolfman Rink - the one we skated on
Bird's eye of the park - looked pretty cool
I really don't remember what was so interesting / odd about this wreath
After the park, we went back to the hotel and had another nice long sleep (notice any patterns emerging?).
Watch out for that first step, it's a doozy! (Bing)
I was going to make a joke about the squirrel freezing it's nuts off - but thought better of it
When we got to the ferry bound for the statue we noticed that it was extremely busy (and still only about 8am). It looked like all of the volunteers from the parade were using their long weekend to "catch the statch" (I'm sure New Yorkians use that colloquialism all the time). So we got a hot chocolate instead!
After the hot chocolate warmed us up a bit - we went to the world's biggest Disney Store (3 levels of Disney goodness - though hardly any of Walt's Nazi Paraphernalia). Bell bought some Winnie the Pooh crap - and flush from my celebrity spotting, I bought some Muppets.
Never did meet Santa Goofy unfortunately
I took the Muppets from Manhattan
After the Disney store Bell and I went to Central Park, which was ok, though generally anti-climatic (turned out it was just a park). Saw lots of trees, lots of squirrels and went ice skating (that was pretty cool).
I only just realised this now, but what's that kid doing to Balto?
The memorial for John Lennon...
... and the hotel he was shot outside of
Joel Dixon - rock conqueror!
Wolfman Rink - the one we skated on
Bird's eye of the park - looked pretty cool
I really don't remember what was so interesting / odd about this wreath
After the park, we went back to the hotel and had another nice long sleep (notice any patterns emerging?).
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Travel Log - Day 2 (Thanksgiving)
We went to bed early(ish) on day 1 because we wanted to get up early for the Thanksgiving Day Parade. We got to New York about 4 / 5 days earlier than originally planned so that we could catch this event (we figured we'd probably never be in New York around November for a while). I'm really glad we did - because, while corny, the parade was lots of fun. Oh, and I had sausage burritos from Maccas for breakfast - very nice!
The crowd was getting bored when nothing was happening. They were even cheering a policeman walking past at one point
Macy's was determined to ensure you remembered who's parade it was
The mascot is always the first balloon. I think Scooby smelt my left over burrito - because he's coming straight for us!
I was a little surprised at how excited I was by seeing the Sesame Street float...
... but there was something really cool about seeing the actual puppets...
... passing by in all their glory (even though they were probably operated by any old hacks)
I was happy Bell was quick enough to snap up Oscar
Sponge Bob was a crowd favourite...
... but couldn't compare with the action that Chicken Little demanded
I thought this was a pretty cool blast from the past
Super Grover is the man!
Now I know this dude is after my burrito!
Mr. Potato Head looked pretty happy...
... considering he left his spare nose behind
Garfield was one of Bell's favourites
The balloon that injured two of the crowds-people
Red knows that he screwed up!
While Santa officially ended the parade, I think this guy's classy mix of facial hair and rosy cheeks finished it for me
Afterwards we had some Wendy's (not too bad - but odd slogans on their packaging) and went into an American grocery store. The store was pretty cool - beer in the fridge, but no fresh fruit.
Do what tastes right - no matter how stupid it sounds
After a short nap, we had some dinner (mostly candy if I remember correctly) and went to sleep. Seeing a freaking huge blow-up Super Grover can make one tired.
The crowd was getting bored when nothing was happening. They were even cheering a policeman walking past at one point
Macy's was determined to ensure you remembered who's parade it was
The mascot is always the first balloon. I think Scooby smelt my left over burrito - because he's coming straight for us!
I was a little surprised at how excited I was by seeing the Sesame Street float...
... but there was something really cool about seeing the actual puppets...
... passing by in all their glory (even though they were probably operated by any old hacks)
I was happy Bell was quick enough to snap up Oscar
Sponge Bob was a crowd favourite...
... but couldn't compare with the action that Chicken Little demanded
I thought this was a pretty cool blast from the past
Super Grover is the man!
Now I know this dude is after my burrito!
Mr. Potato Head looked pretty happy...
... considering he left his spare nose behind
Garfield was one of Bell's favourites
The balloon that injured two of the crowds-people
Red knows that he screwed up!
While Santa officially ended the parade, I think this guy's classy mix of facial hair and rosy cheeks finished it for me
Afterwards we had some Wendy's (not too bad - but odd slogans on their packaging) and went into an American grocery store. The store was pretty cool - beer in the fridge, but no fresh fruit.
Do what tastes right - no matter how stupid it sounds
After a short nap, we had some dinner (mostly candy if I remember correctly) and went to sleep. Seeing a freaking huge blow-up Super Grover can make one tired.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Travel Log - Day 1 (New York, New York)
Waking up in New York was pretty weird - and so was using the toilets / showers. American toilets seem to be wider, lower to the ground, and the water level is higher in the actual bowl. And the plugs in the basins / showers were also odd (I think I broke one of them in our first hotel room).
After a brief breakfast (with grape and cherry jam - hawt!) we started our first day with a bit of sight seeing. We hopped into a cab right outside our hotel on our way to the tour bus. It was funny, as soon as the cabbie found out we were Australian, he talked about cricket for the whole trip (I think he was a West Indies fan). I hadn't expected that I was going to be chatting to American cab drivers about cricket (or crumpets for that matter).
We got onto our open roofed tour bus, and the first stop we made was to Macy's Department Store for winter clothing - as it was extremely cold. Apparently it was very cold for late November in New York, and we had just come from a nice Australian Summer, so we were freezing. This marked the first time in my life that I have ever worn gloves, a scarf or a hat purely for warmth.
One of the entrances to Macy's - Scooby, Dooby Doo!
While picking up the first of our hockey tickets at Madison Square Garden, we met a couple that had visited Australia previously. They liked our country, but hated the outback - apparently noone had warned them about the flies. Let this be a lesson to everyone - Australia's outback has lots of dirty, stinking flies.
Our next stop was the Empire State Building, which was tall (shock horror). One fact I didn't know is that the building actually has a mooring mast on it for zeppelins. They never use it (too windy) but it's still sitting there. It was cool to be at the top of the tallest building in New York, but the view was basically just a whole lot of buildings. The Coke vending machines were pretty cool though!
I guess the view is kinda cool
But again, the Coke machine was pretty neat
After another McDonald's meal we went back onto the tour bus and drove around New York. The tour guide seemed quite knowledgeable as we drove past things like ground zero, Chinatown, the Chrysler Building, SoHo et al. We got off the bus at Times Square and was just amazed by the size, the lights and the sheer number of people (unfortunately we didn't see any naked cowboys).
The Big 'N' Tasty - Undeniably tasty, yet not convincingly big
This Coke sign was pretty cool - currently in Pinball Machine form
Yet, now it's a Coke can - technology!
We went to the Virgin Mega Store, which was awesome (I picked up some sweet Family Guy figurines - and we bought way too many DVDs). We then had dinner at Planet Hollywood - which had a menu pretty much exactly like the Melbourne Planet Hollywood (fajitas are good). After dinner we went to the Toys 'R' Us store - which was also quite fun. Most New York stores seem to be really, really big - Virgin, Planet Hollywood and Toys 'R' Us were all three stories - but the actual area is pretty standard. There's just more stairs / escalators to worry about.
Toys 'R' Us had a big-ass ferris wheel inside the store...
... with some very cool...
... gondolas
Just bouncin' with my homie
After a visit to ESPN Zone and Ben & Jerry's, we decided to call it a night.
Caught this sign on the way home. A 404 error may not be cool, unless it's the size of a building!
After a brief breakfast (with grape and cherry jam - hawt!) we started our first day with a bit of sight seeing. We hopped into a cab right outside our hotel on our way to the tour bus. It was funny, as soon as the cabbie found out we were Australian, he talked about cricket for the whole trip (I think he was a West Indies fan). I hadn't expected that I was going to be chatting to American cab drivers about cricket (or crumpets for that matter).
We got onto our open roofed tour bus, and the first stop we made was to Macy's Department Store for winter clothing - as it was extremely cold. Apparently it was very cold for late November in New York, and we had just come from a nice Australian Summer, so we were freezing. This marked the first time in my life that I have ever worn gloves, a scarf or a hat purely for warmth.
One of the entrances to Macy's - Scooby, Dooby Doo!
While picking up the first of our hockey tickets at Madison Square Garden, we met a couple that had visited Australia previously. They liked our country, but hated the outback - apparently noone had warned them about the flies. Let this be a lesson to everyone - Australia's outback has lots of dirty, stinking flies.
Our next stop was the Empire State Building, which was tall (shock horror). One fact I didn't know is that the building actually has a mooring mast on it for zeppelins. They never use it (too windy) but it's still sitting there. It was cool to be at the top of the tallest building in New York, but the view was basically just a whole lot of buildings. The Coke vending machines were pretty cool though!
I guess the view is kinda cool
But again, the Coke machine was pretty neat
After another McDonald's meal we went back onto the tour bus and drove around New York. The tour guide seemed quite knowledgeable as we drove past things like ground zero, Chinatown, the Chrysler Building, SoHo et al. We got off the bus at Times Square and was just amazed by the size, the lights and the sheer number of people (unfortunately we didn't see any naked cowboys).
The Big 'N' Tasty - Undeniably tasty, yet not convincingly big
This Coke sign was pretty cool - currently in Pinball Machine form
Yet, now it's a Coke can - technology!
We went to the Virgin Mega Store, which was awesome (I picked up some sweet Family Guy figurines - and we bought way too many DVDs). We then had dinner at Planet Hollywood - which had a menu pretty much exactly like the Melbourne Planet Hollywood (fajitas are good). After dinner we went to the Toys 'R' Us store - which was also quite fun. Most New York stores seem to be really, really big - Virgin, Planet Hollywood and Toys 'R' Us were all three stories - but the actual area is pretty standard. There's just more stairs / escalators to worry about.
Toys 'R' Us had a big-ass ferris wheel inside the store...
... with some very cool...
... gondolas
Just bouncin' with my homie
After a visit to ESPN Zone and Ben & Jerry's, we decided to call it a night.
Caught this sign on the way home. A 404 error may not be cool, unless it's the size of a building!
