Day Seven
As mentioned before, Garrett had a special pass to the
Today Show for being an MSNBC intern, and Elke is in love with Matt Lauer (or as she calls him, "Matty), so we all went down there to watch. Unfortunately, it turned out that Destiny's Child was giving a mini-concert as part of the Today Show's summer concert series, so there were a TON of people there. So Elke and I ended up watching the show from the second story of a building across the street while Garrett was standing right next to the stage and right behind the newsroom. We saw everyone from afar, but it wasn't very exciting.
After that we met up with Garrett and went to McDonald's for breakfast. Then we went to
Nintendo World, which was awesome. They had egg-shaped chairs with built-in surround sound in which you could sit for 15 minutes and play the video game of your choice. I played
Donkey Konga for a while. It was great fun. But after that we were so tired Elke and I headed home to sleep.
Garrett stayed down there because he had a special tour of the NBC studios ending with a meeting with Matt Lauer, Al Roker and Bryan Williams. When he got back he napped and I woke up and then I decided to go back to sleep and he got up. Then he spent the next 2-3 hours trying to wake me up. I was not happy with him. Elke was asleep too, so there was no point in me getting up.
But then we finally all got up and showered and got dressed and ready to go out to eat. Garrett has been telling me about this Japanese restaurant, Kenka that he and his friends always go to when he's in town for months now, and I have always wanted to go there. So we went down to the East Village and waited for an hour for a table. By the time we were seated it was close to 11.00.
Turns out the wait was worth it. Everything Garrett had ever said about this place was true. We ordered one thing at a time and sat there for hours eating delicious delicious Japanese food while drinking Garrett's favorite Japanese beer and sampling some Sake. They had some crazy things on the menu. We didn't order any of them, but a table near us sang "Happy Birthday" to someone as their waiter delivered him a bull penis. Then they divided it up and ate a piece. Great fun. By the time we left, all three of us were stuffed and drunk. It was wonderful, and not nearly as expensive as it could have been (but it certainly wasn't cheap). We will definitely be going there again before we leave.
After that we had another late-night subway disaster where we kept waiting and the train kept not coming. Yet again, there were no signs saying that the train wouldn't be running, so we had to figure it out for ourselves. Of course, it was probably our own fault for waiting an entire HOUR before getting a cab. By the time we got home it was nearly 3.00 and we had all but completely sobered up. But we solved that real quick and then watched TV until 4.30 a.m.
Day Six
Yesterday was a fun-filled day. We actually did stuff for the entire day. Shannon, a girl Elke has known since Kindergarten, goes to FIT, and she lives down in SoHo. So we met her down there for lunch and shopping.
We had lunch at a Thai restaurant and I got this delicious wrap with some sort of beef in it. I don't understand how everything in New York tastes as good as it does. Maybe it's because you walk so much you earn every bite/calorie. Shannon was so thin her clothes were falling off her body, but I guess she's been ill recently and has trouble keeping the weight on. Either way, I was glad to see her eat so much at lunch. We'll probably be seeing a lot more of her, since she's one of the only people we know here. But I don't mind - I really like her, even if she is a tad bit flaky. But what do you expect - she's a fashion major.
The first place we went was
American Apparel, this really cool store that has basic clothing in solid colors. It's like a rainbow of stuff. I didn't get anything, but Elke bought a ton of stuff. They have this
crazy scarf-thing that you can turn into 6-7 different shirts and skirts for $15, but I wanted to watch the online instructional video before buying one to make sure getting dressed wouldn't be a 15-minute ordeal. It doesn't look too difficult, so I think the hardest part will be picking a color, since they make them in every color you could possibly want. Maybe I'll just buy one for everyone for whom I need to get presents.
And then we went to
Laila Rowe, an accessories store where everything was half-off. I got this awesome beaded tiered necklace for $10 that will match just about everything I own. We also went to
Patricia Field's store, who did the costumes for
Sex and the City. It was really funny because it's mostly a store for drag queens. Not very Carrie-Bradshaw-chic at ALL.
Shannon had to head home after that to wake up her 32-year-old boyfriend so they could go to physical therapy together. She's had scoliosis for years, and then senior year of high school she broke her collar bone in a car accident. We went to her apartment for a little bit. It was really nice, but I couldn't believe how small it was for $2,000 a month (no utilities included). Her boyfriend owns a club, but she has to work 3-4 jobs. Not all of them are necessary, but she said she gets sad when she sees other people with nice things. She also does free-lance make-up on the side. She's even done Joan Rivers' make-up before. Apparently her face feels just as plasticky as it looks.
After we left there, Elke and I headed to the
H&M on 5th Avenue. We'd been to the two in SoHo, but had little success. The flagship store wasn't much better. I got a shirt that I might return and some blue eyeshadow. There was other stuff there I liked, but not for the price. I'm going to wait a week for it to go on sale. They have a really high turnover rate.
By the time we finally made our way back to the apartment, Garrett was nearly here. He had a big MSNBC intern thing to do today in the city, so he spent the night here. He had to be at Rockefeller Center for the Today Show at 7.30 a.m. and Elke and I decided to go with him to watch, so we didn't do much last night. We went and got dinner at Noche Mexicana, a little Mexican restaurant near us and then just hung out here.
It was a busy day for us. However, I'm kind of sad that we haven't done anything very classic New York, such as go to a museum. When we stayed in the other night I started compiling a list of all the places I want to go before we live. Have to be sure not to miss anything!
Day Five
For those of you who have not noticed, I post about a day the day after it happens. That way I won't miss anything.
Yesterday, however, was not exactly the most exciting day in the world. The weather was just not our friend. We finally ventured out to buy a new air conditioner for my room, but even after 2-3 hardware stores had no success. So instead we came back here and just started calling places. And then we had to wait for someone to come install the air conditioner.
After they left we started making preparations to go out to dinner. We picked out a really nice-looking restaurant at which to spend the entire evening. Then, of course, it started raining and we were under a severe thunderstorm watch for the rest of the evening. So we decided to stay in and do nothing.
Not very much fun for two city gals, I know, but don't forget - we LIVE here, so we're allowed to have days like that.
Day Four
Most of the people I know live somewhere in the Midwest (mainly Ohio), and recently they have all been complaining about how hot it is due to the heat wave attacking them. I laughed it off, as we were having comfortably warm temperatures with a slight breeze.
That is, of course, until yesterday, when I woke up to find that it was 95* and not yet noon.
Elke and I tried to avoid the heat for a little while, but it became impossible - we both needed bagels and she needed food. She's a vegetarian AND a very picky eater, so she wasn't able to find much at the corner grocery store. So we walked the 3-mile round trip in the 95* heat to
Zabar's, a gourmet Jewish grocery store. Thankfully, the slight breeze is still with us.
As soon as we got back we quickly changed into nicer clothing and headed down to
Karma, the hookah bar we've been wanting to go to since we got here. It was a bit different than the website suggested it would be - MUCH more low-key and sadly, it had no food (the website promised some delicious-sounding Indian appetizers). However, slightly overdressed though we might have been, we had a fantastic time. We got a honey-flavored hookah and some beer (Guinness on tap for me) and just sat there for an hour and a half, smoking and drinking and laughing. And the music they were playing was great. DEFINITELY a place we intend to revisit, especially with how easy it was to get there.
However, we had planned on stuffing ourselves on aforementioned Indian appetizers, so we had to leave relatively early in order to find something else to eat.
Panna II was only a few blocks away, but we decided to try something new. We remembered the
models living in a billboard in Times Square, so we decided to head there in hopes of making fun of them while eating something delicious.
Sadly, we did not find any models living in a billboard. I guess they weren't living there for very long. We ate at a little cafe a couple blocks from Time Square. It wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't expensive and we were seated immediately, which at that point was all that mattered. I had worn heels out because the original plan was to stay at
Karma all night and then take a cab home, so it involved very little walking. I had no way of knowing that I was actually going to have to walk miles in my heels.
And then we had a bit of difficulty involving the subway. The schedule was all messed up because they were repairing some trains and we had to switch trains at least 400 times. At one point, we had to wait for a train for 25 minutes. Keep in mind that there is NO breeze underground and that the tunnels act like ovens, so it was at least 10-15* hotter down there than it was above ground, which was currently experiencing a heat wave. I was literally melting. I felt like I was in a sweat lodge.
After about an hour we finally got on the train that would take us home. However, after a few stops, the driver informed us that this train would be going no further, and we had to get on yet another train, the identity of which was very ambiguous, in order to finally get to our stop, from where we would have to walk another half mile.
Fuck that shit. We climbed out of the subways, completely covered in sweat, and hailed a cab. The asshole talked on his cellphone the entire time (which is illegal in New York) and then didn't even drive down our street, but at that point it didn't matter.
We came home, showered, smoked and then settled down to watch
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which I bought off some lady in the subway. It worked pretty well, but the framing was AWFUL - 1/3 of every shot was cut out.
And then we went to bed. Despite the crap with the subway, it was a fantastic day.
Day Three
Just as I was getting ready to go to bed Sunday night, the air conditioner in my room broke. It made really bad noises all day and then it gave one last exploding blast and quit. Sleeping in the nice, cool air conditioned living room is not an option because the cats are in here all night. It's not so hot that I'm THAT desperate.
Yesterday we finally got up around 2:00, but as I said, we needed it. We showered (also very needed) and I think we didn't make it out the door until around 4:00. We went to the
Carnegie Deli to eat and got some knishes. Then we walked up 5th Ave and through Central Park for a couple of miles, but I started to feel really sick (indigestion, I think) and we decided to catch the subway back home.
We hung out here for a while. Despite the many hours of sleep I got the night before, I had to take a nap in order to get my stomach ache to go away. Then we dawdled around for a while, eating and stuff. And then finally, we went out.
We went to this awesome jazz club,
Smoke, that Elke had been to before. It's not too far away - a little over 10 blocks, so we walked. It was nice to get more of a handle on where exactly we live. The club was amazing. There was a jam session, which is like open mike night only better. You sign up to play a specific instrument, and then it's like a revolving door of musicians. It's amazing, because despite the fact that they're playing almost every song with different people, it's all completely cohesive-sounding. One vocalist brought her own music, but we hated her for ruining the improv of it all. And then there was this Asian tourist who sang "Amazing Grace" in perfect Engrish and thought I was going to explode with the laughter I was trying so hard to conceal.
Oh, and on the walk home we were able to give someone directions. Made me feel very New York.
Day Two
Whew. I have been in New York for less than 36 hours and I am exhausted.
Garrett and his friend from high school picked Elke and I up from the airport. We went straight to our apartment, which is the most insane thing I have ever seen. We're cat-sitting for Elke's dad's cousin, and her husband is an actuary. They have a house in Bali, which is where they are right now, and they have all this crazy Balinesian stuff in their house. There are creepy crazy masks and trinkets and paintings and clothes and books just EVERYWHERE. They even have a mirrored wall in their bedroom. Also, they have no kids, so their two cats (one of whom, Lulu, only has 3 legs due to a bout with cancer) are extremely spoiled. There are roughly 15 bowls of food lining the main hallway (which is only about 20 feet long) and even more in other parts of the very small apartment. Oh, and they NEVER cook, so their refrigerator is OVERFLOWING with condiments. They've got shit I've never even heard of.
After getting over the initial shock of seeing the apartment, I vacuumed my room and sprayed it with allergen reducer to make it safe enough for me to sleep there (I am VERY VERY allergic to cats). And then we were off.
We went to Garrett's friend's apartment in Brooklyn to smoke and then went to this
INSANE Indian restaurant for dinner. We walked in and saw this:
That picture is of almost the entire place and it doesn't even begin to show the insanity of the decor. We pretended it was Elke's birthday and they turned off all the lights but a strobe light and turned on Indian music chanting "Happy Birthday" and then gave us free ice cream. It was nuts. And the food was some of the most delicious I've ever eaten.
Then we went back to Brooklyn to pick up some stuff we had left behind. We hung out for a bit, and then Me, Elke and Garrett headed back uptown to where we're staying (Upper West Side Manhattan - very posh). We just hung out here for a bit. Drank some rum. Smoked some pot. It's amazing - it was completely silent last night outside. Our neighborhood is in a wealthy, Jewish residential area. So while that means it's safe, it also means that it was quieter last night in our neighborhood here than it probably was back in our neighborhood in Athens.
Then we all went to bed. It was nice. Garrett and I went to sleep soon after all the Etc., but we slept curled up together most of the night, which is something we almost never do. It was great to see him again - it helped me remember why I liked him. But I don't want to bore anyone with the mushy stuff. Let's just say we are every bit as close as we once were - and maybe even more so.
This morning we set off to buy some essentials. First we went to a flea market that was supposed to be a mini-farmer's market, but we didn't find anything. So instead we headed out to Canal Street to buy a pipe, since we couldn't bring one on the plane. We ended up getting a really sweet deal on a bubbler with a sidecar.
Garrett left soon after that to go back to Jersey for work tomorrow. Elke and I wondered around SoHo to shop a little bit, but we were still so exhausted that we headed home after just a little bit. We went grocery shopping on the way home and that's where we are now.
All I can really say about the city so far is that it's exhuasting. We're not wealthy enough for cabs, which means we have to either take the subway or walk everywhere we go. I wish someone had told me that along with saving money I should have been doing aerobics conditioning or something.
We're staying in tonight to relax. Neither of us slept much the last two nights because of early flights and foreign beds and we're really not used to walking so much. But I'm not complaining. I'm sure we'll get used to it - maybe I just won't get much use out of the 6 pairs of heels I brought with me.
