Kate's Last Night in NYC

Sunday 18/9

We started the night with Pizza at Lombardi's in SoHo. According to Kate, I failed at life by not finishing my half of the pizza... It was really good, but seriously WAY TOO MUCH!!

We followed that up with a walk through a street fair down Mulberry St... I'd love to tell you what street fair it was, but I have no idea!!

We then jumped on the subway and headed down to the Staten Island ferry and took in the magical sights of the city at night.

We followed that up with a trip back to McGees. While we were there the first time, the staff told us that every year to celebrate the new season, the writers and cast drink at McGees. So we thought we would do a little stalking, and see if they showed up. (The new season started the next day).

They didn't, but nonetheless we had an awesome night.

Kate ordered a pitcher of beer for herself. The look on the bartenders face was priceless!

I stuck to cocktails. They have this whole "How I Met Your Mother" inspired cocktail list with drinks such as "The Pineapple Incident", "Robin Sparkles" and "The Naked Man".

My favourite was "The Pineapple Incident"

On the way out, I noticed this hanging above the stairs. I just had to take a photo!

I had a fab night out that night!

Broncos v Dragons

So not only were the Broncos and Dragons playing, but the Australian's were playing in the Ruby World Cup. Needless to say, the bar was packed. So I sat down at a table and waited...

Just before kick-off, Andy Lee and a bunch of mates walked in. They were sitting down the back in a booth. At half time of the Rugby League, the AFL (Carlton v West Coast) started. With the league and union on, there was only one TV that had the AFL on that was the TV near their booth.

Now anyone who knows me, knows I am sports obsessed. And from where I was sitting I couldn't see the AFL. So I sucked it up, marched down the back of the pub and asked if I could sit at the spare seat so I could watch both sports.

It was a great night (or early morning) of sport watching! My beloved Broncos won, in extra time, with Locky kicking the winning field goal. As it turns out, that would be the last game he ever played for the Broncos. So I was a) glad I sat up and watched it, and b) that he kicked the winning field goal. Was a great way for him to go out!!

AFL wise, it was a cracker! Went right to the wire with West Coast getting up by 3.

In the end I left the pub at 9.30am. It was such a fabulous night of sport. A night I will definitely remember for a long time to come.

Kate's Last Friday Night in NYC

Friday (16 Sept)

To celebrate Kate's last weekend in NYC we decided to go out for dinner and drinks. We headed up to McGee's Irish Pub, which is the inspiration behind the bar in one of my favourite shows - How I Met Your Mother.

On our way up to the pub we went through Times Square. While walking past, I saw this sign:

My friends and I have a bit of an inside joke regarding "goodtimes". So when I saw this, I just had to take a photo and send it to them!!

Kate and I ate dinner and had a few drinks at the bar, before heading off. We were planning to head down and catch the Staten Island Ferry so that we could could see the Statue of Liberty at night. But, we ended up at a comedy show instead. I'll be honest, the first one we went to was WAY better than this one. But it was still fun, nonetheless.

After that we thought we'd head down and jump on the ferry, but once we got on the Subway Kate decided she was tired and so we decided to pass on the ferry.

I had been planning all day to stay up all night and hang out for 3.45am when the Australian bar in NYC was showing the Broncos v Dragons game live. It was about 1am when Kate called it a night, so I decided to head to the bar and wait it out...

Luckily, very early into the wait my beautiful friend Siany back home in Aus texted me and said she was home if I wanted to call! So 2 hours of conversation later, I headed back into the bar with only 45mins to wait until kickoff!!

More to come...

Magnolia Bakery

I went for a walk through the West Village in search of Magnolia!

Clearly, a trip to NY isn't complete without a cupcake from Magnolia.

I was very lucky, there wasn't a line when I got there, which from all reports is rare!

I purchased a Red Velvet cupcake and a Coconut one.

They were delicious!

While I was in the West Village, and in keeping with the Sex and the City theme, I walked past the stoop they used as Carrie's stoop in SATC.

Serendipity

My friend Mel told me that I HAD to go and have a frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity. So I trekked up to the Upper East Side and ordered one...

It was huge!

And way too much for me, but nonetheless it was VERY good!! I definitely enjoyed it!!

Sorry...

Ok, so I've been pretty terrible at updating this! But it's only because I've been so busy exploring! I promise I will update more regularly. New updates coming soon... Stay tuned!

Comedy Show

On Wednesday night, Kate and I had planned to see a broadway show... until, she scored free tickets to a comedy show.

So instead we met up and went to that!!

The good ones, were really good.

The bad ones, were really bad!

It was definitely a strange mix...

Nonetheless, we had a great night out!

The Rest of September 11

So after spending the morning at Ground Zero, I headed back to the hostel to meet up with Kate. Talking to Kate on Friday night I had said to her that if Sam Stosur made the US Open final, then I would probably go out and watch! Kate said she wanted to come, so I grabbed us tickets and we headed out to watch the final.

Queen Latifah came out to sing the national anthem:

Then the match started!

Obviously, Sam was playing Serena Williams... And clearly the American crowd was pro-Serena!

So I cheered as loudly as I possibly could.

I didn't really think she could beat her... not because she can't beat her, but because she was playing Serena in the final of Serena's home town Grand Slam. The crowd was against her, and she'd only ever made one Grand Slam final before... Serena has won 13 or so Grand Slam titles... So the odds were definitely stacked against her...

BUT SHE DID IT, SHE WON THE US OPEN!

It is so exciting to be able to say that I was there to witness the first Australian woman in 31 years to win a Grand Slam title!!

I am so glad I went!!

As Kate and I were leaving, we noticed the lights on at the Mets Baseball Stadium. Basically, the train station is in the middle with the tennis centre on one side and the baseball stadium on the other. So Kate and I decided to head over and check it out! We had no idea if the game had started, was finished, or was still coming... (it was 7pm by this stage!)

So we headed over to the stadium

We were approaching the ticket windows when one of their guests services staff approached us and asked if she could help. We explained that we were at the tennis, saw the lights and thought we'd come and see if the game had started, if there were tickets available etc etc. She pulled two tickets out of the pocket and said - "this ones on me!"

Kate and I were gobsmacked! So we went in and not only had she given us free tickets, but they were awesome tickets!!

The game started just after 8, and it was all tied-up at the end of the 9th so they kept going... In the end the match finished at like 1am on the Monday morning!

It was an awesome experience!

So all in all, I had an absolute blast!

September 11 Service

I woke up on the morning of September 11, and headed down to Ground Zero to check out the service. As you can imagine, security was very tight.

I've already told you about the ceremony, but I will include these photos.

I had to watch on a big TV screen as the service was only for family and friends.

They constructed two MASIVE water fountains. The names of those who died are etched into the edges of the fountain.

This is the New World Trade Center. It is already the tallest building, and it's not finished yet..

After the service, I headed back to the hostel to meet up with Kate. Details of what came next, coming soon!

Staten Island Ferry - Ground Zero

On Saturday morning (10/9), I decided to go down and catch the Staten Island Ferry. I was planning to pay for a trip to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, when my friends Sian and Donna advised me that the Staten Island ferry goes straight past the Statue of Liberty, and it's free!!

So I caught the subway down, jumped on the ferry and enjoyed the ride over and back!

There had been whispers that another terror attack was possible. The police presence in the City, was incredible. There were police stopping and searching vehicles everywhere. There were helicopters flying over the city. At one point, I counted 5 choppers flying over Manhattan! And the Staten Island Ferry had police escorts...

On the way over, there was just a simple police boat floating along beside us...

On the way back, it was a Coast Guard boat with a machine gun attached to the front... There was even someone standing there manning the machine gun....

It certainly made the threat seem very real!

After that, I walked up to Ground Zero. I had planned to check it out on September 11, so I wanted to suss it out, find it and have a look before the actual day... That and Century 21 is literally RIGHT THERE!!

I walked around the closed off section, where all the construction is going on. And came across a little fire station... The Station wall bore this memorial:

Being there was very emotional. It is so hard to fathom what once stood there, the number of people who lost their lives there (and elsewhere that day). The idea to me, that a plane could fly into the buildings that once stood there and not come out... it just doesn't seem real.

After that, I ducked into Century 21. Didn't want to actually purchase anything, but thought I'd check it out and  see what the big deal is!

I did find one gorgeous Michael Kors skirt that I would have at least tried on, and possibly purchased, had I not seen the price tag... It was still $500... Hmm, maybe not my style after all!!

After that I headed up to the Australian Pub to watch Sam Stosur's semi-final and catch the replay of the Broncos win. However the college football was on, so I headed to the Irish Pub next door. In there I met a really lovely Australian guy. He is definitely someone who reminded me a lot of my male friends back home. And with my love of sport, the conversation flowed very easily!

I left the Irish pub about 8, headed back to the Australian, watched the first half of the Broncos game and then went home and crashed!

It was a big day, but a good one!!

Friday, 9/9

Today was a fairly cruise-y day! I went for a walk up to the Australian Pub on W 38th to enquire about their showing of the NRL/AFL finals series. I also wanted to find somewhere to watch the John Isner v Andy Murray quarter final.

So I sat there for a couple of hours watching the match, talking to a lovely girl who was there to watch the replay of the Rugby World Cup. While I was there, I was also talking to some of the staff, and while in conversation, I briefly looked outside to see paparazzi walking backwards down the street. They were following Venus Williams and her mum.

After the tennis finished, I decided to go for a walk. So I walked up 5th avenue, to Central Park and back down 6th. While I was walking up 5th, I saw Venus Williams again! She was taking her cute little fluff ball for a walk!! The puppy was so damn adorable!!

Then I walked back down to where I am staying on E 3rd.

I headed into the common room once I got back, where I met an English girl. We stayed up talking and watching The Proposal. (We've since done some other things together, but I will get to them in due course!!)

Thursday Tennis

On Thursday (8/9) I trekked out to the tennis again... It was still overcast when I woke up that morning, but the clouds quickly cleared and play resumed (finally!!).

I managed to grab myself a front row seat to the John Isner v Gilles Simon match on Crt 17! It was seriously a fantastic match!!

I was tweeting with another mad keen tennis fan friend of mine, and although he was in Australia, he was up watching the Fox Sports coverage... I posted the above photo on twitter and he replied saying "oh you finally get to watch - good commitment!" So I replied to him with this photo, showing him the awesome view from my awesome seat!!

To which he replied - "are you sitting right behind the baseline line person?" - Which I was, to which his response was "no, i'm pretty sure you've been on TV twice now!! :P" The first set went to a tie-break and as the players changed ends I was apparently in the background for quite a while! So yes, basically - I'm famous! Baha, OK not quite - but I have been on TV!! haha.

I had hoped to see Sam Stosur play as well - she was the second match on another court. Unfortunately, I was relying on Andy Murray and Donald Young to keep their match going for a long time... Which didn't happen...

Team that with the quality and length of the Isner/Simon match and Sam Stosur had taken to the court and finished her match (6-3, 6-3 over Zvonereva) before the Isner/Simon match had finished!

Either way, I am glad I was there to watch that match as it was fantastic... And as it turns out, I got to see Sam play a couple of days later... But I'll save that for another entry!!

Hamish & Andy

So, some of you would be aware that Hamish & Andy are currently taping their "Gap Year" show in NYC... When they first announced they were doing it, I registered my interest on their website as I knew I'd be in NYC by then too.

I was lucky enough to receive an email just before I left offering me tickets to the taping of their Tues Sept 6 show (which went to air in Australia on the Thursday).

We were instructed to meet at a bar on 3rd Ave, where we were checked in and given a Hamish & Andy wrist band:

We had a drink, jumped on a bus and were taken out to a bar in Brooklyn where we were given a voucher which was good for either one food item or drink. I went with the food! After chilling there for about 45mins, we walked over to the studio for the live taping!

It was so much fun. Hamish & Andy actually interacted with the audience while we weren't filming and generally, they were hilarious!

I really enjoyed Andy telling us how Hamish had been practicing "magic tricks" including fire a la Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother!!

I'll be honest, I know Andy won Cleo Bachelor of the Year and dated Megan Gale and whatever, but I've always MUCH preferred Hamish... And nothing changed!! If anything he is even cuter, in an adorable kind of way, in person!!

The highlight was that I got to briefly talk to Hamish... and I may or may not have suggested that he do a Sister Needs a Mister (only those who have seen the show will know what this is about!!)...

After the taping, we jumped back on the bus and headed back to Manhattan.

It was such a fabulous night! So many good laughs! It really picked my spirits up!

US Open!

So as part of my new "tourist" mentality - I decided to do something I love - GO AND WATCH THE TENNIS!! So on Tuesday (6th Sept.) I braved the cloudy sky and lightly falling rain and headed out to Flushing Meadows to watch the US Open.

My favourite player was even playing, so despite the weather, I decided I couldn't possibly miss his match!!

So I caught a cab to Grand Central, jumped on the 7 train and headed out to Mets-Willet Point Station - aka home of the Billie Jean King Tennis Centre and the US Open.

I arrived just before 11, when play was expected to commence... Unfortunately the weather did not improve... at all!! And by 2pm play had been cancelled for the entire day and night - so I headed home...

Here is a photo of just how wet it was on Tuesday:

I decided to risk it again on the Wednesday, for the same reason, I couldn't possibly miss out on his match (because lets be honest, I wasn't sure if he'd win or not...). So this time, I navigated the subway to Grand Central, then caught the 7 train again. Got out there, bought a ticket went inside and was greeted by equally as mediocre weather:

So, on Wednesday, not only was my favourite player playing, but Sammy Stosur was also supposed to play her quarter-final against Vera Zvonereva. By 4pm, after countless times of almost having the courts dry, ready to play just for the rain to start again, they had cancelled all mens matches for the day.

The number of times the sucking-up-water-machines and blower machines (I don't know what they're really called - but they suck the water up and blow excess water away) came out, was ridiculous! So often they got to this point (below) just for the rain to tumble again!!

After cancelling the mens day matches, they were still hoping to play all four women's quarter-finals at the same time starting at 7.30pm... So having been there since 10.30, I stayed thinking at least I could see Sammy Stosur play... The courts were dry, and they were just about ready to go when - the rain started to fall again!! They finally cancelled it at 8.30pm, so I headed home - again without seeing any tennis action!!

It was definitely disappointing - but my trips to the tennis weren't over yet! More to come soon!

The first few days

I'll be honest, the first few days were awful! I felt so alone, and was constantly thinking "what the heck have I done? - I've moved half way across the world, without a job, without anywhere to live..." And then to top it off, the hostel I moved to is the pits!!

I was also struggling to work out whether I should be doing touristy things, or completely focusing on a job and place to live...

I was hating it so much, that I really thought I would just have an extended holiday until I ran out of money and then come home...

So the touristy thing won out!

I'm feeling much better now. I even applied for a job in my field. I've also been emailing companies I want to work for. So hopefully things will sort out soon!

LAX to JFK

So after having my flight delayed 5 days due to the threat being imposed by Hurricane Irene, I had all sorts of trouble organising accommodation at the last minute. And I arrived on Friday night which was the start of the Labor Day Long Weekend here in the USA, so as you can imagine - NYC was hectic!!

I put in 3 requests for accommodation in the 5 days leading up to my departure and still had not heard anything but the time I left for the airport. So i quickly sent off another request to a hostel thinking it would be all ok once I landed at LAX... WRONG!!

I arrived at LAX, cleared customs, transferred to the domestic terminal, and cleared security... More on the actual check in later... But first, I jumped on the internet at first chance... To find 13 emails from my dad and the accommodation requests I'd sent... Every accommodation option came back as sorry, we're unavailable for your requested dates and dad had sent me emails with some other options... Needless to say I panicked!! I had a massive freak out, made myself sick with worry and may have shed a tear or two when I rang my parents at 2am their time and as I searched frantically to find a hotel that was in price range...

Eventually I found a hotel which wasn't really in my price range, but it was as bloody close as I was going to get. And they would confirm on the spot! THANK GOD!

Anyway, it was too late, I was feeling sick as. Threw up in the toilets at LAX from the stress of it all and really didn't get the benefits I should have having been upgraded to First class on my Virgin America flight!!

There was free food, free drinks and free entertainment... And other than having the TV on the US Open tennis, while I drifted in and out of sleep the entire way - I didn't take advantage of the food and drink on offer :( There was just absolutely no way I could have stomached anything without throwing up again!

After a good couple of hours of sleep, and arriving at JFK, I'd settled down a little bit and managed to check into my hotel without a hitch! It was such a fab location! Right near Times Square. Huge comfy bed and cable TV were a godsend as I tried to get over the jet lag for the first 2 days...

Where I moved to after that... Well that is a WHOLE other story ;)

9-11 - 10 years on...

Today is 9/11/11 - 10 years from the day the world changed as we knew it.

 I remember being in grade 8 on 9/11/01 and heading into science class. The teacher had the TV on and was showing the news coverage. I will never forget seeing the footage of the WTCs collapsing...

Today, I am in NYC and I headed down to the site of the WTC where they are opening the new memorial. It is closed to the public until tomorrow, allowing those who lost family and friends the first access to the site.

They are also holding a big memorial service. I stood there for an hour and a half while selected people stood up and read the names of those who lost their lives. Each one reading the names had lost someone in the attacks. Their personal messages to those they lost were truly heartbreaking.

The ones that upset me the most were the ones where the loved ones said "you were never found".

To all those who died on 9/11/01 - I hope you are resting in peace. And to those who lost loved ones, I hope you have found solace and comfort.

The Flight!

I am typing this from my premium economy upgrade onboard my V Australia flight from BNE to LAX... :D they always say it's who you know, not what you know and today that couldn't be any more true.

A friend I went to school with, whom I haven't had much to do with since school, works for V Australia and he organized my upgrade... I am so grateful for the extra legroom... The two sparklings I've consumed since takeoff (less than 2 hours ago) are also a nice added bonus!! Thanks so much Paul,I really appreciate it!!!

Saying goodbye this morning was very difficult.I am going to miss my parents, my pseudo mum, my brother, my puppy Porscha and my friends VERY, VERY, VERY much. But I know I am in for the adventure of a lifetime and that excites me!!  If I manage to find friends who are half as awesome as my wonderful friends back home, I will be a very lucky girl!!

I'm going to leave this here for now, and will come back to it later in the flight!!

12:38pm : lunch has just been served... I had chicken pot pie - I'm pretty impressed with the quality!! It was very nice!! I'm also now 3 glasses of sparkling down... This could end interestingly... Haha!  Once lunch has been cleared I'm heading to "the bar" to have a drink with Paul to catch up... It's only been 5.5yrs!!

Well, I snuck up into business class after lunch and joined Paul at the self serve bar... A few vodkas later, it was time to try and sleep... The seat next to Paul just happenend to be free, so lucky me, got to sleep in the lie flat business class bed!! After a few hours sleep, some breakfast and the moving of my stuff up into business, we were arriving at LAX!!

The flight went fairly quickly - so that was good... I just have no idea how I'll ever fly cattle class again!!! More coming soon!

Sorry!

Sorry for the lack of updates - they're coming soon - I promise!!

Tomorrow is the day!

After a false start due to Hurricane Irene, tomorrow is actually the day that I take off on my adventure of a life time!! I am very excited and look forward to keeping you all updated!!