the good and the bad of food ...

... so over the last couple of days I have been out and about again savouring some culinary delights of NY. Last night I headed off with a new NY acquaintance and her friend to Tabla Bread Bar on Madison and 25th. Cocktails were ordinary, and food a bit greasy. Sindy would not be rushing back for the food. However the company was good and the view of Madison Square Park was certainly very pleasant on a hot and humid NY evening. The thing that seems to sell Tabla is that it is dog friendly (ie they offer doggy treats and are quite happy for your dawg to sit under your chair and look cute - Saint Bernards need not apply unless you want to look like something out of a greek wedding). I don't think they thought this should mean that the dogs become friendly with each other. Unfortunately Suki the maltese cross and Brewster the black lab puppy decided they liked the look of each other in THAT way. Not pretty when the waiters are trying to be cool carrying their cocktails around, to have to ignore the owners frantically tugging on collars and trying to disengage their best friends...
Then again, NY is just a dawgy paradise really - big dogs. Yesterday in the lift at my flat, there was a large miniature sheepdog, which for some reason was very agitated about another lift persons bag. Turns out the bag contained a little yappy thing. Fun fun fun as you go up 23 floors, to watch the two owners trying to keep their dogs apart.
Today for lunch I went to Del Friscos with a colleague and a nice lawyer. It is a Texan steakhouse place, and the steaks were pretty special. Luckily enough I restricted myself to the 8oz filet mignon. However colleague and lawyer decided to share the 36oz giant Kobi (sp?) ribeye. We also got sides of asparagus and macaroni cheese just in case we got hungry (what is it with Americans and having macaroni cheese on the side when eating steak. Its like saying "well, I am loading up with cholesterol and trans fat so lets just top that sucker up with cheese and carbs!" Yeah .... The macaroni cheese had "American cheddar" on top too. I really don't know what is in that stuff - it is bright orange. Now nothing that comes out of a cow is orange. Maybe it is added cane syrup?)
Anyway, back to the 36oz ribeye. First the two men had to come to a compromise on how to have the steak cooked. One wanted medium the other wanted medium rare. So medium it was, as we were told they do tend to cook on the rare side (trust me, my filet was what I would have called rare, when I asked for medium. It was gorgeous though!)
The 36oz arrives in one piece to be divided between them and with a giant rib bone sticking out of it. That is a bit close to the bone I thought (ha ha couldn't resist!). It literally looked like something out of the Flintstones. The rib must have been 60cm long, and very wide across - as you would expect from a cow's rib. Would have loved to watch someone try to suck the marrow out of that one.
The steak knives they provided much each have weighed about 10oz, with a giant sharp serrated edge - scary but I guess what you need when tackling that delicacy!
So the two men had their hunk of beef divided up, and did a good job of polishing it off. One thing I have noticed with the beef though (same at Michael Jordans), is that they COAT it in salt and pepper. Too much salt. The beef itself is beautiful, but I find I have to scrape the outside to really get rid of the salty taste... interesting ... no need for dinner tonight for me anyway!

Its not just me ...

I started to think that maybe I was obsessing about the food in America, but I am not alone - see attached blog...http://www.pizzasandcream.typepad.com/

In any case, this morning during one of the interminable advert breaks on telly, there was one for Bush's Honey Baked Beans. I kid you not - ugh! "First we take the beans and slow cook them in brown sugar. Then we add crispy bacon, and a touch of honey and barbecue sauce, and you have the best tasting beans in the world!" I beg to differ - that does not make for a quality bean taste in my book. Brown sugar AND honey AND bacon. And no doubt topped off with cane syrup (everything is it seems!).

I am also spending too much time watching the World Cup. Surprisingly there is still coverage of the World Cup despite the USA not making it through. But after the travesty of the Australia-Italy match today, I almost wish there wasn't. It wasn't so much that Italy won - I thought Australia were on borrowed time in any case - it was HOW they won. Even the Italians didn't look proud, and this is the race who will take credit for the Romans creating everything! Oh well. Maybe England will actually wake up for their next match and provide some entertainment for a second.

Things America does do very well though are real sales, and great made for TV westerns. Both of which I enjoyed over the weekend. Broken Trail (starring Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church), is fantastic, well worth watching. And the Saks sale resulted in me buying not one but two evening dresses (never a bad thing to have a choice!). The BCBG one makes me look as much like Angelina Jolie as I ever will (being shorter, wider, and generally baggier than her), and the Laundry one makes me look as much like Sienna Miller as I ever will (being the same height, but lets just say she could hide behind me with no effort whatsoever). So happy happy when such items are half price at about USD200 a piece!! Yippee! I actually enjoyed shopping for once in my life...

Another first for me today - I caught the subway to work. It was threatening to rain so miraculously every light ceased to function on the roof of taxis, so I trundled down the street, on to a subway, and trundled the one block at the other end to work. All for USD2.00. Very easy, I got a seat, and there were even slightly normal looking people sharing the carriage with me. There was one weird guy at 34th Street, who stuck his bag into the doors as they were closing, and then just waited patiently for the conductor to open the doors again. So peculiar, he just stood there placid as can be, without trying to wrench the doors open or anything. And they re-opened and he got in. He did have the announcement "holding doors open will delay the departure of the train. please do NOT hold the doors open!" shouted over the tannoy, but he maintained his equanimity and smiled happily into space ... I want some of what he is having - maybe honey beans for breakfast?

Polar bears and cameras

I have spent way too much time today swaddled in winter clothing at my desk today trying to ignore my sighing neighbour in her cubicle (speaking of which, has anyone heard the spoof of You're Beautiful, called My Cubicle - it makes me laugh! http://www.stereogum.com/My%20Cubicle.mp3 ). She sighs about every 30 seconds or so, as if she has been sent the worst news in the world - I am too scared to ask, but can almost set my watch by her ...
I spent some time "watching" the Australia-Croatia game (ie pressing refresh on yahoo's site every three seconds and shutting my eyes and pretending I was there), and took too many conference calls which I wasn't listening to!
I also took delivery of items for my sister (no problem), and am expecting more on behalf of my dear friend in Australia (no problem) - I now have a purpose in life - NY mailbox. So if anyone has anything they want sent to me on their behalf, I am happy to provide rates! ;)
Then, I started scoping around on tripadvisor.com (the best internet site in the world), for accommodation in Reykjavic. Sindy and her sister will be spending a couple of nights there after our arctic cruise later this year (yippee). I spent some time perusing the roomwithaview website (as recommended by tripadvisor), and found that the romantic rooms have "Private bathroom with a private two person Jacuzzi with foam bath possibilities" !!!!!!! I like to keep my options open, but that sounds, well, I do not want to ask - perhaps the Hotel Bjork may be safer ....

Wednesday - hump day

not much happening in NY town today. Still freezing at my desk, and sweltering out the door ... Best bit of fun was at lunch when a NZ colleague ordered a glass of orange juice, and the waitress (in broadest Brooklyn) said "you wanna glass of Irish juice??". I am also excited to see that Junior's (apparently the best cheesecake in NY) have opened a branch in Times Square just down the road from the office (their original branch is in Brooklyn - bit far to travel!). Time to get some cheesecake!

Weather and manicures

It is hot again today. This should come as no surprise because the little symbol on the weatherman's chart today on the morning news was a barbeque. I kid you not. Really hot places just have a fire (like Phoenix where it is currently 45 degrees!), NY at 34 warrants a bbq, and anywhere with a chance of thunderstorms has two little people under an umbrella being chased by a sharp bolt! Fool proof I guess.
I just returned from the "Irish" pub down the road where a few of us ducked out to watch the England-Sweden match. All I can say is send Campbell and Crouch home immediately ... (and I usually don't mind Campbell). Of course the pub was supercooled as is everywhere else - frostbite here I come!
Today I also had my first NY manicure. I am not a manicure junkie but could easily now become one. My nails are now buffed and polished by my Russian friend, and literally you just walk up some steep dodgy stairs, through a small door, and there is a bank of ladies ready and waiting to do their worst. As usual the tipping comes into it, but the etiquette is - go in, get allocated a lady. She will shape, buff, oil, and massage. Then you pay the bill to her (about USD10), she goes and gets change (conveniently including many singles) and you tip her (I tipped USD1.50, but probably should have tipped USD2). She then paints your nails, puts on top coat, and puts you under a blower to dry them. Then you leave. Whole thing takes about 20 minutes. Perfect. And I have glossy pink nails that are flashing as I type. The kind of sad thing though was that the lady doing my nails had terribly cracked and ripped nails with no polish on them at all. My experience of manicures in the UK and Australia were that they were much more expensive, no tipping, and the girls were beautifully manicured themselves. I am almost felt at the end of the session that we should swap and I would do hers. Wonder what she would have said if I had offered?
On other interesting news, my little blog is officially banned by the Australian defence force now! My good friend who is a very important Army Intelligence sergeant, has been told he is being officially investigated because of trying to log into my wee blog. Well, it stands to reason that any blog could really be a subversive information gathering site for the axis of evil? Why not one with my dull and tedious opinions and day to day activities in NY?

Almond Jo's ....

I know I spend a lot of time taking about food, but this is because I dread lunch times. I don't know where to get food, and so I put it off as long as I can ... I did find the sushi but it is not the best - what I would give for the Aussie variety and convenience of sushi. I had considered going to one of the soup shops (eg Hale & Hearty), but when todays main new choice for soup was "Chicken Pot Pie" I decided not to. How do you shove chicken pot pie into soup?? Yuck. Other options are new england clam chowder (with cream), curried cauliflower chickpea and lentil (with cream), creamed brocolli and three cheese (with cream)... you get the picture. Even a quick trip to Pret (yes they have that here) does not yield results. True, it is the closest to a baguette you will find in NY, but the options are not the UK ones. Here you get to choose from sandwiches such as BLT, new york deli (pastrami etc), giant all day breakfast, chicken coronation with cheese (I am serious), and turkey club... Begin to see my problem?
So today I went to the Chinese place also under Rockefeller Centre, and after them nearly falling over when I asked for steamed rice (default is fried rice of course), the food was OK. A bit on the scrimpy side, but it was only USD6.02 (gotta love that sales tax), and was fairly filling. I got the beef and brocolli and the shrimp and green beans. Rather a lot of salt with the beef and sugar with the shrimps. Geographical hazard I guess.
But then I headed across to the variety store to get some almonds to munch on, and was again struck by US "candy" choices. One small pack of almonds was USD3.99. All the mixed and jumbo bags of sweets were USD1.99. Hmmm. All sorts of options, half of which come in sugar free too (which in my experience increases the fat content, and gives you also those nasty digestive results you get from too much aspartame or sorbitol or whatever else they have pumped in there). Some healthy examples are Almond Jos which are like bounty bars, but with an almond on top (why be frugal?). Or Werthers with chocolate - basically chocolate bars loaded up with crunchy bits of werthers (probably the floor sweepings in the factory), hazelnuts and soft toffee. Yummo - not. Ho hum. This does sound like a catalogue of complaints about food, and lets face it - it is!
Yesterday I did go outlet shopping to Woodbury Common which was genuinely a lot of fun and very convenient. I left the apartment at 8:30am, caught the subway to 42nd street and used the underground link to the port authority bus station. Got my return ticket with Gray Line (USD38.00 inc tax), and got on the comfy airconditioned bus. It was about 36 degrees outside yesterday! I was sharing my bus ride with a bunch of spaniards, some Russians, a family of aussies, and a family from the UK right next to me. Like a mini-UN really, but without America. The UK family in particular was the most interesting. They decided to time the trip to the outlets (described as being about 1 hour). Gav: "right-ho, let's time it! nine firty" ; Shirl: "nah, nine twennyfoive" Trev: "nah, its nine firty alreddy" Shirl: "me watch must be slow" Gav: "just like you you dozy mare". Vaguely amusing for the first 20 minutes anyway. Aussie Jen and Jack were just talking about all their nieces and nephews that like to wear designer labels. Jen and Jack had brought a large empty suitcase with them on the bus - I like that feeling of optimism.
I didn't end up buying that much, but did choose a good day to go - it was Father's Day here, so I didn't have too many people to tread on. Woodbury Common is set up like a mini-village (except it is huge) - very hot in between the different mini-houses. I did kind of wish that instead of the cute village design, a giant underground mall would have been better! The discount book they give you for going with Gray Line is well worth it though - my 20% discount at Ann Taylor paid for the bus ride and then some! Highly recommended little trip...

Staten Island (I did it so you don't have to...)

The title says it all. Whilst my wee blonde friend ("WBF") was here, we decided to do something touristy and catch the Staten Island ferry, maybe have some lunch, and come back over. Two free trips past Libby has to be worth it if nothing else, and you can't be too much of a Manhattan-ite. I pooh-poohed all the people who recommended that getting off was not the best idea. The politest comment went along the lines of "we were disappointed" and just got worse. But I was sure we knew better, and were feeling quite intrepid. The trip over was fine (apart from my waiting 25 minutes for the right subway to finally arrive, dratted lack of indicator boards!). Was quite chilly, but we bravely stood at the bow of the ferry, doing our best impersonation of ship figureheads on the prow, hair flowing in the rather cold but bracing wind.
We made a pot-luck decision to go to old Richmond Town. My NFT book recommended a restaurant there, and so it was as good as anywhere - the port area was not exactly inspiring. So, we wandered around outside looking for a taxi. First problem - no taxis.
Headed back inside to check the bus routes, definitely feeling intrepid at this point. Discovered the 76 bus went where we wanted. So, back outside and on to the bus. I used my metrocard, but WBF only had notes, so I scrounged around to find change for her fare (coins only). The bus ride was interminable and very uncomfortable, but we were still a little optimistic not to mention hungry, and by this time still had the spirit of Livingstone coursing in our veins. I checked my guide book hoping something out the window would be familiar, and WBF looked out the window, mentioning at intervals how she liked being somewhere with no plans or idea where she was.
Luckily, I found the right stop, and we got off in a strange place, surrounded by obviously mismatched historical houses. Apparently the big idea on Staten was to MOVE all the historical houses into one area of the island, huddled together forlornly in fields and trees. Not sure if the houses wanted to be moved, or if a bulldozer just sidled up at 2am and started taking out the supports from under people when they were sleeping, but in any case, here they all were. This being America, there are no pavements, so I guess you are supposed to drive 50m from one house to the next and just have a wander around the area. There are apparently hundreds of houses. Every now and then we could spy some people in "period costume" which looked about as authentic as polyester could, showing reluctant families around. But more importantly, the recommended restaurant (the Parsonage), was there in front of us - although quite obviously closed. It could not have looked more closed without some broken windows and cobwebs! Hmmm. We checked with the car valet for the wedding that was occupying the grounds of the restaurant if there was anywhere else nearby. After us repeating for the 5th time that NO we did NOT have a car (he was completely incredulous), he confirmed what we had already guessed - that there was nothing nearby that could offer any sustenance. So we picked our way along the overgrown area where a pavement would have been anywhere else in the roas, scuttling off the road as large pickup trucks sprayed gravel at us, and trundled back to the bus stop where we stood munching on my small bag of pistachios, waiting for our chariot to return us to the ferry terminal. Finally the bus came (we saw the same driver on the way back), we gratefully got on and chugged back to the terminal. The people on the bus seemed a bit surprised to see us. I suppose we were dressed neatly, with our sunglasses and non-fuzzy hair, and they were not used to seeing people out of basketball gear on the bus, but still... We rushed back on to the ferry rather grumpily, and headed back to Manhattan 3 hours later, still hungry!
So the moral is - take the ferry, but don't get off!!

potato/potato and too much macaroni cheese

I was watching TV this morning to catch up on the news (BBC) and weather (NY1 - my favourite parochial channel in the whole world), and ran into an advert for Dawn dishwashing liquid ("just foam it on to your sponge, and it will vaccuum away the grease, not push it around like other detergents"). Beyond the excitement at the thought of detergents pushing grease around, I was caught by the jingle used "Just one squirt of Dawn, and the grease is gone". Now you understand that in America dawn and gone rhyme (ie "darn" and "garn"). I found this very funny until I suddenly started thinking "what other accents would pronounce those two words such that they would rhyme?" Maybe I was the odd one out? Snooty British might say "dorn" and "gorn", Indian accents may say "dohn" and "gohn" Japanese accents may say "don" and "gon". So by this time I was sitting eating my cereal, and speaking aloud in my version of accents, seeing which would result in a rhyme of the jingle. This kept me amused for a little while, and I was reassured that there are exceptions outside of my strange hybrid accent (South Africans would not rhyme, neither would French nor Germans nor Italians - not sure about Spaniards but then that is generally true ;) ). So I felt better and went to catch a cab to work with a Jamaican driver! Oh, and Michael Jordan's Steakhouse was fantastic - best steak I have had in memory. The restaurant is on a balcony overlooking the main hall at Grand Central, and is quite buzzy. The sides were HUGE though. We ordered asparagus, creamed spinach, fries and "Michael Jordan's macaroni cheese" (how could you not as it is his grandmother's recipe), and the steaks did literally came on a plate with nothing else. Between the two of us at some restaurants you would get through all of those sides as they are so mingy, but although the waiter did warn us they were large, we were not prepared! Each side would be a meal in itself - 8 large sticks of asparagus, a full bowl of creamed spinach, a casserole sized bowl of macaroni cheese (delicious), and a basket of fries the size of a small waste paper bin. So much food went to waste! We also saw at the next table I guy ordered the vanilla cheesecake, and it was literally a wedge 20 cm high and about 10cam wide at the wide edge! Still, when you are the size of Michael Jordan maybe these things make sense. I was just a big fat piglet by the end of it. But a good night anyway...

Sushi has landed ... and other food ...

... have now found a sushi place relatively near to work under Rockefeller Plaza - yippee. So for the last two days I have been sushi-ing happily for lunch. Today I did slip and also got an Aunty Annes soft pretzel (have never had one before so had to try it!). It was very good in an American way - tasted fantastic, but has left thet Krispy Kreme feeling - ie like you have swallowed some large heavy ball bearings that are rolling around inside your stomach.
Food is really easy in New York. Not only is there a Wholefoods supermarket near enough to where I live where EVERYTHING is organic (even the marshmallows), but there are also so many restaurants, bars, cafeterias etc etc that you could never go hungry. Generally I keep frozen wholemeal English muffins in my freezer, together with a few pots of organic soup in the fridge for those days when I can't be bothered going out. Otherwise it is cereal in the morning, sushi for lunch, and then dinner wherever! I have also found a new fruit purveyor of choice - he is on the corner of 6th and 32nd, and is a lovely man with a wide range. Today 3 bananas for a dollar, and two plums for a dollar. I was tempted by the cherries too, but you can't be too risque! The bananas are being shy about their origins, but the plums confess to being Californian... I thought I detected an accent.
I have now got to the stage after two weeks where I am happy to give some food recommendations, so here are some nice ones (all can be looked up on Citysearch):

Casually classy Italian in the West Village - Gusto
Downmarket and hip - Cafeteria in Chelsea on 7th and W17th
Great Italian in Chelsea - Le Zie
NY staples - Gotham Bar and Grill
Asian fusion with great cheap cocktails - Nooch on 8th and W17th
Brazilian tapas and good mojitos - Salud! near South Street Seaport
Pretentious Thai but nice atmosphere - SpiceMarket in the Meatpacking district

Bars/clubs to have fun at:
Jazz bar on the border of the Village and Soho - Zinc Bar
Reservations only tiny anonymous bar in Chinatown - Milk and Honey
Weird gypsy style nightclub in Lower East - Manahatna

Tonight I have a craving for steak so am dragging a friend to Michael Jordan's Steakhouse in Grand Central Station - will report back if it is any good...

Bits and pieces ...

When you move to a new city you are always comparing things against the last place you lived (in my case - London). So here are a few of the bits and pieces that have struck a chord:

• NY weather is not stacking up over the last couple of weeks - lots of rain and not very warm - about 70 degrees on average which I now know is about 21 degrees according to the rest of the world. London is warm and sunny since I left
• Fruit stands - in midtown there is a fruit vendor on almost every corner. So why does everyone still stuff their face with O'Henry bars and twinkies? I had decided to give my fruit custom to the guy on the corner just before my office, and he was fine for the first few mornings. Then I branched out from bananas, and got two apples as well. Well, one apple had a large cut in it from what looked like a wire basket, and the other had a giant bruise. Needless to say my custom has moved across the road... no complaints so far
• Subway vs tube - tube wins by a country mile on balance. There are some ways the subway is better - the buskers tend to be 3 men doing some gospel singing which is great as opposed to that annoying guy on the Northern line with his: "Sorry to disturb you all. I know it has been a long day and you are probably fed up and don't want to listen to me, but I would be ever so grateful... etc". Also the subway runs 24 hours, but no one would really catch it after dark. Those are the only upsides. Downsides of subway - dirtier; no indicator boards so the next train could be in 10 seconds or in 20 minutes - on the weekend I waited 25 minutes for a particular train(!); fewer seats, and the seats are hard plastic; subways only run north-south on Manhattan, so are useless for going across town - need to rely on buses or taxis (which are very cheap I have to say!)
• food - still huge portions. My favourite advert of the week is for Papa Johns, which goes "Do you like fajitas? And do you like pizzas? Well, we have COMBINED them!" then it goes on to describe this delicacy in lurid detail, together with pictures of cheese, crust, chicken, more cheese, fajitas and fat families guzzling. Ugh!
• laundry rooms - for the first time in years, I have a laundry room instead of an internal washer/dryer. I thought this would be awful, but there are actually only upsides so far - rather than waiting for one load to finish and then doing another (eg whites, then colours, then bedding etc), I can run three washers simultaneously - whooppee! It costs USD2.50 per load in the laundry room (provide your own washing liquid), and I felt great knowing everything was going through at one - a small frisson of excitement never goes to waste
• tipping - still annoying to have to tip everyone, but you do get used to it. I feel a bit like the dad on Married With Children at the opening credits, where I just have a sheaf of USD1's and hand one to anyone who looks sideways at me. I have not been to a hairdressers yet, where I understand that you must separately tip the person who washes your hair, the person who cuts, the one who makes you coffee, the one who blowdries etc etc. Humph.
• KMart - I am back in the land of the department store. Yippee. I miss that in central London, when John Lewis has to satisfy all department store needs at central London prices.

Oh, an update on the clothes airer - I now have one! KMart came through (once I found it - it had moved from its previous address). Many thanks to Sindy's friend K who suggested such an obvious answer to a fundamental problem. My unmentionables are now happily drying in the sun today in the window of my apartment. I am guessing that since I am on the 23rd floor, people will need binoculars to really be annoyed by them in any way. I was down to my last pair too, so saves me buying more (which was option no.2) ...

Parallel universe ...

... for those of you with children, or similar uni TV habits. You see, when I had an 11am lecture, I would generally lounge in bed eating crumpets which my mother had kindly delivered to me, watching my tiny TV. My programs of choice were generally kids TV, which is why I can still hum the smurfs tune, sing along with the Snorks, hate Jabberjaws and prefer the original Flintstones. And also, I came to have an appreciation for a man who can sing as he smiles, and show off his biceps whilst still keeping a G rating... Nathan from Hi-5.
So, picture the scene, New York on a rainy morning, yours truly sitting on her white leather sofa-bed (still waiting for friends of Sindy to come and try it out!), with a bowl of crispy brown rice cereal balanced in my lap, flicking through channels still trying to find a decent morning news channel (generally I stick to BBC!). And then I hear it "1-2-3-4-Hi5! 1-2-3-4-Hi5! Fun in the air..." etc. So I stop flicking, pick up my spoon, and prepare to eat happily whilst humming along to my favourites and secretly gawking at Nathan (he is scary but I can't look away!). That is when the parallel universe kicked in. Because I was not greeted by "Hi, I'm Nathan; I'm Kathleen; I'm Tim; I'm Kellie; I'm Charlie; and together, we're Hi5!!" Instead it was "Hi, I'm Sean; I'm Kimi; I'm Curtis; I'm Jennifer; I'm Carla; and together we're Hi5!".
I choked on my crispy rice!
No, you're not! I wanted to shout at the TV. Transfixed, I watched on. They are eerily similar, in that obviously the recruitment was done with their predecessors in mind, but with a local concern for equality and ethnic origin... Sean can sing with a smile, and has little biceps, but he is now Hispanic. Kimi is short, Asian and annoying and the rest of them avoid her (Kathleen?); Curtis is white, very skinny, dweeby and plays the guitar (wonder who?); Jennifer looks like an all-American cheerleader, with a side ponytail, and she hangs out with a handpuppet and giggles a lot; Carla is tall and bouncy, with an "infectious" laugh, and she is black...
I am not sure my system can cope with this. On top of the food that is not really food unless it is covered with cheese, giant appliances and so much rain, this was the final straw. I couldn't even wait to see if "Kimi" had a friend called JubJub. I finished my cereal as quickly as I could, and headed out to walk to work. Will I watch tomorrow, I am not sure ...
And I still have not found a clothes airer!

Piglet in a serviced apartment ...

... it rained and it rained and it rained... I am starting to get concerned as I now live on a very small island (compared to Britain and Australia anyway), and the rain is not stopping. Where is all the water going?? It is dark outside and very very wet. However, always look on the bright side, it is NY after all!
Yesterday my apartment was cleaned for the first time. This will now be a fortnightly event. And can I say that I have never had a cleaner before. I have always sniggered quietly (and not so quietly depending on the relationship) at people who have cleaners. How hard is it to clean up after yourself and do a once a week half hour around the kitchen and bathroom, with a bit of hoovering thrown in? However Carol (for that was her name), did a sparkling job. She changed the bed, refreshed the linens in the cupboard, dusted, polished, wiped and shined... One weird thing though is that she also rearranged the dirty crockery and cutlery I had in the not quite half full dishwasher, and put it on. Not sure why that was necessary but anyway... I now know how Carol thinks my dishwasher should be stacked. Of course the hard thing with the US is that everything is so BIG. The fridge could stock provisions for a rugby team, the oven would easily take two turkeys, and the dishwasher is industrial sized. Even if I put all the crockery into the dishwasher at once, it would not fill it!
However, determined not to be spoilt by this new convenience, I headed out into the rain this morning with the intention of catching the subway to work for the first time. usually I walk the 20 blocks to and from work. The issue with the subway is it is either 7 blocks north or 3 blocks south. So I headed south, down the stairs, and noticed I was on the downtown/brooklyn side of the street. Ooops, I re-emerged and headed over the other side of the street (gallantly pretending I had intended to do this), when an empty taxi (gold when it is raining), pulled up next to me. What could I do but jump in?? My chariot swept me off to work in cocooned comfort (I happily ignored the broken armrest, smell of wet dog and dirty floor of course)...
On other updates, I have found the controls for the airconditioning (cunningly disguised in the grille on top), have bought a straightener (no more fuzzies), but have still not found a clothes dryer/airer. This is getting desperate. I may have to buy new underwear soon if this carries on - more shopping, what a hardship!

Peruvian bananas...

Today my bananas are from ecuador. Yesterday they were columbian. Not sure if there is a message in that, but it certainly makes a difference from the boring origins when I was living in London. Not sure where my apple is from - it just says Fenix so perhaps it is shy...

I am recovering still from last night (and the night before and the night before). Last night I crashed some very exciting drinks at Park Avenue Cafe, which were hosted by KPMG in advance of an infrastructure conference on in NY this week. I hasten to add I did go with someone who was invited, but that is not always enough to get you in. As we had fortified ourselves with a bottle of Pinot Grigio before arriving an hour fashionably late, we swept in ready to take the room by storm. Not hard when the room is full of men who do infrastruture. Lets just say that these are not the Liam Neesons of the structured finance game, or even the Brad Pitts (although after a few drinks there were a few would-be Casanovas, particularly one that I shall refer to as Lister for those who are familiar with Red Dwarf). Another great thing about New York, the nibblies at drinks nights are nothing like the nibblies at London drinks nights. In London you either hover near the kitchen door, or resign yourself to the fact that the trays that come out every 10 minutes or so are emptied by the one group of guys there who can hoover anything within seconds. No no, in NY the trays of food never stop, a continuous flow, with so much that they usually go back to the kitchens with some leftovers! And the food was GOOD - mini filet mignons, sushi, blinis, cold pea soup (actually very nice) and gazpacho served in shot glasses, lobster dumplings, chicken wontons etc etc. I ate like a pig, drank like a fish, allowed the Casanovas to paw and simper as I impressed everyone with my newly acquired (over a bottle of Pinot Grigio) infrastructure credentials, and then jumped in a taxi and Cinderella'd home at about 10:30pm!
On other exciting news, I have still not found a clothes drying rack ...No time tonight - I am checking out my local Italian with a friend, and then hopefully having enough time to do some shopping on the way home, as I am out of milk.

Where do you find a clothes airer?

I remember when I moved to London, the big issue was where did I find a hairdryer? I am now savvy to these sorts of requirements (look for a chemist - have already bought my NY hairdryer and straighteners - why did noone remind me about the humidity - I am a furball here with the frizzy hair!), but a clothes airer - that is harder. I am about to discover the laundry room in my building. I have already done a quick reconaissance, seeing the machines, what sort of stuff they take, checking out the cost on the card operation mechanism... So now I am almost ready to take the plunge! However I refuse to put my "unmentionables" through industrial washers, and equally do not want my jumpers and shirts to be heat dried (and shrunk), so I thought I must get a clothes airer. But where to go in NYC for that? I don't think my shoe frenzy of shopping yesterday in Saks helped to solve this problem. I sense a mission ahead ...

Arrival and straight into it ...

... well, I can't say it was a hardship - got off the day flight from Heathrow, and after finally finding my car (the driver was asleep!), we were off to the flat. The driver was Russian I found out quickly, and had lots of "business" that he had to negotiate over the phone as we drove along. However he did name all the bridges for me as we headed through the midtown tunnel, and into the city. The flat was relatively easy to find, and after signing for the car, I hefted my 3 bags inside. The doorman, instead of the obsequious, forelock tugging, tip-hungry Noo Yawker I had expected was an uninterested, supercilious, unhelpful person, who checked my ID (had a snigger at my passport photo - well it was taken about 8 years ago!), handed me the keys, and pointed me to the lift. So I wrestled the first two bags, together with my carry on which had TWO laptops in it, up the lift, and found the apartment. Dumped that stuff in the door, and back down for bag number 3. Guess what, doorman - no tip for you! I don't feel bad though, because every time I have been past the desk it has been a different doorman!
Flat is fine, facing west with a nice view of a sliver of the Empire State, and the top of the flatiron building, can't complain. I investigated the cable channels, and generally nested for a while, unpacked, and headed out for some basics. The only problem being - where are the controls for the air conditioning units - NY is sweltering!