A Breather...
Times Square - New York
After a hectic one and a half weeks of sightseeing, eating and drinking, my cousin finally flew out of New York last night bound for London. I was a little teary eyed when I saw her off at the airport, but at the same time I was glad she finally saw New York, and how I've been living my life here.We spent a few days wandering around and taking in the sights and smells. There was the obligatory hot dog from a street vendor, the $20 manicure & pedicure, having our make up done at the make up counters in Macy's, the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, and of course a stroll around Times Square.
Naked Cowboy in Times Square - he must have been freezing!We headed off to Vegas after a few days to unwind and try our luck at the casinos. As for how much we won on the slots and blackjack tables, errr...let's just say we had fun but I'm glad we're back in NY ;)So now I'm sitting here on the couch, a day after Thanksgiving, sipping a cup of tea and writing this entry. J's sister is in town for a few days, so there will be more photos opps, but for the time being here are some taken during my cousin's visit. Enjoy.
Slot machines...at the airport!!
Paris Hotel, Las Vegas
New York Hotel, Las Vegas. Not quite as good as the real thing
Bellagio Hotel by night, Las Vegas
Quickie wedding anyone?
Aladdin Hotel - no trip to Vegas is complete without at least ONE buffet meal
I had about 4 of these cheesecake thingies at the buffet, delicious!!
The Strip by night
Birthday dinner at Delmonico in the Venetian Hotel. Truffled wild mushroom mousse on crostini
Bird's eye view of the Grand Canyon on our flight home
Day 2 Dinner
The seriously addictive lobster rolls at Pearl Oyster Bar
After a day of sightseeing, nothing beats a seat at the counter at Pearl Oyster Bar for their delicious lobster rolls and an order of fried oysters with homemade tartare sauce.
A Visitor
My dearest cousin is coming for a visit, and she arrives tomorrow.I'm excited to boot that I'm finally having a visitor. I have been trying for the three years that I've been here to get family and friends from Australia to come for a visit. All met with the same excuses; "It's too far", "I can't take that much time off work, are you crazy!?", "It's too expensive", "It's too far". Blah blah blah, all lame excuses.For the record, it's not that far - 14 hours from Sydney to San Francisco or L.A, plus a mad dash to the domestic terminal to catch the 6 hour connecting flight to New York. Add check-in times, security checks - 24 hours in total, tops. Jet lag is an incidental. See, not far at all.Anyway back to my bestest, closest, most favourite of all my cousins.We've been chatting on the phone a lot recently. Her birthday is coming up and she was feeling a little down. I said, "Why don't you take some time off and come for a visit? A holiday is exactly what you need". "Nah, it's too far, plus I'm broke" was her response.Sigh.Now, I admit I was a little sneaky. Sensing her mood, I decided the best plan of attack was to bombard her with phone calls. So I called, almost every day, gently cooing to her that what she needed was a holiday. You know, get away from it all for a while, see the world, treat yourself to a great birthday present.What I didn't anticipate was the reaction I would get from her. From complaining that New York was too far - "What am I going to do on the plane for 14 hours?", having no money, not being able to take the time off work, to...a one month juggernaut of airline travel. Around the world airline travel in fact: Sydney - New York - London - Hong Kong - Sydney.A woman's brain works in mysterious ways, don't you think?So yes, she arrives tomorrow and I'm excited as can be. We'll be doing the touristy stuff while she's here, many of which I haven't done yet. Plus there will be a side trip to Las Vegas too.All I have to do is clean the apartment and make it look presentable. Can't wait!
Australia Day
Well, not exactly Australia Day, more like Chick Pea day.J had a very hectic weekend of sports (as in watching it perched on a stool in a pub, not playing of course), so I decided Sunday was going to be Chick Pea Pamper Day. Some pimples had decided to throw a huge gathering on my face; I thought I left all that behind when I hit 30, or 18 for that matter, so I made an appointment for a facial at my favourite spa.The appointment wasn't until 3.30 pm, and I was feeling a little hungry.Tuck Shop in the East Village is a place I have been wanting to check out for a while, and today was the day to indulge my tastebuds. The good 'ol Aussie meat pie is something I haven't had in over three years.I synced my iPod with some Powderfinger and headed for the subway to get to Second Avenue.
The shop had the usual Aussie paraphernalia - a HUGE koala painted on the wall outside near the entrance, a surfboard, Peter Jackson and Winfield Blue beer mats hanging on the walls and so on. It was a little grottier than I expected, but hell, I wasn't there for the decor, bring on the pies!!
Brings a tear to the eye, this thing of beautyWhen I was a kid I used to love to pierce the top of the pie crust with the ketchup bottle, squirt a massive amount of sauce inside and then gorge. When you bit into it, you would get a lovely mixture of beef mince, gravy and ketchup. In retrospect that was kind of gross, so I just dolloped a respectable amount on my warm, crusty pie.Behold the masterpiece:
The expression on my face just before I dug in. Corny? Yes!Verdict: While it was a satisfying, I found the pie had a tad too much pepper which overpowered the taste. The flies that were buzzing around the shop gave it an authentic, Aussie feel, though I'm not sure if this was intentional. Still, I had my pie fix so I was a happy camper. Hopefully I won't wait another three years for another pie!
