We were woken last night at 3am by a bunch of rowdy, drunken teenagers fighting down in the street below our window. I heard a guy shouting incomprehensively and a girl screaming 'get off me' over and over. The good samaritan in me thought this deserved investigation. It appeared that, while she was not getting raped, the girl was being sat on by her own friends, in order to subdue what looked like a domestic drama. We were not the only people watching as I could see many other curtains pulled aside in the building opposite. I assessed the situation as moderate and entertaining as it seemed to be all bluster - but another voyeur seemed to think it was more serious, or more annoying, as 2 police cars showed up and pulled onto the footpath. By this point the kids scattered, but the unlucky screaming guy was detained by the cops and pushed against the wall for searching. This drew some of the others back, I think in a misguided attempt to convince the police that nothing was up. It all seemed to be routine, until the crazy drunk girl came back and started going mental. All of a sudden the cops descended on her, cuffed the guy and some other chivalrous dude came charging in to the fray. Someone must have radioed because in a heartbeat there were 7 other police cars on the scene! That makes 9 police cars and 18+ policemen on a not-so-quiet corner of Manhattan at 3am. Outside our window! They ended up dragging 3-4 kids away in cuffs and the rest dispersed, trying unsuccessfully to hail a cab. Timon and I watched all this incredulously, and with curiosity. The most impressive thing was how quickly the police responded. Oh, and the craziest thing was when they all drove away, the police car on the footpath drove like a madman at high speeds until he hit the road.
Exciting stuff!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
My 28th Birthday
Birthdays away from home are always tough, I've had a few now. I was lucky enough to have Timon taking care of me and it all started with bacon and eggs at 10.30am. I received many birthday wishes on Facebook and spent the afternoon snacking and watching stuff. Our new TV finally arrived around 4pm, then we headed downtown to meet up with a lady about a cat. For those of you who know Gandalf, you'll understand the awesomeness of fostering. We found a suitable organisation online and made contact in order to find ourselves a kitty to help. This company operates out of Petco - a big chain of pet supplies in New York. We stood around and looked at all the cats up for adoption, and waited for our 'interview'. In consultation with the boss lady we've decided to foster Toulouse, a gorgeous grey longhaired boy of about 1.5 years. He is very very shy and needs our help to become socialised for adoption. We will pick him up on Saturday and love him to bits. Photos to follow.....
Facebook yielded a birthday dinner suggestion courtesy of IMAXian Sophie Cole and we made our way to Mama Mexico on Broadway and 102nd around 8pm. The service was insanely fast and the sangria was insanely good - meaning that we were home and drunk by 9pm for Bones. Ooh I also got a phone call from England! Thanks Ross!
Because we were confined to the apartment waiting for the TV on my actual birthday we decided to defer the fun stuff to the next couple of days. On Thursday we went to the American Natural History Museum. Mostly to be nosy and assess whether Timon wanted to work there, we paid for all the 'special' exhibitions starting with the Whoopee Goldberg narrated 'Journey to the Stars' planetarium show. It was in one of those cool domed theatres with lean-back seats. Apart from the stiff neck, annoying grind of Whoopee's voice and the terrifying notion of Earth's fragile existence in space, it was cool. Next we found the Butterfly enclosure which was amazing. We took many photos of the kind that will mean nothing in a few years time, but are pretty anyway. The museum itself seems very old fashioned with dark halls of glass fronted displays, stuffed animals and freaky mannequins. Their IMAX Theatre is laughable. We bought tickets to 'Sea-Rex' and the screen was an epic letdown. And it wasn't in 3D. Lame. The museum building is very impressive and grand looking, but the content and presentation was a bit of a snooze. But then I guess it's natural history.....zzzzzzz.
The last of my birthday adventures was a trip to see the Harlem Globetrotters at Madison Square Garden. We had a quick dinner at Ruby Tuesday's in Times Square and doubled back to the stadium. We took the escalators (no ramps here!) up to the gods, which were not nearly as bad as I expected. The stadium was not very full and our view was great! I wasn't sure what to expect, and there were probably more cheap laughs than trick shots, but the whole thing was lots of fun. Definitely the most enjoyable basketball game I've ever seen.
Facebook yielded a birthday dinner suggestion courtesy of IMAXian Sophie Cole and we made our way to Mama Mexico on Broadway and 102nd around 8pm. The service was insanely fast and the sangria was insanely good - meaning that we were home and drunk by 9pm for Bones. Ooh I also got a phone call from England! Thanks Ross!
Because we were confined to the apartment waiting for the TV on my actual birthday we decided to defer the fun stuff to the next couple of days. On Thursday we went to the American Natural History Museum. Mostly to be nosy and assess whether Timon wanted to work there, we paid for all the 'special' exhibitions starting with the Whoopee Goldberg narrated 'Journey to the Stars' planetarium show. It was in one of those cool domed theatres with lean-back seats. Apart from the stiff neck, annoying grind of Whoopee's voice and the terrifying notion of Earth's fragile existence in space, it was cool. Next we found the Butterfly enclosure which was amazing. We took many photos of the kind that will mean nothing in a few years time, but are pretty anyway. The museum itself seems very old fashioned with dark halls of glass fronted displays, stuffed animals and freaky mannequins. Their IMAX Theatre is laughable. We bought tickets to 'Sea-Rex' and the screen was an epic letdown. And it wasn't in 3D. Lame. The museum building is very impressive and grand looking, but the content and presentation was a bit of a snooze. But then I guess it's natural history.....zzzzzzz.
The last of my birthday adventures was a trip to see the Harlem Globetrotters at Madison Square Garden. We had a quick dinner at Ruby Tuesday's in Times Square and doubled back to the stadium. We took the escalators (no ramps here!) up to the gods, which were not nearly as bad as I expected. The stadium was not very full and our view was great! I wasn't sure what to expect, and there were probably more cheap laughs than trick shots, but the whole thing was lots of fun. Definitely the most enjoyable basketball game I've ever seen.
Life in the UWS
For those of you interested in Google Street Viewing us - we live at 82 West 105th Street. That is on the cusp of the Upper West Side meets Morningside which is the name for lower lower Harlem. There are 2 Chinese restaurants in our block, 3 99c stores, 2 pharmacies and numerous Delis. There is a liquor store (!) and a laundromat. Totally convenient. We are a couple of blocks from Central Park and a couple from Broadway. Columbia University is not so far away and there are 2 convenient subway stations. Broadway has a plethora of restaurants, supermarkets, and fast food places. There is a Dunkin Donuts a block away which comforts me immensely.
Our apartment building seems quiet with a few yapping dogs behind closed doors. We met one of our neighbours last night, she called to us in the hallway and introduced herself. Our apartment itself, if you haven't seen the pics, is a one bedroom deal and is freshly painted white with a jacuzzi bath! The bathroom is surprisingly large for the city and our kitchen is new enough to not give me the skeevies. We have a fire escape and a fridge that opens right to left (weird!). Our most recent acquisition in a 32inch LG TV which was a bargain at $300. I'm not sure what we'll do with it when we leave, I'm sure it's too big for the plane. Timon also bought a pretty green guitar from the Lower East Side and built a music stand out of cardboard boxes. All in all, I'd say we're pretty much at home.
Our apartment building seems quiet with a few yapping dogs behind closed doors. We met one of our neighbours last night, she called to us in the hallway and introduced herself. Our apartment itself, if you haven't seen the pics, is a one bedroom deal and is freshly painted white with a jacuzzi bath! The bathroom is surprisingly large for the city and our kitchen is new enough to not give me the skeevies. We have a fire escape and a fridge that opens right to left (weird!). Our most recent acquisition in a 32inch LG TV which was a bargain at $300. I'm not sure what we'll do with it when we leave, I'm sure it's too big for the plane. Timon also bought a pretty green guitar from the Lower East Side and built a music stand out of cardboard boxes. All in all, I'd say we're pretty much at home.
Moving into the Upper West Side
Our broker was starting to get a bit angry with us. Behind her normal, cheery demeanour was a bubbling resentment for the Aussie couple that wouldn't settle for a dump and wouldn't be taken seriously by prospective landlords. But to her credit, she continued to drive us around the city and show us apartments, only using the hard sell in the last few days. But we held out. We had applied for the 2nd apartment we'd seen with this broker and for some cruel reason, hadn't heard anything a whole week later. She kept reassuring us that this was normal, but eventually even she admitted that it was weird. The landlord's office was busy, overrun, short staffed etc etc and even though the wait was mental torture it worked in our favour in the end. Our broker was able to lay on the guilts about the long wait and we ended up with the key to our favourite apartment in our hands! Finally! Mention must be made of the 7 amazing friends who scrambled and wrote us quick character references at 9am on morning so that we could sweeten our application. Thanks to Kate, Ida, Lachlan, Frances, Lucy & Nick and Arlee. With shining references from Denmark, IMAX, a tram, Moonee Valley, Sheffield and North Fitzroy how could we go wrong?
I can't say I was sad to leave the hotel room (and I was terrified of the bill), but I had a certain fondness for it's cosy bunks, tiny TVs and shared bathrooms. Getting the money together for the deposit was a whole other drama that drew out over the previous fortnight. It all started when we withdrew $10,000 in cash from various ATMs to pay for that first apartment we almost had but ended up losing. We fell victim to misinformation and confusion about the way the system worked. We were also convinced that whenever a new apartment came up we would need to money at hand, and didn't want to risk the waiting time for an international transfer. So when things started to heat up over 5J (our new apartment) we withdrew more and more cash in order to be ready. This wouldn't have been as ridiculous if New York ATMs gave out larger notes than $20. Eventually, and not without it's own special dramas related to be a foreigner, we opened individual checking accounts at Chase. We followed this up by bringing in our hefty $20,000 stash of $20 notes and gathering incredulous looks from the bank dudes. It was...humiliating. But it's a good story now.
Camille (that's our heavenly broker) called us on Wednesday 9th Feb with a lease signing appointment. We sorted out our 2 bank checks (1 for the landlord, 1 for Camille) and signed away 3 months security and 1 months rent in exchange for 2 very happy people. We gave Camille an Outback gift voucher for her troubles and spent our last evening at The Pod Hotel!
Thursday was an exhausting day. We collected our key around 12noon and moved our suitcases and dirty laundry amassed over the last month into the apartment. We then headed to JCPenney and Kmart to collect all kinds of bedding, appliances, coathangers and towels. We dropped this off at the apartment and (foolishly) decided to catch the water taxi out to IKEA island. We didn't realise at this point that the we would miss the last ferry back, as well as the last shuttle to the subway. We spent 2 hours deciding on a bed, mattress, couch and coffee table which we then arranged for delivery. I'm not sure why, but we decided to carry a whole lot of stuff with us on the way back to Manhattan, which included a bus trip and multiple trains at 11pm on a freezing night. Once we dumped that stuff in the apartment we were out again to the 24 hour supermarket to collect as many staples as we could carry. I am still recovering from the whole experience. But you know what, being able to sit on our couch drinking endless cups of tea and eating piles of vegemite toast make it all worth it.
Having spent the night on a rather comfy inflatable double bed (you visitors can look forward to it!), we waited all day until our furniture arrived. We decided, somewhat stupidly, that we could avoid tipping the delivery guys by carrying all the stuff up to the 5th floor ourselves. Luckily IKEA furniture is not the sturdiest stuff in the world and we managed it in 3 trips. Everything came together quickly, even without a screwdriver, and we are now everything in its proper place. We now just collect things on a needs basis and add things to the shopping list when we realise an oversight (potato masher, broom). I am trying my very hardest to live a simpler life and everytime I see something I want to buy, I just imagine it dumped on the sidewalk at the end of our visa.
I can't say I was sad to leave the hotel room (and I was terrified of the bill), but I had a certain fondness for it's cosy bunks, tiny TVs and shared bathrooms. Getting the money together for the deposit was a whole other drama that drew out over the previous fortnight. It all started when we withdrew $10,000 in cash from various ATMs to pay for that first apartment we almost had but ended up losing. We fell victim to misinformation and confusion about the way the system worked. We were also convinced that whenever a new apartment came up we would need to money at hand, and didn't want to risk the waiting time for an international transfer. So when things started to heat up over 5J (our new apartment) we withdrew more and more cash in order to be ready. This wouldn't have been as ridiculous if New York ATMs gave out larger notes than $20. Eventually, and not without it's own special dramas related to be a foreigner, we opened individual checking accounts at Chase. We followed this up by bringing in our hefty $20,000 stash of $20 notes and gathering incredulous looks from the bank dudes. It was...humiliating. But it's a good story now.
Camille (that's our heavenly broker) called us on Wednesday 9th Feb with a lease signing appointment. We sorted out our 2 bank checks (1 for the landlord, 1 for Camille) and signed away 3 months security and 1 months rent in exchange for 2 very happy people. We gave Camille an Outback gift voucher for her troubles and spent our last evening at The Pod Hotel!
Thursday was an exhausting day. We collected our key around 12noon and moved our suitcases and dirty laundry amassed over the last month into the apartment. We then headed to JCPenney and Kmart to collect all kinds of bedding, appliances, coathangers and towels. We dropped this off at the apartment and (foolishly) decided to catch the water taxi out to IKEA island. We didn't realise at this point that the we would miss the last ferry back, as well as the last shuttle to the subway. We spent 2 hours deciding on a bed, mattress, couch and coffee table which we then arranged for delivery. I'm not sure why, but we decided to carry a whole lot of stuff with us on the way back to Manhattan, which included a bus trip and multiple trains at 11pm on a freezing night. Once we dumped that stuff in the apartment we were out again to the 24 hour supermarket to collect as many staples as we could carry. I am still recovering from the whole experience. But you know what, being able to sit on our couch drinking endless cups of tea and eating piles of vegemite toast make it all worth it.
Having spent the night on a rather comfy inflatable double bed (you visitors can look forward to it!), we waited all day until our furniture arrived. We decided, somewhat stupidly, that we could avoid tipping the delivery guys by carrying all the stuff up to the 5th floor ourselves. Luckily IKEA furniture is not the sturdiest stuff in the world and we managed it in 3 trips. Everything came together quickly, even without a screwdriver, and we are now everything in its proper place. We now just collect things on a needs basis and add things to the shopping list when we realise an oversight (potato masher, broom). I am trying my very hardest to live a simpler life and everytime I see something I want to buy, I just imagine it dumped on the sidewalk at the end of our visa.
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