New York, New York...

People either love or hate New York and I’ve decided I love it! How can you not love this city? The perfectly planned out streets, by gosh, no taxi driver could ever cheat you! And this city really does not sleep, unlike London (bah!). New York has a personal character that London lacks, it’s actually inhabited by NEW YORKERS. Not people from a 101 countries like London. Even though that is what makes London special too, it sometimes makes London a bit of a no mans land. But New York had a people. I hardly saw anything other than black, white, and latino and the odd far-eastern face here and there.

But I was even happier because I conquered New York on the first day. I got off my $15 Chinatown bus, without any maps, refused to feel intimidated. Made my way to the subway, and then finally to the YMCA on the West Side by asking people at every turn. I made sure not to look at anyone in the eyes, as my cousin warned, and I survived! Lol! Just kidding, New Yorkers are lovely!

I did the usual touristy stuff: World Trade Centre site, walk through Central Park, go on the Staten Island ferry and wave at the Statue of Liberty, stand outside the Met Museum’s admissions and peer in because you’re too cheap to pay $20 to go in (never was an art appreciater), rode a yellow cab driven by a mad Arab, spotted Christopher Walken stepping into his limo outside the Rockefellar Centre, and won lottery tickets to go see The Late Show with David Letterman LIVE!!!!!!!!! That was a highlight! And of course, what every loser ‘Friends’ fan like me does, stand outside places like ‘Pottery Barn’ and giggle.

But we also ate. And Ate. And Ate even more. The top 2?

1) Mama Empanada (in Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen) - Amazing Argentinean café serving filled empanadas, esp. good are the steak and cheese, the Viagra (seafood cocktail), and the Elvis (peanut butter, bananas and honey) for dessert. Their fruit cocktail is also amazing.

2) Pha-Nom Thai (Greenwich Village) = the chilli stuffed sea bass. That’s all I have to say. This restaurant does good stuff. Very innovative, very fresh.

I also visited the Journalism departments of NYU and Columbia, and shed a tear and a pout standing in front of Columbia’s beautiful library steps. I really liked both institutions, NYU and it being in the heart of Greenwich Village, probably my favourite neighbourhood in Manhattan, and of course, Columbia, its prestige, it’s beautiful Harlem campus, the name Pulitzer all over the damn place! Sigh! Someday....?

The best thing is, I think I felt at home here, because I didn’t feel like a foreigner (hmm!). I think how you sound makes a huge difference, when it comes to being or feeling accepted. And my accent is waaay more American than it is British (strangely so) so I felt more quickly at ease. And I didn’t even feel this ease in Boston strangely. New York definitely suits me.