More New York

Just a quick one today as I'm in the Apple store using the internet on a display iMac. Monday night we went to Deep Space New York which was a cool club night in the posh part of town. Luckily it was free to get in before 11pm, as the drinks were $11 each! Paul has gone home now so I'm on my todd. After he left on Tuesday evening I did a few boring things like washing, looking up some things to do this week on the net and also looking into travel to and accomodation in Toronto, which is where I'm heading next. I can't get a room in Boston next week as they have a marathon going on. I will head there after Toronto and Niagara. I'm trying the Greyhound Bus for the trip, it takes 12 hours and costs $90. The train was the same price and duration but it left at 7am instead of 10am! I leave on Monday, staying until Sunday.

Yesterday I hit the record shops, it was a nice day and I bought loads of good stuff. Will need to find the post office before I leave to send a package back home - if you're reading this mum, can you please text me grandma's postcode as I'll send them there incase you move! Last night it rained so I didn't go far, just to a bar we went to last week to see some baseball. Today is really sunny so I'm gonna stroll about central park and the upper eastside, probably ending up at the Guggenheim art museum. Maybe more record shopping tomorrow and then some clubbing at the weekend.

There are a few photos on Flickr now, but it's hard to get (free) internet time and they take a while to upload so I'm not sure when I'll get the rest up. I'll try and get Paul to upload his NYC pics somewhere public now he is home. Bye for now!!

New York part 3

It was a long que for the ferry to Liberty and Ellis Island. It was a nce day again though and we got some good pics of the statue of liberty. Ellis Island is the immigration museum, it was a bit dull really. There were some photos from how it looked in the 80s when it was deralict, the restoration they have done has left it looking very cold and sterile. Got chattingwith Matt and Sandy our Australian roomates, nice guys so we headed back to the bar we went to last night with them. Got a bit drunk - I don't reccommend a Long Island Ice Tea after you've already had plenty of vodka! Definately don't have a second one!! Sunday was spent sleeping off the hangover. We had a walk over the huge Brooklyn Bridge in the evenin, which was cool but very cold and windy. Later we went to the cinema and saw Vantage Point - it was alright 6/10. Nice comfy seats in the theatre though.

Today we went to Macy's - dunno what the fuss is all about - it's just a glorified Debenhams!! Had a nice long walk around some other parts of town - found a cool bargain basement record store and got 5 LP's for $10 - will be gong back there later when Paul isn't mocking my Disco selections! Gonna go to Deep Space New York tonight which is a clubnight run by legendary NY DJ Francois K. Paul flies home tomorrow so I'll be doing more record shopping and clubbing for the rest of the week. I'm booked in at Boston for the 14th, arriving by train.

New York part 2

Hey guys, nice to read some of your comments, hope you're all keeping well :)

Thursday we met one of Pauls old friends called Micky and his wife Sarah. They came into town to pick us up and took us out to the Army base that they live on (Sarah is inthe Band for the army). It was a nice drive through some great scenary, especially Bear Mountain and its bridge. We had a nice relaxing day away from the busy city. Went for a drive into Cornwall, which is a small traditional looking town/village on the Hudson river. The views were great, small mountains, lots of trees and the huge river. The longest train ever went past us too, nmust have had over 100 carriages of cargo. We also had the biggest pizza ever for dinner! Sarah taught us how baseball works, its on TV all the time and we didn't really understand it 100% - it seems like a pretty good sport even if half the players are fatties.

Paul left his phone at their place so yesterday he got the train to meet them. I took this oppurtunity to visit the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). It was cool, really nicely laid out building and a nice selection of works to look at. I grabbed a quick hotdog for lunch and then made my way to the American Natural History Museum, which like our own, was pretty boring. The huge planetarium they have there though was well worth the admission price. In the evening we got the subway to downtown and walked around a few shops in Soho and Greenwich village. I got a couple more records and a cool t-shirt, then we came back uptown for dinner. After dinner we found a cool bar, nice music, pretty people and a good basketball match on tv.

Now it's today and we are heading out for more sightseeing as the weather is good. The plan is to do the ferry ride to Ellis Island (the immigrant museum) stopping at the statue of liberty on the way. Maybe go up the Empire State building too. No photos today, maybe later!

Also, happy birthday to DARRYL!! Have a beer for me dude ;-)

Rockafella

DSCF1839, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Me and the Empire State building

DSCF1808

DSCF1808, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Time Square - the Swatch shop in on the croner of our street fro the hostel.

DSCF1893

DSCF1893, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Central Park

New York

The flight with BA was great, complementary drinks, loads of food, movies, games and all that Jazz. Arrived at Newark airport Tuesday evening to hot and humid weather. Grabbed a bus into town and found the hostel no problem. It's basic but fine- nice hot showers, free internet and literally 2 mins walk from Time Square. Had a walk about once we had checked in (had to buy a towell from K-Mart, only $3!) and then grabbed a couple of drinks in a bar while watching the Yankee's play baseball. Got caught in a freak rainstorm on the way back!!

Got up pretty early Wednesday and grabbed breakfast at some coffee shop - the tea was alright!! Weather was still bright and sunny but it was a lot colder than yesterday - a bitter wind. Walked a few blocks and visited the Rockafella Plaza, including fantastic views from the observatory "on top of the rock". Visited Trump Tower (posh) and Apple Store. Saw a breakdance crew pooping some moves on the street corner - really good. Had a nice long walk around Central Park, which is huge. We walked up to the Resevoir and back - it's lovely and quiet and a massive contrast to the hustle and bustle just a few blocks away. Squirrells everywhere too!

Had a nice pasta meal in a bar at Columbus Corner while watching the UEFA cup on tv. Then got the subway to Bryant Park and walked a couple of blocks to Grand Central station. The place is as huge as it is beautiful. Wandered around a few more shops in Midtown, got some Reeses peanut butter cupcakes from the Hershes store. Bought my first record of the trip at Virgin MEgastore - the 45:33 LP by LCD Soundsystem. Got a couple of cheap tickets for a comedy club for the evening. It was pretty quiet in there but some of the comediens were pretty funny still. A couple of drinks in the Irish Pub near thehostel on the way home and then another good nights sleep.

Heading out of town today to meet a friend of Pauls who lives in West Point. Will do more sightseeing on Friday when we go downtown. Will try and upload a few photos soon.

Introduction

Firstly, some bad news. I'm not actually travelling the world in a panda suit - the picture just makes me smile, ok! I am going away very soon though and this will be the place to catch up on my activities abroad, so Favourite or Bookmark it (the geeks among you may like to set your RSS feeds) and keep up to date. Check the Flickr link on the left, which should hopefully be updated with a steady stream of photos. I've also added Myspace and Facebook links, just incase you need them. Probably best to email me if you really need to get in touch while I'm away though.

TRIP OUTLINE:
Fly out on April 1st from London Heathrow to Newark Intl, New York City.
Spend 2 weeks in NYC.
Spend 2 weeks covering Boston, Niagara Falls & Toronto.
Internal flight from Toronto to San Francisco.
Spend 2 weeks covering San Francisco & Seattle, including the drive between them.
Spend 1 week on Vancouver Island, visiting the family in Victoria.
Spend 1 week in Vancouver.
Fly home on June 1st from Vancouver Airport to London Heathrow.