Week One (17 Feb 10 - Now)

So I've managed to survive my first week without getting lost, slipping on the ice or getting mugged. First thoughts of New York? I love it. I've been soaking up so many things it is hard to try and remember what I did at the start of the week.

It was a pretty active weekend. The night after I got here (Thursday) I caught up with a mate from work who was over. Ended up going to some over priced mexican place in Times Square. Admitiedly it was probably the fanciest Mexican I had ever had and the Sangria was well nice. She was going to a Broadway show so I bailed and met another mate down in Nolita. This is an area pretty close to where I am staying and it is pretty cool. I ended up at a bar called Public. It was exactly how I imagined a bar would be in New York. Very cool. The jet lagged kicked in a bit later on so pulled the pin at about midnight.

  

Friday I decided to walk through the West Village and head to the Lomo shop. I wanted to check this area out as it was on my radar as a spot to live. I walked from my pad west to the Hudson then down through Greenwich and SoHo and some other areas back again. Must have walked for four hours just in awe that I was in this place. Had my first glipse of the Statue of Liberty. The West Village was pretty nice. It was a little bit sharper than the East Village. For Sydneysiders it is kind of like comparing Newtown to Surry Hills. For people back in G Bangers maybe like the top to bottom end of Pako. The Lomo shop was sensational. It have every camera and gadget you could imagine. I was in heaven. Friday night I met a guy I was going to be working with at a 'Dive' bar. This is basically a pub that sells cheap beer. They are pretty crap but when you are paying 4 bucks for a pint then it's not bad value and hence the crowd. From there we headed to some fancy smancy bar which I have no idea what it was called.

Saturday was more walking but this time south through Chinatown and over the Brooklyn bridge. I was pretty knackered by the end of it so got a subway back. Ahhh the subway. What an experience. I could create a whole seperate blog just on that. I'll save all the gory details for another entry but it's always an entertaining experience. Saturday night I went to Madison Square Garden to watch the Knicks play Oklahoma. It was an awesome game that went into OT. The Knicks should have won but were pipped at the end. It's been a long time between games but I'll definately be back. Planning to go to a Knicks / New Jersey game next weekend. There is some ice hockey on this week as well which could be quite cool. 

 

 

 

Sunday I headed north up 5th Avenue and ended up at Central park. I think I must have walked 30-40kms over the long weekend.

Work was well work. Managed to survive the week. Everyone in the office is cool. The highlight is the kitchen which is so stocked with food and drink for staff it is not funny. The are 5 different types of coffee so I am a happy camper.