I had an exam on Thursday morning for my American Presidency class, which I was minimally prepared for because it had snowed all day on Wednesday, which left me with no choice but to build a jump instead of studying. After my exam (which went surprisingly well given the lack of study) I headed straight for the city (via the dining hall - naturally) and met up with Lauren Oakes (a kiwi girl studying at Penn State for those who don't know her). Thursday night we went to the NY premiere of 'Boy' - it was pretty choice! Had an open bar hosted by Taika Waititi stocked with NZ wine and 42 Below which was nice! Met the esteemed director and he's very nice! Still has his feet planted firmly on the ground which is cool to see given his relative fortune and fame! Post After-Party Lauren, Ben and I headed to Landmarc, which is a very nice steak restaurant in the Lincoln Center (around 1am) for a feed and a cocktail! We then headed to a place on the Lower East Side called the Blind Barber, which is a speak-easy inspired by the prohibition days! You walk in through an ordinary looking Barbershop, and then proceed through a hidden door at the back of the shop which opens up to a secret underground bar! Very cool, very fun! Night 1 concluded at around 4:30am in Ben's apartment, getting up for class on Friday would be a challenge...
Friday morning greeted me with the all to familiar sensation of fatigue, fogginess and faint nausea. I headed up town to the United Nations for class, we had one briefing from the Turkish Mission to the UN in the morning, and then two in the afternoon, one from the Israeli Ambassador, and one from a Non-Governmental Organisation for Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons! I battled like a soldier through the morning class but was right as rain by the time the afternoon classes swung around! Friday night involved take-out Chinese and then a few quiet drinks at a bar called Penny Farthing's on the Lower East Side. In a change of pace we had a post bar snack of deep-fried Oreo's and $1 slices of Pizza. Bad for the body, great for the soul. A relatively early night, ending at 3:30am. Self-restraint exercised, well done me.
Saturday morning we slowly arose and headed to the 9/11 Memorial Waterfalls. It was a very harrowing experience, the sheer number of names engraved to the edge of the waterfalls + the size of the footprint in which the buildings stood was an experience i'll never forget. The one name that I saw that will stick with me is 'Vanessa Lang Langer and her Unborn Child' - very sad.
But on to happier subjects, we had a small shopping spree at Century 21 (a designer label outlet store) which yielded new cologne, a nice dress shirt, and some sunglasses for me - before heading back to Ben's apartment for a much needed nana nap. Ben, Pasky (Ben's American Football playing, Princenton graduate, and general mountain of a man room-mate) and I headed down to a park on the edge of the Hudson River to play some football (american, not the real one). Pasky at 6'5 and tipping the scales at around 250lb (115 kg, give or take) is not an easy man to bring down, it took Ben and I, hanging off Pasky while he continued his charge for 10 yards, to bring him down!!! After our beautiful and ever so slightly bromantic sunset football game, we ventured home to freshen up for a delicious dinner at an Asian fusion restaurant near to the apartment. Bone Marrow is one thing I didn't think I would ever eat, but it was on the menu, so we gave it a go, and it turned out to be delicious! A few more cocktails were had at the Tribeca Grand Hotel after dinner, before our early night (2am at this point) took a turn for the worse as Ben and I opened the Whisky Cabinet in his apartment, two hours later, and almost all of the problems of the world solved, we finally got some sleep!
Sunday morning brunch with Pasky and his family was lovely, if a little too early. We had a lazy sunday playing football in Central Park, napping in the avo before heading here: http://www.woobidoo.org/2011/05/boom-boom-room-nyc-club_08.html - to the Boom Boom Room for a cocktail in the evening before heading to 'Catch' - which was a lovely seafood restaurant for an entire snapper for dinner! Boom Boom Room - as well as having an awesome name - is the nicest place ever invented in which one can acquire delicious cocktails, with sweeping panoramic views of New York City + The New Jersey Skyline silhouetted by a Sunset. And then, there is the bathrooms, which redefine why a toilet is sometimes called a throne. The entirely black marble bathrooms look out over the NY Skyline, with floor to ceiling windows, it all culminates to create an excreting experience like no other. Life Changing.
After dinner, I caught a bus back out to little old New Paltz for a much needed 15 hour sleep!
Keeping it real, missing you all! Hope everyone's first week at Uni is going well!
Peace and Love
AB
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