Take me out to the ball game!

A quick post to say we managed after all to see a ball game. So our list is complete.

And what a treat to save to last



We picked up some fabulous tickets from "ticket broker" Michael outside the gates to AT&T Stadium (formerly CandleStick Park) in San Francisco - arguably one of the best stadiums in the country (i read that). It is an intimate little stadium set on the waterfront. It was a superb evening.

we saw the home team san francisco giants beat the saint louis cardinals 5-1

I enjoyed the 7th innings stretch, having thought Hudsie was pulling my leg that everyone stands up and sings a song "take me out to the ball game" in every baseball game everywhere in the USA. Fancy that - that's a lot of bad singing


check out the photos

Signing out from NYC

Well as they say all good things must come to an end, and we have reached the end of our time in Manhattan.



The wish-list ended up with ticks beside all the boxes bar one. We managed to see and do everything we desired to except go and see a Yankees or Mets baseball game. Now as baseball is America's national sport I am sure they will still be doing this next time we venture over, so we can accept this ommission with good grace.

So what has happened since our last post? Just the usual, which in NYC can mean anything goes; like going to see the New York Knicks play (and win) at Madison Square Garden. Now this is to NZ Basketball as Jonah was to former All Black winger Terry Wright. The showmanship, athleticism and hooplah of seeing a ball game here is on a different stratosphere to at home. It really was a fantastic night out.

We also did an inordinate amount of shopping for both of us; 5 sets of shoes, 2 tank tops, 4 pairs of trousers, 2 dresses, 2 hoodies, 2 awesome bags, 3 belts, undies, socks oh and I have my first leather jacket for 20 years.

The Jacket reminds me of one my Father had, but which was too small for me across the shoulders, it fit's like a glove. I feel a peculiar connection to my dear old Dad when I wear it, which is very nice.

I keep wandering around humming the Chills tune "I love My Leather Jacket" which is more catchy when you actually have one. I have also noticed that you see more leather jackets around you, and the other wearers are all part of the secret leather jacket club. Wearing one is like driving a Holden or riding a scooter or motorbike - you become part of a mysterious unspoken club. Hopefully we will get a leather jacket for meggy soon so she knows this feeling.

We have also been to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is art on the grandest scale imaginable. Every era is plotted with the broadest brush. Temples, bits of pyramids, mummies, rooms from castles and hotels through the ages have all been shifted inside a purpose made building. All of this as well as a comprehensive collection of conventional artwork of every era as well.

Our highlight was Damien Hirst's Shark in Formaldehide, entitled The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living. It is a freaky thing to behold, looking real and fake at once. The notion that the shark is long dead and is still suspended literally for all time is both repulsive and strangely compelling at once.

The artwork has been hired from a private collector by the Met for 3 million dollars for 3 years - just thinking about that did our heads in as well.

We have also been to the Comic Strip Live on 81st St, where many big US Comics cut their chops (Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler...). This was a great, if pricey, night out. It is common here to impose a 2 drink minimum in Clubs, which sounds ok until you see the price of the drinks! But it was Laugh out Loud funny for 3 hours. The crowd was incredibly ecclectic to say the least. Irish/ English/ Brazilian/Italian/ Danes/ Dutch/Italian/ Sweedes and of course Kiwis. Yes there was a nationality missing, Americans! Actually this is not true, but the few Americans in the crowd of around 80 were totally outnumbered.

The comics soon found a lot of their tried and true material wasn't working too well, as a big portion of the crowd were oblivious to the references, so we were treated to a more improvisational set than you often see with regularly gigging comics. It was extremelly funny, I cried laughing several times.

We also walked across Brooklyn Bridge which was as spectacular as it sounds, and that Bridge is surely the prettiest of all the Bridges (except Jon, Daniel and Tracey). And we went to a fabulous Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village called Lupa, where we ate the tastiest duck either of us has ever eaten (sorry Winifred but it pipped your duck just at the post).

We also revisited some of our favourite spots (Cafe Brama, Dumpling Man, Amores Pizza) one last time. Today we fly to San Francisco, and then two days later back home. Being away for such a long time has made us both a little homesick from time to time, but we have found comfort in each others company and the prospect that we will see you all again soon.

Until then adios amigos.

Love
Hudsie

--------

Megan here...

Yep we've had a blast here.

We took the bus home yesterday instead of the Subway which afforded us one last look at the City. The streets feel like they're straight out of a movie; steam rising from the subway, yellow taxis, the long long avenues, people walking dogs, riding on bikes, skateboards etc etc

We're really thankful for all the great tips we've had from people for this place and indeed our whole trip. We've had fun getting lost and finding some of our own things too. Best tip from me is to travel with your sweetheart if you are lucky enough to have one and can go together. We've had a fabulous honeymoon.

We're now proposed daunting task of packing. Am sure it will all fit, but we have spread out a lot since we've been at our "Second Home".

Look forward to seeing you soon

Love megan

New York Lie In.

We love taking it easy, and this morning we have done just that.
Faced with the proposition of a huge wish-list of stuff still to do, and a reducing window of time left to do it, we perversely wrote off Sunday morning to recharge our batteries.

If you think this is lax on our part consider what we have been up to lately.

An invitation to Brooklyn for dinner with some locals, a trip by boat around Manhattan, a return visit to Moma, a trip to the Museum of Folk Art, dinner at a fabulous Moroccan East Village joint Cafe Mogador, another brunch at Cafe Brama (just as good as the first), a stunning exhibition at Solomon Guggenheim Museum, an afternoon in Central Park, an ascent of the Empire State building on foot (well just the last 6 floors), dinner at the famous Empire Diner, and lots more.

All of it fabulous, save the ridiculous queues at every step up the Empire State.

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, so we'll let the pix do the talking this time.

Oh and we have put pictures up for most previous blog posts now, so go back in time and see the whole story so far.

Your comments are always welcome too BTW.

Love from us - the ones with sore feet.

M&Mxxxxxx

If you knew Schrader like we know Schrader.

If you don't know Paul Schrader, you should - he is a prince among men.

The ultimate renaissance man, he is handsome, smart, sporty, funny, worldly and wise.
Sort of like New Zealand's answer to George Clooney, except he can't act.
Maybe our Keanu Reeves, but much smarter, and completely hooked up when it comes to food.

He and his business partner Kelda's cafe Nikau is our very favourite Friday night haunt. He and his wife Mary have always been on the leading edge of food, always.

In San Francisco we travelled to Berkeley at his behest to dine at Chez Panisse. It was a meal to remember.

So when Schrader hears you are going to NYC, and Schrader recommends you go somewhere to dine, then you heed the advice.

He said go to Momofuku, which just happens to be only about 400m from our home here, so tonight we Gomofukued - you bet we did.

Momofuku (Japanese for "little peach"):
http://www.momofuku.com/noodle/default.asp

It was teeming with people - a queue out the door and bursting with hubbub. It took about 1/2 an hour to get a seat, but it was interesting to eavesdrop on crazy New Yorkers - not the most demure of people.

Paul had said order the Pork Buns, and we think, that's not a particularly Schrader call. We love Pork Buns, but they are pretty similar all over the world - delicious, but hardly gourmet.

And out they came, individually assembled, delicious envelopes of steamed goodness. They are prepared to order, a perfect dough envelope is smeared with delicious hoisin sauce, hand cut cucumber and 2 slabs of Organically grown pork are placed in as filling, and the whole package is individually steamed and served within seconds.

They are perfect, the pork is tender, the cucumber keeps it all fresh, the dough is hot and sweet, the sauce a perfect tangy contrast. What a recommendation, what a guy!

This trip has been made so much better by the advice of our lovely friends. We had a great time today at a Folk Art Museum tipped to us by Tommy Honey. We ate beautiful Cuban food in Soho thanks to Ruth and Andrew. Jonny Rae told us about Chowder, and Mike Davison sent us to Manhattan's best burger.

It is dirty work, but we are proving to ourselves that our friend's are to be trusted.

Miss you lots

Hudsie

Do the Right Thing

Well in a town like NYC you constantly feel like you are in the movies, but this arvo it was the wrong type of flick.

If you've seen Spike Lee's classic race hatred wake up call "Do the Right Thing", then the scene will be familiar.

Setting

"Amore's Pizza" - Italian Pizza Joint, just around the corner from our 2nd Home on 14th St



Cast

- 85 yr old stately Italian Gent, slightly deaf, Pizza Store Co Worker (PSCW)
- 6 foot 5 slicked back hair Italian Buck, 35ish, looks a bit like Mobsta, but Italian and angry, Pizza Store Boss (PSB)
- Bluetooth Headset-Wearing Afro American Customer, 30 odd, dressed a little Gangsta (BHWAAC)

PSCW - Cuts the sub roll in half and fills it with huge delicious looking meatballs. To customer, "You wan any cheese on this?"

BHWAAC - "What a stupid question you know, I mean what kinda stupid question is that?"

PSCW - "I just wanta know. Do you..."

BHWAAC - "I mean I ordered a Meatball Parmigiano Sandwich, and you wanna know if I want cheese?"

PSCW - (adding cheese) "OK OK, you're getting cheese"

BHWAAC - "Ya know that's a fucking stupid question. CHEESE is what I ordered"

PSB, interrupting - "What are you busting his balls for, he's an 85 year old man"

BHWAAC - "I ordered a Meatball Parmigiano and he asks me..."

PSB - "I know what he said to you, he's 85 years old and you are talking to him like that. Why do you talk to him like that?"

BHWAAC - "Since when does anyone order a Meatball Parmigiano Sandwich and not want cheese. It's a Meatball Parmigiano Sandwich. I'm trying to teach him..."

PSB - "Oh you're gonna teach him? He's 85. Treat him with some respect. He's an 85 Year old man. (to PSCW about the offensive sandwich) Put that fucking thing down, he's not talking to you like that. (Back to BHWAAC) You can just fuck off, get the fuck out of here. Fuck off and fuck you"

BHWAAC - "Fuck you"

By this stage the two younger men are looking at each other with pure hate in their eyes, the exchange has risen in volume to full blown shouting. The old man melts to the back of the store. Amazingly the BHWAAC hangs around until another worker comes and completes his sandwich (about 5 minutes).

This drama took place on our way to the theatre - a Broadway production of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (starring James Earl Jones as Big Daddy). The show was the best live theatre experience of my life:

http://www.broadhursttheater.net/

I will never forget the Pizza Shop argument either.

Love This Place

love hudsie

I want to wake up in the city that never sleeps...

If you read Hudsie's blog, you'll know this is my first time in NYC. I LOVE this place. Time is precious - some edited highlights below.

Museum Of Modern Art

http://www.moma.org/

- teeming with people - great to see so many people engaging with art
- jaw droppingly, fabulous collection
- hit after hit after hit paintings including Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Picasso, The Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh. I could go on. You can see highlights of their collection on their website above. Have seen these images so many times, so it's a bit odd seeing the real thing - just there. You could touch it if you wanted to - not that you'd want to.
- interesting show on nano technology and design
- great show on colour with fabulous Andy Warhol painting by number paintings and Gerhard Richter paintings of giant colour charts. Just discovered there's a nice wee website with the works from the show. Check out:
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2008/colorchart/flashsite/index.html
- we ran out of time because there is so much to see, so will return for another look on Friday evening (free from 4-8pm) to spend some time with the Rothkos. You can't rush Rothko.

Dinner at 12am - because we weren't hungrier earlier in the evening and because we can

City Pass - $65 for a nine day pass to see each of the following greatest NYC hits - MOMA, Met, Circle line ferry, Empire State Building, Guggenheim,
American Natural History Museum

American Natural History Museum - This was surprisingly compelling. It is an old-fashioned-museum (pre Te Papa) with exhibits on animals, dinosaurs, space, people and artifacts of the world. The animals were our favourites. The museum is full of beautiful tableaux of wild and wonderful animals from the various continents. These all have exquisitely taxidermied animals posing for the scene, hand painted backgrounds and trees and rocks and props which would make a Kirk's window dresser proud. These exhibits are built into the rooms with wooden panelling surrounding each scene. We overheard a man saying in the lift as we headed to a space movie "I'm pleased to be looking at something modern - those exhibits haven't changed for over 40 years"....which is what we LOVED. Each animal had its name engraved in the wood stating who the benefactor was who donated it. While the benefactor was most likely to have given the money to fund the exhibit, I liked to think that Mr and Mrs Bloggs actually contacted the museum and said " Is that the American Natural History Museum? Well I have this lovely pair of African Elks for you".

Bryant Park where they hold NY Fashion week and of course the final of Project Runway - also saw Gotham Apartments where PR contestants stay. Okay this is probably only relevant for Project runway devotees

Cafe Habana - a cool little Cuban joint recommended by Ruth and Andrew. Delicious Mexican corn, Huevos rancheros and pork sandwich. Yum

Broadway - Pinter's "Homecoming". We saw this tonight. Great seats. Play about the ultimate dysfunctional family. For Deadwood fans, it featured Ian McShane who plays Al Swearengen.

Grand Central Station - beautiful building. Gorgeous roof.

Really fantastic food, in whatever form you want it. Vegans can eat out well here. I am not Vegan though. I am Megan

the big āporo

Wow, we are on our second morning here in New York City and have already had a blast.

So much so that we have had to cancel today's plan, in order for Megan to sleep off a nasty hangover... how did it come to this you ask? Read on.

We travelled from Las Vegas to NYC on Saturday morning. At the airport we had a fond farewell, a pleasant interlude and a rude discovery.

The farewell was to our beloved Mustang. We filled her up and I dropped one final squealy, utilising the mighty V8 for the last time. What a great car. We had become almost symbiotic with her after 14 days, 1500 miles and about $US200 worth of gas. She is sadly missed.

The pleasant interlude was with a young Hawaiian-based, Arkansas Golfer Danny Lee, who we met in an insane queue at Las Vegas McCarran Airport. What a nice guy. He is 20 and already a seasoned pro. He was flying around the USA conducting seminars, so he must already have a reputation as being good at golf. We told him to come play the NZ Open and he said "I might just do that". You may be wondering how we got to know him so well - I said it was an insane queue, and it brings me to the rude discovery.

The rude discovery is that the country that put a man on the moon, has NO idea how to get people to check in to catch a plane. American Airlines only had self-service terminals as an option for check in. Now most New Zealanders are familiar with these by now, and it a system which we handle well... here is how the Americans do it.

The terminals are almost hard up against the check in counter. There are only 8 of them and they are co joined in bunches of 4 making them very hard to access and maneuver around. People arriving at the terminal gravitate towards the machines, but can't get to them. Everyone is carrying at least one bag, most people have 2 (megs and I had 3 between us). In order to check in you must abandon your bag. The system (for want of a better word) is that you check in at the self-service terminal and inform it who you are and how many bags you have.

Now, the Airlines computer knows you are someone with bags to check. When your place in the electronic queue is reached you are paged by name and go to the counter, with your bags which are weighed and tagged. Then you need to carry the bags back across the terminal to security and queue to hand them in, then WAIT until they go through an X-Ray machine.

If this sounds laborious then factor in this - to get to any of these three points (the self-service terminal, the check-in counter, the security) you have to wade through hundreds of other suffering travellers (none of whom understand what is going on). To get your bags to the check-in counter and onwards you have to get them over or through all these people (in each direction). It is an absolute debacle.

As I said earlier Las Vegas is the 2nd most touristed place on Earth. The stupidity of this arrangement is gob-smacking.

Ok enough of that, we only have to go through it one more time - can't wait.

Since then, however, the Honeymoon has gone from strength to strength. Megan has never been to NYC before and this is my third visit, so to a certain extent I am showing her around.
We are staying in a converted apartment called second home on second ave.

http://secondhomesecondavenue.com/

We are staying in the Caribbean room for the first few days. It is lovely airy and large, has probably a hundred tv channels. We have free Wi-Fi. There is a kitchen with a fridge we can share with other guests. There is a free phone for local calls. We do need to go down a hallway to get to our bathroom, but it is locked and is only used by us. The only real downside is that the walls are quite thin, so our neighbours and us need to be careful about volume early in the morning and late at night.

So what have we done? We were settled in by 6pm on Saturday evening and we decided to walk around the local neighbourhood. This is known as the East Village, which is a booming part of town. Within 4 square blocks of our second home there would be more cool bars and restaurants than in all of Wellington, easy.

Our host Carlos recommended a Moroccan place to us. If you know us, you know we love Moroccan. It took half an hour of rambling to find it, only to discover that half of Manhattan were queueing for a table there (it was Saturday night after all). So we decided to wing it, and I saw a sign which tickled my fancy. DUMPLING MAN

http://www.dumplingman.com/

We both remarked that it looked like Nic Marshall had designed the Dumpling Man logo, so we bowled in, ordered up and squeezed into some spare seats in the corner. It is so cool. You watch a dumpling assembly line behind the glass. Inscrutable Chinese women work constantly assembling the entire dumplings from scratch. We watched them knead the dough and make the filling casings, then fill the dumplings - one by one. We really appreciated the craft and effort in every one. Look at the link on the site that says Dumpling TV - it is really something to behold.

When the dumplings arrived so fresh and hot it was time for the taste test. The proof of the dumpling is in the eating! Outstanding. Our favourite was the seared pork dumpling, with the steamed shrimp just behind. If there was a dumpling man in Wellington, I would soon resemble a dumpling (in fact I am starting to by now anyway).

We then went home for a great sleep... which lasted til 11.30 on Sunday. eeeeeek

we made up for lost time and bought the NYTimes Sunday edition ($4 as thick as a phone book) and went to another of Carlos's haunts, Cafe Brama

http://www.cafebrama.us/

At last after 2 weeks a great coffee - not Nikau but not far off. And an absolutely delicious breakfast. I had a beautiful omelette of feta, sesame, roasted tomatoes and avocado, enough to turn me into an Omelette Man. Megs had Brama Toast - French Toast with Omelette and Cheese on top served with Maple Syrup - sounds crazy but it worked.

Apart from the food the other best thing about breakie was the paper. Great Journalism, beautifully written stories about the world, and interesting features about everything. The book review would swallow a month worth of the NZ Listener's content. The magazine looks like it could be bought alongside Vanity Fair. It really makes you realise what a rag the Sunday Star Times is - if only we could get it at home!

We had a plan for the day. Explore the local area thoroughly in daylight. Winifred and David had given us a great deck of map-cards for walking trips around New York. We picked out the 5 walks closest to our second home. It was now 2 pm, we were off!

Walk one was the East Village walk it took in some of the same real estate we explored on Saturday night, but had a completely different feel by day. It was brisk, about 8 degrees Celsius, but was clear and calm. The city is alive. New Yorkers all go about their business at pace, but seem to be very friendly when they stop to talk. People bellow into cell-phones, you see folks of all persuasions; Emos, wrinkly old gents, bohemians, Christians preaching on the street, cool reggae dudes, bejewelled hip hoppers, people of every ethnicity and dogs - so many cool dogs.

We paused in a place called Tompkins Square Park, to watch New York Dogs at play. They have two sized runs, one for tiny dogs, one for the rest. The tiny dogs make sense in NYC - they are pint sized and easy to look after. They come in every shade of cute. It seems NOBODY has a bitzer mongrel dog here, they are all pedigree, and half of them have clothing. It is very sweet.
We also saw a farmers market and old historic cemeteries and churches on this journey.

Continuing on the next walk card to Lower East Side, brought us into a more Jewish community - not the people wandering about but the food. Kinishes and Bagels and Lox all for sale in amazing Delis bulging with customers and unusual looking and smelling treats. We regretted our big lunch, as it was hard to not need to try and taste these delights also. We went past a quaint looking place called TEANY owned by singer Moby, but he didn't seem to be there. Things were looking good it was about 3.30. 2 walks down 3 to go, but a refuel was in order. We stopped at a bar that looked as rough as guts, the stereo spitting out trash rock, the furniture looked like it came from a Dunedin flat, a sad faced Corgi flopped in the middle of the floor. We both enjoyed a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and a brief return to Cuba St. We made friends with a nice 38 yr old Tattooed chick who had spent time in New Zealand. We thought about staying longer but it was now 4pm and walks through Nolita (North of Little Italy), Little Italy and Chinatown beckoned. Heading West through the Bowery we passed a pub which made me smile. The Marshall Stack.

http://nymag.com/listings/bar/marshall-stack/

Now Marshall make musical amplifiers and legend has it that the only thing that sounds better than a Marshall Amp is a stack of them. The more Marshalls in the stack the better the sound. A Marshall Stack is better reportedly than the sum of its parts. Our friends Nic(Thump/Nanky) and Kate(Chubb) Marshall know this - they told me and produce their wonderful musical productions under the "Marshall Stack" name. We had to stop to get a photo of the bar's logo. While we were waiting a charming Black business man, finishing his cigar and curious of our accent tried to persuade us to join him inside. Night was approaching and we still had the walks to finish, but of course we went in.

3 hours and way too many drinks later and we are best friends with Justin Green who is having us on Thursday to his apartment in Brooklyn for drinks and Japanese, to meet his French wife Laurant and his 5 year old son Miles. His view (we saw it from his phone) is right across the Hudson looking at the sunset over Manhattan. We don't know how this friendship bloomed but it did, the event has been confirmed via text message and e-mail already.

Megan was now three sheets to the wind. I guided us home while we babbled to each other through the city streets. We stopped by a place which Paul Schrader recommended to us for the best Pork Buns and Japanese beer in the city. We didn't need the beer but wolfed down Pork Buns so transfixingly good they will get a post of their own once we photograph them.

It was now about 11pm, the day had disappeared in a blurry smiley haze. We love New York. Megan has a sore head, but seems to be rising now, it is noon, looks like we are set to start again.

Miss you all

Love Hudsie