New York Rangers

The first event of this busy week was a trip to Madison Square Garden to watch the city's ice hockey team take on the Atlanta Thrashers.

I really enjoy watching ice hockey and going to an NHL game was something I was looking forward to since I found out I would be living in the US. So I was a very hyper as we sat down for some pregame food and when we left the restaurant my mind was on the game and the visit to the Garden. As a result I left my new camera behind and when I realised I didn't have it I went back it was nowhere to be seen. Gutted! And that's why there is no photos on this post.

The game itself is best decided by the boys and girls at NHL Online...
http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=Recap&gnum=350&seas=20062007&gtype=2

Excluding the loss of my camera I had a great night. The atmostphere at MSG was fantastic and even thought the Rangers lost I thoroughly enjoyed the game! I'll be back and with a new new camera in hand to share the spectacle with you guys. Anyway must go.....there's more hockey on the TV!

Bear Mountain

After two days of eating too much and lounging around me and a few other Mountbattens took the bus an hour out of the city to Bear Mountain, NY. Fortunately there was no need to play dead as the mountains outnumbered the bears one to zero!

We were looking forward to some fresh country air and a bit of exercise. When we reached Bear Mountain Park we decided upon the 4 mile Major Welch trail. Its description 'challenging' was casually dismissed given we had a good 4 hours to complete the route (pronounced row-te by them American types). We followed the red on white markers along a gentle path next to the Hessian lake before we turned onto a steeper and rockier walkway. Little did we know that this was really was going to be quite a difficult little dander! It would go up and up and up......

After a few backtracks to pull people up onto the huge rocks that we were trekking across, a lot of huffing, puffing and Sarah's fantastic "Do you think they have mountain rescue?" comment we reached the summit and were treated to an 'only in America moment'; the soda vending machine! $1 refreshments all round, gazing in wonder at the view and smiles all round we realised we'd have to pick up the pace to be back down for the last bus.

We will admit to taking the easy road, literally a road, down but given the fact we lost the markers we were following and the rapid descent of the sun it was definitely the best and safest option. Passing deer could have been the highlight of the downward journey had it not been for the relief at seeing the park entrance 10 minutes before our bus was due to depart. All safe, sound and warm on the bus everyone was satisfied by a good days adventuring. Back home to rest our weary legs and enjoy some Chinese food. Job well done!

Nature's skyscraper

Up, up and more up!

Lawrence leads the way

Dan's plan reaps rewards - check out that spectacular view!

Enjoying a can of Dr Pepper atop the Mountain of the Bear

The Bear Mountain conquerers!

Me, Sarah, Nicola, Dan, Brenna, Lawrence and Insiya.

And not forgetting Jas who was taking the photo.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

The third Thursday in November is Thankgiving Day: a great American holiday which involves lots and lots of eating! I went upstairs to another Mountbatten flat and sampled many of the cultural culinary delights on offer including a 20lb turkey, stuffing, yams (sweet potatoes in disguise!), mash potatoes and some tasty vegetables. This was followed by slices of both homemade cherry pie and homemade pumpkin pie. Delicious!

The day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. It is the day retailers launch their holiday sales and get their bank balances back in the black. This was an American tradition I did not participate in and stayed a very safe distance away from any shops! In fact I continued with eating and drinking theme previous day by heading to the Crocodile Lounge; a bar that offers everyone who buys a drink a free pizza (yes, really!). There I met up with Alice Quigley (for those who don't know is a friend from school who is studying in Philadelpha this year) and we caught up on all things NI/USA! Thanks was given for the croc lager, original sin cider and the bonus two days to chill out.

Some Photos

I have taken some photos of stuff since I've been here so I thought I'd share......

50 License Plates

Downtown Manhattan view from Jersey City

Empire State and Chrysler buildings as seen from Jersey City

Flags of the UN, New Jersey State and the US

Outside the New York Stock Exchange

Statue of Liberty as seen from the Staten Island ferry.

Strange place names!

Musical NYC

Catching up! Since I arrived I have managed to get to a few different concerts. The first was a free mini festival in Central Park; the New York-Tokyo Music Festival. The Japanese artists were Mighty Crown; an awful reggae band, Pe'z; a fantastic jazz band and Hifana; an electronic duo who despite having the electric go off recovered with some funky dance moves which kept the crowd happy til they could bleep away again! These acts were followed by DJ A-Trak who despite being listed as American hails from Canada. He is the DJ for 50 cent so getting to see a half hour set for free is pretty lucky. The final artist was Talib Kweli, an American Hip-Hop artist who is well known enough that other Mountbattens would pay $40 to see his concert a week later. I honestly had no idea who he was but can say that his set was worth seeing and topped off what had been a great day.

I am looking forward to spending next summer camped out at all the free music events they have on in Central Park.



The next gig I went to was Badly Drawn Boy @ The Hiro Ballroom. When I got to the venue I thought I was slipping into some sort of crazy Oriental musical trend as the ballroom was Japanese themed. It made for a really nice atmostphere with everyone sitting on the floor listening to the support artist and bopping along to Badly Drawn Boy. He opened his set with Born in the UK and I managed not to burst into tears at the thought of home and by the time the second encore was done I knew New York would be an adequate replacement for my musical adventuring.

The next would be another concert with a connection to home. Through work I got two free tickets to attend the performance of The Westminster Cathedral Choir at Saint Thomas' Church on 5th Avenue. Not the sort of event I'd normally chpose to go to but anything to escape the torrential downpours New York was offering that week! Throughly enjoyed and I guess you just can't beat a bit of culture to impress the readers of your blog!

My most recent music meandering was to the Nokia Theatre in Times Square. An all American affair this time the day after my return from DC.

The band......Modest Mouse. My knowledge of their back catalog......minimal. The concert......great fun. I just love live music. What next? More concerts - bring it on!

Volunteering

I made the decision when I arrived here that I wanted to get involved in some volunteer projects. I wanted to give something back to the city that has effectively adopted me for the year and do something to help out others less fortunate than myself. So following New York Cares Day I signed up for an orientation and today I took part in my first NY Cares volunteer project.

I met with the other volunteers at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab located at 550 Madison Avenue and we were joined by kids from the R.E.A.C.H; an organisation providing support to developmentally challenged children in the Bronx. I was paired up with Stephon, 6 and Tariq, 7 and the three of us spent the afternoon exploring the interactive facility. Much fun was had especially designing our own computer race tracks, composing our own songs and editing a movie trailer! A great way to spend Saturday afternoon.

Washington DC

Having foolishly called this blog "CR in NY" I should be keep it to New York chat but it would be stupid and lazy if I didn't check out some other parts of the US. So last weekend a few other Mountbattens and I travelled to DC.

It was an ace weekend packed with plenty of sightseeing, photo taking and changeable weather! Saturday was like a summer's day but Sunday it rained and rained and rained! We battled through and saw as many sights as we could but I can safely say I'd need another weekend there. Maybe I'll go again in the summer...a nice option to have!

Check out the photos...

The District of Columbia

US Marine Corps War Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial

The Washington Monument

Beer in funky jam jar type glasses

Chris, Will, Amar and Me

The Pentagon (best I could do since you aren't allowed to take photos of it!)

Arlington National Cemetry

The White House

Capitol Hill

Veteran's Day

Hi!

Thanks to another American holiday and my wonderful government job I had the day off last Friday. So armed with my new camera I took the number 7 subway train, which bizarrely runs above ground in certain places, and went exploring in Queens.

First stop was in Flushing, which is Queens' own Chinatown, for some lunch - noodle soup!

Just round one stop away from that is Flushing Meadows Corona Park. It's probably best known to tennis fans as the place where the US Open championship that takes place. The courts and Arthur Ashe stadium are located in the park but they don't quite stand out as much as the unisphere you can see in the picture below. This was constructed in the 1960's (I think) as part of the World Fair that was held in the park.

It was a really chilled out day and nice to get away from the rat race of everyday NYC. The autumn leaves of the park were fantastic and when I'd had be fill out chilling I went back to my roots - the NY Hall of Science. I was particularly excited by the mathematics exhibit - I do miss it! I can't wait for the next public holiday and the chance to explore New York even more.

Blogtastic

Having just bought a new digital camera and adventured crazily since payday on Friday there will be a few all new exciting posting coming in the next few days. I think I'll even try and catch up on a few things I got up to in the first few weeks - how exciting! But for now I'm off to wander the streets of NYC again...

.....Happy Birthday Jane!

The Streets of Manhattan

Its been a hectic week with Halloween, countless Mountbatten birthdays and the NYC marathon. I managed to squeeze these things in around going to work and catching up on my sleep after the disastrous events of the Toshi party.....my pictures do not reflect the two and a half hours it took to get me home!

The Halloweeen Parade that went along 6th Avenue from Spring Street up to 23rd Street (ish) was a strange spectacle to behold. Anyone was able to participate by showing up in costume and walking alongside the floats and New Yorkers extrovert attitude came across as they paraded in some truly fantastic costumes.

Darth was around too!

The Metrocard Family

Marge and Homer

The Kiss Float

The marathon was another event that showed a great side to New Yorkers. The 37,000 people running through all five boroughs were being cheered, wooped and hollered on by everyone with some calling out names on peoples shirts to give them that extra boost needed to run 26 miles on a cool Autumn morning. The real sense of spirit impressed me and the first time I'd seen a marathon made realise that you didn't have to be a professional runner to be able to participate. Good on everyone who ran!

Run NYC, Run!