summer solstice

So here I sit at my computer on the longest day of the year. The sun has slowly set but the sky is still light out! I love it when the days are long like this. Unfortunately, we have reached the peak and alas the days will be shorter. Last night, had dinner with Jay, whom I haven't seen in a few months. We've been trying to get together for the longest time but he's a workaholic and we both had crazy schedules. Nice catching up!

I worked today...very few people came aboard. Not sure where all the tourists have gone, but then again, the weather here has been a bit unstable. Was drizzly this morning, forcing me to bring my umbrella, but the sun did break through.

I had my dance recital earlier this week (Monday was dress rehearsal, Tuesday and Wednesday were the show days). The shows ran way too long I feel - 4 hours starting from 7pm. I was so exhausted each night. The dress rehearsal ran ridiculously far behind - we were to start at 7 but didn't til after 8 and then we had to cut dances out of the second act because we were running way past 11pm. Some poor kids had exams to study for too. Anyway, my mom and sister came to watch as well as my boss. Am glad it's all over and now I have some "free" time this summer. I'm planning on using the time wisely to sort out my life.

Gotta go work on my report on NYC...

the big apple

I tried to post from NYC but things got hectic and there were server errors. Anyway, as you can tell, I've made it back alive, but barely. The city itself was overwhelming and I caught the flu on my return - definitely my go-go-go self trying too hard to squeeze in everything between sightseeing and actual work. I've spent the past 3 days sleeping and recovering. Still not completely well but feeling a whole heck of a lot better than I was on Thursday. On my way to Newark, NJ, I had to remove my shoes 3 times for security!! Not a happy camper especially since the second time was right at the boarding gate after I had already removed my shoes. I swear the security people were just looking for something to do. Here is a brief run-down of what I did see and do:

Th. June 5, 2003
Weather: drizzly, just like home!
- arrive in New York City at 7am.
- cart my luggage from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to my little hotel
- am overwhelmed with the sights in Times Square
- hop on the Grayline double decker buses to Brooklyn, stopping off first at Battery Park where I catch a foggy glimpse of the Statue of Libery, which has been closed to tourists since 9/11
- Brooklyn tour takes me past the Brooklyn Bridge as well as the Brooklyn Public Llibrary, Brooklyn Museum of Art and Fulton Mall where there are plenty of shops that I'd love to shop at but am too tired to actually get off the bus.
- head back to Midtown and grab a turkey burger at the deli for lunch (where they charge 50 cents for a slice of tomato!)
- purchase a ticket to see Movin' Out
- head out on the Uptown tour, which takes me through the Upper West Side, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Harlem Market, and 5th Avenue where we pass tons of museums - Smithsonian National Museum of Design / Jewish Museum, Frick Collection / Whitney Museum, Museum of the City of New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art and all the apartment buildings of the rich and famous along Central Park
- watch Movin' Out - awesome dancing, though I probably didn't appreciate Billy Joel's music since I never grew up listening to his songs

Fri. June 6, 2003
Weather: sunny and hot
- hop on the double decker bus and do the Downtown tour where I got off at the Empire State Building to do some street shopping, and walked back towards Macy's, self-proclaimed largest department store in the world, and I would tend to agree!
- got back on the bus, saw the Flatiron Buildling and got off again at the Union Square Shopping District and did a little shopping around there as well
- got back on the bus, and saw Greenwich Village, Soho, Chinatown, the Lower East Side, United Nations, Waldorf Astoria and got off at Rockefeller Center/Radio City Music Hall where I did some more shopping before walking back to the hotel
- went to meet my elementary school friend, Mike, at Doma, a coffee shop down on 7th and 14th St. but he stood me up! He apparently had a client dinner and turned off his cell phone so called me back later that evening to set up another time.
- ate dinner of pizza at Two Boots to Go, and explored Bleecker St. and Greenwich Village
- waited for my parents to arrive and then walked around Times Square to show off the lights before the rains were to arrive
- Mike calls me up to go to a mixed/gay bar but it's too late for me so we arrange a meeting for Sat.

Sat. June 7, 2003
Weather: pouring rain, blowing winds
- it started out drizzly and fine but then the rains hit. Hawkers spring up to sell umbrellas to those caught without one. $3 for an umbrella - a deal especially if you don't have one.
- we meet our Big Apple Greeter who takes us down to South Seaport and Pier 17.
- big children's festival despite the pouring rain; he leaves us there and we are on our own
- the place has much of a Granville Island feel, with shops and market-like ambience
- we take the subway to South Ferry and catch the Staten Island Ferry. On a beautiful day, it would have allowed us a view of the Manhattan skyline, and a close up at the Statue of Liberty. However, due to the rains, all the windows of the ferry were fogged up, and the grey clouds hovered in the air. The 1 hour return trip was mostly a reprieve from the rain, and rest for our poor tired legs.
- hit some more shops, went to Two Boots to Go at Grand Central Terminal for pizza, or "pie" as it's called here
- stopped by the Broadway tkts booth, but the lines were still impossibly long so we just stayed in
- met Mike and his Icelandic friend and we went to a gay bar called therapy. Unfortunately, his friend's id did not have his birthdate so we weren't able to go in. We went to Maxine's diner in Times Square to be close to my hotel and I had a $4.95 milkshake. Yes, a glass of grapefruit juice? $4.75. You pay dearly for location. Hadn't seen Mike in about 5 years - great catching up.

Sun. June 8, 2003
Weather: cloudy, with sunny breaks
- went to an early breakfast meeting (7:30-9am) down in the hotel
- off to Greenwich village to explore by foot the surrounding areas: Chinatown, SoHo, NoLita, Little Italy
- tons of cheap/fake stuff in Chinatown
- no washrooms in sight! you were required to show a receipt to pass the guard at McDonald's
- McDonald's was written in Chinese characters as it bordered Chinatown
- had lunch at Lombardi's Pizza - we had a clam pie - very different but the clams were a bit too chewy
- I had a reception to attend for dinner
- went to see Rent after the reception - quite disappointing and not what I was expecting though Frenchie from American Idol was also performing
- the Tony Awards were being presented tonight and it was strange to watch the going-ons in Times Square on tv, when it was just happening outside of our room! Billy Joel apparently was singing.

Mon. June 9, 2003
Weather: cloudy, sunny breaks
- more work
- took off early to see the NYPL only to be disappointed to find out it was closed on Mondays! Impressive lions on the outside though.
- went to the New York Transit Museum and gift shop and bought a few scribbler notepads as gifts

Tues. June 10, 2003
Weather: sunny
- more work
- party hopping afterwards - Christina and I went to 4 different parties

Wed. June 11, 2003
Weather: cloudy
- work
- a little bit of shopping at MoMA's Design store - cool, cool stuff!
- off to Fifth Ave. where I stopped by Tiffany's and found a really nice sterling silver ring to buy. Bought it. :)
- parents went to explore the Garment District, which I really wanted to see, but it had been closed on Sunday
- more pizza - from John's Pizzeria - $13.60 for a 6 slice pizza with cheese and tomato!!
- packing to go home

Th. June 12, 2003
Weather: cloudy, overcast

- stopped by the Museum Co. in the Newark, NJ airport and bought a poesy ring
- flyaway home!

Impressions
- lots of hustle and bustle
- too many McDonalds everywhere you go
- though the streets are "relatively" clean, night time reveals the piles of garbage bags stacked by the road to be picked up, and there is NO recycling - too much waste
- the people that are nice, are very nice; conversely, the people that are rude, are very rude
- things are ridiculously expensive - parking at one lot was $5 for half an hour, and McDonalds and Starbucks pricing is more expensive than in Canada - and it's in US dollars too!
- taxis almost take over the road (no gas station in sight!), but pedestrians rule the crosswalks
- pedestrians don't follow the WALK or DON'T WALK sign, leading me to wonder what the signs are there for
- day time contrasts greatly with night - in Times Square, the shady characters selling stolen Oakleys and watches cart out their suitcases to passersby
- the city feels relatively safe - there are tons of NYPD officers as well as Times Square officers
- as Manhattan is an island of sorts, there is a tropical breeze but the air is quite humid, and add a/c to that, you get a constant blast of hot v. cold
- one flight attendant told me that "You couldn't PAY me to live here!"

god winks

At lunch today, I was heading over to Canada Place when I ran into a friend from high school whom I haven't seen in 9 years!! He looked exactly the same as the last time I'd seen him. He told me later that he recognized me but I remember telling him, "It's F." Anyway, he looked great and works really close by so we'll get together for lunch after I return from NYC. The point of this, though, was that I was going to give him my business card but had NONE in my wallet. This was a little nudge/reminder to pack a bunch to take to the conference. Definitely helped as I probably would have forgotten about it completely.

Another wink: I have been obsessing over what musicals and shows I should watch while in NYC, when on the way home, I passed by the usual buskers but the guy was playing a song from The Lion King. I have never heard that before from a busker at the skytrain station. I really think maybe that's a show I should be considering watching!

In terms of irony, the weather here has been gorgeous this week - sunny with highs of 27 and 28 if you can believe it! And I'm going to miss it all... :( Anyway, I'm off tomorrow both literally (no work), and flying out. I'm a bit nervous about flying alone to a large city like the big apple but we'll see what's in store!