New York City
And onto the second city I visited in July - New York City.Basically, I had mixed feelings about this city. I'd heard Lyna raving about it for weeks before she left Bahrain so I was looking forward to something special or extraordinary. It was special in many ways. I mean the city is just huge, Manhattan is just a crazy cage full of people running everywhere, it's like they're on those exercise wheels seriously and constantly pepped up on something. The bustle of it was great, I love bustling cities, but the people were quite annoying. They kept walking around yelling randomly or at each other, seemingly unable to have a conversation at a reasonable volume. And everyone had that famous New York "fuck off" attitude. Which is great really, it's great to love yourself and your city but it's time to wake up and smell the roses. NYC is not what it once was, the world is full of cities that rival it in almost everything. Multiculturalism, size, food, drinks, partying, shopping, culture, etc. You name it there's a better city for it - and there's better cities with combinations of them too...
So my lasting picture of NYC was of an big, interesting, bustling city full of people who are proud to be marginally deluded assholes (note: this is a generalisation, and like all generalisation, doesn't apply to everyone).
Although I'm not usually much of a sight-seeing tourist, I did make an effort to see some of the 'sights'.
I checked out Times Square in all its glory and had a Jambo Juice while watching life go by.
Wall St was interesting too. Complete with the big 'fuck off' American flag posted up all over this building and the shitloads of security personnel, cops and God-knows-who-else to go with protecting the bastard. Is there a bigger monument to Capitalist greed than this building? Smack in the middle of Wall St with a massive American flag on it? A big 'fuck you' to the have-nots of the world? I can understand why they have security all over it.
Anyway I decided it would be a good idea to have Starbucks and a bagel on Wall St to feel really part of the New York capitalist scene... and it was interesting to note that people in suits everywhere are exactly the same. I'm sure they have personalities they leave at home but once the suit comes on, the personality hides somewhere while they talk about stock tips, their boss and why Larry hit on them at the office party last weekend... BORING.
i saw the chick with the torch in her hand for free on the passing Staten Island ferry. WoOt.
The best of the 'sights' though was this place, the UNHQ in New York, a place I would love to work one day and a kind of inspiring one. There really isn't much to see inside, apart from a few display pieces in the lobby, a giftshop, a bookshop, a post office (from which you can send UN mail), a crappy cafe and thats about it. It was still enjoyable to just sit there and soak it up for a while... the UN atmosphere, as cheesy as it sounds...
...it was cool to hang out with these guys for at least a few hours :D
So not to forget the purpose of my trip was for a meeting at the AIESEC US office. And an interesting meeting it was.
It's a pretty colourful office. I think that green chest of drawers with the flowers on top of it is a particularly nice touch.
And then onto this sushi restaurant on Paul's recommendation where I actually had decent sashimi for the first time since leaving Australia... oh man I miss Sydney fish markets.
But finally, as usual for me, it's the little places to chill that really count on any trip and, just like that cafe in Frankfurt in my last post, I found an NYC cafe to call my home/office too.
-aroma- cafe, as it was called, had decent coffee (for new york), free wifi, great (albeit pricey) sandwiches and a relaxed student atmosphere. I think I was there 3 times out of the 5-6 days I was in New York. Loved it.Labels: food+drink, New York, people, travel
posted by LX @ 7:30 PM
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