nataliekrug

New York, summed up!

nataliekrug — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Well, my blog is now becoming a retrospective - but I didn't have any wireless access for the majority of the time, and I found out that my dear, dear, special "Bull" Phill passed away on my second day there so, to be frank, it was a bit of a blur, and my levels of motivation were not great..

But, not to put too much of a downer on it... here were some highights.

Um, and I lost the camera that had all my shots so things are a bit sketchy.. (don't judge me, Jan..) :)

1. Lunch at Les Halles, Anthony Bourdain's restaurant. Not very expensive, which was a shock. Very strong martinis, which was another, different, sort of shock.

2. Top Of The Rock - better viewing than the top of the Empire State Building. Probably because you can actually see the Empire State Building!

3. Century 21 - Three words. Cheap. Designer. Labels. I walked out decked in Armani glasses, Michael kors top and .. er.. a Jessica Simpson handbag. Trust me, it's a cool one.

4. MOMA - the Museum of Modern Art has opened at their new digs in Manhattan and it is amazing. There were classic pieces and post-modern works and some really amazing cutting edge pieces dealing with space and light and change of perceptions while looking at it. Some may call it rubbish, but I really enjoyed it.

The BEST was a passageway that was lit in a yellow tone that cancelled out everyone's 3D-ness (new Nat word) and skin tone, so made all the public look like newspaper photos. Kind of like the A-HA video clip "Take On Me".

Yes, you are correct, I did sing it at the time.

You don't know me.

Third day here

nataliekrug — Sun, 18 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

We had breakfast at a place calld La Peep - specialising in eggs benedict. There was a queue out the front and I can tell you why! Great food, wonderful restaurant and lovely company, including my new friend Karen, who I had lots of giggles with!

Afterwards, I had an appointment with J Paddock & Son Texan Car Tours, and we went around some amazing areas looking at the MASSIVE mansions that are in Dallas. Really, they are phenomenal. We say man-made lakes, train tracks, moats and waterfalls galore!

The touring continuted, and we saw a synagogue, a school and a supermarket - all of them quite different from home and very interesting (photos to follow at home).

Central Market was a cross betwenn the quality and presentation of Leos, with the user-friendly food options of BaySwiss for the busy or culinary-challenged, but with about 50 times more options of every product!

We also stopped at South Fork Ranch, where the TV series 'Dallas' was set. No Ellie-May in sight. (Is that name even right? I think I might be the only person in the world that hasn't seen it).

Dinner was a fantastic chinese restaurant called Howard Wangs - thanks for the shout Dad!

Shooters, Hooters and Poker Computers

nataliekrug — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I am officially running on 10 hours sleep in the last 3 days. Last night was meant to be an early night to acclimatise - but by 4am it was clear that I had come full circle and was now screwed again.

Sonny Bryant's Smokehouse

Breakfast was, well, lunch. Sonny Bryan's BBQ called at about 12 noon for ribs, pulled chicken and chopped beef - very Texan. BBQ restaurants rock, and there should definitely be some at home. Still undecided if the ribs were better than Limors.

In Sonny's

Brunch!

So, with a food baby named "too much mash", we went to visit Dan's Dad driving the trolleys - a fantastic Dallas tourist attraction. By trolley, I mean an authentic Melbourne tram! From the St Kilda line! That probably took me to Wesley!

After a quick tutorial I drove the trolley up and down one of Dallas's streets. Yes shopppers, I drove a tram. In Dallas. A Melbourne tram. In Dallas. Can you sense how cool I think that is? Arnie was on fire and the tourists all loved him. Arnie, if you are reading this, the 'magnet school' joke rocked!!

Matilda, the Melbourne tram

Going to school flashbacks

We then drove to deliver a bottle of Bundy to Dan's friend, then headed to the 6th Floor Museum, where the shooter was perched that assasinated JFK.

Thankfully, Dan and I do tourist sites similarly. There was an individual audio tour which we got, and both of us lasted us about 2.5 minutes before we tried to fastforward to the exciting shooting bits.

The place where the sniper aimed beyond the grassy knoll has been recreated and glassed off. It was really creepy. I can't imagine the chain of events that led to somthing like this. (Oh wait, I should have stuck with the audio tour.)

It was time to go downstairs to the other most important part of any museum - the gift shop. Dropped some cash on a George W Bush doll to use to do rude things to my Donald Trump doll at home.

We drove along the road where the JFK mororcade went, and I got the shivers. Time to move on.

We then went back to the airport because ..

(paragraph deleted for fear of being made fun of)

.. which was great.

Then we went to Hooters for Buffalo wings. MMmmmmm.

Yes they do.

Then, straight to Rick's place for poker night! I couldn't concentrate (see first line of this entry) so went out and was then dealer. I didn't do a very good job at that either, but I was great at the bit where I drank champagne.

Dan's Mum won!! Props to Jan!! Missy is a beautiful shnauzer!!

The poker stars and the defective dealer

First stop, Dallas

nataliekrug — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I am never flying economy again.

After a very crowded flight from Melbourne to LA, I tranferred to a very crowded AA flight to Dallas.

Dan met me at the baggage carousel (ater I forgot, and wandered around the gate lounge for 5 minutes looking for him). So exciting!

We went straight to meet up with Dan's family. Yep, after 27 hours flying, sweating and in the same clothes, that's exactly what I was hoping to do. Lol! Only kidding - what a lovely family. I got presents!

Friends Brad and Sandy arrived, and we drove an hour or so to Southern Junction, a Texas Steak joint.

I will paint a picture - these were the suggested activities of the evening by the girl behind the counter: cook your own steak and then ride on the bucking bull, while watching Texan rednecks in their natural habitat.

Ok. The last bit was in my words.

Seriously, the most incredible introduction to a city I have ever had!!!

Getting nervous before the bucking bronco

Awwww

Preparation time

Nat and the Grillmaster

My masterpiece

"Nat, it's too rare..", "No, I like it", "Nat, you can't put it back on", "IT'S FINE!"

Brad and Sandy: Masterchef Goes Large

Texan Beer

The table - look at the concentration

Quote of the day : "So you, me and my Mom are going to Hooters tomorrow"

Preparing for the trip

nataliekrug — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Things to do while I am away:

Learn how to use my Blackberry
Learn how to use my camera
Learn not to spend all my money in the first three days
Eat babyback ribs in Texas
Discuss JFK assasination conspiracy theories
Go to Walmart
Go to Hooters
Photo with Debbie Gibson at her Atlantic City show (to be my facebook pic forevermore..)
Finally get into a Conan O'Brian taping in NYC
Finally get into a Saturday Night Live taping in NYC
Say "All in" at at least three different casinos
Get married in Vegas
Get marriage anulled in Vegas