Author: rodney

As I promised, here’s a night shot of the view. The ribbon of lights in the background is the Queensboro Bridge…

twinkle-ly!
And as I promised, here’s some silly movies. Right-Click on the links and save the little movie to your computer.
Here’s the basi trying to back up into the “bus station”. And the driver slurping down dinner.

I expect connections between town and airport to be seemless and stress free.
When I do make it to da airport, I dun wanna be harrassed or forced to strip when I go through security.
Once inside, it would be nice to have some amenities such as a laptop corner with free broadband (Singapore Changi) or decent food (HK Airport, Tokyo Narita) and not to have to take basi to my gate, but instead to take a simple train.
In other words, the airport and getting to the airport should be part of the journey. And it should be enjoyable. And stress free.
Which flying into or outta Dulles ain’t!
Come to think of it, none of the US airports have a good direct airlink. Or food. Ironically, SFO has decent food and the BART link is the closest thing to direct rail. At least at SFO, it goes DIRECTLY into the terminal. Heh.
Six hours later…am packed into an air bart basi. Either there is just one basi or the driver gets paid by the head, but I get on da basi…and wait, and wait, and wait and wait.

Here’s how crowded it was about 10 minutes before we finally left OAK to the BART station. And still more people were piling in because chances were that this was probably the ONLY bus running at this time of night (1900 hours). I would have taken a pic of that but you wouldn’t be able to see anything except some person’s unattractive butt, so I will spare you that.
After 13 minutes, the basi finally lumbers to the BART stop. Of course, it will be just in time to watch the train leave us on the platform for another 20 minutes. This sucks.
The positive thing: I found an In & Out near OAK! So that’s a positive thing, I guess. Actually, finding an In & Out in a place where u dun expect it is always a good thing!
Home now, yay.

Wah! Stud, eh?

Ha ha ha! Suckah! Actually, they are two babes! Heh. This is Annie, a longtime fren and fellow Trojan and her daughter, Sophie. A real babe! Ha ha ha.
She was an infant the last time I saw her. Now she’s walking and talking and all that. We grabbed a quick lunch near the Village at an Italian place where a lot of bigshots eat. The food wasn’t bad but they dun take credit cards!!!

Spaghetti Carbonara with freshly shredded parmasian! Numnumnum…
I took a cab back to East Broadway and Forsyth where I was to meet the Chinatown (erm, the Today) Basi to head back to DC. Unlike the DC leg, this wasn’t easy to miss..

Where is da basi? Where where?
And unlike the drama getting to New York, this was boringly efficient. Left at 1600. Got into DC at 2030. Had a 10 minute rest stop that morphed into 30 because the guys at the Subway were too slooooow…
So now I’m back in DC. Tomorrow is all business (in painful wingtips and a three piece James Bond type suit). Not looking forward to the wingtips…

Or my second day out of three.
It’s appropro because it was after 1300 when we finally left the apt for brunch. Found a neat place in Soho where the food was good but the coffee was grrrreat!
Of course, I’ve not had proper coffee in three days so I was jonesing for a cuppa. Soho was great. Lots of boutiques and places to eat. Like Union Street with character. And an Apple Store. Yay Apple Store! But no video iPod yet…

This be one of the streets of SoHo…
After brunch, I was left to my own devices, so I went shopping. The big Dean & Deluca was nearby so I got coffee…

Yay! Look at all that coffee! How many cups could all that make?
Smelled cheese…

…mmmm cheeeeese!
Then I saw the “don’t take pictures” sign so I stopped. Dun wanna offend the food police. And besides, this is their store…
A long stroll down Broadway brought me to Century 21. Might pick up a suit tomorrow.
Then a visit to the hallowed ground that is the WTC. Possibly the only serious point in this brief NYC visit. ‘Nuff said about that.

no snazzy comment here…
Shot back up to the East Village to find a good ramen shop. I found many, including this place that makes a good tonkotsu ramen.


mmmmmmmm, tonkotsu ramen……
Only nit to pick: not enough cha-shu in the soup. The soop, btw, was delish! Almost as good as being in Hakata.
Apparently, along St.Mark’s Place between 2nd and 3rd, there’s several ramen shops and a big BIG izakaya with a queue outside.

Another good looking ramen shop. On my list for next time!

The big izakaya
Is it coincidence that all the ramen joints are within walking distance of the NYU dorms? Nope, I thought not.

I had a New York lunch.

White pizza, yay!
After lunch, I farted around Grand Central on my way to Bryant Park and Nat Sherman’s. I had a short cigar and learned wisdom from George, one of the guys who works upstairs.

Bryant Park Doggie!
Then it was off to Brooklyn. That’s a big deal for me since I don’t usually leave the island…

Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge where there was a wedding party exchanging vows and a BD photography session on the middle of the bridge. Didn’t get pix of THAT though…
I DID get a picture of the sun setting behind the buildings of Manhattan.

New York Harbor with Lady Liberty on the center left
Now that’s artsy-fartsy!!

welcome to Brooklyn, now go home!
Once you cross the bridge, take the stairs on the left, go down and hang another left. Cross the street. Congrats, you’re in DUMBO, latest area of gentrification in NYC…

A view of the Manhattan Bridge from DUMBO
DUMBO is the name of the district under the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. There’s a lotta art and expensive condos there. I thought the condos looked better than the art.

Katz’s
Dinner time and nothing beats a big ass pastrami sandwich from Katz’s Deli, home of the “when Harry met Sally” orgasm scene.
When you enter the place, you are given a ticket. DON’T LOSE IT otw, it costs US$50 to get out!

Big tender juicy pastrami sandwich, yum!

On the way home, some words of advice

and edible advertising! The two-storey tall Cup Noodles! That’s a lotta MSG…

After the adventure getting here last night (erm, this morning?), I was glad to wake up to this….

kickass view!
Apparently, it’s been raining non-stop in NYC for the past week and this is the first dry day they’ve had since.
This is the guestroom, which will be my domicile for the next few days.

don’t mind the mess, I’m a rough sleeper, apparently
Here’s a view from the living room. Nice, especially at night!

But it’s morning now, so this is all ya get…