WASHINGTON D.C BUS TRIP 8 October 2007

After an infamous bus trip from Sydney to Perth with a mate of mine when I was 16, I promised I would never travel by bus again. Granted, a 3 day bus trip to Perth is alot different than a 5 hour bus trip from New York to Washington D.C, but buses are truly a hideous way to travel.

So I was somehow coaxed into getting the bus to DC. Trinh couldn’t believe how cheap it was compared to flying, hiring a car or taking the train. I knew better. I knew that although the bus is cheap, you eventually pay with your sore back, your pounding headache and your sanity.

Enough of the bus experience though, let’s discuss Washington DC. Visiting this city is like stepping into Doc Browns time machine and setting it for 1972. It’s a city in serious need of an update. Everywhere you look is late 60′s architecture, mid seventies cars and people who look like they are stuck in Saturday Night Fever…..but not in a “cool” way! I’m talkin’ cheesey coloured striped carpet, vinyl covered lounges and bald, hairy chested men with open shirts and medallions.

Our hotel (or should I say, our 1972 time portal) was located only a few streets from the White House so that was our first stop. I’ll give you the best description of the White House as I can: Firstly, it’s a house. Secondly, It is white.

As I stared through the fence at the most famous house on earth, I felt an urge to show my disgust at some of the decisions that have come out of this place. I felt I needed to display my anger at the man inside who’s behavior in recent times has caused the world such needless destruction and mindless warmongering. So I looked down at the Banana and Strawberry smoothie I was sipping, I raised it in the air and with a dramatic thrust I threw its contents onto the ground in front of me. With this, I confidently said, “This spilt smoothie is a reminder of the innocent blood spilt around the world from this countries cruel regime!” The tourists around me cheered and lined up to shake my hand.

Well, ok…..it didn’t quite happen that way. If you must know the truth….I actually made a complete idiot of myself. Two young girls asked me if I could take their picture in front of the white house. I said yes and stupidly put my smoothie down near the fence, only to have it fall off and spill everywhere. I think it even splashed the girls I was doing the favour for. Trinh and I left the scene pretty quick. We didn’t want to be put on the terrorist list for this. I’ve decided I’m going to tell my future children the first version of the story. Let them think their Daddy stood up for injustice and stared down the most powerful man in the world….armed only with a banana and strawberry smoothie.

…and speaking of George W Bush, here’s another thing that resembles a big penis:

Don’t get me wrong here, Washington DC has some impressive sites. The Capitol building, the Monument, the Lincoln Memorial are all great, but I just felt like I was on a school excursion. All around me were fathers pointing to these things and telling their sons that, “this demonstrates why America is the greatest country in the world. Don’t you forget that boy!”. There were so many poor kids being dragged around by their parents or teachers. Bored to death by lectures on why a big phallic structure signifies democracy and freedom. It was all a bit creepy. Or maybe I’m just a cynical old fool.

Trinh and I went to the COOLEST restaurant one night. It was Moroccan and it was crazy. We were seated on cushions. Waiters came around to wash our hands and we ate the food completely with our hands. Good fun. Throw in a half-naked belly dancer and it was quite a night. We ate so much that we physically struggled walking home.
Easily the best thing about Washington DC though, is the museums. We chose to visit the Air and Space museum and the Holocaust museum. Both were amazing. The Holocaust museum especially was incredible. Trinh and I planned to spend an hour or so there and ended up spending 3 hours without even knowing. We almost missed our bus home because of it.

So I’m glad we did the DC trip. It’s quite a come-down from the buzz of New York City, but thanks to the cool museums alone, well worth a visit.

-Posted By Adam

The Great New York Coffee Conundrum 27 September 2007

Coffee. Oh Coffee!

That delicious bean had me at hello.

I may be in a rare category of people who actually remember their very first cup of coffee. I must have been no older than 14 or 15….geez, maybe even younger. I was at home with my sister Belinda, we had just rented the video cassette (remember those?) of “Aliens”. (Yes, most of my life memories are linked to movies).

Belinda needed a toilet break, so we had to press pause (and I mean that literally…we didn’t even have a remote back then. We physically had to walk up to the big, clunky VCR and press down this huge lever that paused the tape. Oh boy, we had it hard back then!) I decided to use the time wisely and make myself a cup of tea. I was a tea man from an early age.

I checked the pantry and discovered we were all out of Bushells tea bags! All we had in the cupboard was a year-old box of cocoa, a no frills satchel of chicken noodle soup and half a tin of something strange called Nescafe Blend 43? I must have been feeling pretty wild so I gave the Nescafe a go.

I had no idea how to make coffee so after putting in 3 heaped spoonfuls, half a cup of milk and two or three sugars I was set.

WOW!

Watching “Aliens” strung out on coffee was amazing! As the caffeine seeped through my veins, my young pubescent body didn’t know what hit it. All it knew was that it was party time and every organ, blood cell and nerve was invited!

I was instantly hooked. And so my long love affair with the coffee bean began.
From that day until the day I left for New York a mere 2 months ago, our relationship has been strong. We do everything together me and coffee. When I was working all hours to finish assignments for university, it was coffee who kept my spirits up. When I would struggle to get up for all the crappy jobs I’ve had to endure in my life, coffee was there each morning lending a helping hand and offering encouragement. When I would party a little too hard and wake up naked in an empty field with no knowledge of who I was or what I had done the night before and without any sense of feeling except for the sting from the freshly drawn tattoo’s on my body and the throbbing beating from inside my dehydrated, alcohol soaked head…..it was my old pal coffee that helped me remember my name and what took place the night before.

Sure, we’ve had our ups and downs…like the time I tried to quit caffeine….we decided to have a break and see what happened. You know? Just not see each other for a while and take it from there? That lasted all of 3 days. Who was I kidding? I needed it back. Thankfully coffee forgave me. We’ve been inseparable ever since.

So I land at JFK airport in New York City. When I get to the apartment there’s nothing I want more than to indulge in a nice cup of hot coffee. Here’s where the problem begins:

Our apartment has a coffee percolator (or a “coffee drip”-which is what they call it). It makes a kind of dark, slimy liquid that resembles coffee….but it certainly aint coffee! Thankfully, like any big city these days, there is a Starbucks on almost every corner in New York, so in a mild panic, I ran into the one across the road and asked for a “flat-white” coffee. The girl behind the counter looked at me as if I just loudly broke wind in front of her and says, “a what?”.

Americans have no idea what a “flat-white” is. It’s like asking them to “slap some bangers on the Barbi and open a nice cold one to sink out the back with your mates.”- They just don’t get it? So I was instead given a weak “caffe latte” and sent on my way. Well, that just didn’t cut it I’m afraid. I like my coffee strong with a nice smooth, but full taste.

My next stop: Little Italy in downtown New York. Surely the Italians will sort me out. They practically invented coffee! I looked for the most Italian looking cafe I could find and made sure they had an espresso machine. I was given a foul tasting liquid that not only make me sick, but burnt my tongue as well.

I have since looked everywhere! New York has no good coffee! It’s official!

My relationship with coffee was on the rocks. We hadn’t seen each other for so long I thought we’d never patch things up and get back together. I was trying to reach it everywhere but it simply wasn’t returning my calls. What’s worse, I was actually putting up with the Starbucks Latte’s and the horrible home-made percolator. I felt dirty and ashamed, like I was cheating on my beloved coffee with its cheap and flirtatious cousin.

Repairing any relationship takes commitment and work. I was determined to get my coffee back but I didn’t know how. At night I would think of my espresso machine back home and wonder what it was doing right now.

My savior came in the form of my sister Debbie, who visited us in New York and brought along her stove-top espresso coffee maker for me to borrow. Bless her! I can tell you that my first real coffee with that, took me back to that night watching “Aliens”. Quite a buzz.

My sweet coffee was back!

To any entrepreneurs reading this, I suggest you invest all your money and start a coffee shop chain that sells REAL coffee in New York. Import it from Australia if you have to. It’s a million dollar idea just waiting to happen. It amazes me that there is no good coffee in this city. I’m told it’s the same around the country too. Maybe it explains why Americans are so darn annoying and agitated. They’ve never tasted good coffee. If they could maybe just sit and enjoy a good cuppa, maybe the world would be a more peaceful place?

Something must be done!

…but for now, I’m just happy my relationship is back on track. The future looks bright again with my sweetheart sitting in a mug by my side. Promise you’ll never leave me again?

-Posted By Adam

Damien Rice @ Wamu Theater, Madison Square Garden 9/9/07 13 September 2007

It was the concert of one of my current favourite artists. The concert I was looking forward to for a while and for those keeping score at home, the concert I insulted Neil Finn for.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. Damien is an amazing singer/songwriter but I gotta say, after seeing James Taylor a few weeks earlier I couldn’t help but get picky with Damo.

My first criticism relates to playing to your strengths. Damien Rice’s success is mainly due to his quiet acoustic playing and his great voice and lyrics. His best songs are the ones where it’s just him, his guitar and his voice. Unfortunately Damien obviously likes to think of himself as a bit of a rocker. Alot of the songs he chose to sing were full band numbers covered in guitar effects and feedback. They were still good fun for the most part, it’s just that when he did strip back and sing his ballads alone on guitar or piano, they easily outshone his attempts to “Rock”.

Second issue I had: I think Damien just got a new voice effect toy for Christmas. This effect that he switched on and off all night made his voice sound scratchy, like an old radio broadcast. At first it was interesting but after a while it became simply annoying as we all just wanted to hear his lyrics clearly instead of heavily muffled and dripping in feedback. I’m all for experimenting with new sounds, but it was clear the crowd was into it.

Final issue: Damien, mate…old pal…dude…we paid 60 odd American dollars for your concert and we know you only had 2 hours on stage. Why did you decide to play extended jams on EVERY damn song that night? I love a good jam session, but when you play the exact same thing for over 15 minutes, it gets kinda dull for the listener. This aint the Grateful Dead my friend. I’m sure you were having a blast, but you obviously thought you were back in the garage at home and forgot we were there listening. When you told the crowd that you are in the mood to jam tonight, did you notice that the reaction was a bit sombre? We didn’t come to watch a jam mate. No offense buddy. Don’t hate me, I’m just giving it to you straight ok?

I’m gonna forgive Damien Rice for his shortcomings that night because when he was good, he was INCREDIBLY good. I enjoyed the show, but I could see that with a bit of tweaking and a little less self-indulgence, it could have been absolute magic. I still love ya bud.

- Posted By Adam

First New York Scare! 12 September 2007

I’m going to milk this one for all I can. My first real “Only in New York” moment occurred last week. Forgive me if I make it sound more exciting and dramatic than it actually was but hey, it’s my blog…..you want accurate re-telling of events? Boy, are you in the wrong place!

Twas a morning like any other. Our apartment is on the 17th floor of a large complex facing the east so I awoke to the usual New York sunshine pouring through my window. My sisters were staying with us but they had left early to bike-ride around Central Park and Trinh was on her way to work. I had the place to myself. That meant I could pursue my regular morning routine of making coffee, firing up my laptop, sitting at my desk overlooking 6th Avenue and checking emails wearing nothing more than my bright blue jockey underpants I wore to bed. A rare treat…and not something I like to inflict on others. I’ve noticed house guests simply don’t appreciate a half asleep, half naked man in bright blue undies in the morning. Strange I know, people just can’t see beauty in it’s most pure form.

This particular morning I had a writing project I was keen to finish so I spent a couple of hours beating away at the keyboard until it was completed. At last I finished, I re-read what I’d written, spell checked and grammar checked. My job was done. I felt good. I stood up and had a big stretch only to nearly fall over when I looked down onto the street to see crowds of people looking up at me!!!

The entire Sixth Avenue block we live on was closed. Police cars, ambulances and curious onlookers filled the street. All of them looking up at me! I immediately thought it must have something to do with my bright blue undies. What else could it be? Are daggy undies outlawed in these parts? Was I being arrested under the “Obscene Undies Exposure” act of 1977? I felt confused, embarrassed and I must admit, just a little bit liberated……hey, it’s not everyday you are on show in your undies in front of hundreds of people! There was something primal and appealing about it.

After the initial shock, reality started setting in. Could it be possible that my undies were not the cause of all this fuss? If not my undies, then what? Visions of bombs exploding, buildings falling and people with guns shooting other people flashed through my mind. I slapped on some clothes and ran downstairs thinking I may be the last guy evacuated from the building. Nobody told me! I’m gonna die! Oh The humanity! Why me lord? Why??!!

I got safely outside and joined the crowds of people looking up. I asked the man next to me what was going on. Apparently, there was a guy a few windows above mine about to jump. Pretty sad. You can’t help but feel for the guy. I watched for a while until I realized I wasn’t too keen on seeing someone jump to their death. Seems I was in the minority though as the sidewalks were filled with gawkers. I went upstairs and decided to get on with my day.

Back in the apartment I kept a check of what was going on downstairs. After a while, more and more people were filling the street and more and more police were showing up. They had even inflated one of those big air mattresses to catch the guy if he jumped.

Things were getting weird. I looked down and noticed the swat team arrive. Now why would a guy jumping off a building warrant a swat team? I started to think that maybe I was given the wrong information. I ran back downstairs. As the lift opened on the ground floor I was greeted by a team of swat men with guns telling me to “clear out!, clear out!”. Those blue undies of mine were very close to turning a different shade of colour.

Outside I was told the so-called guy jumping was not just a jumper but a crazy jumper with a gun! I decided to stay away from the building for a while.

The story ends pretty dull. The guy gave himself up, was taken away by the cops and the crowds cleared. Things got back to normal as if nothing had happened.

The funny thing is, this didn’t seem like a very strange situation to these people. Just another day, just another crazy New York occurrence.

So all in all, my first New York scare ended happily. The crazy guy was safely taken away, the ambulance crews were not needed and my blue undies were left virtually unscathed.

-Posted By Adam

Food Heaven on the Upper West Side 11 September 2007

I know. I have got to stop writing about food. However, after my gyro blog I felt I needed to redeem New York’s name as the culinary capital that it is. With two of Adam’s sisters in town not long ago, we all trekked up to the lovely upper west side for a simple mid-morning snack – a bagel spread with smoked salmon dip (something I saw on a food travel show which stuck in my head).

We grabbed some bagels at H&H Bagels, where they are “Like no other bagel in the world”. There, the bagels (being essentially boiled bread) are sold in a wide variety of flavours – plain, onion, poppy seed, blueberry, sourdough, pumpkin, etc. The original plan was to grab 4 bagels. We walked out with 7.

Armed with our bag of boiled bread and hungry, we went in search for salmon dip at Zabar’s across the road. But what waited for us there was oh so much more than just salmon dip. Zabar’s, a gourmet food emporium, has been described as “an upper west side institution”. The sultry smell of marinated olives greets you at the door as you enter. Inside, every shelf, stand and aisle was bursting with the freshest produce. Amongst the frenzy and madness of the place, you could find any kind of food imaginable from cheeses and freshly prepared salads to cured meats and smoked fish. The tantalizing scents that drift by as you wander through are intoxicating – olives, cheeses, spices, freshly baked crusty breads, cakes and coffee.

Zabar’s was meant to be a 10 minute deal – dip in and come out with .. well.. dip. We spent about an hour in there and (still feeling like our visit was cut too short) walked out with slightly more than we had planned. In our basket we had a tuna salad, a lobster bisque dip, a pickle & dill potato salad, a mixed green salad, a jar of basil pesto, a tub of tabouli, 3 types of cheeses, a foot long French baguette, a Russian coffee cake, a cinnamon bobka (had to be done to please the inner‑Seinfeld in us), 3 chocolate crepes, freshly ground coffee and, just because it went so well with what we already had, a tray of fresh sushi. Let’s not forget the 7 bagels already waiting to be eaten.

The lesson to be learnt from this – never shop hungry! The lazy summer picnic at Central Park that followed was definitely the best way to enjoy our delectable feast.

 

Posted by – Trinh

“Take me out to the ball game” – 29 August 2007 11 September 2007

Adam and I joined a few of the boys from work to partake in a traditional American past-time – an outing at the baseball. The game was between arch rivals the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. I slapped my Yankees cap on and got into the spirit of the game.

Despite being sportingly challenged, I thoroughly enjoyed the night. There is something special about Yankee Stadium erupting when a Yankee hits a home run, which was done that night by some dude named Rodriguez.

Americans are passionate about their baseball. Yankee fans all around us were chanting and jeering “Boston sux! Boston sux!” (you’d think they’d be able to come up with something better after decades of intense rivalry). This was slightly worrying to me as a friend from work sitting with us was wearing a Red Sox cap. There were countless scuffles between hot-headed fans, and on more than one occasion police had to escort undesirables out of the stadium. Oh, the fun!

If there is one thing Americans are more passionate about than baseball, it’s being American. Rivalries were put aside, fists and caps were lowered and heads were held high when, as is tradition, they played “America the Beautiful” during the 7th inning. Around us, the jeers of “Boston sux! Boston sux!” suddenly turned into the not-so-sweet sounds of “O beautiful for spacious skies…”. Another strange tradition was the sand-sweepers coming out to sing and dance to “YMCA” whilst sweeping the pitch. They are a funny lot, these Yanks.

The final score was a Yankees 4-3 win. What a night it was – the lights, the noise, the hotdogs, the beer! Who would’ve thought this could be so fun!

 

Posted by – Trinh

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE! 10 September 2007

One of these men is an icon who is loved the world over………The other is John Lennon.

Ok, I’m sorry…I will never compare myself to Lennon again (Only in my dreams). I did have this photo of me taken with that Lennon photo in mind. I wanted it to be an exact copy, only I forgot he did the peace sign thing. Bummer. That damn guy and his peace-peddling ways ruined my chance to look anywhere near as cool as he did. So inconsiderate of him!

With two of my sisters in town, it has been ten days of running around the city and doing as much as possible. Lots of sightseeing, museums, restaurants and of course bars.

Visiting Ellis island and the Statue of Liberty was one of our targets. What is usually the first thing people do when visiting New York, took me about a month and a half to get to. I usually try to avoid the heavily tourist populated hotspots but I’m glad I did this one. The statue was cool, yes….but it’s just a statue. They actually have a great Immigration museum….I know, it sounds kinda boring but it turned out to be incredibly fascinating to see the stories of these people finding a new home in America. One of the best museums I’ve seen.

Not much more to say. This post was simply an excuse to post the above photos and put myself next to John Lennon. I really need to get a life.

peace.

-posted by Adam

NEW ENGLAND ROAD TRIP (August 24 – August 26) 30 August 2007

“Assumption is the mother of all f*ck ups”… a word of advice a work colleague once gave me. Our first U.S. road trip was littered with “assumptions”. A key one being that each party mistakenly assumed the other had packed the road-map and travel guides. So, armed with no map and no travel guide, we set off on our road trip. Luckily, we invested in a GPS tracking system which turned out to be both a friend and a foe. On paper, the plan looked simple enough: New York to Lenox (to see JT) then onto Boston followed by stops at Cape Cod, Newport, Providence, New Haven and back to New York. Turns out that thinking we could fit all that in was another one of those problem “assumptions”.We managed to find our way out of Manhattan just fine, and had no problem driving to Lenox where we saw James Taylor (please refer to immediately preceding blog entry). We stayed the night there and set off for Boston on Saturday morning. GPS technology is amazing. It knows where you are and takes you to exactly where you want to be. This is “assuming” of course that you input the details of your destination correctly. We (more specifically, Adam) entered the address for the Boston hotel with the wrong zip code. This resulted in the GPS taking us to the Boston backstreet “hoods” where we sat wondering why our 4-star hotel was a run-down old mechanic shop on the rough side of town. After a short panic, we eventually found the real hotel.

Boston .. the “Beantown Land”. Home to the Red Sox, Harvard University, Boston Rob from Survivor and New Kids on the Block (which explains the above pictures). After spending two months in New York, a few observations were readily apparent. Boston is like the smaller, educated, softly-spoken little brother of New York City. I can imagine him dressed in a Polo shirt, with a sweater casually sitting over his shoulders and wrinkle-free beige chinos. Our first encounter with a Bostonian occurred as we were fumbling with a map, trying to find our way to the start of the popular “Freedom Trail” walk. “Do you need help?” asked the Bostonian. My gut New York reaction was, “Why? What do you want for it? My left kidney?”. Alas, no bodily organs were required. The man just wanted to be helpful. Weirdo.
With Boston being one of the most historically significant towns in US history, the Freedom Trail is like an all-day history lesson. It was like “follow the red brick road” to places such as the Boston Massacre site, the historic market halls, and graves of important men such as Samuel Adams.

Beforehand we read that the Freedom Trail will “move you to tears”. Perhaps that might have been so for Americans, but for a couple of Aussies who unfortunately chose to do the trail on a record hot 94 degree Boston afternoon, the only moisture our bodies were moved to create was drip-sweat. Despite the heat, it was a great way to see the different areas of Boston, and I was quite impressed at how pretty the city was.

As for the rest of our anticipated stops – Cape Cod, Newport, Providence, New Haven… what can I say? They looked great from the freeway during the 12 HOUR drive back home. Listening to Adam sing the 80′s soundtrack of his high school years (i.e. the dark ages) all the way home was also a pleasant experience.

P.S. Looking for great sing-along road trip music? Try the “Music & Lyrics” soundtrack – particularly “Pop! Goes My Heart” by Hugh Grant .. its gold! And the video is tragically 80′s inspired. Check it out!

-Posted by Trinh

JAMES TAYLOR – TANGLEWOOD MUSIC CENTER, MASSACHUSETTS 29 August 2007

Alright, prepare yourselves everyone. I am about to gush and babble about one of my all-time favourite artists: Mr James Taylor. Hey, where you going?….don’t click away….this will be interesting…..I promise!

Those of you who see me as simply a “heavy music” listening rock god who prefers a loud plugged in guitar over more subtle and gentler sounds, don’t know the real me. Sure, I like me some juicy rock and roll in all its forms, but my favourite sound on earth is the sweet strumming of an acoustic guitar. And nobody does it better than James Taylor.

I am still buzzing from seeing him live a few nights ago. It was without doubt the most perfect concert I believe I have ever seen. Especially since, only a few months ago, I had come to the conclusion that I may never see him live in concert in my lifetime. When I arrived in New York and discovered he was playing I knew I had to go. The fact that he was playing almost 3 hours away from New York didn’t stop me. The fact that the concert was sold-out didn’t stop me either. Mere obstacles on my mission. I HAD to see him.

So thanks to the magic of hire cars and the wonder of ebay I managed to sort it all out. I found some tickets, grabbed a car and we decided to make a weekend of it by spending a day or two in nearby Boston after the concert.

The concert was held outdoor under the stars in a very picturesque part of Massachusetts. Trinh and I packed a picnic, bought some alcohol and laid out a rug. Not a bad way to see live music.

James Taylor’s guitar playing is amazing, his voice is flawless and perhaps most-importantly, he is one of the greatest living songwriters. This was a hometown show for him and during his almost 3 hour set, he sat there on stage chatting to the audience about his life, his career and his music. From being discovered and signed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, to his drug-fueled/rehab days in the late 60′s and 70′s, to his stories behind the songs like, “Fire and Rain”, “Something In the Way She Moves”, “You’ve Got A Friend” and all the others. It was very intimate and very entertaining.

I find it a bit of a shame that when we told people we were traveling so many miles to see James Taylor we were met with a response of, “Who?”. Granted most of these people were young and may not know their music history, but those of you who don’t know who he is, shame on you and I urge you to at least check out some of his music. You’ll thank me.

Best concert ever. I can now die a happy, complete man.

-Posted by Adam

CHEERS!…FROM BOSTON 28 August 2007

Another day and yet another visit to a TV related landmark. This pop-culture obsession of mine is officially out of hand. This time it’s the bar made famous by the TV show “Cheers”.

Not sure why I wanted to visit this bar, but if you’ll allow me to be philosophical for a moment…the way I see it – Making your way in the world today takes everything you got. Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help alot. Wouldn’t you like to get away? Sometimes you wanna go, where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. You wanna go where people know, their troubles are all the same. You wanna go where everybody knows your name.

….and besides, me…like…beer.

-Posted by Adam

MOVIE TOUR DAY 20 August 2007

It wasn’t necessarily planned this way, but a week or so ago we had a bit of a movie-tour day. We’d heard about a place called Katz’s Deli where people say you simply “must” try the pastrami sandwich. Never ones to knock back food suggestions, Trinh and I took it upon ourselves to check it out. (actually, has anyone else noticed how much this blog discusses food? We might have to book an extra seat each on the plane back home to accommodate our potential girth)

Not only is Katz’s Deli famous for its sandwiches but it is also the place Meg Ryan gave us her fake orgasm in the scene from When Harry Met Sally. Need a visual reminder? Here you go:

Oh, you want MORE of a visual reminder? Well, how about this:

Thanks Meg. Well, we tried the pastrami sandwich and I must say it was quite…..um….well….kinda….orgasmic! We weren’t throwing our heads back and moaning in Meg Ryan proportions but we weren’t far off. We certainly let out a few “MMM’s” and “YUMM’s”.

Something to remember if you ever order a meat sandwich in America, you will get two slices of bread with ALOT of meat between them. Here’s a shot of our sandwiches to illustrate:

Vegetarians need not apply.

Keeping the Meg Ryan theme going, we also walked through the park that her and Tom Hanks met up in at the finale of “You’ve Got Mail”. Or so I’m told….it aint exactly an “Adam” movie so I really wouldn’t know. Trinh, on the other hand knew exactly where she was. The girl knows her chick flicks.

Finally, we continued the Tom Hanks connection by visiting the FAO Schwarz toy shop on 5th avenue. This is the place Tom visited in the movie “Big” and played the huge “foot piano”

Unfortunately, we didn’t get a go on it. I would have loved to push some of the kids out of the way and give everyone a rendition of the only song I can really play on piano, “Do-Re-Mi”. Alas, it wasn’t to be.

So that was our movie tour day. All the movies are strangely G-rated. I’m looking forward to a more MA or R-rated movie tour down the line.

-Posted by Adam

Seinfeld-athon!!!! 14 August 2007

Trinh and I are Seinfeld fanatics. I think that’s safe to say. We have all the DVD’s back home and find ourselves constantly quoting lines from the show during our everyday lives. Yep, pretty geeky I know but I’m sure we’re not alone. So what better thing to do whilst in New York City than to visit a couple of the locations featured in the show?

First up was Tom’s Restaurant. Better known as “Monk’s” in the show. As you can see from the picture above it is instantly recognizable (if you ignore that fat, balding idiot standing in front of it…oh hang on, that’s me!). This is the coffee shop where Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer would meet to discuss their lives. The only thing is, the inside is nothing like it is in the show. They shot the inside of the place on a TV set, but that didn’t stop Trinh and I from going in and having lunch.

The inside of Tom’s restaurant is a pretty standard American diner/coffee shop with tables, a bar and booths. It was also the place Susanne Vega sat and wrote that song called, “Tom’s Diner”. You know, the one where she rabbles on about useless info like, “I am sitting in the morning at the diner on the corner..” and then later she fills some lines with, “Do do do do, do do do do etc etc”.

There was quite a bit of Seinfeld memorabilia on the wall including shots of the cast with the restaurant owners. The food made us both a little sick to be honest but that may have had more to do with how much we ate than the food itself. Or maybe not. Hard to say.

Next up is the famous Soup Nazi:

Ok, a bit of trivia about the soup nazi. He is indeed a real guy who ran a small soup kitchen in New York. And yes, he was famous for his temper and his strict rules when ordering soup. You don’t follow the rules and you may hear, “NO SOUP FOR YOU!”

The thing is, when Seinfeld used his character on the show, he was seriously not happy. He took great offense to being referred to as a “Soup Nazi” and hated people asking him about that episode. In fact when Jerry himself went in with some crew on a break from filming Seinfeld one day, the soup guy screamed at him and refused to serve him.

The soup guy still holds the grudge, but somewhere along the way he woke up to himself and saw the dollar potential of it all and recently has begun to turn his soup kitchen into a franchise. To his credit, he is very passionate about his soup and will not accept anything but the freshest ingredients.

What’s more, after Trinh and I tried his soup we can tell you that it is incredible. The picture above shows a Lobster Bisque and a Garden Vegetable variety that we ordered. I aint kidding when I say that Lobster bisque was the best damn soup I have ever tasted. Sorry Mum, I still like your pea and ham soup, but this stuff was incredible!

-Posted by Adam

A Chorus Line – Broadway 11/8/07 14 August 2007

Call me old fashioned but I just love a good musical….I don’t care how gay that sounds. Trinh and I attended our first Broadway musical on Saturday night. It was a last minute decision. We picked up the tickets Saturday morning.

Deciding which show to see came with its own complications.

You see, Trinh is really keen to see Chicago. Whereas I would rather spend the evening having my nose-hairs individually plucked than to sit through that show. I hated the movie and have still not forgiven the academy for awarding it the Best Picture Oscar a few years back. An outrage! I demand a recount! (as a footnote, Chicago beat out films such as The Pianist and Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers to win that Oscar. Crazy!?)

As for me, I want to see Spamalot, the musical based on the film, Monty Python and The Holy Grail. I’m a massive Python fan and this film is my stand-out favourite of theirs. Trinh doesn’t share my views on this. That’s cool, Monty Python can definitely be an acquired taste and certainly not for everyone.

We decided to seek mutual ground and see A Chorus Line instead. I’m really glad we did. A Chorus Line is basically a show about an audition for a Broadway show. It was fantastic. Two hours of pure entertainment. Great songs and a top-notch cast. Anyone who has seen a Broadway show will know what I’m talking about when I say there is something special about walking out onto the lights of 42nd street after a show. Very New York and very cool.

-Posted By Adam

The Black Crowes – Central Park Summerstage 9/8/07 14 August 2007

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Black Crowes. They bill themselves as “The most Rock and Roll Band In America”. I guess that depends on what you consider to be “Rock and Roll”. It’s so broad these days. I heard some boy band on TV talking about their latest album the other day and saying how much it “Rocks”. Hmm, unless I missed a meeting and the word “Rocks” now means “Sucks” I seriously doubt this boy band knows the true meaning of the word.

If “Rock” means simply old fashioned, guitar wailing good time music then I reckon The Black Crowes have every right to call themselves Rock and Roll.

For those that don’t know this band, the lead singer married, impregnated and divorced the actress Kate Hudson a few years back. Check your back-issues of New Idea and you’ll be up to speed.

The biggest critics of this band call them “derivative” and “Rolling Stones copycats”. Yeah, maybe…but who cares? Good music is good music. If you can look past all that nonsense you’ll see a nice, tight and really polished rock and roll band with some great songs.

While the show we saw last Thursday was by no means a knockout, it was a great night nonetheless. The setting was amazing; A hot summers night outdoors in Central Park.  That’s hard to beat.

-Posted By Adam

Chillin’ With Neil Finn 7 August 2007

I met up with my old friend Neil Finn today. We go way back……nah, not really. I did meet him today though!

I was down the road killing time in a guitar shop. I was salivating over all the cool guitars that I’ll never be able to afford when I spotted Neil and his son. I did what any completely sane person would do….I stalked him around the store and waited for a good moment to say hi to him. I’ve always had respect for Neil. I grew up with my big sisters playing Split Enz and I was always a pretty big fan of Crowded House.

So the moment came, I approached the great man, stuck out my hand and said, “Neil, how you going? I just wanted to say Hi.” He looked at me and smiled politely. We shook hands. After a slightly awkward silence I said, “So, you guys are playing here aren’t you?”

I knew damn well that Crowded House were playing Madison Square Garden.

He replied, “yeah, we’re playing Madison Square Garden. You coming?”

I said, “Well, it was a choice of seeing you guys or Damien Rice and we decided to see Damien Rice instead…sorry mate.”

He looked at me with what seemed like genuine anger and disappointment. I stood there thinking, “why did I just say that?!”. I had just insulted Neil Finn. Good one Adam. I needed to soften the blow…and fast! So I went with the first thing I could think of:

“Actually, it was my girlfriend, she really wanted to see Damien Rice.”

Yep, I blamed Trinh. It was completely untrue. Trinh and I never even discussed seeing Crowded House, but what could I say to Neil Finn? It was Neil Finn!

Anyway, Neil kinda laughed and said, “We are playing two nights, so if you can fit us in your budget come along”

We exchanged pleasantries and I left the scene. I was secretly hoping he would offer me free tickets but after insulting him for no good reason and choosing Damien Rice over him, I guess I ruined my chances. Sorry Neil.

I think I should also apologize to Trinh as well…..Sorry Trinh. I’m sorry for pulling you into my sad web of lies just to try and save face in front of Neil Finn.

What can I say? I suppose “Something So Strong” lead me to say hello to him. Well, “It’s Only Natural” to want to meet someone you admire. At least I didn’t go up to him and say, “Oh Neil, I wanna “Fall At Your Feet”, you have no idea what you “Mean To Me”.”

I’m surprised he didn’t tell me to get the hell out of the store and to “Take The Weather With You”. I felt like a real “Pineapple Head”. The minute I said goodbye to him I thought, ” I “Better Be Home Soon”. When I got home I scoffed the last piece of “Chocolate Cake” and went back into my own “Private Universe”.

That’s the end of this blog entry. But remember, “Don’t Dream It’s Over”.

I’m an idiot.

-Posted by Adam

Bourne Again 6 August 2007

We skipped along to see this flick a few nights ago. I forgot that it was opening weekend and we ended up standing in a line that stretched down the street to get into the cinema.

Before I go on I should mention that Trinh and I had a great meal beforehand at Little Italy. It was my first visit to that area of New York and it’s now my new favourite spot in the city. It’s quite a small street but is lined with Italian restaurants and cool shops. Crowds stroll up and down the street and take in the vibe. It’s an amazing place. I wanted to go into the bar where they shot a few Sopranos scenes (and I think Goodfellas too) but we had to hurry up and eat to catch the movie. I’ll Save that for another time. I don’t think I’ve tasted better pasta in my life at the restaurant we chose.

Back to the movie. I saw the previous Bourne movies and they were both pretty good. Enjoyable, but not really memorable in my eyes. I had a gut-feeling this one was special and I was spot on. Man, what a cool ride! It’s the kind of movie that is pure entertainment. Great action, great acting, really well shot. Anyone who knows me will testify to the fact that I can be pretty picky with my movie choices, but this is one of the most entertaining films I’ve ever seen. I’ve always been more of a Matt Damon man than a Ben Affleck man. I never fell for Affleck’s cheesey charm. Damon is just a nice guy. You can imagine hanging out with him at a pub and sharing a few beers. I’m glad he’s become the superstar he is. We need more guys like him in movies. No ego, just pure acting chops.

Anyway, maybe it was the fact that the third act of the movie was shot right near our apartment in New York that made it even cooler. Infact, it was kind of surreal that some of the car chase scene even whizzed by the cinema we were sitting in. Trinh was nudging me every time she recognized a spot we’ve been in New York on the big screen. Trinh actually saw part of this film being shot in our street when she arrived here a few months back.

It was just a very cool movie. I don’t know if it’s out in Oz yet, but go see it when it is. Tell ‘em Adam sent ya!
-Posted by Adam

Ode To The Margarita 3 August 2007

 The humble margarita. So unassuming. So pleasant to the eye. Surely no bad could come from drinking this delightful beverage? WRONG. Trinh and I are today in damage-control mode after a night out with some friends. It was a great night….I think. We all met at a bar (Zanzibar in Hells Kitchen) where we chatted and sipped a drink. We then moved down the road to a Mexican restaurant. The place was packed. It seemed like a very cool joint, but being a party of seven people, we had to wait about 45 minutes for a table. No probs, the restaurant had a small bar area where we could wait. That’s when the margarita’s came out. The bar offered three sizes: Child, Father and Big Mamma size. Me being the extremely humorous guy that I am, I joked by saying, “Give me the whole family!”. Oh, the wit! The comic genius! Luckily I didn’t follow through on that. We all opted for the father size. The Mamma size came in a glass almost as big as a toilet bowl….which later became rather ironic.

We got our table and enjoyed the great Mexican food while continuing to sip away on margaritas. I wish I could tell you more about the evening but it would be complete speculation from that point on. All I know is that I woke up today with a “Big Mamma” sized hangover. Poor Trinh had to go to work. If I could muster the strength, I would stand up and applaud her for this….but I’m afraid that is simply not possible.

My thanks to you, oh humble margarita! For you tempted me with your pretty facade and deliciously supple flavour….only to later hurt me with your cruel sting and vicious after-effect.

Oh the humanity!

-Posted by Adam   

Mmm …. gyro … 1 August 2007

New York – the culinary capital of the world.  This is where esteemed chefs from the finest cooking institutes showcase their talents to the gastronomical delights of hungry diners; New Yorkers, tourists, and wannabee foodies alike.  So, given the choice in fine dining this city has to offer, it may come as a surprise to some that Adam and I went on the look-out for just one thing the other night …. Gyro.  What is gyro?  Basically, it’s the Greek word for a kebab sandwich.  This strange New York street food sparked my curiosity during an episode of Seinfeld when Elaine Benice hungrily devoured it on a subway train whilst unknowingly dripping white sauce all over Frank Costanza’s TV Guide.  Naturally, it was on my list of things “to-do” whilst in New York.  

Big mistake.  Our selected gyro vendor operated out of a small steamy mobile van on Broadway that looked like the mobile breast screening clinics that often roam around Sydney.  We watched in horror whilst our gyros were being made.  Perhaps it was witnessing the bare unwashed hands lift the hunk of hot lamb straight off the skewer or the beads of sweat dripping onto the roll which caused my enthusiasm to sour quickly .. almost as quickly as the white sauce we saw in the huge plastic ice-cream vats.      

Now, I don’t profess to be a healthy eater and I have had my fair share of pretty bad food, but this little food experience topped it all.  The gyros were wrapped in wax paper and then a layer of foil, but that still didn’t stop the grease from escaping into the paper bag and then proceeding to drip onto my jeans whilst we walked to nearby Madison Square Park.  My silly need to tick off to-do list items got the better of me and the gyros were unfortunately consumed.  There was no napkin strong enough to absorb the resulting residue that glistened on our hands and lips so we rushed back home to bring out the heavy artillery – soap, shampoo, Ajax.  

I was happy the experience wasn’t re-lived later on that night in half digested form.  All in all, it was a strange and funny night, and my to-do list is looking fine!

-posted by Trinh

Natural History Museum 30 July 2007

Trinh and I spent our first Saturday together exploring this museum. No sign of Ben Stiller and absolutely no exhibits came to life. Bit of a bummer. It’s almost as if that movie was all make-believe. Still, it’s a pretty cool place to visit. The museum itself is housed in a massive space in Central Park. There are four huge floors of exhibits. We were exhausted by the second floor. By the time we got to the fourth floor where all the cool dinosaurs were, we were pretty over the whole thing. Even the massive T-Rex couldn’t muster up much enthusiasm out of us. Sure, he was the most fearsome carnivore to ever walk the earth and a truly fascinating killing machine, but unless he could point us to the nearest comfy chair and Starbucks coffee shop, he could “talk to the hand” as far as we were concerned. Sorry T-Rex, I’m sure you were pretty awesome back then, but what have you done for me lately kiddo?

I think the Natural History Museum is a two-day trip.

Here’s a shot of Trinh and I walking through the museum. For some reason, people seemed more fascinated with us than the exhibits. I guess New Yorkers just love Aussies.

We also went to see the new Harry Potter film at night. The things I do for Trinh. Sorry to all you Potter fans but I just can’t keep my eyes open during these movies. I’ve been dragged to five of them now and all five times I have tried my best to extract something, ANYTHING enjoyable out of them but I always end up asleep and dribbling on Trinh’s shoulder. What am I missing? And this is from a guy who finds it almost impossible to sleep upright. I am wide awake during long plane flights because I can’t sleep without laying down…..but the minute I see a Harry Potter film in a cinema I’m snoring away like a newborn (I guess I know what film to watch on the flight back home). Hey, I’m sure the books are good and all, but surely I can’t be alone in thinking the movies are downright tedious? I feel like I’m alone here. Someone must agree? Who’s with me? Can I get an “Amen”?

-Posted By Adam

Cuban food mystery solved! 25 July 2007

Trinh and I went out for dinner a couple of nights ago. We strolled up to Greenwich Village, stopped in a bar for a couple of drinks then sat down at a Cuban restaurant. It was a great little place with a buzzy atmosphere. Neither of us had tried Cuban food before and had no idea what we were in for. Turns out Cuban is simply Mexican food without the cheese and fat. Pretty simple. You got your beans, rice, chicken, beef etc all served up without the ingredients that block your arteries. Trinh and I declared Cuba to posess an all round successful culture of food. Of course, we declared this after a couple of glasses of tasty Sangria so who knows what the hell we were on about.

Cuban food….take it from Castro, it’s worth falling head first for!

-Posted by Adam