We definitely had our share of ups and downs on our New York trip. Me getting food poisoning, MP losing his wallet which meant not having money to spend for two days as we waited for the money transfer to come through....
But the good was sooo good! We ate at Michelin Star restaurants...Per Se, Eleven on Madison, Momofuku's Ko, Jean Georges... We ate at New York's best burger joints, had tasty fresh from the oven New York pizza slices, Ess-a-bagel, Katz, Chop'd salads... the weight definitely stacked on, but it was completely worth it.
We had our Sleepless in Seattle moment at the Empire State building, watched the sunset from the Top of the Rock, went to museums, jumped on a Liberty Island cruise, watched a Knicks game, saw three broadway shows, ice skated in Central Park, visited all the Sex and the City landmarks, and even took a scary trip to Harlem. We ventured to bars (even wandered into a Comedy Club one night) and just we walked and walked and walked.
We nabbed some great bargains at Woodbury, doign our fair share of shopping everyone. All in all, it was an amazing trip and even three months after, I still smile giddily at the memories.
There has been insightful revelations and dreams for the future. One relevation being that Money is everything in America, and a lot of New Yorkers don't have it. There are a lot of Americans who work in the service sector earning significantly LESS than minimum wage (Approx $9/hour). Some waiters are solely reliant on tips as their income. On the other side of the coin, there are also many ridiculously, filthy rich people living in New York. Celebrities, Sport Stars, Suits - people earning millions and millions a year who can afford $10-$30 million dollar apartments. (Casual browsing of the New York Times revealed many Brownstones averaging in that range.) Living in New York is expensive. For us, it was already a very decadent trip (worth every penny, I might add). But this trip definitely opened my eyes to the fact that there are many, many tiers of decadence above and beyond me.
Now the plans for the future. Well, I guess the biggest thing MP and I decided is that we may want to wait a little while longer before we have kids. Now this is pretty big considering that we were planning to start trying when I turned 30. I think this trip has made us realize that there's still a lot we want to see and do. Maybe even the possibility of moving to New York for a while? The thought both excites and scares me. Exciting, as we'd be living in New York! Scary, as we would know nobody. I also realise that holidaying and living in New York would be very, very different. I'm also nervous that I wouldn't be able to find a job here... But I guess I wouldn't know unless I tried.
All in all, this wonderful trip has left me feeling very grateful. Grateful for all the opportunities, people... everything in my life. For two weeks, I got the opportunity to step out of my little world and lose myself in a much bigger world. I gained some perspective, some pudge around the waist... and a new Burberry trench. Lucky. Happy. Grateful... That is me.
A piccie of MP, up at the Top of the Rock on his last day of being 29.
