Yesterday was a day of two halves. In the morning, I journeyed to the city to undergo some Dao Yin Bi Ji, at the hands of a Shaolin monk. I admit I was a bit apprehensive as to be honest, I was not impressed with the whole Colon thing from when I first arrived, and that planted seeds of doubt in my mind. As it turns out, I actually found this enjoyable and that it had a noticeable effect on me. Dao Yin Bi Ji is in the same school as the Accupressure massages that I used to have while working at London, but two stages higher. It seeks to do something with your Chi, I think realign your energy so that in places were you are injured (which is a Chi block), the blockage is removed and the pain goes. I had my knees and my back specifically looked at, hopefully that will be the end of their playing up! It starts off with Master Lee (who is in his 80s but moves like he is much younger) trying to burst your head open with his hands - this is to relieve stress. He then goes to the pressure points on the body for each major organ and some hurt more than others (a sign of a block there - for example, my lungs were sore and he asked if I smoked, which I don't, and then asked about allergies, which I have at Lorena's house due to her sister's cat), and then you just relax. I did feel very relaxed afterwards, not hyper like from an Accupressure massage but very calm and nice, as if a lot of crap has just floated away. The best thing was that Master Lee told me that I was very healthy, and that he normally does at least three sessions with people as they need it, but I did not need to come back at all, although I was welcome to if I liked. I may just do that one day.
Afterwards, Master Lee told me to relax and as I had to wait for Lorena and her mum to have their turns, I thought, what better way to relax than to go 84 storeys (83 if you are in England due to the American fashion of calling the Ground Floor the First Floor) up in the air and peer out over New York on a lovely clear day. So it was off to the Empire State Building for me. Entry to the ESB's observatory is $19, although ludicrously they attempt to sell you a ticket and a map for... $27 (seriously, that had better be a 3d hologram map for $8). Then it is a 15-20 minute wait as you go up two elavators, and then you are out to enjoy the view, provided that you don't decide to wait behind some people who are seemingly photographing every building individually as I seemed to do so. But you get some great views on a clear day such as this one looking out toward downtown:
You can also get great views of the Chrysler building, admittedly via a zoom, which is my favourite skyscraper:
I like that one so much that I have turned it into a print:
Once I had finished galavanting around in the sky, it was time to meet up with everyone. We headed off to the Merchant's House Museum, the oldest standing house in NYC (built late 1820s) and a place where I may be volunteering in the future - I have an interview in early November. It is packed to the gills with ghosts too apparently, so I hope I get in there! It costs $8 to get in, takes under an hour to go about and is a lovely example of a Victorian home, with all the original furniture still intact. After that, I was pretty knackered, so it was back to Long Island where I managed to either sleep or play Mario Kart all evening.
Presumably the birds and not bored men waiting for the women to come back
(It was a literal filling, being Michael Winner's secret sauce). But on the day of the holiday, I warmed to it a little. Could it have been that it is a rather honest celebration? Possibly, but I think that the fact that we deep fried a fucking turkey in a vat of oil for 45 minutes (you'd be surprised at just how juicy and tender and non-fatty the actual meat is) had a lot to do with it:
Well that and I ended up falling asleep on the bathroom floor...
Now I am currently living in Freeport, and I was very underwhelmed (as I dare say everyone else was when it happened) to discover that Freeport is a partner with Walldorf, Germany. I've always wondered just what towns get from this partnership/twinning nonsense - is it supposed to impress a visitor that, in Freeport's instance, a random town in Germany has "Freeport, USA" displayed? I was also impressed by the vaguery of the claim that Freeport is the "boating capital of the East". I suppose they mean the entire East coast of America (I doubt that's true in any case), but the vagueness of just saying the East is ironic given that it is in the Western hemisphere - the East just calls up pictures of coolies in Shanghai for me:
I saw one of these signs on Freeport Town Hall (although this one is from Faneuil Hall, Boston), and thought it vaguely menacing in its offer of safety in the event of nuclear war. Nothing like scaring the populace about what's going to kill it in order to get them to agree with whatever you want to do...
I would find it hilarious to meet someone who has a criminal record for loitering. There must be someone in Boston with this, as this was the scene of this sign:
Obviously, when you move to a new country you expect to find some cultural differences. Being able to buy guns in Walmart, trampling store workers to death when there are sales, cinemas open on Christmas day, having a complete cretin in charge... all new and exciting things for me to discover. Nothing for me though will top the fascination that America has with Macaroni Cheese (or Mac'n'Cheese as they like to say). It's everywhere. The thing that I find most peculiar, coming from a culture that does not see Mac'n'Cheese as a staple diet, is that you can get it as a side dish at places ranging from Boston Market (think of a place that makes takeaway roast dinners) to Burger King and KFC. Now I can't quite imagine tucking into my Whopper or Kentucky Fried pieces of chicken and thinking that the perfect complement to the taste would be some pasta in a cheese sauce, but here is your evidence:
Don't think that I hate America though. It's just fun to make fun!
Election night was pretty exciting. Most people that I met were thinking the same as the folks back home in England, namely "Please don't let the red-necks fuck up this election too". Luckily it all went to plan (even if it looks slightly less stunning when you look at the popular vote rather than the electoral college votes - The electoral votes were Obama 278, McCain 132 and Toss Ups 128, whilst popular vote was 52% Obama and 46% McCain, still a good margin though). I can't speak for the areas that thought that Sarah Palin was equipped to be second-in-command, but in New York, people were so excited, almost over-the-top in some cases (made me think of the equivalent of England winning the World Cup again). But there is an air of excitement as people look forward to having someone competent back in office.
Target also appears to sell the steel chairs that wrestlers use to knock each other out:
They also have something called 'Butt Paste', but I shall let the product speak for itself:
Halloween itself is... well a little weird to get used to coming from England, but pretty cool. It is a little odd at first when you go out of your house and you can hear Thriller playing from about 20 different places. If you have never been and only seen it on the television, then let me tell you: American's take this shit seriously. Pretty much everyone dresses up and there is a massive parade at night in Manhattan. People were trying to tell me that the parade was as big as the Notting Hill Carnival... well I don't agree with that, but it is pretty big. Plus wanton consumerism just as you are going into a recession? Good for a small boost!
The Zoo also provides excellent views of some of the Skyscrapers of Fifth Avenue, as can be seen below:
Next stop for me was the Brooklyn Bridge. Here we have a picture of the first arch as you proceed from Manhattan:
If you look about yourself the whole time, you can get many great views. Here is one of mid-town:
The reason I was crossing the Brooklyn Bridge was to get to Brooklyn Heights in order to see the financial district light up as dusk fell upon the island. Here are a couple of shots:
My vantage point also offered a good view of the Statue of Liberty, which made for a striking shot at sunset:
Once I had exhausted my camera, I head back to Manhattan - Alphabet City to be precise, where Lorena and I ended up going out drinking with her uncle. Both places we went to had English alcohol! The first bar served Strongbow, which pleased me quite a bit. But then the second place had Old Speckled Hen! Two things remain the same about that drink - the price ($6 a pint rivals London) and also that you shouldn't have more than 2 pints of it!
