Finally back in the U.S. and damn it’s nice. Vacation was good, an elaborate blog will come very soon, but not today because I’ve been on my cpu for a few hours getting caught up with stuff and no longer feel like typing. But pics are posted of the trip, some turned out good, other not as good as I wanted, but they’re all nice. Link Here.

Sorry for the brief delay, but I was spent yesterday after work, so I just slept. So moving right along with the NY experience:

Ground Zero

This site was very interesting. People obviously know how big the towers were, and know the amount of damage that was caused on 9/11, but if you haven’t been to Ground Zero before, then it’s a little more difficult to gauge exactly how much damage was done. The minute we got off the train and turned the corner, before we even saw the actual site, we noticed the big gap of space just by looking at other buildings. I kind of got this eiry feeling when I saw the amount of space that was cleared out. I wouldn’t say that it was exactly uncomfortable to look at, but you get this uneasy feeling when looking at the site because you immediately get taken back to the events that caused it. Never-the-less, it was a cool thing to see, and makes you never forgot what happened.

The Diversity

Now if you know me, you know how much I love and value diversity. I grew up in the most diverse town I’ve ever been too………….minus NY. Now obviously NY is bigger than Evanston, but damn, seeing the diversity there was just lovely. Not only diversity with the different races, but the fashion too. You just see sooo many different kinds of people dressing so many different ways, it was so tight to see. In E.L. you feel like everyone has that “college boy” look, and that shit gets old real fast, because you feel like everyone dresses the same. That’s boring. So it was very refreshing seeing such a change in environment (people-wise).

Central Park

Do you know how damn big 843 acres is?! That’s the size of Central Park. I don’t even know how big that is because I don’t even think we cover a tiny fraction of that park. What bugs me out, is how does that big of a park, that you can fit a city into, just happen to end up in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world?!?! That’s pure craziness to me. But the little bit that I saw in Central Park was pretty sweet. It seems to be one of the only places in Manhattan that you can go to escape the massive flow of people and traffic, but not really, because there are tons of people in Central Park too, but obvsiously not as many. I think it will take numerous trips to NY to get a feel of the whole park, because we weren’t exactly willing to dedicate a whole day or two just to see the whole thing. It will be there when I go back.

Hoboken

Now obviously this isn’t a part of NY, but it was a large portion of our trip because that is where we slept. Plus it’s like a 20 minute train ride across the river to get there. But anyways, this town is pretty sweet. You don’t get that New York vibe when being there, and maybe that could be a good thing when you need a break from the hectic city. It’s one of those ‘young professionals’ type cities, which I really like. It apparently has something like the most bars in a mile stretch in the US, or one of the most, or something like that. I thought that was pretty sweet, because if you didn’t feel like doing the NY nightlife deal, then you weren’t exactly short on options if you lived in the Hobo. There are also a bunch of little shops and restaurants in the downtown part, so aside from the night life, it’s a pretty lively little town, so I could easily see myself living there The food that we had there was pretty good too, I think I saw the biggest pizza slices ever at this one place, that I forgot the name of. The only thing that pissed me off, is this damn bagel place! So it’s early in the morning, and I call them to deliver some bagels. They called me back like 3 times because they kept saying they don’t have this or that type of bagel. So whatever I just go with what they had, no big deal right?! What happens, these assholes don’t even deliver the bagels. They don’t call, they don’t bring the bagels………..nothing. Why go through all that trouble, and not even bring the bagels, so I was kinda salty about that, but whatever, I see how it is.

The Verdict

So in a past blog I had mentioned options for moving somewhere else, and NY was one of them. Now, after being there, I absolutely love it! I love the fast pace, I love the culture, it was an amazing place to visit, and I can’t wait to go back and visit. As far as living there……….I still don’t know. I can’t say yes for certain, but I can’t say no. I know myself, and I just can’t be placed in a city of fashion like that and not buy clothes, so I would need a really good job, because rent wouldn’t exactly be the cheapest either. I think it would be a great platform for me to network with people though, and I like doing that here, so in NY it would be 20 times better. I was only there from a vacation standpoint, so I still don’t know what it’s really like to live there. From what JJ and Trav have told me, is that it’s exhausting, which I can definitely see. It seems like it could be. I also feel like I would start to miss some of the small things, like peace and quietness, as well as driving. So those could play very big factors into whether or not I could make it living there. Now don’t get the idea that I’m going to move there, because I am more than likely not, I am only speaking in “if” terms.

If you don’t understand the title of this blog by now, then here is the brief breakdown. NY is alot to take in. There’s almost too much shit to do there, and there’s no way you can cover it all in one trip. In fact the amount of time we were there was definitely perfect. We did so much and didn’t even cover a fraction, but at the same time it was exhausting. So use your head and understand why I named this blog what I did. This will be a new series that I am starting with different trips/experiences that I have, so this won’t be the last one.

But overall, NY was a great experience, and what made that experience even better was seeing Trav, who I hadn’t seen in like a year. You know you have a good friend when you can just pick up where you left off and hit the ground running. And that we did. So I think that I’m going to add NY to my annual visits trip alongside the annual homies trip. That way I’ll make sure that I can see Trav at least once a year. But if you haven’t gotten a chance to explore the NYC, I highly suggest it…………it’s almost like a country of it’s own.

So there you have it, that’s the last bit of the NYC round up, and make sure you read part 1 if you haven’t yet. I will more than likely write another blog very soon so I can give you all an update and the events that are happening in my life right now, and I’ve held off on talking about them for a good reason, but stay tuned………….I needed to keep this blog focused on NY and nothing else. For the full set of pics from the trip go here.

Next up………….JAMAICA in a few weeks.

peace

What up peoples!? The title of this blog will make alot of sense by the end, and this is going to be long, so grind it out. So you all know that I went to the fabulous NY this past weekend, and let me tell you, that I’ve wanted to write this blog after about an hour of being there! The trip was bomb as hell, and there was so much we did, and didn’t do, meanwhile, I was trying to think of the best way to organize this information and thoughts into somewhat of a structured write-up. I thought about either splitting it up in two separate blogs, but it wouldn’t have the same effect. I then thought about splitting it up going day by day, but I didn’t like that idea either. So we’re going to try something different and just go by the highlights, so here we go:

Fast, Fast, Fast

You really can’t get a feel for the pace of NY unless you are there. Of course everyone’s heard of it being fast, but when we got there, shit was flying! We arrived there at about 8:30 a.m. and we were standing outside of Grand Central, and people are just flying by. We’re talkin hoards of people pouring out of the train station, it was so crazy and interesting at the same time. Aside from walking, you get a completely different sense of the fast pace when you step foot in a cab. I mean these guys mean business when it comes to getting from point A to point B. They’ll cut you off, honk ten times, run lights……………basically whatever it takes for that extra few dollars of a tip. It’s ridiculous, but they get you where you have to go, and fast.

Times Square

This was probably the busiest part of the city. This was one of the destinations we landed on our first day there. It’s exactly how it seems on tv too. I can’t imagine it being any less busier than it was, and we were there around mid afternoon. We went into this Toys R Us which was easily the biggest one I’ve been in, and we saw some cool Lego sculptures. There was also some naked guy who apparently stands in the middle of Times Square in some tighy-whiteys and just takes pictures with people. I find that very interesting, and wonder how in the hell he could possibly make a living standing around in some drawers, and not be a model for Calvin Klein. Anyways we didn’t exactly take pictures with him, we figured just one regular pic of him would be good enough.

Chinatown

Now this place is a must see if you ever go to NY. This is where you want to go for the bootleg gear. No joke, they have phony named brands by the thousands. The highlight of Chinatown on our trip would have to be the mission we went on with this dude to see some fake purses. These guys usually just walk around Chinatown asking if you want to see some purse. So we figured, what the hell, might as well right. So this guy is like “Ok Ok follow be, one block.” So we walk about half a block, and turn down this street, which instantly seems shady. I’m thinking “what the hell did we just get ourselves into,” and I ask Trav how shady this is going to be, and he said he didn’t know. I wouldn’t exactly say I was scared, but hell, I’m also a tourist who has never been here before, so I was a little sketpical. Anyways, one block turned into two, and we get to this extra janky looking metal door. No windows, no address, just a big ass piece of metal, and a handle. So we go in, start walking downstairs through this hallway, and now, what seemed shady before, seemed even more shady, and now im thinking “ok John, this prolly won’t be that bad, but be prepared to hand out eye-jammies if needed.” So we’re walking down this hall, it’s all nasty, there’s water heaters everywhere, and we come to the door where this guy was unlocking a pad-locking, and voala! I’m talking knock-off heaven here. This guy had hella knock off purses and wallets and the whole shebang. It was interesting. Kell ended up getting two purses, me and Trav got some Louis Vuitton wallets for $10 and I got a Gucci Belt. Another fun part of this whole saga was bargaining. When Kell had the purses that she wanted, she asked me to bargain, and that was like money in the bag. First off, this guy wanted $35 for one purse, and $40 for another. As much as tourists probably get sucked into this, I wasn’t having it. So I told him $40 for the both. At first he was all like, no no, but then when I told him I’d take my business elsewhere, he quickly had a change of heart. So Chinatown is good times, but just ignore the more than likely dead cooked cats hanging in the windows!

Little Italy

We kind of stumbled across little Italy, but when we got there, not only did it smell good, but it looked pretty sweet too. This area seemed almost like a hidden gem tucked away in the madness of the city. There were lots of cool little shops, and it seemed to have a completely different look than the rest of the city. We were walking by this one bar named Felix, and there was this huge party. Mind you, this is at like 3 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon, and these people are partying. Aside from that, we assumed that there was some money floating around in there’s, being that there was a Bentley, Ferrari, and a handful of Benz’s parked in the front. Yeah………I’m thinking some baller were probably dropping coin in there! So that was interesting to see. I kind of wish we were hungry at the time, but I’m guessing that no matter where we chose, we could have gotten some quality grub………..it’s Italian, and even Olive Garden isn’t real Italian, yet it’s good as hell!

Empire State Building

The day we went to the Empire State, the weather was shitty basically all day. The one time we saw it lighten up, we figured that was our chance to try it out. Aside from the 45 minute wait to even get up to the top, this was fun as hell. I think we were a tiny bit skeptical on how fun it would really be, just because the weather was crappy, so visibility wasn’t the most crisp. So we get to the top (86th floor) and we look out, and some people were out on the observation deck, so we figured we’d join. It was cold as shit up there for one, and almost snowing it seemed like. So we’re walking around this one corner, and all of a sudden, the wind goes from like 2 miles and hour, to like 60 miles an hour. No joke, if you were wearing a hat up there, it was getting blown right off of your head. Trav’s keys blew out of his pocket, but luckily they just fell on the ground and not over the edge. Anyways, with the wind as crazy as it was, we figured it was a great time to snap some pics. That alone made the day. It was so funny seeing what the wind did with our clothes and faces. Of course after we went inside it took a few minutes to regain the feeling in our faces, but all was worth it.

The Food

I must say, that we ate extremely well on the trip. And I don’t necessarily mean expensive eats, but it was damn sure quality eats. Now, if you ever go to NY, you HAVE to go to Rosa Mexicano. This is the place restaurant that Trav manages at. It is gourmet Mexican, and honestly, the best place I’ve eaten out. I would highly recommend this place to anyone. Trav hooked it up nicely too, including a bunch of appetizers, obviously an entree, and a bunch of deserts. On top of hooking up the food, he gave us the best waiter I think I’ve ever had. James Clamp is the name, and he’s this British guy who does voice-overs for commercials and such. But you would think that this guy slept in a kitchen when he wasn’t working in or near one. He knew the menu so well, but not only that; when you asked him about something on the menu, he would tell you in such detail what it was, that you could almost taste it. So it didn’t take long for him to sell me on the sea bass, and oh was it worth it. Absolutely fabulous, so go there and see Trav if you’re ever in NY. So other than Rosa, got some really good pizza, a good meatball sub, and lots of other stuff. Me and Kell vowed to not eat at any chains……………we needed to keep it NY!

The Shopping

*MUAH*!!!! Wow I don’t even know where to start. And you already know that shopping holds a special place in my heart, so dropping me into a city where there is endless amounts of shopping, is almost too much. Manhattan is nothing but a big shopping mall with streets. It’s everywhere, and if they don’t have what you are looking for there, then you’re either too god damn picky, or born and raised in some huge fashion city in Europe. Now you’re probably thinking that I went nuts and bought all this shit, but I contained myself. I like to shop but I’m not dumb, and I knew that I would have to get this stuff home, and still have money to eat and do other stuff. I bought a few things though, I mean there’s no way in hell that I’d leave there empty handed. What was sweet about it, was that there are just tons of stores that have all of these different kind of style of clothes. I loved it. Every store around here I feel like I just see the “Express” look. I also told myself that I wouldn’t buy any shoes…………and I was successful! But it wasn’t easy. There were shoes galore there, and I could have come back with at least 5 pairs. I had talked to my mom and she said that there’s no way I could live there because I have expensive taste…………………I think I agree.

The Nightlife

If you plan on going to NY and partying, you better be ready, and it was be very nice to know people. One thing that we learned, is that if you want to hit up the big spots, you need to know people. There are alot of exclusive clubs there, where if you don’t have breasts, then there’s a great chance that you aren’t getting in, and even that isn’t a guarantee. We wanted to bring in Kell’s birthday with some serious NY style. Trav had this hook up and this spot where the Black Eyed Peas were having this after party. When we got there, the line was thick as hell, and Trav’s hook up tried everything he could to get us in, but it failed. How hot would that have been though? And it seemed soooo bumpin inside that I would have had even a tiny bit of satisfaction being able to look inside to door. So we had settle for this other spot called Ceilo. JJ had a hook up there, so we had a table, and got some sip on some bottles. This wasn’t our ideal place to bring in Kell’s bday, the music wasn’t that great, and was a little too loud to the point where we had to damn near yell to talk to each other. We made the best out of the situation and still ended up having fun. 7 a.m. comes real fast when you’re partying in the NYC, so I’d say that our average bedime was between 5:30 a.m. – 6:30 a.m. That’s just how it went down!

This other spot we went to on Saturday night was called Libation. This place was like 3 levels, and fun as hell. The 2nd level was the VIP area, where we fortunately got a party for the night. Of course, the knowing people thing came into play. So it was fun being up there kickin it strong. We had a whole little group of us, so it just did it big until the place closed, which was sometime after 4. So our little routine was to party until the place closed down, then go to this this 24 hour food spot in Hoboken (where Trav lived) and stuff our faces. It was definitely light out when we were winding down our nights. The nightlife is lovely, and nothing short of fun!

Ok I’ve been typing for at least a soild hour, so this is going to have to be a two part blog. So I will finished the NY wrap up tomorrow.

peace

So there were about 4 different times in the past week that I’ve wanted to write a blog and actually had topics in mind ranging from good and bad, but I put them off because of the hectic(ness) that is my life right now. Alot has gone on in the past week, and I don’t even know where to start, and aside from that, I won’t even discuss everything that I want to talk about.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I had told you about the possibility of me going to Jamaica. Well that is all mapped out, set in stone, basically a done deal. May 25th I will be shipping out to the hot and sweaty land of Jamaica!! I’m very excited about that, and this will be our annual homies trip for 2006. Now, the way this whole thing went down is quite simple. Justin made plans for Jamaica with his family. Justin told Carter to book a flight. Carter booked a flight. Carter told me to book a flight. I booked a flight (2 days later). Now you may think there is more to this story, but that is exactly how it went down. How many times in my life, or anyones for that matter, do you get to say you went to Jamaica. And here’s my rationale; I’m still pretty damn young, yet still growing fast, in age that is. I mean look how fast college went by? Who’s to say the next 10 years of my life won’t go by just as fast. I don’t want to look back wishing I would have done that or this. I was reading this designer’s blog today and he had one of the best quotes I think I’ve seen in a long time. Granted it wasn’t really related to vacations, but at the same time, why can’t it be:

Don’t wait for the perfect time to take the next step in life because it will never come. No amount of preparing, planning, saving, learning, building, or gathering can be done to counter all the contingencies of life. It’s impossible. Sure it’s important to try and do those things but don’t wait for the planets to align themselves before you take that other job, move to another state, go to college, change professions, start a business, or marry the love of your life.

Ok the quote had no direct correlation to vacations, but if you seriously take a minute to pick apart that quote, It’s brilliant. So basically my point about going to Jamaica is……………why the hell not?!

I feel like time is crawling towards this damn NY trip. It couldn’t come at a better time either in the midst of all this shit going on around me. The job interviews went very well, but I can’t talk about that quite yet, but I will say this; I have been in East Lansing for way too long (rounding out 6 years to be exact), and I am very much ready for a fresh start in a new location. Now, there’s a chance this might not happen quite yet, but some things need to pan out……….I will keep you posted when the time is right. But I can say that I hope it’s sooner than later. So of course with good news has to come bad news right? Well in this case……yes.

To start off, last weekend was probably the lamest weekend I’ve had in a long time. The Friday leading into it was waaayy good, then it just fell off. I have never been so bored in my life. Seriously, the only thing I did was watch Friends. I was out and about Saturday morning running errands, but I was home by like noon and had nothing to do, and no one to chill with. It sucked. Then the icing on the fucking cake came Sunday morning when my mom called at 8 in the morning. I had already known what she was going to say, I just had to tough it out and hear the actual words.

“John, your grandfather passed away this morning.”

Mind you, this was how I got to start my day off. There was obviously no going back to sleep, and the only thing to do was to call other family members to see if they were ok. Not fun. At all. The second worst part of the day, is that I didn’t really have a shoulder to cry on. Not necessarily in the literal sense, but I was alone all day. Being with actual family wasn’t really an option because I couldn’t leave yet and my mom told me to wait a few days. And if you know me, I don’t really require attention, I could care less on most days, but I am human, and in a shitty time like that, it would have been really nice to have someone to lean on. That bothered the hell out of me. It’s just tough flying solo through hard times.

I’m not going to go into detail about the whole death thing, because the worst of this whole saga hasn’t even come yet……..no, that will be this weekend, and then there will be a blog unfolding some of the feelings that I have, or know that I will have after this is all over. You don’t have to read it if you don’t want to, thats cool too, but I will need another way to release, and it might be in this blog. I somehow tend to get more things out when I am writing. There is also a chance that I might not even write the blog, who knows.

As you can see, the emotions have been all over the place in the past week, and there’s other stuff that I can’t even explain here yet that play into it too, so my brain is seriously exhausted. So like I said…….NY couldn’t have come at a better time, I just need to tough out this last week which is going to be the hardest of it all. Ugh!

But what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger right?

peace