Top of the Rock

These shots taken after our visit to Times Square. You can recognise a shot in the direction of Times Square due to the amount of light streaming up from the ground
Try and ignore the SOB (Silly Old Bugger), who is always trying to get his face in the way
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If you read my New York post you will recall my "meeting" with President Obama.

That occurred shortly after this. It was pretty late and fortunately he did not have much to say, which was good as it had been a long day and I really was not in the mood for chit chat and wanted to get to bed





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Times Square

Hope you enjoy my first slide show, (made with my sons expertise).

Please note John put the shot with the girls in, not me. Please tell my wife, not me.

We first visited during the day however I had to come back that night and I am glad I did.

It is an amazing spectacle seeing video after video pop up on screens all around you.

Jet Lagged in New York

In the song New York New York, Frank Sinatra wanted to “wake up in a city that does not sleep”. Well I did not sleep very well in New York.

We spent the morning of day one in Hoboken, a suburb of New Jersey, Mafia country. While we had lunch at a restaurant on Frank Sinatra Boulevard and did not see any guys walking around in long bulging coats and fedora hats, New Jersey is accepted as one of the most corrupt town councils in the states. The couple we spent the first night with pay $1000 a month in town council taxes. The limo driver told us he pays $48000 a year in taxes. Crazy stuff, but that goes with the whole New York scene. It is all crazy.

Hoboken is a suburb occupied by people, living in high rise apartments who either have babies in prams or dogs. I observed the dogs take their masters for walks in the morning, and I am not talking about 120 kilo rottwielers taking anorexic  50 kilo masters for walks. On one occasion I saw a cute Australian silky terrier take his mistress, an overweight woman, for a walk down the pier, about 100 meters. They turned at the end of the pier and walked back.  When they reached the road kerb again the silky decided that they need to do it all again and refused to move. They did the circuit again, no questions asked.  On the flip side John and I saw a family walking with a bulldog.  The bulldog decided that they had gone far enough and sat down refusing to move. His supposed master picked him up and carried him and they continued their “walk”.

Took the ferry from Hoboken to Manhattan Island in the afternoon and checked in to the Surrey. Pretty posh, felt right out of place with my jeans and shirt. Black granite everywhere.  

Please make a note, always check hotel prices on Hotels.com. This hotel lists at $473 to $1211 per night on their website. We got it for $350 via hotels.com.

New York is best described as crowded, huge, noisy and with people and vehicles everywhere all the time. No end to sirens traffic and crowds.

Fortune did not smile on us in New York and the weather was cold and wet. We headed for the Aircraft Carrier anchored on the Hudson as a museum, only to arrive there and find that it was closed for the day, however we managed to get on board the next day. A great experience going through a submarine, and viewing the carrier with fighter and bomber planes, rode the aircraft lift from the hanger deck to the flight deck. Highlight of the visit was going on board the Concorde. Managed to sit in the seat preferred and used by the Queen and sit in the cockpit. A great experience and I could well have spent several more hours on the carrier.

We saw ground zero and the rising new “Freedom Tower”.  Beautifully shaped single building that will exceed the height of the previous structures and have two pools where the foundations of the old towers were.

Saw the mind blowing Times Square at night. Lights and gigantic video screens 360 degrees. You have to see it at night.  There are hundreds of people in the square, none more mesmerized than the hillbilly, with video screens all around constantly changing with brilliant colour turning night into day, all accompanied by the ever present wail of sirens.

Toured the NBC studios in the Rockefeller Centre ,and rode the escalator with the see through roof to the top of the building and viewed the city lights at night. From the top of the centre the city streams out all around as a mass of tall buildings that stretch from one river to the other on the narrow island that is Manhattan Island. The Rockefeller Centre is an amazing building in its own right with crystal chandeliers raining down from the ceilings in the foyers.

Obama was in town and I had the privilege of being about 4 meters from him with no one else between him and me.  What a great coincidence. Me in New York with the president.

It is a pity he did not have time to chat as he flew past in his limousine in a cavalcade of cars and police bikes with flashing lights while I stood on the footpath getting wet. 

While there is so much to see in New York it is extremely tiring trying to do it. Managed to walk through Central Park and ride the infamous underground, not as scary as implied by the movies.

Taxi rides were numerous and something else. Standard operating procedure is changing lanes and hard on the gas then hard on the brakes, repeat as required. They have “pirate” town cars touting for work without meters.  One offered to transport us from near Time square to our hotel for $35.00 dollars.  We declined his kind offer and got a taxi later for $8.00 and that included the tip.

n our last day John’s friend Ronnie took us out to see the Statue of Liberty and the historic train station through which all the migrants, who were processed through Ellis Island, were then transported to the final destinations of their long migratory journey.  The docks where  they would have arrived have been left intact, though they are decaying, as well as the skeletal structure of the roof that covered the more than 20 platforms at the station, The sign boards noting the destinations of the trains that left from each platform are still there as well, at the head of each platform. The train lines are no longer there and there is plant growth were platforms and lines would once have been, but with the chirping of the birds amidst the otherwise silent station skeleton you can gain a sense of history and the flood of humanity that once passed through the place. Families with precious little in their pockets, but with unbounded hope and a dream of building a better life in the new world. 

It was fitting that we saw this historic site prior to leaving New York.
 It helped to see the human side of a city that, while occupied by a sea of humanity, appears to be overwhelmed by commercialism with little time for humanity.

Please see my photos below. Try to ignore the old goat who kept getting into the picture

John In Prince Phillips Seat- do you mind!!!

Nose wheel inspection

Pre flight cockpit briefing

looking good to go

check engines

Welcome aboard flight DJR1 to JFK NYC

Excuse me Queen Elizabeth

Check cabin

Consult with ground staff prior to take off

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Ready to go

 

Checking engines

David - /fighter pilot

No - not an airplane- a submarine launched cruise missile

Tomcat

 

Space capsule

Canada / USA 2011 - Leg 3 Abh Dhabi to New York

After supping on the offerings in the lounge, it was time to get some shut eye. There were other passengers draped over the lounge suites in various uncomfortable positions trying to sleep and I did not fancy joining them. So using my incredible charm on the reception staff i managed to secure a private quiet room with 2 long couches with nice woolen blankets for John and I. The ingrate decided not to sleep but spent the night working.

We were up early able to shower and head for breakfast. The lounge operates 24/7and changes the offerings to suit the time of day. Our flight was schedulled for 10 am departure however this time we left the lounge early and wandered through duty free before heading for the security check.(Baileys 1 litre $22.00, Brambui 1 litre $29.00) No queues for us fortunatley as you get an express pass for security, scanning and passport/ boarding pass checks.

What was interesting was that the first flight from Bangkok was a Boeing 777-300 and bus class started at row 5. There was no first class section. This plane was an Airbus 340-500. It however also had first class section ahead of BC  and the BC rows started at 5 again. The capsule arrangement on both planes was identical.

John and I had side by side capsules in the middle of the plane on both flights. The capsules are twins down the middle and  from the centre towards the windows are singles. Soon after boarding the euphoria of BC hit the deck. Babies and children. We were seated in row 9 and first problem was a couple with a baby and children, with mother in row 5 in a single capsule, father behind us in row 10 in a twin but with someone else in the one side. They needed all of a centre of row 10, twin plus 2 singles on each side for their mob. All good as long as mother had the baby (already crying). Then musical chairs started as we taxied. People in single in row 10 moved, mum moved behind us. horror of horrors we had the whole family right behind us. We hit the runway. No time to do anything. We asssesed while taking off.  The moment the seat belt signs were off  I occupied mothers old single in row five. John took the single behind me in row 6. Saved up to a point because the kids performed intermittently for the whole 13.5 hours.

Again hillbilly me decided to accpet the offer ogf a drink for sir after take off . Sir played safe and ordered a Baileys. We had a great menu selection and I had a "fish dome" entree and a crumbed beef tenderloin, beautiful,  followed by ice cream. Dear John who worked through the night before promptly fell asleep after his entree. Nurtured the Baileys while watching movies, then had a lapse in concentration, took my hand off the baileys and where did it end up, In Sirs lap and on the seat. How embarrasing. Fortunatley I had a great flight attendant, she was so attentive through the entire flight that I could swear she only had eyes for me.
Anyway she provided me with a face towel and as I had almost finished the baileys there was not too much to clean up. After cleaning up, sat down and promtply sat on my ear phones breaking them.

I had a lot to learn still. After sleeping and watching movies, as we neared JFK I could have ordered another meal, but my mindset failed to move past the perspective that I had had a meal so why have another one, not realising that i had been in the air for 12 hours and one should have more than one meal in a 12 hour period. Needless to say I regretted this later.
When we landed at JFK we joined the egalitarian society, no express clearances for Bus class, we were pretty much first from our plane to hit the arrivals hall. Huge with queues for US Citizens, greencard holders, Quick connects for ongoing flights, diplomats and finally visitors. We scanned each one as we walked and when we hit the visitors, more horror, hundreds people in front of us. There were 20 processing cubicles and the queue snaked the length of them and was 6 rows deep. We were there for almost 1.5 hours and my stomach let me know I had not eaten. I was hungry. Could have had another beef tenderloin before landing- idiot. Will not make the same mistake on return trip. Will be a seasoned Bus Class traveler then.

When we finally got to a procesing cubicle we found at least one reason why it took that long. Several idiots deccided not to complete the immigration forms on the plane or at the counters prior to joining the queue and were actually being allowed to do it at the counter.

By the time we cleared immigration and headed to the luggage collection I was sure our bags could have been removed from the carousel. We walked past long queues with their bags waiting now for customs. More horror awaited us. When we hit it there were bags sitting on the far side. I could not see our bags on the carousel as i approached so i headed for the other side, found Johns bag dumped and  then started searching for mine. Decided to go back to the other side and found mine standing to one side.

And then fortune smiled on us. The Business class angel returned. Standing next to my bag was a young girl in uniform and as I examined my bag she asked if I was expecting a limousine. Oh yes we were thank you very much. We followed her and sailed past the queues waiting for customs, she waved to the counter staff and we walked through. Out the exit to a counter where a guy called up a driver on the 2 way, told us where to exit the terminal and as we walked out - a big black mercedes was waiting at the kerb - hoo hah!!.

The driver was great, advised us on what to see and took us on a mini tour in peak our traffic. We drove through the east river tunnel and emerged in Manhattan. I was in New York City, 5th avenue and a host of other street names i had only heard of before, look left and right at each intersection and huge buildings soaring skyward on both sides, passed the empire states building, Macy' department store and on into the Lincoln tunnel under the famous Hudson river, out the other side and i was in Hoboken. Have to say the driver at some points was hitting 90 miles an hour, the merc would leap forward when we hit a freeway, with me worried about all these other drivers heading towards us on the wrong side of the road. (in my mind).

We finally got into Ronnie's apartment and what a view, accross the Hudson and the New York city skyline in front of you uninterrupted.

Went out for hot mexican last night and plans are to check into our hotel in Manhattan later today with some touring of the city after John comes back from his run along the Hudson.

Next stop Toronto and the Niagra falls.

PS. Here are a couple of shots of the view out my window:

Canada / USA 2011 - Leg 2 Bangkok to Abh Dhabi

Midnight in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi airport is something else again. Huge and posh. We had quite a walk from terminal 1 to terminal 3 from which our flight to JFK will depart. The lounge is pretty good with hot food being kept warm on a large fancy cook top with embedded heating rings, cakes, and a whole lot of other things my dear wife would describe better than I.

Left the lounge in Bangkok rather late and had to hurry to board. Well for this boy from the bush the business class accommodation was something else. John and I had capsules side by side. I will need to ensure that I have a single capsule when i return on my own. The seat has a massage system in the back and seat so you get a cool massage all over. It is fully electronic and adjusts in all directions and in particular adjusts all the way to a flat bed. Not very wide though. The entertainment system has too many movies and TV shows to mention and the screen was at least 18 inches. First order of business is "what drink would sir like to have after take off" - sir had a port if you don't mind. Sir took a long time to finish it as it was nowhere near Fritz's Masala

The kitchen is open for the entire trip, not that i could eat that much. A comprehensive menu. I had cream of asparagus soup with spring onion for my entree, and ratatouille wrapped in cabbage leaves as my main, (bad move, very liquid and i had to spill some on myself), followed by seasonal fresh fruit with wild berry coulis. Bushy is really getting an education here.

Watched a movie then adjusted seat to flat bed and horror of horrors, comfort only for 6 foot and under. I could not have my legs fully straight without ramming my head into the back of the capsule. Anyway I
managed a bit of sleep only then to miss out on the light refreshments served before landing, bah humbug.

Having the ability to stretch and get at least some comfortable shut eye helped to make the trip a lot shorter. Next leg is 12 hours plus so maybe three movies and some sleep.

Well time to sample the fare in Abu Dahbi. I am going to put on weight on this trip.

New York here we come

Canada / USA 2011 - Leg 1 Perth to Bangkok

Well here i sit slumming it in the business class lounge at Bangkok Airport.
I have had to tear away from the free food and posh booze to write my travel blog :)
The trip started bad. I forgot to print our boarding passes the night before and when we arrived at the airport the queue was almost at the door. The on line check in queue was virtually empty. Lesson one learned.
After all the queuing we had to had to go straight through to board. Sorry Fritz , I was looking forward to having a coffer with  you.

Arrived in Bangkok to a warm welcome from the weather and for our $20.00 a night hotel found our hotel shuttle person and were whisked off  all on our own the hotel.
We had a very expensive meal in our room I had a great Pad Thai and John had Spicy fried chicken with stir fried vegetables. Three dishes all for the price of about $10.00, and served in our room

Next day we had breakfast and John was turned off by his American breakfast. The fried eggs were a bit lumpy so he left it.

After breakfast he worked so i went for a walk. First thing i found was a dog. Yes a dog that did not look too healthy. she had an injury to her left front leg and could not walk on it. I walked down the main drag past all the markets and stalls that offered a variety of local cuisine.  I finally settled on purchasing from a very sanitized Seven Eleven. Paid an enormous 20 cents for a sprite. I also bought the dog a sausage wrapped in bacon. I found her when i walked back to the hotel and fed it to her piece by piece and unlike some of the wretches at Sanur she ate the lot. Spoke with some to the hotel staff and they advised she had been run over by a car some time ago.

John and I then searched the net for a vet or university with  vet school but all the numbers we called no one spoke English. My good son then found a shelter and when i called them believe it or not i found an American volunteer who i could converse with. Anyway they are going to communicate with me via email and see if with my support they can get the dog fixed.

We had another great and expensive lunch at the hotel and i took another walk down town in the afternoon. The place was transformed. The markets were almost in full swing with everything you could ask for from fruit, clothing to chicken and meat, and food stalls with everything under the sun in pots and on grills. Fritz would have loved it.

We then packed up and were shuttled to the airport. No queuing with the hoy poloi for check-in, no sir, priority check in and passport and security control. Then to the royal orchard lounge. We have some of Fritz,s  mates opposite us and they are into all the Pastries again.

Anyway time to get into the champers before we board. Abu Dhabi here we come.