And its a very sunny NY!

Current location: Manhattan, NY

Compared to last night when we arrived today is such a beautiful day with cute clouds that you'll find on The Simpsons intro. Last night it was muggy and depressing as the hurricane had just passed through the east. It's gone now so the weather can only get better from now on.

Right now I'm sitting on a trendy red desk with the funkiest computer I've ever seen. The keyboard folds up into the monitor and the monitor turns into this swanky digital clock. It's a Sony Vaio - I've never seen this model before! I'm also eating some breakfast with some orange juice. There's a lounge in front of me and a TV with some very eclectic euro-asian deco. Yes, I'm in my dad's cousin's apartment in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Such a change from a dodgy hostel back in LA! We don't have to lock up our bags or be on constant alert for dodgy people. And it's so swanky!

Before I go on, I will finish talking about last night. This is the land of take out. You have NO idea how good the food you can get by taking out. I had the most amazing pasta last night and the tastiest spinach/goats cheese (slightly fried, no less)/balsamic salad I've ever had. You can't get this shit in Australia. You can order take out from some of the finest restaurants in NYC. It's awesome.

After dinner we went for a walk around the block with Kumar (a japanese shiba dog - he's so beautiful). Apparently the Lower East Side was a very druggy, seedy place back in the 80s. It's had a major makeover and its just as safe as any other part of town. On the way from the airport, the suburbs had a lot of similarities to those of Melbourne. Nice Victorian type houses (only smaller and invariably cuter) and lots of trees and grass. Atleast they make an effort to make this place look nice unlike LA! In LA, only Beverly Hills looks nice. Everything else is a shab.

As we drove into the entrance of the tunnel expressway thing that takes us right into downtown NYC, you can see the New York skyline. You see these in photos but it's not the same when you're actually seeing it for yourself. It is MASSIVE. I was so excited yet almost afraid by the monstrosity of the city. Going through the tunnel you see nothing. Then suddenly at the exit, you're smack bang inside that city that you saw earlier. And all you do is automatically look up in awe of the size of the buildings. The architecture, the boldness, the chicness, the yellow taxis, the wetness, the smoke coming up from the subways... I was like "I'm here... I'm HERE!" - what an amazing city! I had never noticed these things when I was here ages ago. To me back then, it was just another city that we were visiting.

I woke up half and hour ago - which meant that we slept in til 12noon!! We were still in LA time and had no idea. So basically... we wasted half our day. Today we're going out to get some groceries and do some laundry. Then check out some vintage clothing around here - apparently the East Village is the best for that.

Will chat more later.
I will post a more decent and composed post about LA when I get the time. Right now there's way too much to check out and do in NYC :)

xo G