Wheres me jumpa

Before we left Ireland, I bought two tickets for a basketball game between the New York Knicks and The Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden. Went to the game last night, turns out it was a pre season game

The arena wasnt even half full so didnt get to experience the Madison Square Garden atmosphere. Its a fantastic arena, very small and close to the court. We had the third cheapest tickets and to be honest they were fine.

Knicks won the game. Im still struggling with some of the rules. Some of the skill on show was unbelieveable. One guy in particular, Nate Robinson for the Knicks was very entertaining. He seemed to be running the show!

We paid a visit to this cinema last night, I had never heard of it before but seemingly it is well known in the city. We watched Lars and The Real Girl. The movie was great but the theatre was a real throw back to the old days.

Carpet lined walls, an upper level tier and of course great popcorn. It tends to show movies not of the mainstream so dont expect to catch the latest teenybopper flick here.

Definitely worth a visit, details here.

It might be a while before I live this one down, but yesterday I attended the sex and the city tour. I spent 3 hours driving around New York with a bus full of giddy women.

It was good to see parts of the city we probably wouldnt have seen, however the tour is definitely for die hard fans of the show. The highlight for me being the cupcakes we got from the Magnolia Bakery.

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. A day shopping in Macys during sale season was inevitable. Their final One Day (actually two days) sale was the attraction. This attraction out weighed the stormy weather, the worst we have had since arriving.

I managed to pick up possibly the worlds cheapest dvd player at $30 and some shorts, yes it is that warm here. After six floors of shopping, we headed home for some food. Went to a little Thai restaurant right beside us. Also in the restaurant was one of my favourite actors, Adam Goldberg. See here.

We spent a large chunk of our day yesterday in Brooklyn, both getting there and having a look around. First visited Williamsburg, this is an area we have been trying to find accommodation in and it looks a very young, pleasant, diverse location.

Next stop was the Brooklyn Esplanade. This offers the best views of Manhattan (see pics). Its very quiet here, with some really nice apartments.

To get home, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. I wasnt too pushed about doing it, but having done it, it should be a must do for anyone visiting. The traffic underneath can be off putting but the views more than make up for it. From the Esplanade the buildings of Manhattan seem so distant and small, but as you walk across the bridge they gradually become their actual size.

The remaining hours of the day were spent trying to find an uptown train from Little Italy again!

“The rudest front desk in New York”. This was the review that greeted us when we were booking. The reality was far different. The receptionist was very helpful, allowing us to extend our stay beyond our booking.

Also gave us the choice of two rooms which we could view and then decide. Rooms are very small and out dated. Pricing was probably just a bit expensive for the standard of room.
Location is fine, nearest subway is the 96th St station, about two blocks away. The 1,2,3 Red Line passes through here and will have you downtown in 5 minutes. All the shops and services you may require are nearby.

In the basement is a cosy den with free wireless, pool table, ping pong table, mini kitchen and TV room.

Rating would be 2/5, location and basement den are a big plus, let down slightly by the standard of the rooms.

Flight was fine, took nearly 7 hours. Arrived at our hostel at 9pm. Got cleaned up, got some food and went to bed! Next morning, our first port of call was to get a cell/mobile phone. We got a good deal with T-Mobile.

The pricing method is a lot different here, we ended up with three plans to allow us to call and text and also to call and text internationally. Its a long winded approach but I can see the advantages.

We popped down to the Irish Immigration centre in Queens, we have an appointment with them now but not until early November. While in Queens we had a few drinks in a pub called The Dugout. Nice place and full of Irish!

Left work on Friday so I am now officially unemployed and the countdown to NYC begins. Two weeks to go!

My first post on my move to New York. Flights are booked for October 14th. Just handed in my notice, I will be leaving work on September 28th. This will give me two weeks off to get ready and of course to relax!