a thanksgiving like no other

*** hover on each photo for a better description ***

for my first thanksgiving, i say i did pretty damn well.

checked in at the Intercon in Times Square on the 21st and then went to Central Park for the inflating of the balloons to be used for the Macy's Thanksgiving parade on the 22nd.

partied til the wee hours with my fab NYC friends...met an Argentinian gay guy who wanted to make out with me! twice. so i did. twice! ehem ehem. (bucketlist item checked! hahahha!)

got drunk...sat on the sidewalk in freezing weather...didn't make it to my bed and slept on the carpet instead. woke up at 12noon only to realize i'm missing one contact lens.

OH! which meant i missed the parade the next day, had a hangover while having lunch at Dallas BBQ in Timesquare but i had the best ribs ever! by the time lunch was done, i was up and about but was not up enough for the ice skating challenge over at the Pond in Bryant Park.

by dinnertime, i was almost back to my usual self so we went out for drinks at Heartland Brewery on 41st and 8th followed by a night of pure karaoke fun in Koreatown with dear college friends.

i spent the day in my hotel room on Friday (23rd) and then went out with another friend for a different kind of night in town. we had way too much fun at the Museum of Sex and learned that bonobo monkeys trade sugar canes for sex favors!

for dinner, in order to satisfy my earlier craving of paella, we headed to La Nacional, one of NYC's best kept secret to have our paella fix. mike could not have chosen a better authentic Spanish place in that side of New York. the place was cozy, the food was great and the service was excellent! a must try for food connoisseurs...even the snooty ones!

after downing 2 kinds of paella, a pitcher of sangria and a plate of octopus, we decided to walk a few blocks. my friend wanted to show me the Washington Arch and the Flatiron Bldg. so we did. they both sounded fairly familiar. and they were!

the Flatiron Bldg was constantly used in Friends and was the headquarters of Peter Parker in Spiderman. now the Washington Arch in Washington Square Park was featured in Ugly Betty, August Rush and I Am Legend. i managed to get a few shots before my iPhone died whew!

and since it was my last night in New York, going home early was not an option. we took a cab and went all the way to 3rd street to see a live band perform at Cafe Wha?. the club's vibe was different from what i expected. the band played a mixture of jazz, soul, r&b, rock and pop! turned out, the band has been playing there since forever! it. was. fun!

i checked out on saturday (24) to get ready for yet another post thanksgiving party in New Jersey with my colleagues from work which started at 12nn and ended at 12mn. if that doesn't spell wonderful time, i don't know how else to call it. we had our traditional turkey plus loads of other pinoy food and a heaping array of alcohol. it was thanksgiving pinoy style.

so there, that's how my thanksgiving week went. so much to be thankful for.
i am really blessed and i can't ask for anything more (well except for a boyfriend!!!)

4th of July

as the saying goes, when in Rome do what the Romans do. so we did.

since most of the people i know went on a weeklong vacation (one which i can't afford to do), my officemates and i celebrated our version of the 4th of July...

cooked a feast for 3

  

domestic diva indeed!

capped the night watching Macy's fireworks display from the hotel's parking lot

and somewhere between lunch and the fireworks, we went shopping. a lot. 

so there, our 4th of July was a happy day both for our tummy and our luggages. the wallet will just have to deal with it.

Happy Birthday America! You are one kickass country.

ps. i love all your holiday sales!

concrete jungle where dreams are made

last weekend was THE BOMB. to say i was excited and overwhelmed is an understatement.

New York was everything i thought it was gonna be. and more. it was my city. the city for me.

as excited as i am, i couldn't create a decent entry about it. seriously. nuninuninuninu. if NYC was a celebrity, then i was definitely starstruck. dumbfounded. gobsmacked. and all other adjectives that could well describe that feeling of awe.

as pictures paint a thousand words, let me then start painting...

from Morristown, we drove to NYC via the Lincoln Tunnel. later on, i found out, it's underneath the Hudson River. had i known it was, i wouldn't have taken a photo and screamed instead!

we got to The Metropolitan Museum of Art at 10 and walked for a good 3 hours inside to explore. we paid $25 plus $7 for the audio guide. of course we didn't know that entrance was free and we could go in just by giving out donations of any amount. lesson learned.

since Central Park was just across the museum, we HAD TO GO! but first, lunch was in order. we tried to look for places to eat nearby and i remember hearing about Shake Shack. we walked a couple of blocks and got lost a couple of blocks! so much for using the GPS. hahahha! lesson learned again. when i got home, i downloaded a map! anyway, the food was not that good. i ordered a hotdog instead of a burger since i probably had more than my share of burgers to last me a month! the verdict, Shake Shack was more hype than taste.

after lunch, we went straight to Central Park which turned out to be popular in the summer. girls in bikini and naked men sprawl and bask in the sun to bake while we look for a good shady place to sit.  we've had our share of the sun. let them all have it! hahaha!

it was around 6pm when we all decided to head back to Jersey, this time via the Holland Tunnel and it was right about this time when i found out that both tunnels we used were under the Hudson River. i tell you, my butt was like up in the air until i saw the light. indeed there was a light at the end of the tunnel!

going to the Holland Tunnel, we passed by Union Square which is near Broadway -  a trip i saved for another time to watch Wicked

so there, that was my New York saturday. a bit of culture and relaxation if i may say.

Sunday, however, was a different story. an entirely different one which i will blog about in the coming days. i still need to sort out the photos as most of them are of adult content! no, i didn't go to a strip club. but a trip to one is in the agenda.

will tell you all about my first  New York Pride Parade experience in my next entry. here's a sneak peek. enjoy!

i love NYC!!!!

musings from New Jersey

The Hotel
IT.IS.FIERCE! in fact, it can kick all of my previous hotels' butt 10 times over. i'm staying at the Hyatt House Morristown which is a good 15mins drive to where our office is located.

there's free wifi everywhere, 24hr laundry and gym use, free breakfast and best of all, they serve cocktails and light dinner/snacks mon-thurs night! told you, fierce!

The Office
as i've mentioned earlier, the office is very near. we rented a car for the entire trip as going around NJ is quite tasking. very small price we had to pay for choosing to stay in the suburbs.

unlike my previous trips, there won't be as much pressure with this one. i hope. work is very easy. the covergirl kind...easy breezy.

The Food and Weather
there's nothing much to be excited about i guess. i mean, at least i know there is something to eat here, unlike in KL or Johannesburg where it was difficult to find "familiar food".  From the office, there's a wide selection of diners, fastfood, restaurants and cafes to choose from. For my first lunch, we opted to go to Taco Bell.

as for the weather, i experienced and survived my first heat wave. lesson learned, when the forecast says extreme weather condition, it's best to believe. never doubt/question. hahahhaa! it.was.hot! uh, maybe that's why they call it heat wave? good thing this lasts only for a few days.

The Shopping

retail therapy at it's finest. seriously. i've just been here 6days and have already gone to Walmart, Costco and Macys. can't wait to visit the other shops this weekend.

This coming Saturday, we're going to NYC and visit the Metropolitan Museum of Arts. cultured much?

Of course a separate trip is also in order as i want to paint new york red! but that will have to wait. one at a time. for now, it's the museums and Central Park. next is to walk the streets where Carrie Bradshaw walked on and have cosmopolitan. oh how cliche. yes, i'm a fan, don't judge.

Oh Jersey, how i love thee. i told you we're gonna have a blast!

Cheers!