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Tag / New York

April 8, 2013

…ate at an African restaurant

Tonight was my monthly goss-a-thon over dinner with Katia. Whereas last time we gave so-so Malaysian food a go, this time we hopped across a continent or two to Africa. Now, ‘Africa’ obviously encompasses a lot, so I didn’t really know what the menu at Ponty Bistro in Gramercy Park would look like. As it turns out, it had …

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April 7, 2013

…played Rebel Bingo

By the early hours of this morning, I sported some pretty impressive body ink: an anchor, a bowtie, some barbed wire – and I’m sure there was an obligatory pecker somewhere too. This was the aftermath of Rebel Bingo, a twist on the original game usually associated with blue rinses. The rules are the same …

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April 6, 2013

…had a massive pillow fight

Ah New York, you’re so bizarre. Today I headed to Washington Square Park for a massive pillow fight – an annual event that sees people smacking each other over the head with pillows for three hours. Because, why not? I met up with Elektra and we threw ourselves into the sweaty, surprisingly violent mob. It …

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April 5, 2013

…bought Girl Scout cookies from a Chinatown troop

What better to line my stomach for a Friday night out than a batch (or two) of Girl Scout cookies. That’s a good way to teach these girls about responsibility. After work I headed to Chinatown, where Troop 3197 were selling cookies at the True Light Lutheran Church. They were such a brilliant bunch of girls …

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April 3, 2013

…went to an album release show

Tonight I went to Bowery Electric for the release show of Dylan’s second album, ‘Lessons in Hunger’. And what a cracking show it was. Ever since he recorded the EP in Minnesota in October, I’ve watched him slog through lists of logistics. But tonight, nearly two years after he started working on the first songs, he showed why it was all worth …

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April 1, 2013

…rode the M line

One thing I love about New York is how easy it is to get around – on foot or public transport. The subways are frequent, in straight lines and much, much more reliable than in London. Jaunting all over the city for various events means I’ve pretty much been on every subway line. But until …

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March 31, 2013

…made Cadbury’s creme eggs

I don’t want to over-egg the Easter puns, but today was an eggstravaganza. One festive activity was making treats that nearly resembled Cadbury’s creme eggs with my friend Meghan (‘Megghan’). As devotees of Buzzfeed, we’d come across this cracker of a recipe a couple of weeks ago and decided to give it a go. It involved …

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March 30, 2013

…petted a horse in Grand Central Station

Today I headed to Grand Central Station to pet a horse. There’s an explanation: Performance artist Nick Cave is holding a seven-day exhibit showcasing his 30 straw-like horses at the station, and twice daily they put on a performance. Grand Central is great for random things like this – if you remember, I went to a …

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March 29, 2013

…skipped over the Manhattan Bridge

Spring has finally shown its face and tonight I wanted to make the most of it. I’ve already been to the Brooklyn Bridge, so I decided to shake it up by heading over the Manhattan Bridge instead. And whereas I ran the previous time, tonight I opted for a different mode – a skipping rope. …

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March 28, 2013

…turned the cube at Astor Place (just)

Whenever Dylan and I passed the massive cube sculpture at Astor Place, he would tell me you could spin it – and I’d make sceptical noises. Well, it turns out that he was actually right about something the whole time. The cube is a huge steel sculpture by Tony Rosenthal that was put up in …

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March 27, 2013

…sat for a portrait in Central Park

I’ve been visiting a lot of art since starting this blog – MoMA, the New Museum, street art – but what about me and my picture perfect mug? I spotted some artists in Central Park today and decided to get a portrait. I approached one friendly-faced man and asked if he’d paint me like one of …

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March 26, 2013

…bought dinner for a stranger

I’ve been spending like a maniac recently. Today I paid for rent, phone bills, airline tickets and vats of cheese crackers. It means I have about $23 in my U.S. account until payday. Which I will no doubt spend on beer tonight and then coffee tomorrow or something I convince myself I really need, like …

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March 25, 2013

…visited a flower show (to kickstart Spring)

This is what New York looked like today: Seeing as Spring isn’t coming to me, I decided to go to Spring. After work, I jumped on the N train to Herald Square and headed to Macy’s for its massive annual flower show. A flower show doesn’t sound like the most inspiring thing to do, but …

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March 22, 2013

…had a makeover at Bloomingdale’s

When I was younger, I was a devotee of My Girl, desperate to be Vada and impress my own Thomas J. I spent many of my younger years thinking that baggy clothes were somehow flattering and generally looking very rubbish. One offshoot was that I was so late to the makeup party that I decided …

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March 21, 2013

…travelled back in time (to New York in 1993)

Tonight I went back in time – twenty years, to be exact – to see a New York of days gone by. The New Museum on the Bowery is currently showcasing art from 1993 – almost like a time capsule – that gives a brilliant insight into what was on the mind of New Yorkers …

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March 18, 2013

…had a tarot card reading

After yesterday, I’m trying to come to terms with how my life has lurched in a different direction to the one I’d foreseen this time last year. So I thought it might be interesting to have a guess at where I’m heading next. Which means I was easily lured by the gaudy sign above a Nolita doorway reading: …

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March 9, 2013

…had a personal juice bar tasting

One of my roommates came home early this morning wearing work out gear, carrying a dubious-coloured smoothie and grinning from ear to ear. She told me I had to try the juice bar around the corner and seeing as I’ve a grim head cold and needed to squeeze in a quick ‘new thing’ today before …

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March 8, 2013

…went to the top of the Empire State Building

Tourist time. I’ve largely stayed away from the tourist hot spots until now, but I can’t get through this challenge without heading to the Empire State Building. And I’ve been to the top of the Rockefeller Center before, so I was interested to see how they compared. While the Rockefeller Center is a simple lift up …

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March 7, 2013

…took a Zumba class

I’ve always thought of Zumba as a bit of a fad and not much more – definitely not something I’d ever try. But over the last couple of weeks as I’ve been writing about Zumba (in not a very flattering light, unfortunately), I realised it was something new I could give a go. And after a single session, …

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March 6, 2013

…had a PB&J

Us Brits may be superior at tea and socialised healthcare, but Americans have really nailed the sandwich. So while I was munching on jam sandwiches in front of Sesame Street 20+ years ago, my genius U.S. counterparts had thrown some peanut butter on theirs. There have been audible gasps when I’ve dared to admit I’ve never had a peanut butter …

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March 5, 2013

…went to a listening party

Hear hear, who knows what a listening party is? Well, tonight I found out. You sit in a bar, drink far too many cocktails and celebrate new music. In this case – Dylan’s. Okay, okay, so this ‘new thing’ feels like I’m cheating a little bit. But I’d never been to a listening party before. Dylan (under the guise of Swampboots) is …

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March 4, 2013

…read in the New York Public Library’s Reading Room

It’s been a busy weekend of moving, throwing a house cooling party, cleaning and catching colds. So today when I chanced it out of work nearly an hour early, I decided to use the time to recuperate. I headed to 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue for the New York City Public Library. Somehow I’d never …

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March 3, 2013

…went on a graffiti tour

While I’ve admired a lot of street art since being in New York, I’ve always seen tags and sprayed names as a sloppy mess on the city’s streets. But today, after taking a great graffiti tour, I can finally appreciate their origins and purpose. The walking tour was hosted by Grafftours and snaked through the East Village, Lower East …

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