"EY MAMI"

Hi Mum and Dad! I doubt anyone else will actually bother reading this... haha. But regardless, I am gonna write a blog so that I don't have to say the same thing to everyone when you guys ask how it's going. Sorry if that's selfish but it's easier for me and that's all that matters (keep reading please hahah).

So I'M IN NEW YORK or NU YOURK as they seem to say it here. I'm in New York and it's incredible. Take the image of NY that you have in your head, then add twice as many people, twice as much noise and three times as much sass - then you're kind of close to how NY actually is.

 After what felt like forever I was finally on my flight from LAX to JFK. Unfortunately on this flight I managed to develop a horrible headache so that dampened my excitement a little bit UNTIL the plane was about to land...I had a window seat...I pulled the shade up AND THE MANHATTAN SKYLINE WAS VISIBLE! I almost cried, partly because moving my head to look out the window hurt so much but mainly because it was NEW YORK CITY!!!  I couldn't believe I was actually about to do this, alone in NYC. I was pretty excited and then I made a rookie mistake which leads me to NY fact number one...

* People will try to rip you off
So I left the baggage claim, head banging, wanting just to get a shower and go to sleep. I walked out of the terminal and saw one yellow taxi, and someone getting into it. While I was surveying the area looking for more, a guy hands me his taxi card and ushers me to his taxi stand. Now these are black SUV's and I'd read that they charge an arm and a leg. So before I got in I asked him how much, he said $65 flat rate which is around $5 more than a yellow. I thought that was alright since I just wanted to get to my hotel. We get to the hotel and he gives me the bill - $80 excluding tips. I was like WHAT!? But I just wanted to get out so I paid him and tipped him NOTHING, that bastard. I guess I shouldn't have been such a stupid tourist but I'm gonna blame it on the fact that I was half asleep. I felt like an idiot but this has definitely taught me a valuable lesson. Toto, we're not in New Zealand anymore!

Putting that embarrassing story aside - on my first day, I decided to explore Midtown. I walked up 5th ave and holy shit the wealth in this city is ridiculous! 5th Ave is full of high end stores like Tiffany's and Louis Vuitton and all those types of places. I ended up in the apple store which is crazy huge and has the best entrance, it's a giant cube with a spiral staircase that leads to a HUGE apple store. Also: for those of you who know me well - I FINALLY GOT AN IPHONE THAT HAS WIFI!! I'M SO HAPPY!

Also passed Trump Tower - the actual tower wasn't that impressive so I didn't take a photo, sorry Donald.

 But by far the most exciting part of my Midtown exploration was discovering that there's a NYPD precinct just down the road from me, I lost my shit when I saw this:

Next stop was Central Park, I didn't realise how close I was to it and also how freaking HUGE it is. I was thinking I would spend an hour or two exploring - THINK AGAIN - 5 hours of walking later hahah. It is pretty amazing. I saw most parts of it, intentionally and unintentionally. I really wanted to see Strawberry Fields (John Lennon's memorial) but about 4hrs in every path I took led to everything BUT Strawberry Fields. At this point my feet were starting to blister, I was sweating ridiculous amounts and I was pretty tired. So I headed to what I thought was the East side (where I'm staying) and then all of sudden I was in what they call "the Ramble" which is basically a mini forest. I was lost. And in pain. Thankfully a kind passerby pointed me in the right direction and 10 blocks later I was home. Even the though the end was painful, those 5 hours were incredible. It's such a beautiful place and parts of it don't even feel like you're in a city, and there's so much to do and see. My favourite part by far was the Mall and literary walk.

My first (and I gotta be honest, probably my last) pretzel. The first bite I took was awful, then I realised it was the salt that was gross. Once I brushed the salt off it was ok, reminded me of a bagel really.

This is blurry BUT - I thought this man was naked until he stood up and then I saw that he was just chilling in a thong instead. Phew!

Bethesda Terrace is one of the places I'm soo glad I could find in Central Park, mainly because it features in Sex and the City and Gossip Girl...am I ashamed? NO! (warning: awful selfie ahead)

The fountain where Carrie meets one of her many male friends (hope you guys remember the episode if you're SATC viewers!

Annnd here's where Chuck and Blair get married in GG!!

More Central Park goodness..

Sheep meadow, there actually used to be sheep back in the day!

My first hot dog from a cart, it was alright...

My favourite place in Central Park, the Mall <3

So enough of Central Park - I will upload all my photos onto facey when I get more time. After finally figuring my way out of Central Park I grabbed some dinner and then went to Rockefeller Center to go to the Top of the Rock. Rockefeller Centre is pretty cool, 30 Rock is a really beautiful art deco building and everything is gold, which I thought would be tacky but it's actually awesome! I was planning on being up there for sunset but the queues meant that I got up there about 10mins but that was ok because the views were still incredible.

Started at the bottom...

The big green patch is Central Park

My fave building (the Chrysler) was partly obscured :(

There she is!

It's dark but LOOK! I made it!

I thought it was just a movie effect but steam really does come out of the grates!

Radio City Music Hall

The amazing facade of 30 Rock

30 Rock

That's it for now, I'm out! I hope I can update often, I'll try my best.

Oh and if you're wondering why I called my post "Ey Mami" it's because instead of regular catcalling such as "show us yer..." etc. they yell "EY MAMI" and add a pleasantry such as "How you doin' this morning?" I think it's quite nice really hahah.

Byyeee x