Photo Bonanza!

Note: I've changed how I display large collections of photo, because this is neater and doesn't hurt my soul so much when I upload.

16th November, 23:30

I basically spent the whole evening wandering around times square with slack jawed awe. Found they have a quiksilver shop, which was entirely bargainous, but only purchased 1 t-shirt, for about $20, as I promised myself I'd investigate some of the cheap shops mentioned in my Time Out book.

Before heading to Times Square I got some North Face gloves, which seem quite a popular brand over here and allowed me to set off the door alarms. I grabbed a slice of pizza from a random place as well so I could use their loo. I then wandered around Virgin Megastore and finally got subway back as my feet exploded maiming a number of nearby orphans.

Large dilemma of what to do tomorrow. I kinda wanna see the England Match, no idea where though. I also wanna check out 2nd hand bookshops and do postcards and find clearance stores and eat healthy and cut down caffeine and use internets and buy Time Out Magazine. I need to do all of this with minimal walking to save my feet and knees. Oh the rigours of old age.

-Insert Emo Post-

I'm not sure what I expect from this trip. I'm not really sure what I expect from myself or even what to expect from this. I think I don't know what I want, how to get it or if I can. I'm so tired right now that my thoughts are awkward and laborious. New York as a place, and an environment is amazing and spell-binding and the freedom of being a solo traveller is refreshing. However, a lot of experiences to be had in New York are to be had with someone else, or someones else. I also imagine the biting cold across the atlantic to be less harsh with someone to soften it's glare.

I'm enjoying odd pleasure, like reading on the subway with some acid jazz fed straight into my cortex. I think the combination of exhaustion, frustration at my exhaustion, On The road, acid jazz and a conversation with Louis has made me reflective but with emotastic undertones. Utilisation of a top bunk has also allowed me to gain a vantage point over my thoughts as well as be closer to the light.

Then again I could be eating too much junk food.

Quickfacts

• The pier where titanic was set to arrive at is a multi-storey driving range now
• Only 5 people died making the Empire State Building, 2 by falling and one had his face removed by a lift. Normally back then, the expected death rate was 1 death per floor built.
• It took just 14 months to build.
• Zeppelin dock at the top turned out to be far too windy to be usable.
• On completion it was 6 inches shorter than planned because of the foundations compressing.
• I bought a photo of myself. Haw Haw.
• All the Broadway stage hands are on strike, so no shows are on. And they're all picketing. Lucky I'm too disorganised to have got tickets really.

16th November, 19:13

Whoa New York is pretty. Especially 86 floors up on the empire state building. Bit of a queue but it's alright. Not much space at the top, and my camera seemed to struggle with the night time lack of light. Very hard to move around at the top and it was so incredibly freezing I thought my face would fall off. Free audio commentary with my city pass as well. I'm hitting up Macy's again as I need a hat, gloves and maybe new headphones as these ones lack volume. So it's draining my music battery like crazy. Crap. I need to eat. I'll see what happens in Times Square.

16th November, 16:12

With grace and elegance I utilised the subway to 42nd and wandered to pier 83 where the cruise boats go from. Turns out at this time of year there's only one 3-hour cruise a day, at 12.30. So I booked a ticket on that and grabbed a coffee.

Trip was really good, we saw all of Manhattan, liberty island etc, with a quite humourous tour guide. I took loads of photos thanks to my cunning pre-planned (w00t?) spare camera battery and SD cards. Though I think most of the photos are the same. On board it was ABSOLUTELY FREEZING, I tried beer, hot dogs and hot chocolate in an attempt to warm up. I think I'm starting to put on some winter hibernation fat.

Took subway to 3X street to go to empire state but just wandered into Macy's first. Confused a techy dude and retired to a table with a lemonade to write this amazing amalgamation of autonomous continuity....

16th November, 09:34

After meeting Erika, last night, we chilled around Times Square after grabbing some starbucks hot choc. We browsed Virgin for a while discussing the various varying popularity of music, and seeing as she was the first person I'd met who have heard of Straylight Run I was muchos happy. I got some new headphones for my mobile music generation device. Subways were a bit slow, so didn't get back till late, dude in dorm was asleep and I woke him. Excellent. Not a great night's sleep as I just walked into bed fully clothed basically. And we all know being vertical screws with your sleep pattern.

My big toe absolutely canes today, which can't bode well. And I thinkI have mountain dew withdrawal. I have a plan for once, hit the ferry around islands, then chill downtown, followed by empire state building. Map reckons 11am boast is least crowded, oh wait, it's not October. Who knew. Dorm dude's, who is from Chile, mobile keep ringing, but he's in the shower or hunting or something.