So yeah, went to NYC on Monday. It was a blast!! One of the guys in our day off group - Sam - was having his birthday, so we decided to head into the city. Only 8 of us went so we could all fit in one car - Meg, Lilla, Gabby and myself from Chinqueka and Tom, Peter, Alex and Sam from Awosting. We left about 9 in the end (once the boys had gotten their A into G) and started the 2 and a bit hour drive south. Was a pretty uneventful drive really. Tom and I got bored in the back seat so started playing with our soft toys (I had Kahu and he had a Luigi) just for lolz.
Eventually we got there!!
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| Hello pretty bridge that made us very excited |
We had maccas for lunch like any good ol' American (lolz) and then headed out and about a bit. Meg had to go meet her cousin, so we meet back up with her at Grand Central Station. Its like a blinken rabbit warren down there!! So pretty though.
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| OOOOHHHH Pretty |
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| Found this on the way, may have got a little excited |
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| So many choices! |
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| This made me lol, cos we did this show once upon a time. |
After our wander, we decided to go to Madame Tussauds. OMG, so worth it. We got a reasonable group discount too! It was so fun wandering around, albeit a little creepy at times. I kept thinking (hoping) one of them would jump out and be real!
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| ZOMG free programmes |
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| I'm really in America now |
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| This one was super creepy |
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| Yeah, R-Patz |
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| Just for good measure |
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| Spy chicks? Check! |
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| Kahu made me do it |
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| And then he read the news |
We spent a good 2 hours in there doing things, so that was time very well spent. Then I wanted to go meet up with Matt from home who was in NYC at the same time! Tom and Alex came with me and we headed up Times Square to meet him. Matt had been at MOMA so we met him up there, which is reasonably close to Central Park. So we headed up that direction and Matt was all "Lets go to the fanciest hotel in the city and have a cocktail". Annnnd so we did. It was fun! The lobby bar was gorgeous (and expensive) but totally worth a trip in. It was slightly amusing when Tom wandered off and was gone for a good 10 minutes before we got a little worried, but he arrived back soon enough, with cake.
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| DADAAAAA |
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| M&M World? Yes please! |
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| We found a few cops along the way, this one was impressed that I was from New Zealand. |
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| Made me think of all of you in that fabulous show at PLT!! |
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| Matt and Me at the Plazza Hotel in NYC, right opposite Central Park |
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| Tom and Alex needed their photo under pretty chandelier also |
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| SMILE! |
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| Epic decor |
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| Kahu enjoyed his drink |
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| Red carpet outside hotel. As you can see, our wardrobe fitted the place well. |
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| Coppers! |
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| Add caption |
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| Must admit, got a little excited and creeped out when I saw this |
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| And then I realised what it was for |
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| Heading to dinner! Yum |
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| Just incase I forgot I was in NYC |
We then headed to a nice little Irish Bar that we found for dinner. Yum-burger! Well, not really burger. I had Fish'n'Chips with a nice NZ Sav haha. I forgot how sweet and yummy they were! It was quite a hilarious affair, as we were all trying to sneakily sign a card for Sam which resulted in some of us going to the bathroom multiple times in not a very long space of time. The funniest part was how oblivious Sam was to it all! I organised the waitress to bring out a cake with a candle on it also, and a drink for Sam. He looked happy about it. YAY birthdays!
EDIT - So, Gabby said I had to mention the glasses incident. While we were trying to sign the card, Alex got completely lost as to what was going on and ended up going to the bathroom and not signing the card. We told him to go back to the bathroom, so he pulls his glasses off his head and says "Oh bugger, I think I've left my glasses behind". He came back out, still not having signed the card, so we made him go back again, and again his excuse was "crap, where did I leave my glasses?". Something you had to be there for I guess but it was very funny.
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| Meg and I being rather sneaky |
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| In the middle of my laughing fit |
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| Tom decided that Kahu and Luigi were our children, so this is our family photo |
After dinner, we decided to go up the Empire State Building. The line was quite long, and around every corner was more line, but it was a pretty quick moving line so that was all good.
Down the bottom, before we went up though, we were hanging out with this guy who was trying to sell us tickets to avoid the lines, and there was all this screaming coming from somewhere. Personally, I thought Beiber was in town (LOL he's in NZ), but it turned out to be a whole group of Brazilians who were very excited to be in the city. We told them it was Sams birthday and they launched into song. And then they sung it in their language too. It was highly amusing. Especially, when they saw us up the top of the tower again and started singing. How cool would it have been if the whole tower had launched into song? Ahh, one can only dream.
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| The random Brazillians |
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| In the lift on the way up |
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| View from the top |
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| Its so pretty! And HUGE! |
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| Meg and Gabby up the top |
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| Generic New York City Skyline shot |
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| The other direction |
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| Kahu and I up the top |
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| Ze girls up the top (minus Lilla) |
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| Must admit, I did LOL at the King Kong stuff (part of the reason I wanted to go up it) |
So, on the way back to the car, we passed the NYC Public Library. We had passed it earlier on in the day and thought meh and then when we passed it on the way to the Empire State and there were a couple of SWAT looking guys outside. We thought nothing of it at the time, but it made sense as we were coming back, and saw a red carpet lit up outside the library. Turns out, it was some sort of Batman event a-happening. Not sure if it was actually the premiere or not, cos there seemed like there weren't enough people (fans) there for that, but we did hear rumour that the cast were inside. Me, being me, was super keen to stay, but the rest of the group, not so much (the girls were haha). We gave ourselves 10 minutes and in that time I saw my first real American Celebrity! He kinda didn't fit in, but then I suppose when your a celeb, you get invited to all kinds of events! It was Jay from Top Model. (
http://www.jaymanuel.com/). I yelled at him to come over (as everyone else was) but alas, nothing. I even pulled the New Zealand card, but I don't think he heard me :(.
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| Pretty NYC Public Library |
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| My first real American Celebrity! |
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| For all my friends involved in the show :D |
We decided that it was so much fun having someones birthday on our day off, so we should have someones birthday every Monday, LOL!
So that was NYC, so much fun! Can't wait to go back now!!
