I came across these 2 guys on youtube today. You may have heard of them, I mean, I may be the last one pick up on this. But they are extremely funny, and I love anything that's funny, laughing is one of my favourite things!
It was difficult to decide which videos to out up here as they have quite a few, but check these out, I warn you now, they are very childish :-)
See the rest of their videos here
I'm sitting here trying to read my emails and separate the spam from the mail about possible flats for me to live in.
I seem to be getting so much spam about hot share buying tips. Do people really buy shares based on spam email they get, thinking they're actually going to make money? I guess they must to because the emails keep on coming. Very unusual.
Taken with my phone from the top of the volcano, behind the villa I'm working at!
We got up at 6am to climb the volcano to see sunrise. It was a bit cloudy and windy but still an amazing way to start the day.
Yes, that's right, a new post from me! I know I've been very slack on posts here and on my main blog but I haven't actually got an Internet connection of my own right now.
I'm living partly at Mum's, partly at Dad's and partly out of my car! It's difficult not having somewhere to really think of as home but I'm really grateful that I'll always have a roof over my head if I need one.
I've come to realise how attached to the outside world I am through the Internet. It can't be good for me to feel so dependant on checking my email so often! Actually, I am expecting a couple of exciting emails soon so I just keep checking to see if they've arrived. Pathetic really! :-)
What I've been up to...
'Helping out' has been the order of the day for me recently. After The Fresh Festival I helped out at Alissa Cohen's 5 day course. I ran the kitchen with some very special help from 2 very special people; Ferd and Abby. It was a remarkable weekend that saw some real growth in the 20+ participants.
As usual at these events, we had our own seminar in the kitchen and really felt transformed afterwards, this was partly due to the fact that after everyone had gone, we stayed up until the early hours with Alissa and Elaine 'processing' stuff! I'm noticing that what also accompanies these events is that when you leave and go back to the 'real' world, there's a tinge of sadness that it's all over because of the bond you form with like-minded people.
Then last weekend I helped out at Karen's weekend course. Another great weekend where the participants got great value and found out how to do this raw thing they've heard about. The people that these courses attract are so wonderful, it says a lot about the subject matter and people running them.
Lastly I've been helping out with my step Dad's business, not least of all by getting him a blog and website sorted and bringing the whole thing into the 21st century! He runs a driving school and I think the blog will really bring in a lot of business for him.
Just one week left in NYC now and I'm starting to think about the tourist stuff I want to do before I leave.
Had a great day out and about today which included looking for a suitable ice rink for Lel to hold on to the side of when she visits this week!
First stop was the Rockefeller Ice Rink which is quite famous. It was fairly quiet which is definitely good (fewer people to hit) and I can imagine it being quite magical at Christmas. There was nice music and some guy showing off his skills by doing all sorts of jumps and twirls. There also didn't seem to be any of those 10 year old kids that are really good skaters and make you feel really inadequate by skating past at 100mph and causing you to riqochet into the side panel or fall flat on your ass!
Next, I walked up to the Wollman Ice Rink in Central park. This was after I had managed to get through a crowd watching something being filmed in Hugo Boss on 5th Av. I have no idea but I think it was a film being shot and there were loads of fake bushes and trees along the sidewalk (pavement). On the way back through they had actually closed 5th Av!
I was just reading last night how NYC Council had been trying to rebuild and restore this ice rink for seven years but it never seemed to work out. So Donald Trump stepped in and completed it in 3 months for just 10% of the council's cost! That's why the word 'Trump' is emblazened on the ice scraping manchines waiting at the side of the rink for their first mission since the rink was filled with water yesterday. This really is an amazing ice rink. It's huge and I think will be even more magical than the Rockefeller when it opens later this week.
Just one more photo that I found on my camera that I'd completely forgotten about. I took it out of the window of my original hotel on the evening of September 11th. Looking back, it was a strange day and I can remember watching CNN whilst lying on my bed in my room in the evening, after having visited the World Trade Centre during the day. Every time they cut to the adverts they would show a picture of a beam of light that was coming directly from the WTC site, to honor the memory of the Twin Towers and it's people. The beams actually went so far into the sky that you could see planes flying thorugh them. As I turned off the TV to go to sleep I thought that it would have been amazing to have known about the light and to have seen it in real life. I then turned off the light and laid down, at which point I noticed the light out of my window so I just had to take a photo. It was the kind of thing that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, bringing a very thought provoking end to a thought provoking day.
So much going on and so little time to post about it!
Been really busy with work at The Plant which is all great. As I sit here on Friday morning writing this I'm about to jump in the shower so I can get back there and carry on with the food for tonight's Brazilian themed dinner.
Seem to be going to bed very late this past week. I tend to get involved in stuff on the internet very late and then end up sleeping in late, it's not the way I like to work. I've been meaning to get up early and write this post for the past few days actually!
I can't believe I'm due to go home soon. It certainly doesn't feel like I've been here for a month now, I'm not sure I'm ready to go home to be honest! Hmmmm, what to do? It's a very strange feeling for me as I thought I'd be ready to come home by the time it came around.
I've done very little tourist stuff as I'm waiting for Lel to come over, she's got plans for what she wants to do in the last 4 days of my time here!
I have managed to fit in another trip to Pure Food though. Kristen and I sat in the garden (my first time in the garden) which was beautiful. The restaurant and the vibe there really is the selling point of Pure. For a starter I had the sea vegetable salad which was great, my main was mushroom satay which was inventive and nice but I would have preferred our sauces to be warmed in the dehydrator before service. This is raw food, not cold food! Dessert was the excellent Tiramisu which I really can't fault.
Been spending some time at the new apartment of Anna & Andy this past week. I even helped them do some painting when they moved in on Sunday, after my brunch with Kristen and her bro at Caravan of Dreams.
There's such a social element to life here that you could do something different every night and never be alone. NYC is also a place that you could just slip into the background and be on your own as much as you like, if that's what you wanted. I've realised I like being around people and being where the action is, I've also realised that I need to balance that out with time for myself. I can't even work out how I'm going to adjust back into the relatively quiet setting of Sussex, it's going to seem very different.
Having said that though, I'm excited about getting stuck into things back home and making my big dreams come true. I've learned so much here, both about raw foods and myself and that has thrown up a lot of ideas. It is all very exciting, if not confusing, but I'm trying to listen to my intuition as to which way to go and just keep taking the next step based on what I feel is right.
So end of the first week in New York and I moved out of my lovely hotel with an even more lovely shower (I'm all about the shower) into a hostel. Don't get me wrong, it's not your average hostel, I've got my own room and it's clean but I miss my hotel room and being midtown.
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I started this post about 5 days ago but have had trouble getting a good WiFi signal in this place so I'll carry on now but with more news to report. I found a nice apartment on the lower east side of Manhattan, the East Village. Apparently it's the place to live and seems nice and quite trendy in places. I'll move in on the 21st all being well and I've changed to a different hotel (with carpets in the bedroom!) until then so now I'm getting a good nights sleep.
I've been here about a week and a half now and so much has happened that I'm going to post some photos here to remind me of my activities....
Took this shot of a helicopter flying over the Brooklyn Bridge last week on my way home. There's no other skyline like Manhattan!
Thought I'd take the opportunity to visit the World Trade Centre whilst in NYC on September 11th. There was a really strange quiet in the area despite being very busy. It was incredible to finally see the area that I'd seen on TV so much. There's a real sense of optimism and 'one-ness' amongst New Yorkers, the plans they have for the new Freedom Tower that will be taller than the twin towers is amazing. New York is still one of, if not the best Cities in the world.
WTC site viewed from the Financial Centre
Only in NYC would you stumble upon (as I did) the US Tennis Open final being shown on a huge screen with the audience sitting in 'tennis' chairs, the fence being made out of a tennis court net and the crowd control sitting in Umpire's chairs! Genius.
A rare moment where you'll see a Taxi actually stopping!
I visited the famous fair at Coney Island (apparently in many films) with Kristen from The Plant and her friend Perry and had a blast! It's the first time I've actually felt sick at a theme park. This is The Wonder Wheel (no, really, it is) and wasn't responsible for my stomach churning, the previous ride that went backwards did that.
Kristen in Coney Island arm wrestling contest..no contest!
Take a look and share your own secret. I'm not telling you if I have!
Here's one of my favourites...