Days I've been home = 4

Groceries bought = 0

Instant noodles eaten = 2

Chocolates eaten = 0

Essays done = 0

Money spent = I don't want to know

Hugs received = A lot but I still want more

New shoes = 2

Sunrises watched = 1

Roof-top climbing = 1 (Not very succesful because we couldn't figure out how to jump up a 5-6 feet high ledge)

Nights slept after 5am = 3

Notes: Easter holidays have been high on Big Apple fun, spending money and bonding sessions and low on shopping, sleeping and essay work done.
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I need to appreciate people for whom they are.
"You're beautiful when you let your defenses down."

Toby smells just the way you do.


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A final post from this marble-floored lobby.

I have 4 minutes of internet time left and I'm amused to see people just sitting all over the floor next to power points so that they can use the internet.

My family is scattered on separate continents again. My mum and brother left for Malaysia 5 hours ago. I'm leaving for UK in 9 hours. My dad and sister will leave New York in a week or so. Another 4 months before we're all back in Malaysia again.

I don't think I will be coming back to NY for a very long time. I chose shopping on 34th Street over the Museum of Modern Arts today. =P I've had my dose of bright city lights and deep within, a part of me is glad to be returning to quiet Coventry for a little soothing balm, to heal and reflect.

Goodbye Big Apple, hello London! =)
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I was very gung-ho about day-to-day blogging my 2nd NY trip because I'm bad at blogging about vacations. It takes me months to go through pictures and to piece together what I felt and experienced on the trip. I was delighted to hear that they had free broadband access in the hotel lobby. But guess what? I have been online almost everyday and only one NY post. Most of my internet-ing is stolen bits and pieces of time when I'm waiting for my parents downstairs so we can all go out, and I use my time to check and reply e-mails.

The truth, I have yet to drink Starbucks or do proper shopping eventhough I have 2 days left.

I also miss UK and the people I left behind more than I thought I would. I also love love love getting e-mails. It makes me feel connected. Eventhough I doubt my UK friends would read this, I still love getting e-mails. Period.

I realised that I have started calling UK as home. Exactly when, I don't know. But when I was talking to my mum about flying home, she asked me if I meant Malaysia or UK and I had to pause for a milisecond before answering her.

It hit me then. Previously I never used the word home to mean UK. Home was always Malaysia to me. Now I believe that this cold, foggy country of stiff upper lips and 'a hot cuppa tea' has made itself at home in a corner of my heart in its own way.

Its a different side of New York I'm seeing this time. Less fire trucks and police sirens. More easy lounging. More family time. Older parents, changed and matured children. My brother not so little and more matured, but still my adorable, lovable brother.

I had trouble explaning to my mother what a hookah bar was. My best explanation, "Those smoking like water-pot thingies with different flavours that those Middle-Easterners are very fond off." >.<>

I realise that even if my parents set me curfews or nag at me when I come back late in PJ, they do so for my own safety. But when I'm abroad, they know that I will be exposed to a different culture like drinking, smoking, clubbing, pot and partying and they are pretty open-minded about it. Maybe not too keen on the pot, but they know that they cannot control us from doing what we like so they accept it gracefully and trust that they have taught us well enough to have some sense from doing something stupid.

St. Patrick's Day is today and I can hear a bunch of raucous men singing outside Sheraton. I want a drink, either a cup of fresh orange juice, a choc frappe or a hot chocolate with whipped cream on top.

I want my cup of coffee. =)

Written on Tuesday, March 17, 2009; 11:55 PM

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Location: Sheraton Manhattan lobby, getting my 45 minute internet fix.

Went for a haircut at the same place in downtown Chinatown. Had a neck massage which I needed so badly (I think I'm getting spoilt by all the fabulous neck and back massages that I've been getting lately) and some freaking good Malaysian food which I needed even more.

1 roti canai, 1 rojak, 1 curry laksa and 2 cold bubur chachas = USD21.

A decent price to pay. As a testimony to how good the food was, I even ordered bubur chacha and Tai Siew Yen generally does not eat more than a spoon of tongsui. My sister comes to this place in Chinatown so often that the waiter knows her there. And he's kinda good-looking in a very Chinese-Taiwanese way. Not my kind of candy but still candy nonetheless.

After that, headed up to the Upper West Side to meet up with the parents at the Museum of Natural History which was rather informative but at the price of USD22. Let me see....Malaysian food or museum? Tough call. =P Took lots of photos but I walked away with the question, why all the effort to discover and research and stuff those birds/animals because I think average people like me will read the displays and go, "Hmm yeah I see that bird used to be on earth 10,000 years ago and is now extinct and it has 2 legs and a tail." But all this is surface information and very very little of it is retained in our memory. So unless you're an amatuer/specially interested in this field, what would the majority of humankind benefit from all the money that went into discovering this bird? I know its for humankind knowledge and expansion of boundaries etc but right now I just don't get it, you know?

Went for dinner at a Latin/Cuban/Carribean restaurant called Calle Ocho and my sister's housemate works there so we had free vouchers! The food was good but pricey. The best part of the meal was the bread which was one of the best bread's I had and it was served with black bean paste and not butter. While it was yummy food, I confess that Carribean food doesn't exactly top my list of favourite foods. But it was worthwhile going just to see because the atmosphere is great and the bar looked pretty happening. Everyone was tired so we simply headed back home to recharge for the next day.

It feels really good to be staying in Manhattan because now I don't have to take the subway all the way back to Queens and everything is within walking/cabbing distance. Even with the subway, its always just a few stops and takes us less than 30mins. Last December, I got home almost everynight at 1 or 2am and it would be 3 Asian girls taking the sub, walking for 8 minutes in the freezing cold in a dark neighbourhood and taking turns for the bathroom. Not exactly the best recipe for a perfect holiday. This time, I'm getting home by 9pm everynight and waking up really early at 8am because my parents are jetlagged and wake up at 4 or 6am US time so I get woken up too. =S The only downside to living within eyesight of Times Square is the lovely hotel bill that my dad is going to have to foot for 9 days of living in the heart of NYC.

Today is actually Friday but I was too tired last night to figure out how to retrieve this post which disappeared into thin air. My cons are killing me because I've worn them for 15 hours straight today which I never do back home. I need to go to Duane Reade and buy eyedrops cause mine are 3 months old.

Desperately need a hot shower and a warm bed. Craved a Starbucks hot choc coming out of the subway on my way home but I couldn't be bothered to walk 1 block in the cold for it. Now that I'm sleepy, I crave it even more. And the nearest 24hour Starbucks is 10 blocks down in Times Square. Damn. Nevermind, there's always tomorrow.

I really want to be tucked up in bed like, right now.
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Business finance and insolvency class in 3 hours and 15 minutes.
Going to skip 1 lecture and 2 tutorials. Have already skipped 2 other lectures this week.
Have yet to e-mail my tutors regarding my absence due to "personal family matters."

Leaving for New York again in 11 hours and 42 minutes.
Started packing my bag at midnight.
5 hours and 45 minutes later, I have yet to finish. Interruptions due to very serious girl talks and unexpected bomb shells of the ungorgeous type.

This is like a repeat of the past 2 Christmases, with major procrastination and frantic packing and dishevelled clumps of work strewn all over my mind and desk. Very, very disorganised for a person with particular OCD tendencies.

Need to pack a book to break the tedium of the journey. For once I'm not bringing my old faithful with me. I'm going to spend some time just with the family and myself. But with 3 essays and acres of ground to cover, I shall bring some BFI materials onboard with me.

I can feel the aching swell at my throat that portends illness due to lack of rest. I'm warned, I'm going off to bed right now.

Bye people, I'm off to New York. Stand at the deck and wave for me! =)
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Grey is a very subtle area with many shades and textures. The darkwater grey of calf-length suede boots. The shimmering lightspun grey silk of my dress. The damp curling grey fog that peeks and curls out on typical England weather days. The charcoal grey of your wool pants. The grey in which we are.

It feels surreal to be awake before 9am and not be rushing for class. Having the window cracked open and fresh air and sunlight streaming through the windows. I can see Dust floating through my room. I also said I will stop blogging and take a shower when this song stops.

I have watched Shopaholic. =)
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if deja vu is something good or bad.

This is more than a game. Nobody knows the rules and the stakes and I don't know how to create them. Please give me the strength to walk by the line and the brain cells to overrule it all.
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