Archive for August, 2007
Melbourne
Posted by Sutter in Uncategorized on August 26th, 2007
No photos today. I’ve been to a dinner, a cocktail party at a kareoke bar, walked the streets, seen the Guggenheim and much more.
Didn’t do much on the photos front, and feeling hot and tired. Time to come back!
I’ll see everyone on Tuesday!
More New York
Posted by Sutter in Uncategorized on August 24th, 2007
Yesterday we went up to the top of the Chrysler Building. More great views of the surrounding city.
We then went off to Grand Central Station, which was both grand and central, so I was pleased.
Then off to the New York Public Library. Again, very beautiful.
Not many words today. Pictures are better.
The last pictures are from the top of Ali’s dad’s apartment building.
Broadway
Posted by Sutter in Uncategorized on August 22nd, 2007
Yesterday, after a mammoth trip to the electronics store J&R, we went down to Broadway and bought tickets to The Drowsy Chaperone. It was a cute play with some memorable tunes, flashy dancing and a sprinkle of comedy.
So, I’ve now seen a Broadway play.
After the show, we went to The View, which is a revolving restaurant atop the building. The view that can be viewed for The View is quite a site. Manhattan island (and part of Jersey) laid out in a night time show on light and colour.
Today we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or the Met, as it’s known. The pictures speak for themselves. I spent a lot of time going through the Arms & Armour section, where their collection of mostly ceremonial armour and weapons can be found.
The hefty looking full suit of armour belonged to King Henry VIII. Something that I can’t quite get over. I think if I get to tour Europe, I’d have a heart attack from culture/history overload.
On the way back to the apartment, we met a street poet with a type-writer. For a donation, he created a poem for me on the spot, based on a theme I chose. The photos are of the artist in the process of creation and discussing a work with a previous customer.
So much stuff
Posted by Sutter in Uncategorized on August 22nd, 2007
Ok, so I’ve been doing heaps of things since I last updated. Everything is sort of melding together in my memories, and I’m seeing so many things!
This photo set starts off with a street vendor from the farmer’s market in Union Square. I bought something off the lady for Kate 
A video of a kid trying to break-dance and more pretty buildings and shots of the long streets. I spent Sunday recovering and having a slight wander around, so nothing too grandiose to see.
Monday, Ali and I explored more of Manhatten. Ali took me up to her old college, Columbia (photos of the statues of Science and Arts) Some shots of one of the grand buildings there from one of the bridges in the campus.
Then onto Central Park!
The park is beautiful and I loved it. After going in about 100 metres, the sounds of traffic fade away and you can’t see the surrounding buildings anymore. It was strangely quite in the park, which I expected to be as bustling as the Bronx Zoo, or some of the streets. The panoramic view of the buildings in the distance is from Sheep’s Meadow.
Then down to Battery Park to catch the Staten Island ferry and cruise past the Statue of Liberty and view New York from the outside.
Emily (Ali’s step mother), Ali’s dad and the two of us went out to Hangwai for dinner. The food, like the company, was excellent.
and The East Village
Posted by Sutter in Uncategorized on August 19th, 2007
I spent yesterday wandering through Union Square and the East Village.
Being Saturday, a farmer’s market was set-up in the square, selling produce. Adjacent to it was a series of art and craft stalls. The art stalls were quite good, being art from native New Yorkers. Much of it was geared towards tourists, but some were tables with collections of things that people had made, and wanted others to see/admire/purchase.
My first stop in East Village was Washington Square Park. To get there, I had to walk though another market, this one geared almost entirely to tourists. A jumble of clothing, watches, jewellery, food, drinks and music assaulted me as I wandered though, happy to be attacked by such vibrancy.
I bought a damned cheap veggie noodle meal and sat in the park, staring at the Washington Square Arch and soaking in the pleasant sunlight.
Squirrels (with the exception of dwarf bunnies) are the cutest rodents on the planet. Knowing this, the squirrels that inhabited the park posed for my camera, possibly expecting a treat of discarded food at the end.
I then continued on through the East Village, window shopping and people watching until I arrived at my destination - Myers of Keswick.
I paid $6.95 for a tiny jar of Vegemite! Outrageous, but what else could I do for my fix?
Back to the apartment and off to dinner. We travelled off to Williamsburg for an intimate vegan dinner. We met up with two of Ali’s friends – Perry and Calista – and entered the apartment of an experimental vegan chief where we dined with 6 others, including a couple from Sydney!
Menu:
(not listed on website)
Watermelon with Jalapenos (very, very nice)
Things stuffed in a leaf (really not sure at all)
*******
Sticky’ Brown Rice Risotto Balls with
Sweet Corn and Parsley Chive Pistou
*****
Tri-Color Wax Beans with
Snow Pea Greens, Onion Croustade, and Charred Eggplant Puree
*****
Whole Spelt Ravioli with
Edamame, Zucchini Blossoms, and Heirloom Tomato Sauce
*****
Local Peach Tart with
Macadamia Cream, Yuzu, and Thai Basil
*****
featuring fresh ingredients from NYC’s Green Markets
local, organic, seasonal, and sustainable
Sweet Corn and Parsley Chive Pistou
*****
Tri-Color Wax Beans with
Snow Pea Greens, Onion Croustade, and Charred Eggplant Puree
*****
Whole Spelt Ravioli with
Edamame, Zucchini Blossoms, and Heirloom Tomato Sauce
*****
Local Peach Tart with
Macadamia Cream, Yuzu, and Thai Basil
*****
featuring fresh ingredients from NYC’s Green Markets
local, organic, seasonal, and sustainable
Museum of Natural History
Posted by Sutter in Uncategorized on August 18th, 2007
Yesterday Ali, her father (Albert) and I went to the Museum of Natural History on Central Park West.
The place is huge and full of great exhibits, I could live there. I could immediately why Ali was keen for me to see it and why New Yorkers love it so much.
Hanging around
Posted by Sutter in Uncategorized on August 17th, 2007
More New York. Went out with Ali and her Dad today. Lunch was at Zen Palate, a vegetarian pan-Asian eatery, where I enjoyed a burger and yam fries.
We then saw the movie Stardust, which was good, despite rather poor performances from Pfeiffer and DeNiro.
We then went out to Ali’s friends’ house and had dinner with them, introduced them to Dr Who and chatted about politics.
New York
Posted by Sutter in Uncategorized on August 16th, 2007
Manhattan & Bronx zoo
We’ve been running around like mad things here.
I’ve been off on a walking tour of Manhattan, seeing general stores, streets, buildings and the like.
Such a busy, bustling place. I love it.
We visited Ali’s friend Rob and played Guitar Hero 80’s. Lot’s of fun playing the co-op mode.
Then off to see Badly Drawn Boy at the Spiegeltent on the pier. Beautiful views to be found everywhere.
Yesterday we went off to visit Ali’s aunt Tony and take a trip to the Bronx zoo.
Turns out it was “Donation Day” where you can get in for free with a suggested donation of $5. The cashier looked shocked when Ali handed her a $20 for the three of us. When we were in the line, I didn’t see anyoneelse at all hand over any donations.
The place was packed with kids and unhappy looking parents, all of them screaming and yelling at each other. I got to watch animals on both sides of the cages.
A highlight was the Toucan, which Ali jokingly told me just like on the Fruit Loops package. What should I hear two minutes later? Someone actually saying “Hey look! A fruit loops bird!”
Hahah!
No photos
Posted by Sutter in Uncategorized on August 14th, 2007
No photos today, I’ll be putting some up soon enough.
Yesterday we picked up Ali’s Mom from the airport. She was very nice so I teamed up with her to look at baby photos and embarrass Ali.
I bought her an orchid to say thank you for the time they allowed me to stay.
We also went out to dinner at a lovely vegan Thai place. There seems to be a lot of vegan places here and awareness is pretty high.
I’m in New York now!
This morning we took a flight from LAX at 12:00 to JFK.
The trip was 5 hours long, but landed at 8:30 due to time differences between the coasts.
Strange thing though; as high as the awareness about veganism is in LA, the American Airlines flight didn’t have any vegetarian options from their meal list.
The list had three option, all of them meat based sandwiches. Only one was available in-flight.
First thing we had to do here was eat some New York style pizza. Rather nice (I’m not sure about the folding of slices though.)
Venice Beach
Posted by Sutter in Uncategorized on August 12th, 2007
Over the past two days, I went to a mall and to Venice Beach.
There wasn’t much to photograph at the mall, so no photos from that. On the way back, I took some shots of the Fox building, as seen in Die Hard and called Nakatomi Plaza.
The second thing I’ve taken shots of, is actually and oil rig! It’s in Beverly Hills High School and covered up so as not to be an eyesore. The locals each receive a couple of hundred dollars a year from the oil company that’s doing to drilling.
Some general shot of Venice Beach, the canals and the all-vegan takeout store we had lunch at.
There’s also shot of some nifty shoes I bought
