And steps around the heart ♥ of it..

Wednesday:
I frequently have the propensity to be exceedingly dull. (Using 'dull' in the South Walian way of meaning idiotic.)  Wanted to make some cinnamon raisin toast this morning using the cinnamon raisin bread ('Contains no fructose syrup') which I bought at the supermarket at 9am Tuesday. There is a toaster here, but its on the window ledge. There is a plug socket to the left of it, which the lead does not reach. Hmmm. 'Necessity is the mother of invention.' said my mother. So I utilised the bin as an aide cookoire.

NN1 watched me curiously. He is a quiet, thoughtful sort of person who often keeps his opinions to himself. This time he didn't. 'why don't you just use the plug socket below the window?' He wondered. What? The one I hadn't even noticed... 

We both laughed at my idiocy... OK, OK, maybe he laughed whilst I moved the toaster back off the overheating bin. We ate our breakfast (following a small, fire alarm incident 🔥 ) and decided to get ready. 

During a recent shopping expedition NN1 bought some ripped jeans. He likes them, they look great on. 

'Look,' he says, 'while I was putting my jeans on, I put my foot through the rip and made it worse.' 

HA! I may be a walking fire hazard buffoon, but at least I can dress myself without incident. 

Mostly. 

We set off for 'town'. I ate a Californian black plum. I have a slight obsession with these. NN1 refuses to try. 'It's just a plum.' He tells me. 'But it's from California, and it's black.' Comes my plantive reply.

We decide to head to Governor's Island. $3 return trip and the best 360 view in NYC. Once there you can hire bikes. I search the net and discover these:

I get very excited. I want to hire one. He takes one look,   'No.' he says. And goes back to his game. 

However, it's raining. Misty, drizzly rain which obscures the view. We leave the island for another day. 

We head to Grand Central Terminal. Once there we fall over a lot of stupid tourists who stand at the top of the stairs, taking pictures. We stand at the top of the stairs and take some pictures. 

It's definitely grand and beautifully made, with lots of marble. We start talking about options for lunch and completely forget to go to the whispering gallery. We head off for lunch. 

We decide to go to China Town. We're on a budget but want to eat out every day, so we pre find reasonably priced options with good reviews. We walk along. 

Passing the Supreme Court. 

You know, the place they send presidents when they get indited. 

We arrive in Chinatown. NN1 is delighted he has found a place I can wait whilst he goes shopping:

At a junction of many roads is a statue of a man called Lin Tse Hsu /Lin Ze Xu. More on him later.

 We see some street art.

And find the noodle place. Golden something, on the corner. I forget the exact name.

We eat really well and get some free tea with our meal. Then the bill...$14.20. Utter Billy Bargain.

 

We leave and pass a bubble tea shop. I love bubble tea. I stop to get one. NN1 doesn't want one but asks to taste mine. He doesn't give it back. We go back to the shop for another. 

We head back to Macy's  to check out the sale rail. NN1 buys a t-shirt. I photograph the Empire State building. The we head to Times Square.

You know, the place where storm troopers hang out on their day off, when they're not terrorising the rest of the galaxy. 

The place is MANIC. we hang out a bit, then go to a shop called Old Navy, where they have a huge window/ viewing platform and decent restrooms. 'I might be here for three weeks, but there's no way I'm saying restroom.' Says the kid from Yorkshire. 'it's a toilet.'

We watch the world go by. It actually  looks like a lot of the world.

It keeps going by.

Times Square is named for the tower which used to house the New York Times. The square was originally called Longacre Square, but was renamed after the Times moved there in the early 1900s. To celebrate their move they threw a big new year's eve party their first year. This tradition has continued. They have since moved again but the building remains. However, it is uninhabited and unoccupied by any business currently. This is because the exterior of the building is covered in bill boards and NYC regulations have a minimum window access for people working or living in a building. The bill boards do generate an annual revenue of 30 million dollars, though. So I don't think the owners are concerned about rental loses.

At 6.30pm we meet a friend from the UK. MyCool. MyC arranges to meet us by the subway exit: Broadway and West 43rd. There is no subway exit called Broadway and West 43rd. So we just loiter til he finds us (we use our phones, he isn't Hercule Poirot).

MyC had a surprise for us. He takes us to a Broadway show! It's called: The Play That Goes Wrong. It was so funny, we all laughed ourselves silly. My favourite bits were:

1. Handcuffed to the chaise longue
2. When they moved the clock.

(it could have been a PI production, if you are one of my ex PI colleagues)

After the show we go to The Westway Diner (another great eatery) for burgers, we hand over some crumpled Scottish shortbread biscuits to MyC and go home. On the ferry at midnight NN1 turns to me, 'THAT' he says, with emphasis, 'Was the best show I've ever seen' .

Good call Good Heavens.