Day 6 - Back to Normal

After a well earned rest this morning we woke feeling a whole lot better than we did the previous day. Our heads were not fuzzy and our tummies were much better.
Today we headed to our site seeing destination (which we postponed from yesterday) the American Museum of Natural History. We had heard that it was really good and we also wanted to go to the Planetarium. The Museum was full of screaming summer camp school kids, which we wanted to kill and grumpy men travelling with their families who all they wanted to do was go to the nearest bar. The Museum was not that great but the show in the Planetarium, narrated by Whoopi Goldberg was interesting and surprising as well. It was based on the stars and did you know that at the end of each star’s lifetime they explode and the event is known as a ‘supernova’, which is only 1% of all stars only the biggest and brightest.
We then headed into Central Park to just walk around and 10 minutes in it started raining. We headed to the boathouse for some lunch and sat there looking at the lake and many people walking around. We also went to the lake where people race their little boats and the turtle pond. We decided to head out of the park and off for some shopping, when Zana (again) gave wrong directions. I am such a bad navigator on foot. We eventually got out of the park at the other end and hailed a taxi for some shopping on 5th avenue.
Into Tiffany’s for a look and 4 purchases later we exit. Rachael shouted herself 3 gifts for her birthday and l just had to get something as well in support. On the way back to hotel we looked at a restaurant menu across the road from the hotel and thought it would be option if we couldn’t get into this Cuban restaurant we were looking to go to. Back to the room, turn on the TV and in big bold letters we see a Tornado Warning for New York. Rachael immediately wanted her valium and we started looking on Google to get more information. Seeing the warning and information on Google our dinner destination was confirmed. Across the road for some Greek food and OMG was it the best meal ever. I would say the best meal so far for me on this trip.

Day 5 - The Hangover

I awoke to the strange feeling that my pyjamas were on back to front...Clearly in no state the night before..
My head was pounding, my mouth was dry and I felt like death. I stuck my head around the corner into Zana's pod to see how she was doing and she too looked like death. We then realised it was 10.10.
We knew we had to get up and get food, but there was no will, no way.. I suddenly realised that I had some re-hydration powder and decided to add it to my water, I also took some pain killers, a antacid tablet and an Imodium (just to be on the safe side)..
Zana was not moving quickly, but then neither was I. It was lunch time by the time we managed to get clothes on and leave the room. BY some miracle a diner had opened across the street that very morning so we rushed (more like crawled) in.. Zana had a burger and for some stupid reason I go for a chicken wrap. Anyway we eat what we can and decided that sightseeing is out of the picture today, we will have to shop instead. As I had my cameras I suggest dropping then back to the room.. 2 hours and 3 phone calls from housekeeping later we finally leave the hotel. 
We headed for century 21 the discount dept store near the site of 9/11. This place is a joke. I don't think I could have shopped there properly on a non-hungover day, but with a hangover - forget about it. There is stuff everywhere, like the worlds biggest jumble sale  - only difference you might have a $4000 dress sitting next to a $20 top. Crazy.
Anyway we did buy a few things. God knows how, by this stage it was almost 6pm so we limped to little Italy for some nourishment and an early night... Never drinking again!!!!

Day 4 - My birthday.

Another hot day in NY!! We decided to head out and have a mani/pedi to help celebrate my big day! It was very relaxing, especially for me as I had a dodgy tummy the night before...Not good.
We then went shopping/browsing and generally took it easy. 
We decided on tapas and cocktails for that night...Dinner was reserved for 9.30 so we went to the very cool bar downstairs for a pre-dinner drink. 2 VERY strong cosmos and a couple of large glasses of wine later - we were running late, we ran out front to get the boys to get us a cab, and when they found out it was my birthday, they insisted on a "car" so we are directed towards a black Mercedes. I will call our driver "Manchango" well that's what I called him all night anyway. Not sure what his real name was..
The tapas was great, they serves these little carafes of wine - clearly they were not that small because before long I was smashed and Zana was spewing in the loo...I however was in fine form and even inventing new products for people with upset stomachs. I called it "arse ease" (patent pending) and is a cooling spray...for your arse. Funny stuff. But it would have been very beneficial.
As we were finishing, Manchango calls and insists on picking us up. So he wants to "go out for a drink" with us. As Zana was not well we decided to go back to the hotel bar..
Manchengo was very flirty and touchy feely, and told me that he wanted  to make my birthday veeery special and come up to the room and make the love to me, at this point Zana and  I were in hysterics (this man has two kids and a wife) and politely said no... Time to say goodnight!!!

New York - Days 1, 2 & 3

We arrived in New York (thank god) to our beautiful hotel. After checking in we walked down to Times Square and had some well earned food and drinks at the Olive Garden. We also saw the naked Cow Girl, sorry guys no photos and then retired to our hotel with the most expensive cocktails in the world, which we thought should put us to sleep..NOT. Both Rachael and I (without telling each other until the morning) did not sleep a wink all night. We both swear to god there was a ghost in the room. Someone walking around all night up and down the room. I had my eyes open and tried to talk it away while Rachael lay still. We both laughed so hard in the morning when we told each other both from fear and silliness. This moment called for a true wog remedy, which worked as the next night we slept all night. If anyone is interested in the wog remedy, email me.
Day 1
- site seeing was to the Chrysler Building and Top of the Rock for some shots of New York's skyline
- shopping was Banana Republic
- dinner was at Little Italy
Day 2
- site seeing was Ground Zero and Empire State Building. At Ground Zero we got very emotional at the preview memorial for the new site. One building is half way built and the plan is to have it all done by 11/9/11. We went to the Empire State Building to get a higher view of New York and when we were walking through the line to get to the lifts for the top we walked passed a gorilla which was meant to represent King Kong and we both thought it was really odd to have something like that placed in such an unusual area. The next minute this thing grabs a boy behind us and starts running towards us. Bloody shit ourselves and very funny. The poor kid was beside himself.
- shopping was GAP and H&M
- dinner was in Chinatown at a crap place called Joe's Ginger. We ordered Calamari with salt and pepper and it tasted so bad that even the owner spat it out when we mentioned it. She kindly took it off the bill.
Day 3
- site seeing was Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We took the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and took some photos of her. We only stopped at Ellis Island and visited the Immigration Museum. The museum was interesting and we didn't find any Stojanovski or Poole immigrants in the database. Rachael and I did however get our photos taken which were then superimposed onto a couple of ladies arriving into Ellis Island. I was number 24 and Rachael was number 25.
- shopping was Sephora and Gift Stores
- dinner was nothing as we had a very late lunch at Hard Rock Cafe

We hope you are enjoying our updates so far. No tourist attractions tomorrow. It is Rachael's birthday and it will be a day of pampering and shopping.

Toronto - New York...Just.

Our last day in Toronto was spent for me in the mall with my new mate Lisa and Zana went to Ajax to visit her relo's. I always thought Ajax was a cleaning aid, but apparently it is a suburb also... So Lisa and I returned to her apartment after a hard afternoon of shopping and thought why not have a beer?? A six pack later Zana returned from her 3 hour round trip with a lovely Toronto key holder that weighs 2kg to take home for her olds. By then Lisa and I were pretty much trashed and we decided to go to a bar. Due to the weather we got our hangovers before even arriving, Apparently when its 40 degrees you dehydrate just that much quicker...so our last night was an earlish one..
I awoke with apprehension as A. I didn't want air canada to lose my enormous bag, and B I didn't want air Canada to crash. There was not enough Valium in the world to calm my nerves, what sort of airline flys embraers for gods sake. 
Anyway after a tearful farewell to Lisa we made it to the airport 3 hours early. Lucky. Those bastards at air canada have a strict 23kg rule and were going to charge us $75 each for our overweight bags (thank god they don't weigh the passengers)..So a quick repack was in order and we ended up carrying a ton on in hand luggage.
None of this helped my ever frazzling nerves, something wasn't right I could feel it.
Anyway we finally board our tiny plane, and yes we are seated in the very back row. Great. The 3 Valiums had no effect at this stage. So we taxi, we take off and then boom the freakin plane starts lurching around and groaning, flinging from side to side as the crappy pilot tries to get the thing air born, Zana swears she saw a cloud slap us, then the engines die out, WTF at this point I am in tears and as near to a heart attack as I have ever been. By some miracle of god we finally make it into the sky. The rest of the flight was bumpy and I was unhappy. Even Zana was alarmed, and then they attempted to land the stupid thing. I started to hyperventilate and had to use the sick bag to breathe into so I didn't pass out, and by some other miracle we landed (with a freakin big BANG)!! NEVER fly air canada again (no offence Lisa) they are now on my banned list along with my mates at British airways...


Ahh New york, new york. What a place, our hotel is so hip that its not even signed, well not anywhere you can see it and resembles a very dark bar inside (it is a dark bar) it was apparently designed by the guy who did studio 54. Very glamorous, although our room somewhat resembles the cabin of a cruise ship...They put us on the top floor - as they obviously knew who we were!!


Now we just cant wait to explore!!!!

Niagara Falls (day 2)

We woke the next morning to a very bright view of the falls, which woke us up quickly. Off to the buffet for breakfast and then down town for a walk to a place called 'Queens Street'. We thought we would fit right in and the pictures in the brochure of small streets lined with trees, cafes and galleries looked really nice.
On the way to Queens Street l wanted to walk half way across the 'Rainbow Bridge' where there is a line that indicates the Canada/USA border. Getting to the gate to walk across, Rachael stops me and says we do not have our passports and we cannot go out that door without them. I argued as to why cause all l wanted to do was walk on the bridge half way, take a photo and walk back. Was not planning on crossing the line. We saw an elderly couple go out the door and we asked them if passports were required and the guy said no but we didn't believe him. So off l go to the customs office to ask via a no-enter sign and immediately got told in a very loud voice "Do not leave unless you have proper documentation to get back in". My prompt reply was "thank you". oops, nearly got us detained.
As we commenced our walk we realised that Queens Street was some distance away, especially when we were approaching a steep hill. We hail a taxi and ask to go to Queens Town and the driver was wondering why we would go there, we said that we wanted to walk around and take a look. He drops us off in Queens Street and this place is a ghost town. Nothing and no one to be seen. The street/s looked nothing like the brochure. We promptly went into a gallery to get off the street where local artists host their paintings and pictures. I purchased a Niagara Falls picture and while waiting to pay a guy approached Rachael and I and asked if he could take our picture in the gallery. He was from the local paper doing a story and needed someone to pose in the gallery. We had caps on and didn't look to great but hey, why not. We posed looking into a Niagara Falls picture while he took our photo. We have no idea how it would turn out, as his hands were shaking so much when he was taking i. No doubt due to our beauty! We got the details from the art gallery to email the owner and see if the article does get published. The guy must have known who we were, glad someone recognised us.
Next morning we headed back to Toronto for our flight to New York.

CN Tower and Niagara Falls

Fresh from a great nights rest we got ready and headed into Toronto to go up CN Tower. As most of you would know Rachael is not that comfortable with heights and the 9 second ride to the top was thankfully over very fast. This lift was nothing compared to the Guinness factory lift and as only one side was glass it helped.
CN Tower is one of the tallest structures in the world and provides views across Toronto. Built in 1975 and opened in 1976 to the public it has a number of viewing decks both from the inside and outside. There is a section where you can stand on a glass floor and take photos which is pretty cool and most kids jumped on the glass while we stood around the edges scared that it may give way and plummet to our death.
2 hours later we were in beautiful Niagara Falls and check into our hotel (Marriott Fallsview). Upon check in we get allocated level 6 and quickly Rachael still annoyed by lack of bag asks for an upgrade, where the lady says "sure how does level 22, second from the top floor sound?". Perfect was Rachaels reply and off we go to our room and upon opening the curtains we see the falls right there in front and it was amazing. Plenty of wow's, omg's and wow's. A view we will never forget and heaps of photos to capture the moments.
That afternoon we walked down to the falls and took the 'Maid of the Mist' boat ride under the falls. I had to pop motion sickness tablets thinking it will be very rough but it was actually very smooth. When you go under the falls they provide you with fluro blue ponchos as you get very wet from the mist and water. In the heat this mist was welcomed. Being up close to the falls and hearing the water is absolutely amazing and without getting to much water on our camers we filmed some of it as well.
We spent the rest of the afteroon walking down the path along the falls, taking photos and then retired to our room where we took more photos of the falls at night and fireworks, which they put on just for us.....they knew who we were.