Wednesday, May 17, 2006

The New York Adventure - Day 1

Friday morning is literally a blur. The only things I remember having done that added any value were waking up, packing and sending off the SP2 sign-off email. Before I knew it, the clock had struck 1 and John was driving me to the airport. I had no expectations from the flight experience - it was Delta after all, so I anticipated a rough ride and no food. When I walked in and saw the insignia for Song, I started experiencing a rare emotion - optimism. When the individual TV screen in front of my seat (and over my tray table) actually worked, my spirits soared. Here was a domestic flight that actually cared about entertaining its passengers. Go Song, GO!

TV or no TV, a near six hour flight is too much to handle for someone like me. Given that I can't sit still for too long after a cup of coffee, I thought I did pretty well on the plane. I hardly conversed with anyone, watched a lot of TV, created myself a 100 song playlist and tried to get some shut eye in preparation for a sleepless weekend. I have been on the phone a lot, till very late at night these past couple weeks but I usually make up for lost sleep over the weekend. Given that I'm not going to sleep much over the next three nights, Monday is most likely going tobe a wash.

My first impression of JFK airport was that it, like the city, was in much need of some attention. The place is filthy, the air-conditioning is almost busted and most of the equipment begs for retirement. JFK is a far cry from the renovated and very swanky SeaTac airport; people gotta stop complaining about Seattle's airport me thinks. I walked in to the bathroom, put on a new pair of clothes (we were gonna go out partying straight from the airport) and awaited Vishal's arrival.

My first destination was Vishal's apartment in midtown Manhattan. I knew he lived in a studio but I wouldn't have guessed how compact his place was till I actually set foot in and looked around. Living in Manhattan teaches you to optimize - everything is limited and everyone is on a tight budget. I didn't realize how tight space was though and how expensive a small piece of Manhattan real estate would actually cost till now.

Vishal and I have been friends since my first semester at RPI. Even though we hardly speak to each other, we have a connection that can now be broken only if either of us is immensely stupid (which only he is capable of being ;)) I am fortunate to have friends like him, low maintenance and very accommodating. Back to my story; this was the first time I was going to live in Manhattan (I've lived in Queens and Brooklyn in the past), which is why it took me a while to get used to not having to factor in commute times in our plans. It took us five minutes to walk to Tao that night (hallelujah), which was good because we left Vishal's place only around 11:30pm.

Gunda and co were at Tao, a restaurant cum lounge on 58th st. By all accounts, this was the place to eat at in Midtown. The lines are long and you have to reserve weeks in advance in order to get a table. Tao's decor was elaborate but not over the top - the ceiling was replete with Chinese scrolls and a huge Buddha statue occupied the far wall (similar to the Buddha Bar in Paris) with bright lights focused on it. The lights created a halo effect as they were reflected off the statue and diffused through the room, which added a funky touch to the overall ambiance of the place. The music was upbeat, loud and very techno, just the kind that would go with a place like this. When we got there, the dinner crowd was giving way to the younger and hipper lounge crowd.

Much to my surprise, Ragz and her crew wanted to go home and rest! It was Friday night, we were in midtown Manhattan and people wanted to go home and sleep? Of course, I couldn't fathom this but to each his own, correct? Gundapps had his suitcase with him, which we wheeled back to Vish's and we hit Branch, a club just outside Vishal's apt. I want to live in the city now, any real city (Redmond is a village). Just the convenience of stepping outside my apartment and having a deli, a club, bars, grocery stores within walking distance is a refreshing change. Branch was like a Chupp convention, the drinks at the neighbourhood bar were too watered down (the OJ was bitter) and the only pizza worth eating was the Plain Cheese variety. But we didn't have to go more than a few blocks from Vish's place to be entertained. All my bitching aside, I miss the city - we were out at 5am and the place was abuzz with activity. There was traffic, blaring horns, cabs everywhere and people were out having fun. The scene was like nothing I have experienced in any other city I have visited, Bombay included.

We got home and the other two just passed out even though Wedding Crashers played to completion. I couldn't sleep (surprise, surprise) so I called my friends on the West Coast. I must say, people's guards are way lowered at night so talking to them at late hours makes for interesting conversation. The end result though is always the same - one of you two passes out or you see the sun rising and it occurs to you, when the fuck when will I get some rest?!

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