It all started with an innocent promise to be able to spend at least part of our lives in a foreign city, the city in particular being New York. One hopeful application, and a Hurricane Sandy later, we find ourselves here, in New York, waking up as if I needed to go to work back in Sydney, as it's nearly 6am here but with the slight distance problem in between.
Our adventure started with one United Airways flight to our stopover at San Francisco. The comfort levels on this trip were so old fashioned, you could almost call it medieval (torture), there's just enough space to fit a human in between the seats, if the situation were to come with any sort of warning label it would read: "Must be professional gymnast to sleep comfortably."
It did come with some pretty pictures and a creepy guy staring at our iPad while we whiled away the hours though (18 of them...)
In the morning flight out,
In the afternoon,
So having arrived at San Francisco with our exhaustion levels sufficiently filled, we had a "not so long that it would be convenient to exit the airport but long enough that by just sitting there you'd feel like you're wasting your time" stopover, so a quick search on the free SFO wi fi revealed a nice little diner in the city to go visit.
Our search led us to St. Francis Fountain; with its welcoming little outdoor area,
Menu complete with silly names for menu items,
To absolutely retro themed decor, that's a movie theatre peg board they used for the ice-cream menu.
There was even a retro-themed candy stand behind us that I forgot to take a picture of with original "Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark" Bubble Gum, among other themes that would be more familiar to a child of the 70's and 80's
Hip is the best word to describe it, the ambient music wouldn't get recommended to you unless by a friend with a "counter culture" bent, and the waiter/resses all looking like they're off to the skate park straight after work; including one particularly geek-chic guy with "Awesome; 300ZX" retro americana T Shirt. They treated their retro theme as an inspiration rather than something they cheesily pander to, which helps you to appreciate rather than be annoyed at.
The wait staff all had that laid back inoffensively polite demeanour that Sydney's staff always get wrong; instead translating it to "Must be nice, must be nice" through gritted teeth.
Oh, the food was nice too, simple, tasty, filling. There isn't much more that you'd want.
Hot cakes with crispy crispy bacon, and a BLT that is also crispy crispy with Mac and Cheese.
Along with the spoon you'll need for that Milkshake...
It was just glee inducing from the fact that it contains actual crushed up Oreo cookie complete with cream, rather than that Oreo Cookie in a bag you get served up everywhere else. It was very sweet though, an extra splash of milk would have suited my taste a little better. Just don't forget that spoon and treat it more as a dessert rather than a drink. You won't be as confused and enjoy it more.
So after all the flying we arrived at New York on Sunday morning with a short wait for our oversleeping New Yorker friend who sleepily whisked us off to hot showers (it was single digit degrees with massive wind chill) breakfast dumplings, and shopping.
Yesterday was abit of a blur to me as we were both so tired, but all jokes aside, I don't think we said thanks enough to our friend, his relative and her friend all of who's shopping day I think we comprehensively ruined with our arrival. So, sorry, and thanks to all of you.
With our friend's help (and the patience of his guests), we arrived at our lodging for the night, just before the host was due to go out. Owned by a lovely lady who's obviously dedicated a lot of time to making the place cozy, we were immediately made very welcome and settled in. She bid us goodnight for the night and we proceeded to turn the place into the mess that was more fitting of us. Finally at the heady time of about 630, we lay down for some long overdue rest... on a bed... with soooooo much room.
The hustle and bustle is why I'm awake, (it really didn't let up the whole night), the excessive jet lag doesn't help either. But now, in this unfamiliar place, I'm looking forward to this change of scenery and change of pace that awaits us.
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