CXI: All by Myself

...and I think I did marvelously today.

I spent Saturday with my friend Scott whom I had met with my travelling sisters in Mykonos. He showed me around the East Village, Soho, Tribeca, the Financial District, and parts of Central Park. We met up with some of his friends on the Great Lawn and it was the perfect place to sit/lie down and just enjoy the scenery (and shade! It was over 30 degrees!). Then I went back to the hostel, got changed, and met with him around Penn Station for dinner. We went to a really good Italian restaurant called Patsy's, had Caprese salad and pepperoni and mushroom pizza, a bottle of Pinot Noir, and then left for a 10:30pm improv show at the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theatre. I had so much fun because the improv troupe of five guys, Reuben Williams, was hilarious! They had two sketches with themes suggested by the audience: "Wiccans" and "Guys' Night Out". Let's just say that Trader Joe's, a dream within a dream within a dream, and Nut Brown beer (with its ensuing double-entendres) were involved.

After that we met up with his friend Francisco to go to the Cabana at the Maritime Hotel. This was a bar with good music and a cool atmosphere and two large decks with lots of seating. I think this will be my only bar/club experience of the trip, but at least it was a really fun one!

On Sunday, Scott and I met up briefly again around Union Square to look around and grab some frozen yogurt at Pinkberry. After he left I tried walking the hot streets of New York alone but was exhausted. I managed to see Bryant Park (totally missing the New York Public Library since the facade was covered in construction work), Grand Central Station, and the exterior of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.

Today, my first full day alone, was much better than anticipated. It helped that I got 11 hours of sleep, and that it had rained in the early morning, so now it wasn't as hot or sunny. I took the 6-train to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, only to find that it was closed on Mondays, but this ended up working in my favour since now I can save it for my last day. So I improvised and went to the American Museum of Natural History, spent a good seven hours total roaming the endless halls and dioramas, had a yummy roast beef panino in their cafe accompanied by the most wonderful beverage, Harney & Sons' Organic Cranberry Juice, and then left on foot to pick up my ticket for tomorrow's opera, Armida, at Lincoln Center. There is a huge fountain in the middle of the center and it's fun to watch parents with their children reacting to the sudden loud spouts of water. I spent awhile wandering the Met gift shop and decided on buying their Moleskine notebook. But oh, there were so many DVDs and CDs I wanted to purchase...

Before I forget, I also stopped by Strawberry Fields in Central Park, then Magnolia Bakery and helped myself to a red velvet cupcake. It was amazingly delicious!

Then I hit up Times Square for my first time ever! At first I was on the wrong street and overshot it by almost 10 blocks, then I found my way and went trigger-happy with my camera. The lights were everywhere and I sat down on these red illuminated steps in the middle of the road just like my friend Bunny had recommended. I took some more pictures and then walked to the Empire State Building and took a lot of pictures on the 86th floor Observation Deck while listening to my Tony Bennett-narrated audioguide.

I must say that a good night's sleep, the cooler weather, and a sense of direction (whether geographically or planning-wise) have really offset my unbearably annoying and whiny bad mood from Friday. I'm feeling reinvigorated and am looking forward to the rest of my week here. My schedule is jam-packed and I'm buzzing with anticipation!

PS. Have not hung out with anyone from my hostel yet. The way it's looking now, Wednesday would be my only free evening if I still want to get enough sleep. Yes, sleep > strangers. Everytime.