For a newbie, i’m still figuring regular American things out. For example – Wells Fargo. For some reason I assumed that this was a [very successful] roast chicken shop. Turns out, there are no chickens in Wells Fargo. Apologies to Henry Wells & William Fargo… shines a light on all the American History i’m yet to catch up on. I’m getting there.
Speaking of chickens, lets talk about my favourite topic, food. I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by good food my whole life and it’s no secret that i’m my happiest when my belly is full. But the food here has taken some adjusting too, both for my tastebuds, and my stomach. I used to think I had a stomach of steel. Turns out, it’s much more jelly-like than I ever knew.
First, lets talk about the price of food here. You know those Carr’s water crackers you can get at Coles for 99c? Well, they’re going to set you back $7 (USD) here…and that’s not for a bulk pack of 10, thats just for a standard single packet.
Now the prices are in perspective, lets talk about the quality of the food here. Fresh food seems to be good – as long as you can afford the exorbitant price of the “organic” produce, and trust me, you don’t want to travel off of the organic path here when it comes to food. Everything not piled under the “Organic” sign is 12 times bigger than it should be. I thought I was picking up a melon when it was a lemon. That’s a whole lot of lemon and a whole lot of nope. It’s worth taking a stroll down the non-organic isles just to see how big they can make the vegetables and how far they’re going to take it. Pop it down as an afternoon novelty activity when visiting NYC.
Eating out has been a violent learning curve. Truth is, you have absolutely no idea what’s going in your food. Restaurants here have a grading system, A, B, C etc. We’ve religiously stuck to the A grade places, but that’s just a grading on how clean the place is, not on the quality of the food. A grade indicates that a restaurant received 13 or fewer health code violations in their last inspection. THIRTEEN! Gross. So once you’re at an A-grade place, you would assume that when you order chicken tacos you’re getting good quality chicken and fresh ingredients. WRONG. You’re getting caged chicken, pumped with hormones and antibiotics and lots of grizzly bits smothered in cheese sauce. Not even real cheese! We’ve been checking out places on YELP before we give it a go, but it seems that Murican’s don’t really know their food like Aussies know their food. For example, double fried chicken on chocolate waffles drizzled in maple syrup and berries, with a caramel iced coffee topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce, is not a delicious combination and should not be rated #1 in NYC for best breakfast. It’s an assault on the tastebuds and a shitstorm waiting to happen.Why anyone would voluntarily consume all those food groups at the same time is beyond me.
I’ll be sure to keep you updated on the food situation, as it is (obviously) my #1 passion in life, and am obviously very distressed at how the Murican’s mix all the wrong food groups together…but lets move on.
This week I tried out a Healthy on the Hudson free bootcamp with my Aussie neighbour. It’s a free exercise program every Tuesday and Wednesday all summer long, along the Hudson. The setting was just gorgeous, such a great setting looking out across the river with the afternoon sunshine beaming down. The workout was sponsored by Lululemon – not a fan since the yoga pants scandal – but i’m happy to go work out in my shapeless Target gear while everyone surrounds me in expensive contoured crops. The trainers were great, you can go at your own pace (I took it easy after my food poisoning stint over the long weekend) and you can modify any movement if you have any injuries. It was great to get out and it had a fun social aspect to it, will definitely try get out there again.
Remi was the one to cop the weirdo experience this week when we headed into the shops at Columbus Circle. A guy was hanging around at the back of a drink fountain line when he spotted Remi heading into the bathrooms. This guy left the line, and followed Remi into the toilet. Rem headed to a cubicle and heard the guy come in behind him – he hung his bag on the door and could see the guy pressed up against the cubicle wall looking at Remi through the gap in the door. Rem decided to leave, but when he opened the door, the guy had his hands down his pants and was just staring at him.
ummmm….
So apparently it’s standard in NYC for apartments to have no lights… 😐 a strange concept, but we adjusted quickly. For my NYC friends, i’d like to introduce you to LIFX – it’s like the Phillips Hue that you guys have everywhere, but better. There’s no bridge to connect too and the setup process takes less than 10 mins. It’s really just a plug and play product – simples. I was a fangirl right from the kickstarter days with Phil Bosua. This week we were so lucky to receive 10 LIFX bulbs to light up our NYC apartment – thank you LIFX! I’d like to take a minute to marvel at the gorgeous packaging.
Can’t wait to show you what we have in stall! We’re heading to San Fran this week and will be back week after next, so it will be a weekend project in a few weeks time. Watch this space!
Photos of the week below <3
