Three weeks gone in NYC

Has it already been three weeks since we arrived in NYC? Still, it's not long enough for us to be familiar with the following:
*Keeping to the right hand side of the footpath
*Tipping
*Not using the metric system. Pounds? Miles? Inches? What are they?

At least they speak English here!

It's been quite wet in New York this week, and it's actually quite chilly. Kinda hard to believe it can get this cold during summer - yesterday's maximum temperature was only 15degC! That's colder than an average winter day in Perth! Forecast for the weekend is for really warm weather though, so I really ought to enjoy this cool weather while it lasts.

It's strange not having to work - this is my first time in 3 years not working full-time since graduating university. I thought I'd probably get bored, but so far I've managed to keep myself quite occupied and happy. However, I still have not touched my Japanese books nor used my guitar very much - I was hoping that I'd have more time on my hands to study more Japanese and learn more tunes to play on the guitar! Not working also means that there is the expectation that I'd get all the boring errands done. Rob used to work at home, and I was always asking Rob to do the errands that needs to be done during working hours since his schedule used to be a lot more flexible than mine. Now he's on the other side, asking me to get all these things done!

When Rob's working during the week, I spend a significant amount of time planning our weekend activities and researching worthy restaurants to visit (I'm relying a lot on NY egulleters). It's like before when I'd plan our itineraries for our travels, except now our 'travels' occur every weekend! You'd think that two months is a long enough time to explore the city, but Rob only has weekends free, and that is not really that much time if you think about it. I'm determined to try as many different cuisines as I can before returning to Japan!

Anyway, since I'm updating my journal, I thought I'd post some shots I took on our visit to Central Park on Sunday. Central Park is massive for a city park, and we only had time to see a part of Central Park.

Lots of horse-pulled carriages in Central Park. Unfortunately, it means that the smell of manure abounds in the air particularly around the borders of the park where a lot of pick-ups and set-downs occur and horses just hang out.


A part of the park called "The Mall"; and a big fountain at "Bethesda Terrace"


Lots of people hanging out around the fountain, which means it's a great place for a couple of guys to find audience for their stunt shows:



Considering my initial apprehension about staying in NYC for two months, I find myself quite enjoying my stay in NYC. Come October, I will be sad to leave (I think a big part of this has to do with having to deal with jet lag again).