NEW YORK

I was so glad that Mum had been able to meet Fiona and Bob and really wanted her to meet Sybil too. So she came to New York for the day with Julia and Rose and Sybil’s sister Judy met us there too (she lives in Brooklyn so is not too far away). We headed down to Chinatown where we had planned to meet and the ladies had a look around the shops there while we waited.
And we had a Starbucks pitstop.
I know you might be thinking I should branch out from Starbucks but not every coffee shop does caramel lattes and the normal coffee here is kind of blah. Like the chocolate - very strong and bitter.
So anyway we had a lovely day wandering around Chinatown after a huge lunch at a restaurant that Sybil, Fiona and I had been to before. We were at a shop looking at scarves (well Sybil and Mum were) and inside was the cutest little girl. She must have been about two years old and was singing what sounded like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. It was hard to tell. Either she couldn’t talk very well because she was so little or she was singing it in Chinese. Either way Mum worked out the tune and started singing along with her and she just loved it. And then kept wanting it to do it over and over (as two year olds do) and we would clap at the end with her. It was sooooo cute! Check out the video - although you can’t hear her that well because we were all singing along and we kind of overpowered her a bit. And for some reason the camera stopped filming before the end but by the time I got around to videoing it (once I realised she wanted to sing it again and again) she had picked up some of the words. Smart little girl!
Although we had eaten heaps at lunch we finished off with coffee and canola in Little Italy.
Yum!

NEW YORK

We had done most of the touristy things that the ladies wanted to see and they were keen to go shopping. I know we had already done a bit here and there but they just wanted to shop for the day and have a look at all the posh places on 5th Avenue. They don’t have Boxing Day here (we got that from the Poms) but they still have after Christmas sales so the shops were kind of busy. It didn’t deter us (well it didn’t deter them). We went to shops like FAO Schwarz, Tiffany’s (Mum wanted to know why you couldn’t see the prices and I told her they probably think that if you have to ask how much something is, then you can’t afford to shop there), Macys, Bloomingdales and Sax just to mention a few. We have had some glorious weather with blue skies, despite the cold, but today just rained and rained and rained. You think that would put them off shopping. But. No.
And I bought some more jewellery.
I know, I know. I am mental. But one thing was a present and the other was a pair of earrings I had being looking for to match a necklace I bought when I was with Nicola. I bought them in the Trump Tower (as in Donald Trump/The Apprentice) where we had gone to have lunch at yet another Starbucks. They were 80% off and a huge bargain!
We had planned to meet up with Fiona and Bob for dinner so we jumped on the subway (I am now very fluent in subway) and headed down to their apartment in Greenwich Village. It was great for Mum to be able to meet some of the people who have been so wonderful to me and that she has heard so much about.

NEW YORK

Christmas day in New York! I can’t quite believe it’s Christmas already (I feel like that every year - seriously we should have it every two years) and being here it definitely doesn’t feel like it. But I’m not complaining - it’s what I wanted. To be somewhere completely different for Christmas that was completely removed from all my other Christmases. And it was - apart from having my Mum here which was just fantastic (that’s one of the bits of Christmas I am more than happy hasn’t changed). And I was so excited to not only be somewhere different but to also have a white Christmas. Well technically it isn’t because it isn’t snowing but there is still lots of snow everywhere so it kind of feels like a white one.
We had a lazing morning (again I hear you say) and the three of us shared some lovely presents (Mrs. W had brought me some shortbread from home - soooooo exciting - she knows me well) and eventually made our way out into the cold to go out for lunch. I had booked us into the Rock Centre Café which is the restaurant at Rockefeller Centre that looks out onto the ice skating rink and where they have the big Christmas tree that they light up each year (kind of like the tree in Frankston only much better). Lunch was three courses and each course you had a bunch of choices. There was way too much food but it all tasted delicious. We each chose a separate dessert and then had some of each - smart thinking, I know.
We were completely stuffed from lunch so we spent the rest of the afternoon walking it off, watching people ice skate, taking photos and of course………shopping. I actually bought myself some MORE jewellery. I have never had so much in my life. I'll have to make myself wear it otherwise what was the point of buying it?
We stopped in at Starbucks again (it was getting cold) and because we were still full from lunch a latte was our dinner. While I was lining up to get them the ladies started chatting to a man who appears to be the first American who picked us as being Aussies rather than Poms!
After Starbucks we walked down to Radio City where I had booked us tickets to see The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. The Rockettes are a New York City icon and while they have had their time of being a bit “out”’ they have made a come back in recent years. The theatre is huge and is a great example of some beautiful art deco work and the show was great! I enjoyed it a lot more than The Lion King and the ladies thought it was wonderful. We had fantastic tickets (thanks to moi) that were ten rows from the front! So all in all it was a great Christmas Day.
Oh yeah - we did manage to call home and talk to all the family.
Actually that was yesterday. We had to call here on Christmas Eve for it to be Christmas Day at home.

NEW YORK

You'll be surprised to know that our next day started with another sleep in. Well not surprised that I did but definitely that Mum and Mrs.Winrow did. I’m talking 9am before we even woke up let alone got out of bed. Not a big thing for me but definitely for them - they couldn’t quite believe it.
We started the day (even though it was the middle of the morning and not the start of the day) with a visit to the Empire State building (and dropping into a few shops on the way). There was a bit of a queue to get up to the viewing area but not too bad. I guess the cold weather helped and maybe the fact it was Christmas Eve. Security to get in was kind of like going to the airport and once we got through the check point we were amazed to see a young guy with a cap on that had Taliban written on it. I know it’s just a cap but still, we’re in the U.S. We didn’t expect to see that and were surprised he got through as they can be pretty strict when it comes to security at National monuments.
Anyway the view was absolutely amazing but very, very cold!
So a trip to Starbucks was in order. Skinny caramel latte’s all round - not to mention the chance to use the internet (the hoity, toity hotel we are staying at charges, naturally).
The ladies (sounds really posh that word but it’s shorter than saying Mum and Mrs. Winrow all the time - except for this time) wanted to take a horse and buggy ride through Central Park in the snow. It wasn’t snowing (tricky to organise that) but there was still plenty of snow around from the previous week. The driver thought we were English (again with that) which surprised me because he had an Irish accent so I thought he would have a better chance of getting it right. Anyway the ride was lovely but over too quickly.
We decided to stay in for the night and I spent the time doing my feet. I had bought one of those Pedi eggs and scraped and filed away until my feet were silky smooth! Add some moisturiser and they felt absolutely glorious.
Pretty exciting huh?

NEW YORK

So I guess you may have read about or heard about the massive winter storms that have been making their way across the U.S. causing huge travel delays. We were kind of worried that we wouldn’t be able to get New York but luckily we did. Actually we had a tail wind and landed earlier than planned, to the white winter wonderland that New York has become since I was here last.
Our first full day in NYC we slept in. You know, to get over our jetlag from the three hour time difference from the west coast. Then we made our way downtown to Battery Park and caught the ferry over to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty. Despite the fact that it was freezing cold (it was so cold that I couldn’t feel my toes) there were still quite a lot of people visiting the famous lady. And boy is she big close up. We then jumped back on the ferry (well not literally) and headed over to Ellis Island. This is where, for many years, immigrants came to be processed before they were granted entry into the United States. We did an audio tour here (actually we did one at the Statue of Liberty too but I couldn’t concentrate because it was so cold) which was great. Sometimes those things can be a bit stupid but it was great here (like at Alcatraz) as you got a lot more information than if all you did was read all the info they put up at each display. They even had people talking that actually came through Ellis Island.

The other really good thing was that it was all inside and my feet defrosted.

While we waited for the ferry to take us back to Battery Park the lady in the line behind us (who, like nearly every American I have spoken to, thought we were English - what is wrong with these people? Maybe it's because we say "pardon" like the English instead of "what") asked us what on earth we were doing here in the middle of winter when it was summer back at home.
Interestingly I found out that over here their seasons start on the 21st of the month. While it might be summer at home, it started on the first of December but here winter didn’t actually start until the 21st of December. Although it certainly felt like it started before that.
Once back at the park we headed to Times Square (via Ground Zero, although you can't see much because the area they are working in is all fenced off) because we had tickets to The Lion King and while we waited stopped off in a few shops (naturally - I’m with my Mum after all) and had dinner at Appleby’s. It’s a chain restaurant and you can find them all over the U.S. You’d think they would be the same price and have the same deals everywhere. But no. In other parts of the country you can have an appetiser and two entrees (that’s what the American’s call a main - I have no idea why when most of the rest of the world know that entrée is first) for $20 but not in New York City. We had one appetiser and one entrée plus a soft drink and two wines and it came to about $78. Admittedly that included tax and tip and the appetiser was a platter (so bigger than the average appetiser) but still………..it seems unfair to charge so much more because it’s New York.

We enjoyed the Lion King and had great seats. I saw it in London about nine years ago and it was pretty much the same. It was a good show but it's not my favorite - I actually enjoy the Disney movie more than the live show althought the costumes are absolutely amazing.

CALIFORNIA - SAN FRANCISCO

The day after Mum and Mrs. Winrow got here, Belinda flew back home. So while they went out for their first day of sightseeing, I hung out with Belle until she left for the airport and then went to the laundromat. Which was very exciting. Not.
The next day while Mum and Mrs. W. checked out a bit more of San Fran, I went to the Half The Sky ( www.halfthesky.org ) office to volunteer for the day. Half The Sky is the organization that I volunteered in China with in 2007 as part of a work crew in an orphanage. Their head office is based in Berkeley which is not far from San Fran. Well not far if you are driving but about an hour an a quarter on public transport. Which is how I got there. First I had to walk to the bus (some “dude” tried to get me to “throw” him my number so he could “show me” around next time I was in town - never going to happen), then a bus ride, next was a short walk to the BART station where I took a train that goes under the water (Berkeley is over in the Bay area) and then another bus and another short walk. I must say I was impressed with myself and hopefully Sarah and Paul are giving me a round of applause as they read this.
Berkeley is a lovely town near the water and the shopping area kind of reminds me of Brighton. Lots of really nice, expensive shops.
I spent the day printing labels and cards for people who have made a donation on behalf of someone else for Christmas or other special occasions. They tend to be pretty busy just before Christmas (not to mention the fact that they recently moved offices) so even though I was only able to go for one day - I hope that I helped out.
Giving a donation in honour of someone, instead of giving them a present that they probably don’t want or need is a fantastic way of giving something to help others. Think about it next time you struggle to buy something for family or friends. And then do it before you buy something just for the sake of buying something.

At the end of the day we met up at Union Square and went on cable car ride up and down the steep streets that San Francisco is famous for.

CALIFORNIA - SAN FRANCISCO

Today was kind of a slack day. We wandered around a few shops and then took another bus tour. It was part of the ticket we bought yesterday but this time we went on the park loop. It was a bit more of an architectural tour and we got to see some lovely old Victorian houses. There is a particular part where there is a row of gorgeous Victorian houses called the Painted Ladies. If you think the photo of these (the one of the row of houses with the park in front) looks familiar, then you're right. Especially if you were a fan of the comedy from years ago called "Full House." Which I was. These houses are from the opening and closing credits.

Lesson for the day - painted ladies is a term used for Victorian and Edwardian houses painted in three or more colours.

Excitement for the day - my Mum is here!!!!!!