Back from NYC (yeah, you know me.)

I'm back from New York everyone! Boo! After spending a week with my sister, her boyfriend, my parents and my beloved Stink Pants #5, I now have to go back to my humdrum life back at the office. Blah.

One thing I learned about New York: It's awesome and it sucks at the same time. Luckily, the awesomeness outweighs the suckiness (at least for right now. I was only there a week, and only did fun stuff!)

There are tons of museums in New York, however I was only able to see two. The Metropolitan Museum of Art = neato! And what's even more cool is it's absolutely free! Well, there is a "suggested" price for "tickets" but you don't have to pay anything if you don't want to. If you give them even a little bit of moolah, you'll get a cute little tin button that lets you into all the exhibits (even exhibits for special "buttons only" people).

The other museum we went to is Madame Tussauds Yes and I have pictures, but I'm too lazy to post them all tonight. You'll see them tomorrow, starring Noona, Stink Pants #5 and myself, with special guest star, Wonka. That museum (or tourist attraction) is more costly, at $30/person, but I thought it was worth it. There are five floors of wax figures! Some look more real than others (they didn't get Donald Trump's hair right, but not even Donald Trump can get Donald Trump's hair right).

Open air markets are an awesome way to get cheap stuff in a city where everything is not so cheap. I had the good fortune of visiting two, one in upper Manhattan and the other in Chinatown. The first one was like a fair, without the rides or carneys. Funnel cakes and other street foods were boutiful, along with endless tables of $3 t-shirts. The second one in Chinatown was...well, it was Chinatown. Chinatown is neat. It would be even more neat if there weren't so many people walking so slowly. It's still neat though. Where else can you get two pounds of blue crab, two pounds of dried squid and a five dollar purse in the same block? I bought lots of awesome smelling soap (you know what I'm talking about, the jasmine and sandalwood soap in almost every Asian grocery store? It's super cheap there!)

There are sushi restaurants everywhere in New York. I ate sushi every day, I'm not even joking. If I die of mercury poisioning tomorrow, I won't have any regrets (except maybe that I didn't get to eat sushi on the plane ride home.)

Other than sushi, there are restaurants of virtually every nationality in New York, and a lot of them are open 24 hours. We went to a korean restaurant on 32nd street (I don't remember the name of it. Gah! Noona? a little help?) that had table barbecue. In addition to the spicy dishes of deliciousness, we at barbecued beef tongue! And it was really, really good! Much better than rocky mountain oysters (I don't think I've written about that experience here. I don't know if I should...). I'm sad that I didn't get to eat at more culturally different restaurants than just the Asian restaurants, but since Noona lives there now, I can go back another time.

The last thing I want to comment on is the subway. The Metropolitan Transit Authority is so very convenient. After having to commute 45 minutes to and from work every day, just being able to sit and do something else while someone else is driving is somewhat luxurious. I say somewhat, because it sucks that there are a ton of people during rush hour and everything smells like pee. It's also very muggy and hot in the subway, but if you're lucky enough to get an airconditioned car the experience isn't that bad, and it makes emerging out of the ground and onto the street that much more gratifying.

I didn't buy a lot of junk, but I did buy a pair of Chococat pint glasses (I don't think they're really pint glasses, but they're shaped that way) and that smelly soap. I had to curb my desire to buy everything, because I didn't bring a big bag with me.

That's about it, really. Any questions? Don't forget, goofy pictures with wax statues tomorrow!