Sydney - Christmas 2016

Went back to Sydney for Christmas. Very busy doing last few things on the house, getting it ready for the tenants to move in.

Visited the cabin at Umina which looks amazing...

Christmas at the Drennan's. Here is Callum with Chelsea...

Hong Kong - December 2016

Back from my big trip. Only 2 more weekends in HK before back to Sydney for Christmas.

Focus is to find a new apartment for when the family get here after Christmas. I've looked at a lot...zzzzz.

Although I wanted to be able to walk to work, that means living further up Mid-Levels. The thing that occurred to me was that it's a bit residential and sterile up there. Also, the kids would have to catch a bus and then the train. So I expanded my search to Sai Ying Pun which is more local, but becoming very trendy since the rail went through about a year ago. Only 3 stops from Central and not busy as it's quite new.

Found a place at Harbour One, right on the harbour. We get the keys when we fly back on New Years Eve. 3BR plus terrace and maid's room, so a good size.

Skygarden...common areas for residents to use...

Found a couple of new coffee places in Sai Ying Pun. I liked this Aussie influenced one...Avo toastie...

Stumbled on a new bar - Khan - with a good happy hour...this was a Saturday night...yes I'm the only one there...

IFC Mall...

Christmas Tree in the lobby of my office building...

New shop in Hollywood Road...

Discovered an Australian Bar on Hollywood Road - Iron Fairies...

New York - Friday 2 December 2016

Had breakfast in the hotel and then went for a last walk. Walked through Little Italy and Chinatown which were close by.

Always something to take a photo of...even in Winter they set up the outdoor seating...just to make it look appealing I think...

Chinatown...

Sun Yat Sen...I live near his museum in Hong Kong...

I then googled "Australian cafe in Lower East Side" and sure enough, there was one, right near my hotel. Really nice place. Apparently they do "Australian inspired American food". I had just had breakfast, so stuck with coffee.

Dudley's Cafe...it's a bar at night...

Back to hotel to pack and check out. Uber to JFK. Traffic very bad, but I had allowed plenty of time. Check in and immigration were surprisingly easy !

Flight left on time and spent another 15.5 hours in the air.

Arrived on time about 7pm. Easy exit and trip home. Crashed. Great trip.

New York - Thursday 1 December 2016

Had free breakfast in the hotel. Not bad. Lots of pastries but they did have muesli, yoghurt and fruit !

It's a bar at night...

Caught the subway to Brooklyn Bridge. When I was here with Jacqui in 1997 it was July, and we only got part of the way across before stopping due to the heat. So I was determined to walk all the way to Brooklyn, which I did. It wasn't that far after all !

Financial District...

Looking back to Manhattan...

It was very windy and cold so I found the subway (not easily) and caught train back. Brooklyn is meant to be nice but I didn't find the cool area. On the list for next time.

Then headed to Staten Island ferry and caught it across to Staten Island, and then back to Manhattan. Did it last time, but worth doing again.

Statue of Liberty in the background...

After that I caught the subway to Soho and met Davey for lunch at Balthazar, a French bistro. Apparently it is a celebrity spotting place but we didn't see any. Food was great. I had parpadelle with boar. Great to see Davey again.

After lunch I wandered around Soho. New York is a great walking city, and although I have an unlimited subway pass, it is nicer to walk. I am walking about 30,000 steps a day though, and my legs are always sore !

Car stacking...

Went back to hotel and changed. Headed uptown to Macy's. Huge and intimidating but they have a 30% off sale and I needed some shoes. Bought 2 pairs of Steve Madden. Had to leave (which was a task in itself), before I had an anxiety attack !

Headed over to Madison Square Garden which is close by. This is the reason I extended my trip to NYC - Stevie Nicks and The Pretenders. It was fantastic. The Pretenders put on an amazing rock and roll show. Chrissie's voice is amazing and their last song - Brass in Pocket - had the stadium going crazy. And then Stevie came on and gave another amazing show. She changed it up a little bit, but all the old favourites were there. One highlight was a duo with Chrissie for Stop Draggin' My Heart Around.



Finished about 11pm but it was my last night in NYC and I wasn't going to bed. I love this city.

Headed up to Times Square, just because I hadn't been there this time. Don't really like it. Caught train downtown to the bar I wanted to go to to see Christina Bianco last night, but missed because of my delayed flight. There was a drag show on and he/she was good, so I stayed for a couple of beers.

Uber back to hotel at 1.30am. Staying in the Lower East Side makes you realise how big Manhattan is.

Can't remember why I took this one...

Saint Mark's-in-the-Bowery...

This is a Greenwich Village jazz bar that we went to in 1997. I walked past it by chance...

Boston - Wednesday 30 November 2016

Walked from hotel through Boston Common to Newbury Street. Nice street with upmarket shops. I was looking for the Trident Cafe which I had read about on TripAdvisor.

Found the cafe and had breakfast - burrito with egg and avocado. Quite nice.

Walking down Newbury Street...

Then walked back up Commonwealth Ave. Finally I found the nice part of Boston. Lovely wide street with brownstones and a walkway in the centre of the road.



It was so cold, I went to Uniqlo and bought a beanie...

Saw this at the Trident Cafe, which is also a book store.

Back to hotel, checked out and left my bag.

The weather this morning was okay but it started to rain again. It's funny how the weather can affect your impression of a place. I can't wait to get back to New York.

Walking through Boston Common...

Main road next to Boston Common at 12 noon. Where is everybody ?

Boston Common...

Faneuil Hall...

Then followed the Freedom Trail. A red line built into the footpath for quite a long way. I'm not that interested in the history but it was a good walk.

Church on the Freedom Trail...

Crossing the river...

Nice architecture...

Ended up at Bunker Hill where an important battle was fought in 1770 against the Brits.

Climbed the monument - 294 steps !

View from the top...

Bunker Hill...

Walked then to Constitution Harbour. Not much to see. Then back to have lunch in Hanover Street.

I can't believe how quiet it is here. Yes the weather is bad but it's not winter yet and yes it's a weekday but...

Caught an Uber to airport. $11 compared to $23 for the taxi coming in. Got here early as there was nothing else to do. My flight was meant to be 1850 but due to weather is now 2030 !

Flight delayed some more but JetBlue changed me to a slightly earlier one. Flight okay. Small plane, but bumpy ride, slept most of the 46 minutes !

Arrived back at JFK late. No Uber so caught taxi to new hotel - Sago in Lower East Side. Nice new hotel, small room overlooking street which is better than the "internal" view than I was expecting. Small room (but to be fair, I did book a small room to save cost) and expensive, but you have to expect that in NYC. Good to try a different area.