Korean or some shit

This morning started off like any other. I got up before Ros, showered, dressed and went out for coffee/brekky and a walk. Got back and we headed downtown once again. This morning we were booked on a bus trip across to the Woodbury Common outlet stores in New Jersey.

We got there after 12.00pm and agreed to split up and meet again at 4.15pm for the 4.20 bus home.

One of the first shops I went into was Kenneth Cole where they just had a flat 50% off everything in the store, and whilst I need another watch like I need a hole in the head, I purchased another Kenneth Cole watch for something like $35. Then into Calvin Klein and $340 later.... I pretty much decided at that point that enough was enough, and time to focus on the nieces and nephews. Found Adidas and got Sabrina her tennis shoes, but am completely panicked about whether they will fit her or not. Got Nikolas as AWESOME pair of sandshoes from Nike, but am completely panicked about whether he will like them or not. Then to Osh Kosh B'gosh and found some clothes for the other three.

I had so many bags, my arms were sore from carrying them.

I was proud of myself for not going into more shops, and the amount of money I didn't spend!

Met up with Ros and waiting for the bus we started chatting to two young guys from Melbourne. One of them worked for Estee Lauder and had a work trip to the US, so his partner came along for the ride. We sat adjacent to them on the bus and chatted about things we had or hadn't done in NYC, and joked about things like getting fries with your breakfast.

The bus trip home took 45mins more than the trip over, and so by the time we got back to the hotel we were already running late for a dinner booking at the Riverpark restaurant. I rang them and they happily changed the booking to 8.45pm.

After showering and getting ready, we decided to cab it to the restaurant, (first cab since we've been here). We flagged a cab and I gave the cabbie the address, but as we got closer, we could tell he was struggling. Next thing we know the cabbie is trying to reverse down a one way street. He was trying to tell us that we were at the end of 29th St...anyway we convinced him to go further East and I instantly knew we were in the right place because I saw Tom Collicchio's rooftop garden. We paid the cabbie, and tipped him FFS!

The meal was amazing, for entree I had Marscapone Ravioli and for main I had prosciutto wrapped trout. For dessert we shared some chocolate pot thingy which was just amazing. It was all amazing. Ros fell in love with our waiter Nathaniel, and he served us a complimentary glass of moscato. Yum!

As Ros and I were chatting about how amazing the meal was, and the incredible view, the lady sitting next to us interrupted and said that she couldn't help over-hearing and that obviously we were visitors and she wanted to know how we had heard of the restaurant. She said that Riverpark was still an unknown "hidden gem" in New York City, and she was so impressed that we had found it!

This woman 'Lisa' even complimented me on my haircut. Erm HELLO, I come from little ol' Adelaide!

We ended up chatting with Lisa and her friend Rich for some time, as well as the waiter Nathaniel. The waiter had given us some other restaurant suggestions, and then Lisa attacked the list and said "no, we need to give them a much broader view of New York, like, Korean and shit".

She was clearly a smart woman, because then she realised that in Adelaide we would have ample access to Asian flavours, so she wanted to recommend something completely different.

We had a wonderful meal, wonderful conversation, and walked away with a swag of foodie recommendations. Ros insisted we all have a photo together. It was an awesome evening. (I had even spotted fireworks across the Hudson during the evening).

I can't believe how many wonderful people we have met along this trip. It has been a learning curve and a pleasant surprise.

In my head, I am already planning my next visit....

Oh, forgot to mention, on the subway after our shopping trip, three guys asked me whether they were on the right train for China town. With some confidence I was able to reply, that they had the right train, but were going in the wrong direction. I do believe I have mastered the subway thank you very much.

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