Monday 18th – A Quiet Night Out in Manhattan

In Bath you can go out on a Monday night and have a good time. There are clubs and bars that are packed with people drinking, dancing, and generally having a good time. Obviously this is helped by Monday being the student night in Bath, but the same is true for most other major cities in the UK. However, the same does not appear to be true in Manhattan. On Monday night, Gill, Kirsty, Dave and I all wandered into the city, holding high expectations of what to expect from another night out in the city. We’d been out in the city on a Sunday night and had a good time, so a Monday should have been no problem. We were wrong.
We got off the train at Penn Station and immediately jumped into a yellow cab. We asked the taxi driver to take us to somewhere that would be lively on a Monday night, and to be honest we thought we’d end up somewhere good. Instead, the taxi driver drove us around the same block four times, and then dropped us at a lap-dancing club. If it had just been me and Dave, then we may have considered going in. But with two girls in tow, there was no way we were going to be spending the night looking at boobs.
So we got out and walked through Times Square, eventually settling on one of about a thousand Irish bars that are littered all over New York. The bartender in there was all too happy to point us in the direction of the good part of New York (once we’d bought a drink of course), so we quickly drunk up and headed downtown into Greenwich Village, the party centre of the city. A couple of hours later, having spent ages walking, following directions and turning down various bars littered around the village, we ended up in a club that had come highly recommended by some people in a beer and wine bar that we’d stopped in previously. They’d promised us that ‘Big Fat Black Pussy Cat’ would be pumping on a Monday night and that we’d have an awesome time. It turned out to be an underground bar with a soul band playing. We had fun there, but it wasn’t really what we’d been expecting.

I’ve been waiting for a while before posting this entry because Gill and Kirsty went back out into the city on Saturday night, and I wanted to have something to compare our night out too. However, on getting back on Sunday morning, they said that they didn’t have much of a wild time either. We’ve decided since then that the main reason why going out in New York isn’t living up to expectations is because we don’t know where we’re going, and when all of the good bars and clubs are as spread out as they are in Manhattan, this makes things tricky.

Thursday 14th & Saturday 16th – Black and White

Thursday was a fairly straightforward day, with me working the main club during the day, and then originally having the evening off. However, for fear of only making 25 hours this week, I asked to swap shifts with Anahita in the evening so that she could be a lazy-arse and I could earn some more cash. Thursday nights are usually quiet ones to work anyway, as they’re Bistro nights which aren’t overly formal, and don’t attract big tables of people. What did make it interesting however, was the fact that there was a massive thunderstorm on that evening, and at some point, a power line must have been struck by lightning because we lost power for half an hour. All of the extractor fans died in the kitchen (along with the lights), making it completely illegal for the kitchen staff to cook hot food in there. However, they didn’t have much choice as they were in the middle of cooking a bunch of steaks and chickens for a birthday party for one of the important members. Him and his 17 friends.


Saturday was the opposite of this dark disaster of a short, quiet shift. On Saturday, a couple of the members got married. This meant that I worked from 8am ‘til 11 as a breakfast waiter, from 11.30am ‘til 6pm bartending at the terrace bar, and then from 6pm ‘til after midnight bartending at the wedding. And with it being a wedding, there were people there who didn’t know that the staff weren’t allowed to receive tips. To be honest, the evening was actually the most fun I’ve had at work in a while, as there was an awesome covers band playing all night and I could get away with drinking on the job.
I came away from Saturday evening with $20 in my pocket, 16 hours of wages in the bank, and a massive need for some sleep.

Monday 11th June – The Staff Party

So this was it, the most eagerly anticipated date in the whole calendar (well, for the PRC staff anyway). We’d been promised a four course meal, a free bar, a stunning location and the next day off work. And we were ready to receive!
During the day, Leah drove a few of us into Glen Cove, a nearby village (with far more to offer than Locust Valley!). There Kirsty and Leah got their hair cut, and Dave, Ben and I went to pick up alcohol from the liquor store and sandwiches from the Mexican take-away. We arrived back at Piping Rock and hour before the buses were scheduled to leave for the aquarium that had been booked for the evening’s entertainment. An hour turned out to be exactly long enough to shower, shave, cut my own hair (well, a combined effort between me and Dave), have a few drinks, get dressed and cover myself in Hugo Boss (the aftershave, not Mr Boss himself!). So at 4.30 we all piled outside to get into the buses that had been booked for us (which turned out to be school buses!).

Obviously, it was then a good 45 minutes before the buses actually left to take us to wherever it was we ended up, and this meant that the bus had to stop at a gas station on the way so that we could all visit the bathroom.
Piping Rock had gone all out this year, booking us in at a ‘Top 10 aquarium for kids’, and the inside of the aquarium had been really nicely done up for us all. It was quite strange being on the receiving end of the passed hors d'oeuvres and free drinks, but obviously we all did our best not to let that bother us as we partied away all night.
When we all got called into the dining area for the meal, everyone sat down and waited to be served the first course (of four). Strangely though, once everyone had finished eating the first course of pasta, the general consensus was that it was time to get up and dance again. This meant that everyone missed the salad that was coming for the second course, and then turned up late to the entrée. We spent the rest of the night wandering through shark tanks and smoking cigars (has to be done, sorry dad!), before being rounded up to leave at about 11pm.

Saturday 9th – Parties All Around

On Saturday, I worked a 13½ hour day. To be honest, this seems like madness, but the cash will be well appreciated. I think that by the end of the week I will have worked a 45+ hour week, which when you consider that business is starting to die down (and that all the Americans are still here) is an impressive amount of hours.
I started at 8am yesterday (as ever), and didn’t leave until 11pm. I had an hour and a half break in the middle, but except for that I was on my feet all day.
At lunch time, I bartended for a bridal shower party, which involved making vodka-laced cocktails for pretty ladies who were all dressed up in the hope of out-doing each other. In the evening I bartended for a birthday party for one of the members (who must have been about 80 or 90, judging by the amount of grandchildren that were with him) which involved making rum-laced cocktails for fat Americans who were all dressed in matching blazers and slacks.
In the evening, I had to miss a party that most of the staff were going to because I was too tired to go out, and because I had another 8am start coming up the next day. It didn’t sound that good anyway.
Despite all my whinging though (which is pretty much entirely what this entry is made up of), I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, in the form of the staff party which is on Monday night. It’s an all-expenses paid meal and drinkathon at a fancy aquariam type place on Long Island. I’ve bought clothes especially for it, I’m taking a model with me as my date, and I’m starving hungry. So it should be a good night!

Wednesday 6th – We Were Hoping For Some Romance

I’d bought my Bloc Party tickets back in May on a whim, hoping that I could find three other bloc lovers to join me at the gig. They’d cost me $130 in total, and if I ended up going by myself, there’d be a chance I couldn’t sell the spares outside the gig, and I’d be left in debt. But within weeks of coming to America, it was apparent that I wasn’t the only Bloc Party fan at the club. In fact, both nights that Bloc Party were due to play at Webster Hall had sold out completely.
So I convinced Dan the manager to give me, Anahita, Dave and Del both Wednesday night and Thursday morning off work, and we headed into the city on Wednesday afternoon to what turned out to be the best gig of my life.


We eat lunch at a Mexican grill place that was like the Mexican version of subway, where you get to choose between burritos and fajitas, and then choose all your fillings (plus a corona, obviously!) before walking straight to Webster Hall to sort out picking up the tickets that had been booked on my dad’s credit card. Thankfully, there were no problems picking these up, and after sitting in a bar round the corner for a bit, we headed into the venue wondering what to expect.


Last time I saw Bloc Party, it was at Alexandra Palace, a huge venue in London. This time was very different though. From where we were standing, there was about five rows of people in front of us, and less than 20 behind. We waited whilst the second support band, ‘Does It Offend You, Yea?’ finished their set, and then waited more whilst the roadies changed the stage. We met a bunch of British Camp America kids whilst we were waiting but I was so excited about the band (as well as needing a wee really badly) that I didn’t really join in.


When the band finally took to the stage, the floor began to shake with excitement. As they broke into Hunting for Witches, the whole crowd started jumping up and down in unison, the floor quite literally bouncing with us underneath our feet. I danced constantly throughout the gig, jumping about like a madman to familiar music that I felt had travelled with me all the way from home. At the end of their main set, they ran straight from Song for Clay into Banquet, a pair of songs which got the crowds moving even more than normal. At one point, Kele even stage dived into the crowd, being carried to the back of the room where he got up on a table with some girls in the crowd and danced away to his own song.


Obviously the band’s first encore was filled with a bunch of crowd pleasers, playing the most popular songs from the last few albums, plus a cover of Prince’s ‘I Would Die 4 U’ which ran perfectly into Bloc Party’s epic disco song Flux.
After finishing with Helicopter, the crowds begun to leave the packed little room that we had been watching in. But we hung about where we were, and a couple of minutes later, the band re-appeared to finish in pure style with The Pioneers.
Last time I saw them play, I decided that Bloc Party were my favourite live band ever. The same is still true, except that I’ll be impressed if I ever see them play a gig as intimate and awesome as the one I just saw in New York City.

Bloc Party - Webster Hall - 08/06/08

Hunting for Witches
Positive Tension
Waiting for The 7.18
Price of Gasoline
So Here We Are
The Prayer
Once a Future King
Mercury
This Modern Love
Song for Clay (Disappear Here)
Banquet
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Like Eating Glass
I Would Die 4 U
Flux
She’s Hearing Voices
Helicopter
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The Pioneers

Sunday 3rd – Packing Meat

This weekend was yet another 8am starter weekend, and whilst I was given Saturday night off, on Sunday I worked a full 13 hour day. However, having vowed not to drink the night before work again (for a while) on Thursday, and knowing that I had the day off on Monday, it was important to make the most of Sunday night and go out and have fun.
The advantage of going out in Manhattan is that everyone usually waits quite late in the evening before going out. So even though I didn’t finish work til 11pm, I still had time to have a couple of beers, get a lift to Mineola train station, and get a train then a taxi to the meatpacking district in Manhattan, arriving there at about half past twelve.
I got the train into the city with Julia (one of the Russian girls – awkward!) and once we arrived in the meatpacking district, we were planning to head towards whichever club Gill and Kirsty had decided on going to. But the problem was Julia’s age. She’s only 20 (not a problem at home, but a massive one here!). Thankfully though, we’d met a couple of locals on the train called Mark and Britney who were up for a night out with us, so we just did some ID swapping, and smuggled the illegal foreigner into the club.

The place we chose reminded me of Revs back at home, but with far more atmosphere. And the drinks were twice the price (the cheapest drinks were $11). We danced, drunk, chatted and laughed until about 3am, when we started to get hungry. So Gill, Kirsty and I headed off in search of a takeaway. We walked for what seemed like miles until we found a street vendor that sold us some disgusting burgers and chicken pitas. Looking for somewhere warm to sit and eat them was easy, as there was a bank just around the corner from us. And at most American banks, there’s a separate room at the front of the building that houses the ATMs. The one we found had a partly carpeted floor, and nice warm air-con on. We only decided that it was time to leave when we all started falling asleep. Whilst I’m fine sleeping on a subway through Manhattan, I felt that a glass walled bank room where we were on view to all of Manhattan (and probably the bank’s security) would not be an ideal place to sleep. So we trundled back to Club 1 to pick up Julia and say goodbye to Mark and Britney (passing a takeaway on the way I’ll point out). This was at about 4am. Two taxis and two trains later and I got to bed. At 6am.
Thank God I had Monday off.

Oh speaking of which, on Monday I played golf for the first time since I’ve been here. Me and Cam went to the range for half an hour, before playing two holes and giving up.

Friday 1st August – Good Karma

I can’t believe that it’s August already. I’ve now been at Piping Rock for 7 weeks and the time has flied by. This month is going to be the month when all of the American students leave, I see Bloc Party, and (hopefully) a few of us will go on a casino trip to Atlantic City.
Today was a really short day of work, starting at 10.30 and finishing at 1.45 when the management decided that there were way too many people working to make it worth our while. So we spent the afternoon on the beach in Oyster Bay, where I managed to get all of my freckles to come out on my face.
In the evening, everyone was planning to go to a houseparty at the house of sum guy whose name I have no idea how to spell. But as Saturday commanded a getting up time of half 7 (like most weeks) I decided that I would be an idiot to go. So instead of partying and drinking all night, I went into Manhattan by myself to watch a Radiohead tribute band called Karma Police play.
I’ll be honest – they were good, but the actual band would have been far far better.

Wednesday 30th – A Multicultural Day

Wednesday was originally going to be beach day, but on being told that Del and Cam were going into the city, plans quickly changed. I feel like I’m only going to be in this country for a split-second of my life, so the thought of missing out on anything at all just doesn’t enter into my mind. And having to choose between sunning my pasty white chest on the beach and having some fun in Manhattan was an easy one.
So we got the train into the city around mid-day, and worked our way down to Little Italy straight away. We’d decided that we were going to go to a posh Italian restaurant and having a nice meal on a terrace with a nice glass of vino. But as usual, the plans went out the window and we just went to the first place with a good deal on lunch food. So we ended up having lunch in a tiny Italian diner that insisted on giving us a bottle of wine for the price of a couple of glasses of it. So post lunch, we strolled (slightly drunk) into Chinatown, which is quite literally next door to Little Italy. It’s really strange, like you’ve walked straight out of one country and into another one. On walking through Chinatown, I suddenly felt like I’d been down the same road before (literally), but somehow it was different. Then I realised that I was walking down the same street I’d walked down at about 6am following the subway ordeal. Only then the streets were completely deserted, and this time they were absolutely packed with Chinese people. This made asking for directions to the nearest subway station really difficult though, so we walked back and forth along the familiar street until we eventually found the J line to take us up-town.


We spent the rest of the day at the cinema (when step-brothers comes out in the UK, it’s worth a look!), and in bars. In the evening we went uptown to the upper-west side and sat outside a Greek bar eating appetizers and drinking Sangria until the time came for us to miss our 11.16 train home. So we finished the night off in a nice roof-top bar that’s right outside Penn station, where we had a couple more beers and sang away a couple of hours to Michael Jackson.
I guess it was kind of a bad omen wearing my I♥NY t-shirt into the city (the same one I wore the time I fell asleep on the subway), but when people pointed out that I was wearing it again, I just ignored that. Bad move. Me and Cam fell asleep on the train on the way back to Locust Valley and missed our stop, eventually waking up at Oyster Bay (the end of the line). So we phoned Tim the taxi driver, who was happy to come and pick us up. But when he turned up, he wasn’t the only person in the taxi and we had to sit in on a half an hour round trip to some guy’s girlfriend’s house (which ‘guy’ didn’t really know the way to) before getting home.


I topped the night off by waking up Gillian on the way in with the words “Del, why the hell did you get off the train without us?!”. She was grouchy in the morning. Mind you, so was I – having to drag myself into work at 10.30am. It’ll be a while before I drink properly the night before working again. Probably.