Hi again! Thankyou all for your emails and texts, it's been great to hear from you all! After spending a whole afternoon updating this web page with pics and journal, I was off to New York City with my friend Michael. Our first NYC cabbie was infuriating!! It appears to be a trend in New York to bunnyhop / press the accelerator hard, back off quickly & for a 1 hr ride through busy Manhattan traffic I was feeling quite ill by the end of it. $90 plus tip was so hard to hand over for such a crook ride...

Our hotel was gorgeous...way too spesh for a girl with a backpack. We could even see the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline from our room! Our first attempt at riding the subway put us in a shady area of Greenwich Village of Jimi Hendrix fame...although transvestite prostitutes, domestics in the street & gangs of black people huddled over tin can fires didn't do much to make me want to visit again. That was called taking the wrong subway line time #1.

For breakfast we founded upon an old school diner, decor from the 50's with waitresses that looked like they had been there since too. The kind where they yell the orders back to the chef, know everyon'es name & behind every serious, wrinkled face is a smile & a dry sense of humour. The biggest serving of pancackes with maple syrup for $2.60 that I ever saw. And yes...in New York there is an even bigger obsession with Peanut Butter & Chocolate...they sell peanut butter cups covered in chocolate like they do a mars bar, they put it in icecream, peanut butter cakes and shakes...it's the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard of!!!

Staying over in Jersey city meant a daily commute under the Hudson River through the World Trade Centre site. Bulding of the new Freedom tower has slowly begun, with many train disruptions & construction happening everywhere. 7 years on and this city is still very much affected by the events of September 11. A strong police & army presence is evident at every subway station, outside every major building & in the streets 24 hours a day.

Went to see an NBA game...New Jersey Nets vs. Charlotte Bobcats which was great!!! Overtime game, plenty of action as it should be...definitely a highlight. I adopted the Nets as we were staying in New Jersey and cheered them to a narrow four point victory. After paying a $50 cab to get there, decided to do the long haul local bus back into Manhattan and then two trains to get home for a total of $6. Even with a 1am arrival home, was worth it after spending so much money on transport!!

Some other highlights of New York were heading up the Empire State Building for some great views, NBC studios backstage tour (got to check out the set of Conan O'Brien), seeing the Lion King on Broadway which was brilliant and shopping in Times Square. Virgin Records was 3 stories of musical awesomeness...it was a struggle to leave with so many $10 cds. Seeing John Lennon's Strawberry Fields memorial was really special...lots of park benches and a quiet zone for people to reflect, really beautiful. Way too many other highlights, I'm sure I've missed some, but had a great time and saw some great sights.

Hope you enjoy the pics now that they are finally on here!!

Look forward to hearing from you all & hope all is well at home.

Much love,

Belinda