OK, i' m talking my girlfriend to New York at the end of May for her birthday. She' s never been to the US before and i' ve not been to New York yet.

What i need to know is what can be missed and what can' t. Any of you guys been?!

What CAN' T be missed are people on EVERY friggin block handing out flyers.

I' ve only been to New York City once. I missed several bullets and knives that were headed in my general direction. I went on top of the World Trade Center and that was a real fun time. I guess you' re screwed in that department.

I only went to LA, so why am i replying?



Look at the silly monkey... Look at it

I missed several bullets and knives that were headed in my general direction.

It can' t really be THAT bad can it?!

Actually, what will the weather be like at the end of May?!

Naw, it' s not that bad. The worst I had it was when I was walking around the south end of Manhattan, there was some dude who looked like he wanted to sell me a cheap Rolex knock-off. But he never asked. Oh and the cab driver took me for a free tour I didn' t ask for when I only wanted to go a couple of miles, ended up going all around Manhattan.

New York' s cool!

Hahahaha...

I guess they try it on if you' re not actually from New York

I think i need to start practicing my Brooklyn accent so no taxi drivers decide to rip us off...

If you' re on a budget the best hotel to stay is Pennsylvania. It' s on Broadway opposite Madison Sq Garden and a few mins walk to everything including Times Square, superb hotel, and afforability is JFK level pricing.

Be sure to check out Canal Street for astonishing fake shit - bags, jewelery, pirate dvds, etc. God knows how these Chinese get away with it but they take this shady trade to a new level.

Go for a shop at Macys for awesome prices on clothes - this place makes any London superstore look like a car boot sale. Cinemas in Times Square are hot too. There' s an arcade in Times Square but it' s shit. If you' re under 21 try drinking in Irish bar, OLunneys, also in TS, they don' t mind so much. It' s a couple of years since I last went with my ex and I can' t remember the cool stuff, it' s a place where you can find anything to suit anyone though.

*makes notes*

Thanks Adam, i' ll be sure to take those in!

This is helpful because the only people i know who have been to New York proper are my grandparents and they' re boring as hell so i ain' t asking them..

Are there any good arcades in New York?! I' ve went to Akihabara and was absolutely blown away but my guess is that New York is not the kind of place you' d find such a district...

Now i' m really looking forward to going to a real Starbucks but my guess is that there are loads in the city. We went to the one in Miami and the service was the worst i' ve ever experienced, worse than in a British inner-city McDolands!!

I' m not looking forward to US customs though. Last time it took 2 1/2 hours to get though and the queue was about 300 people long, ...it was hot as hell AND the battery in my PSP had already run out on the flight so i had to listen to my girlfriend complain about having a headache for 150 minutes straight... Sucked!

Customs kicks ass. The reason it takes so long is because WE KNOW you want to spread some ruin on the US. WE KNOW you' re a terrorist. Welcome to the USA!

For arcades and lots of other fun things, you' ll need to go to Las Vegas. The Luxor has a pretty cool arcade... at least it did when I was there. Nowadays it might be pretty minimal since there are only one or two actuall arcade games left in the world. But if you like roller coasters Las Vegas is good for that, too. If you don' t smoke, you won' t gamble. I' ve noticed that only people who smoke will gamble, mainly.

in NY you can take a ferry out to the Statue of Liberty (try not to get decapated while on the ferry) and climb up inside of it. Be sure to go to the top of the Empire State Building and all that crap. Things like that will cost some US dollars, though.

Is stuff like the Statue of Liberty worth seeing though or is it just overrated?! I went to Egypt and thought the Pyramids were rubbish, ...but that had a lot to do with the motorway that' s next to them...

The Statue of Liberty is kind of a bother since you must go on the ferry to get there and all that. But if you like tall buildings, the Empire State Building is always fun. Did you know a large airplane flew into the ESB a way long time ago? No collapsing of that thing!

Probably because there were no charges already in there...

Yeah, i' ll check out the Empire State building but i think the Statue of Liberty would be boring. I guess i don' t really want to do the tourist stuff and instead see what most people miss out on

Now i' m really looking forward to going to a real Starbucks

I live 20 minutes from Detroit, and we have more starbucks than we do gas stations. I' d forgotten Starbucks was a solely american thing. And as for the bad service you recieved, it' s universal. College kids who only know anything about coffee by reading the menu five minutes before their shift starts. an actual conversation...

" Yeah, can i get an iced latte mocha, extra strong."

" Uh... is that like a mochalattechino-something indistinguishable-deluxe?"

" Um... sure, extra strong"

" So what? You want me to put in more coffee in it or something?"

" I don' t know, you' re the one who works here"

It' s alot like Anna Millers, a novelty, but an expensive one at that.
anyways, i honestly have no clue what you have in the way of pizza in the U.K. but you have to go to Ray' s Pizza.

Don' t be fooled, there' s like fourty of them. not Ray’s Pizza, Famous Original Ray’s Pizza, Ray’s Famous Original Pizza, World Famous Ray’s Pizza, Not Ray’s Pizza, or RayBari Pizza, just Ray' s in Little Italy. it is to die for.

I guess i don' t really want to do the tourist stuff and instead see what most people miss out on

You can always check out some of the long, dark, alleyways in the Bronx at night, most people tend to miss out on that stuff.

...

That' s tempting Terry but i might just decide to skip that...

I' m hungover today, ...it' s not good!

My friend went over their for a holiday or something, anyway since we are irish i am pretty sure we can get away with murder over there, because they love us. But i doubt that will apply to you,

Now, i have never been to the us, in fact i never have left europe but i know this. Avoid people selling you crack. Thats experiance talking. And its a great way to lose your GF if you decide if you dont like her anymore .

I bet thats was quite helpfull, but i hope you have a great time in New York.

You mean like, ...exchange her for crack?!

...

Don' t drugs shrink your penis?!



She doesn' t know about the trip yet, but i' ve arranged for all of her friends to be busy on her birthday and to take her out the weekend before instead. I' ve also arranged her to have time off work too (it' s only bar work) and i' m sorting the rest as i go.

I' m not gonna tell her until 2 days before we go. I was gonna leave it until the night before but i think that' d be reckless, bearing in mind i can' t possibly know everything that might arise or need doing.

I was annoyed that i couldn' t go to E3 but we ARE going to TGS in September so i don' t mind that much now. I just need to think of somewhere to go for the summer now. Last year we worked the sumer season in Benidorm (ugh!) but this year i fancy Barcelona. I' m definatey not staying in the UK all year, ...the summers here are terrible.