So the New York J1 continues! Not long left now, which is very sad. Back to the real world soon. Katy left last week. We had a great time. It was great because I did loads of the touristy stuff with her. We went to Ellis Island and to the Statue of Liberty. It was a day of queuing but it was worth it. We got the audio tours which were actually very good.

I have been up the Empire State Building twice, once during the day and once at dark. Both were very good. Not sure which I preferred. You can make everything out easier in the daylight. I think the perfect time would be to go up before sunset and stay up there until it gets dark.

We went to see a Broadway show, Rent! It was amazing!!! Love the songs in that musical. It is quite a hard one to follow though, if you are not familiar with the story and the songs beforehand. It is one of those musicals where there is no talking at all, just singing. I really want to go see The Lion King musical, it is meant to be fantastic. Hopefully I'll get to that before I leave.

We also walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, and got some lovely photos. We went at about 8 which is dusk, so the sky was pinky and it was almost dark when we got over. Pretty spectacular!

We went to the theme park Six Flags, which is the biggest in America. It was one of my favourite days here in New York. So much fun. We went on the Kingda Ka, which is the tallest, fastest roller coaster on Earth. As it is described on the website, "this remarkable thrill ride breaks all world records for coaster speed and height, zooming from0 to 128 mph in 3.5 seconds and catapulting you 45 stories into the sky!” It was absolutely breathtaking!

We are all going again this Monday! Last time we went, a thunderstorm broke out at about 7pm, and all the rides had to be closed, because there was lightening. So we actually didn’t get to go every ride, and we had planned to go on loads of them again. The best ride is the Superman Flight. You sit into your seat, you are strapped in and then suddenly, the chair is twisted and you are facing the ground. Then you are shot off around the track, and it really feels like you are flying!!

Katy's First Day In NYC

Katy arrived Monday night, so after an early night we rose early Tuesday morning and decided to hit the city for some sightseeing. Caitlin, Katy and I decided to go for a stroll down Fifth Ave first of all and browse the shops there. We walked into Abercrombie, which all I can say was "an experience". How anyone can actually get any serious shopping done there, I don’t know. You are constantly being greeted and smiled at by members of the staff, who are so cheesy, and the music is blaring you have to shout at each other. "What do you think of this jumper???"; "What?? Can't hear you!"..... We got out of there quick enough.

Next we went for a wander around the oh so posh, Bergdorf Goldman department store, where we tried on Manola Blahniks for size. Fantasy shopping! Easy on the wallet! We got a free makeover downstairs in the beauty section. The make up artist, David, was ridiculously flattering. He was this really camp guy, who made you feel a million dollars. "Your skin looks absolutely radiant! Look at those eyelashes, reaching for the heavens! Fabulous!" If you ever needed a confidence boost, David from the Estee Lauder counter, will certainly give you that!!

We also popped into FAO Schwarz for a browse, and saw the giant piano, which was covered with little kids, so we didn't get to try out Chopsticks, like in that movie, "Big". We will be back though. We saw the cutest dogs today. A guy was walking 6 little dogs, and they all had little feathers in their hair. As you can see from photo, they wee very happy to pose for photographs!

After a morning of browsing through these Fifth Ave stores, we went to meet Carla at her work, which is a Mexican grill, called Qdoba. She was just finished, so we got lunch with her. Great food! Not too sure if it beats my favourite Mexican restaurant, Chipotle, which is the rival chain, but still yummy!

Katy certainly had a very busy first day. After lunch we got the 1 train down to Battery Park, and got the Staten Island Ferry which was a lovely trip. It was great to see Manhattan from the water, and it was my first time seeing the Statue of Liberty. Carla and Caitlin were too tired to join us out to the Staten Island mall, which was a 40min bus ride, so they got the free ferry back. Katy and I had bought a few things in Hollister out there. It was such a lovely day. We were pretty tired by the end. The Ferry back at 9:00 was pretty spectacular. The city was all lit up and so was the Statue of Liberty. It was great to experience the ferry trip at both daytime and night time. Katy has high expectations of the rest of the trip with such an eventful first day!

Living it up in New York city for two months. Myself and two school friends are living in Harlem Morningside area, in a great little three bedroom apartment. The area is certainly a culture shock, but quite safe. I think the locals are getting used to seeing us around, so we don't stand out as much. I have posted some photos of the inside of the apartment.

New York Pad

Living in New York for the summer. This is the appartment we are staying in.