EXILED FROM CHINATOWN: the girls take on the big apple! THE END!!! p.25

[dawz1026]

You were correct about TRL's studio.It is still MTV studios and alot of the "aftershow" shows are filmed there as well and MTV news and a bunch of other shows.Across the street is Good Morning America.If you were up early enough you could see that going on.It is so funny to see where I live on a trip report but good to see how people enjoy coming here.I guess I take it for granted.I am looking forward to more reading!--ps-you looked calm as could be on that plane..I definately need some xanax next flight

 

[Happy Elf]

Times Square look neat and Toys R Us looks like fun, but that woman looks totally scary!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

OMG I didn't know Sponge Bob was on vacation in NYC at the same time. I have to show the kids. They'll love that!

The peep show...OMG. That is hilarious! I have to take Chimere there sometime. She is from the Bronx. Most of her family is still there.

If I could make $350 for every time a horn blows in NYC I'd be a millionaire in less than a week. Why post those signs? Geez.

Oh GROSS. The cowboy. Puke. Here goes my chicken...coming up. Barf! OMG he is in the background of that families picture. LOL

And the woman....

My kids are taking over the computer to look at your pics so I must post now.

 

[heatherlizz602]

Great update. I never got to see Naked cowboy and I'm really glad I never saw naked cowgirl HAHA.

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

Times Square looks very cool! Huge billboards and signs.

I've never seen a parking garage like that before, very clever.

Sorry your hotel had all that construction, I'm glad the room was okay. I hope you got a deal on the room because of all the mess.

The Toys R Us ferris wheel looks so fun. I like all the different cars.
How many floors does it have?

I was worried that your bags would have been lost...with no ticket....thank goodness you found them.

The room is small but very nice.

I bet the 'cowboys' make a good living on tourists photo op's.

 

[rentayenta]

Great update Dawn. The Naked Cowboy looks like Brett Michaels from behind. I bet you are wondering how I know what Brett Michael's behind looks like?

 

[MagicShell]

Toys R Us looks incredible. I would LOVE to see NYC. My husband is not thrilled with the idea. He says that there would be way too many people. Maybe when my daughter is older we can go together.

 

[passthepixiedust]

guess what????? i had a whole entire update COMPLETELY DONE and when i went to post it the disboards had logged me out and i LOST it!!!!!! so no update now. i *may* be able to do it again tonight. we shall see!

OMG. I HATE when that happens! I now copy the whole post before I hit submit so that I can just resign in and paste it!


I LOVED your update. It looks incredible. Like fabulous. Exactly how I expect it to! I want to go even more now. I got a sale alert today on flights from Seattle to New York. Coincidence? Or a cosmic push?

 

[NMW]

Subscribing awesome TR we take NY for granted it is awesome to see you guys really enjoying yourselves.

 

[punkin413]

Great update! I knew about the naked Cowboy (didn't see him though) I didn't know about the cowgirl though. That ferris wheel is cool - I saw it, but it was late when I was there so it wasn't running.

thanks! be glad you didn't know about the naked cowgirl!

Aww, love the update!!

But, I am still a little ticked off though. I really can't believe my mother-in-law didn't tell me she flew up to NYC the same weekend you were there....and she wore the naked cowgirl getup!! Hmm, we wondered where she was!!

you are too funny!

Naked cowpeople??? Wow! That must have been interesting to see!

I would never be able to peel my children away from Toys R Us -- it would be an all day excursion for us!

yes, definitely interesting! your kids would've loved toys r us. it was huge!

I so want to go to NYC now. Oh yeah and John saw your picture with the cowgirl and said "Your friend Dawn totally took a picture with a half naked drag queen. Look at those fingers. They belong on a dude!!!"

i thought the same thing but she had quite a chest on her.....a very droopy chest but a chest just the same. i mean, they could have been implants...who knows???

Yep I am one of those NYer haters of Times Square except I end up there often. LOL. The hotel looks pretty cool but the room was REALLY tiny! I never saw the naked cowgirl LOL, scary lady.

Did u end up getting my text that day BTW?

she was scary! i don't think i did get a text from you. but sometimes my phone has a mind of its own!

all caught up.

Got your pm but with the move I have been swamped with getting set up for next as we have 40 people over for a housewarming in a 2 bedroom apt.

I am a hater of Times Square and Herald Square (34th street area) and China town. All of them are mob scenes.

Love the shots of the city from the plane.

Toys R Us is a fun place to go to.

That lady is scary. Never seen her before and never want to again.

Looking forward to more.

oh, no problem! they closed one of the streets on times square and that helped with the crowding problem (although i'm sure the locals and cabbies weren't very happy). but i agree about chinatown - horrible! that comes later in my TR. i hope you never run into the naked cowlady - she WAS scary!

I wonder if Jordan's church knows he works there?

is it just me or is writing "naked cowboy" on the back of his undies a little redundant?



I think she could use a little more underwire!

you are so silly! i wonder if jordan saw that and thought anything?

maybe he figures some people need the clarification...I AM NAKED AND I AM A COWBOY.

i agree about the underwire. i didn't notice it at the time but when i saw the picture i did!

Waaaahhhhhh!!!!!! (Why isn't there a tantrum smiley when you need one!?)

We watched that ball drop!! I woke up this morning and for some reason I couldn't stop thinking about New Years Eve in New York and how much fun we had, while I was driving to work! I even played New York, New York as my own little tribute!!

I don't know if it's your trip report, or the fact that it's almost 5 months to the day that we were right there watching the ball drop.... but I'm massively homesick for New York! And it's not even my home!! Waaaaah!!!

(See that Bubba Gump sign on the bottom right of your photo? That's where we were on NYE!!)

Hehee, anyway. Sounds like you had a great explore of Times Square!! Weird naked cowpeople and all!!

well, glad i could give you somewhat of a NYC fix! so cool that you guys were there on NYE!!!

how is it not illegal for someone to be wearing that little clothing on the street?? I agree she needs some support but for being that old...she does have a nice body...i guess that is soemthing nice I can say...I still wouldn;t be parading myself liek that...but to each their own!

I'm with Jill...I want to go to New York now! Someday!

Edited to add: Just realized are her earrings candy earrings or are they fruit loops??

it's NYC....anything's possible! i agree completely with you. i would never do it but more power to her! i think her earrings are candy, by the way.

Yayy an update! That stinks that your hotel was filled with construction but at least it wasn't the rooms. And, you then knew your room had most likely just been refurbed so thats a plus.

So cool you got to see the Naked Cowboy...and Cowgirl. I've seen the cowboy a number of time and honestly, could have gone without seeing the cowgirl She was....different. Anyway, I think its funny because I was in NYC 2 days before you got there and was walking the same spots as you. We went into the Hershey's store, small nothing to rave about.

Cool shots from the ferris wheel! The Toys R Us is so huge and cool there and I enjoyed those pictures too Can't wait to hear about your night!

yeah i was glad to hear the rooms were recently remodeled. the carpet was nice and fluffy instead of all pressed down in the floor because it had been walked on so much. it's so funny that i saw the naked cowgirl and you locals have never seen her!

Love the update Dawn! I was there in 93 and 03 but don't remember much of it! Super nice to see all your pictures

thanks! i bet it's changed a lot since then! is it driveable for you guys?

Great update!!! yah, you see all sorts of interesting people in Times Square..the Naked cowgirl though, that is new to me!!!

she was definitely unexpected...that's for sure!

Hey Dawn came over from your Disney reports. I have always wanted to go to New York so I can't wait to hear all about it.

thanks so much for joining in! hope you enjoy it!

 

[punkin413]

Love the update! So fun! Love the naked cowboy! haha!

thanks! what about the naked cowgirl?

Wow, NYC is crazy!

EW.....the Naked Cowgirl! Yikes. A)Does she own a mirror? B)A new top would be wonderful-something that actually LIFTS them.

seriously! on both!

Oh my looord The Naked Cowboy's been around for like 10 years, but I've never in my life seen the Naked Cowgirl and I'm SO glad!

The hotel looks nice despite the construction! I love all the art. Did you hear any noise from all the renovations?

like i said earlier....so funny that we saw her and you locals never have! probably a good thing for you. the only time we heard noise was in the lobby, never in our room.

The naked cowboy is like a Times Square staple, he's been on MTV many times as well, when TRL was filmed there. I'm another Times Square hater, chances are, most of the people in Times Square are not actually from NY. Sucks about the hotel, but it seems like things around here are constantly getting refurbished, there's always scaffolding all over the city.

i can't remember the last time i actually watched MTV. i guess it shows my age! my TV used to STAY on that channel but now i can't stand it. i noticed the scaffolding everywhere too. but i guess that's why they say things are always changing there!

So funny.......I would have used hand gel too......ick!

Looks like you're off to a good start! I love your pics of Times Square. I haven't been to NYC in over 15 years so it's nice to "see and experience" everything again.....makes me want to head back!

it was a lot of fun. sounds like it's time for you to take another trip!

You were correct about TRL's studio.It is still MTV studios and alot of the "aftershow" shows are filmed there as well and MTV news and a bunch of other shows.Across the street is Good Morning America.If you were up early enough you could see that going on.It is so funny to see where I live on a trip report but good to see how people enjoy coming here.I guess I take it for granted.I am looking forward to more reading!--ps-you looked calm as could be on that plane..I definately need some xanax next flight

okay, cool. i wasn't sure because like i told monkey above, i never watch MTV any more. i can't deal with all the stupid shows they have on there and they hardly ever show actual MUSIC any more so it's just too hard to weed through all the crap. we are not early risers so we didn't see any morning shows. the flight wasn't bad at all. the flight home was a bit bumpy but nothing horrible. the xanax took the edge off. it just kinda made me drowsy and like i had had a couple of cocktails.

Times Square look neat and Toys R Us looks like fun, but that woman looks totally scary!

it was so fun! and yes, she WAS scary.

OMG I didn't know Sponge Bob was on vacation in NYC at the same time. I have to show the kids. They'll love that!

The peep show...OMG. That is hilarious! I have to take Chimere there sometime. She is from the Bronx. Most of her family is still there.

If I could make $350 for every time a horn blows in NYC I'd be a millionaire in less than a week. Why post those signs? Geez.

Oh GROSS. The cowboy. Puke. Here goes my chicken...coming up. Barf! OMG he is in the background of that families picture. LOL

And the woman....

My kids are taking over the computer to look at your pics so I must post now.

i can't remember what he was out there for but he was there! i have no idea about those don't honk signs by they were everywhere. yeah, the cowboy was rather cheesy in a fabio kinda way!

Great update. I never got to see Naked cowboy and I'm really glad I never saw naked cowgirl HAHA.

i think everyone who hasn't seen her is thankful for that!

Times Square looks very cool! Huge billboards and signs.

I've never seen a parking garage like that before, very clever.

Sorry your hotel had all that construction, I'm glad the room was okay. I hope you got a deal on the room because of all the mess.

The Toys R Us ferris wheel looks so fun. I like all the different cars.
How many floors does it have?

I was worried that your bags would have been lost...with no ticket....thank goodness you found them.

The room is small but very nice.

I bet the 'cowboys' make a good living on tourists photo op's.

times square was so big and overwhelming, just like i thought it would be. no deal on the room but i didn't ask. i just figure everyone has to improve at some time or another. i think we paid almost $250/night but we were one block from times square so that's sort of standard. plus we split that 3 ways so it wasn't too bad. i think the whole toys r us store had like 4 floors but i'm not positive. it was big! i bet the cowpeople make a decent living too. i don't think i've ever tipped so many people as i did in NYC!

Great update Dawn. The Naked Cowboy looks like Brett Michaels from behind. I bet you are wondering how I know what Brett Michael's behind looks like?

thanks! that's EXACTLY the first thing that popped into my mind!!!!!! please do tell.

by the way, did you know my brother's middle name is michael? so therefore his name is brett michael. yeah, he gets jokes ALL the time. but he was born in '86 and that was before poison made it big. it was in no way done on purpose! plus michael is after my dad.

Toys R Us looks incredible. I would LOVE to see NYC. My husband is not thrilled with the idea. He says that there would be way too many people. Maybe when my daughter is older we can go together.

that's the way ray was. he just didn't have any interest in going. i think he'd like it. he wouldn't like the hustle and bustle or the broadway shows, but he'd love central park and all the historical stuff.

OMG. I HATE when that happens! I now copy the whole post before I hit submit so that I can just resign in and paste it!

I LOVED your update. It looks incredible. Like fabulous. Exactly how I expect it to! I want to go even more now. I got a sale alert today on flights from Seattle to New York. Coincidence? Or a cosmic push?

good idea if i could remember to do that! i do sometimes and sometimes i just forget.

i think it's a cosmic push!!!! you should totally go. you'd love it!

Subscribing awesome TR we take NY for granted it is awesome to see you guys really enjoying yourselves.

thanks! glad you joined in!

 

[punkin413]

once we got all unpacked and settled in the room, we all decided a short power nap sounded really good. and it was! 30 minutes of napping will work miracles on your energy level on vacation!

we had a dinner reservation at mesa grill (one of bobby flay's restaurants) at 8:00 and we were gonna take the subway, so we figured we should give ourselves plenty of time in case we got lost underground. we got ready and left the hotel around 6:30.

the forecast was still warm and sunny, as you can see. again, please ignore that weird girl.

anna likes taking pictures of us walking down the street in NYC for some reason. i felt like we were being stalked by the papparazzi!

look who we ran into at times square.....

you know i had to get a picture with him!

we made it to the nearest subway station.....my first NYC subway station!!!!

i had to get my bearings before i bought a ticket and hopped on a train. i'm sorry, but if you don't live in new york, the subway system is very confusing. they really need some computer program at every station that you can punch in where you wanna go and it tells you EXACTLY what train to take! as you can see, brooke was confused, too. and this girl has a degree in biochemistry and molecular biology so i know it's not just me!

we ended up buying one of those passes where you get 4 rides. then we headed for our train......

we got off the subway at union square - the restaurant was just a short walk from there. when we came up out of the subway, union square park was right there and it was FULL of people! all kinds of people - some of them playing hacky sack, some dancing or playing instruments, and some just sitting around talking. i didn't take any pictures of the park (duh) but it was really a neat little place. this building was nearby and i thought it was cool.

it was only about 7:00 so we had some time to kill. we walked a block over and decided to do a little shopping on 5th avenue. i do believe that's the empire state building in the distance.

we went into a couple of little stores but didn't buy anything. i remember one store was called lush and it had really cool bath products. the girl that was helping us was really hands-on and we got to try everything. it all smelled really good! they had some sort of shower jelly that felt and looked like real jelly but it lathered up. it was neat! we had every intention of going back there but we never made it.

around 7:45 we decided to find the restaurant. i'm glad i had the street address because it just said, "grill" on the outside! we checked in and were told it would be a few minutes. so we went back outside to wait. there were some shady-looking guys out there that were trying to talk to us so we ended up coming back in. brooke and i got a drink from the bar (a prickly pear margarita for me and a regular margarita for her) and we made friends with an older man that was standing there. he was a veterinarian up the street and he said he came by mesa grill every friday after work for a couple of drinks. he was really nice and we had a good time talking to him!

around 8:15 our table was ready. the place isn't that big so i was just glad we got to sit down within an hour of our reservation time! i took this from our table - looking back at the bar area.....

the girls at dinner.....

continued in next post: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32126409&postcount=93

 

[punkin413]

for appetizers we ordered the shrimp and roasted garlic corn tamale and the crispy squash blossoms. they were both MOUTH WATERING!!!!! oh, my goodness.....soooooooooo good! and of course i have food porn!

the squash is at the bottom and the tamale is at the top:

when we were done brooke decided to scrape every last piece out of that tamale!

for dinner i had the mango and spice-crusted tuna steak with green peppercorn-green chile sauce and toasted pinenut cous cous:

brooke had the ancho chile-honey glazed salmon with spicy black bean sauch, tomatillo salsa and roasted jalapeno crema:

and anna had the red and black pepper-crusted filet mignon with mushroom-ancho chile sauce:

we all sampled each other's and everything was SO GOOD! mine was a teeny bit spicy for my taste but i ate most of it. the cous cous was amazing. and anna's steak and brooke's salmon were both delicious!

we decided to split dessert and we got the blackberry mango crostada with blackberry sauce and vanilla blackberry swirl ice cream. it was heavenly!

there was what i'd call a server's assistant who would refill our waters and take away dirty plates, etc. and he had this little tool where he'd wipe the crumbs off the table. i thought that was so cool! i was a server all through college and i never had one of those! and i'm soooo OCD.....crumbs drive me crazy! that would've really helped with my sanity back then!

our server told us they can't split up checks (very odd! ) so we had to figure out how much everyone owed and tell her how much to put on all three credit cards. that was a pain! but oh well.

it was a VERY nice dinner and i want to take ray here someday. he'd love the food! we asked our server to take a picture of us after dinner. nice and full!

after dinner we were walking back to the subway and we came upon a cupcake stop van. brooke had to try them! they were little cupcakes but i was so full....i don't know where she put them!

back on the subway to times square. we were back in no time and when we came up to the street level this was the first thing we saw.....

some dude with an albino snake! so random! i love any kind of reptiles but brooke wasn't too thrilled about it.

a few more pictures of times square at night......

by the time we walked around times square a little while it was around 11:00 and we were all pretty tired. we are old!!!! every night this trip we were in bed by at least 1:00 a.m. we were in the city that never sleeps and we never saw its glory at 3:00 a.m.! a few years ago i would've been all over that but i guess i just value my sleep too much now. someday i'll go back and be there long enough to plan a day where i can sleep in late the next morning and go out late at night. but not this time!

so we hit the hay by midnight! i didn't sleep well that night. i was REALLY congested and stupid me had claimed a spot right next to the air conditioner, which was pumping all night long. so i think that made it worse. i woke up around 5:00 and couldn't breathe. i finally went back to sleep around 6:00 but of course we were up like an hour later so not too much sleep for me. the rest of the trip my voice was GONE. i mean, brooke and anna had to translate for me when i'd be talking to anyone else because i had NO voice! i felt fine but my sinuses were just draining like crazy and it made my voice all scratchy and non-existant. kinda like when phoebe gets sick on friends and thinks she sounds sexy!

anyway, that was our first day in the big city! next up....A DOSE OF DISNEY!

 

[hlrababy]

I love the update!!

Oh man, if we were there and came across the guy with the snake, Chad would freak!! He hates snakes!!!

 

[joy13]

Dinner looked so good! The subway is confusing - I was lucky that my friend I was visiting knew how to get everywhere - so I didn't have to figure a thing out!

 

[passthepixiedust]

The update is great Dawn, I am loving all the pictures. I am now even more determined to get to NYC soon!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Dinner looks delicious!

In the two pictures of you and Brooke walking, I noticed you passed the Scientology building! And you walked right by the hotel we ALWAYS stayed at when we went to NYC -- the Hotel Edison! It made me all nostalgic just seeing the sign for it!

 

[troobabiee7]

Great update Dawn! You girls all looked so pretty dressed up for dinner : Too funny about the busboy! In almost every restaurant here there are busboys who take the plates, refill water and get the crumbs off the table with that little brush thing. I thought they had that everywhere I'm glad you liked the food! It all looked delish. And I had to laugh at the picture with the Scientology Center in the background. We always pass the celebrity Scientology center on the upper east side and it cracks me up!

The subway can definitely be confusing. Just a tip for if you come back again - if you log onto Google Maps you can map out your route beforehand. It's linked to the NYC mass transit system so you put in your starting point and destination, and it tells you what trains and buses you need to use to get there. It's really helpful!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

i would hav ebeen in bed by 9:30 and sleeping by 10:00

 

[Lamping3]

I finally had time to get over here to read your NYC report! I am looooving it so far. I so want to go to NY but Dave has this thing about cities. He gets so flustered even when we go downtown StL. Maybe I will have to try to plan a girls trip too! HA! the naked cowboy! AH! the naked cowgrandma!