New York - Part 1

The Manhattan skyline, sharp as if carved out by razor by the hand of some divine architect. It stuns us as always as we hold on for our lives in a yellow cab hurling like a bullet between the lanes as it's driver casually flips through the contacts in his cell phone while randomly giving the finger to drivers who does'nt meet his standards of driving. We're in for an adventure for sure.

Inshallah - if god is willing, is one of the few arabic expressions i recognize from our drivers constant chattering with people unknown to us. And apparently god favored him this day since we pulled up safely in Brooklyn on the corner of union and metropolitan. Euphoric from part still being alive and part from finally arriving in the great city of New York we started walking towards our home for the next few days. A friend of ours had recommended us to try out a website called airbnb where people can rent out their rooms for a much lower rate than any hotels or hostels. We had decided on a room in the italian area of Williamsburg and we were greeted there by our friendly hostess Susana. Susana served us homemade lemonade while giving us a quick rundown of the area before she blasted of in a hurry.

We are staying in a room in the cellar which is nice and cool considering the heatwave in the city right now. We also have access to a beautiful backyard garden/patio and share a bathroom with Susana. Anyways, after unloading our stuff we rendezvoued with my co-worker from back home who had been staying here a few weeks on a quest for some kinda self fullfillment I guess. I have no idea what he had been up to but it must have worked since he was beaming with happiness. We took of together aiming for an old favorite, the Surf bar. They serve a majestic towering frozen mojito, and since we were all melting away it seemed the perfect remedy!

After a few drinks we needed to freshen up a bit before headin out for the night. Mikael my co-worker joined while we changed in to something that at least made us look a little less like jetlagged zombies. As soon as we came indoors the sky just opened up and poured down it's wrath on Brooklyn. Showers like these are normal during heatwaves and they carry some mighty fearful thunder and lightning. We decided to sit tight for a short while since these storms how awesome they ever are usually just last about twenty minutes. We curled up on the porch with Susanas dog Bonzo who decided despite his obvious fear of thunder found it safer in the arms of strangers.

After pour comes shine and sbout twenty minutes or so later we found ourselves strolling down familiar roads and alleys. Mikael now having stayed in Brooklyn three weeks already led us with newfound confidence towards our common goal, a noodle house. I went for a noodle ramen with golden fried tofu. I might have underestimated the impact of inflight meals on the human stomach but for some reason I thought it was a great idea to quite generously add hot chili sauce to my soup. Food was excellent but after awhile i felt kinda funny and had trouble finishing my beer. Nevertheless as a true trooper I pushed on with my gang to the island of fun, Manhattan.

We started of with a sports gaybar somewhere mid-Manhattan. Rum and ginger ale seemed a perfect antidote to my increasing pain. Place was packed and a little intense for someone who just got off an eight hour flight. We decided to push on down to a more quiet bar in the village area. However by now i was feeling much like a Cony island freak being force fed a fiery blade. I decided to call it quits and M being a perfect gentlewoman assisted me back to our room. I assure you it was a great first night though and since I'm posting this I am very much alive and in good health. We're a few days ahead of this story right now but you who have followed this before know that I update when there is time, and right now I'm getting ready for another adventure. As the famous saying goes, to be continued....