This week - Walking on ice...

This week was a very exciting one as Obama got inaugurated, police found the missing engine of the crashed plane in the Hudson and the economic downturn got worse with billions of losses for almost any company reporting their 4th quarter and 2008 full year results...
It was a short working week thanks to Martin Luther King day (public holiday on Monday) and a couple of evening work outs in the gym, something I didn't do for quite some time thanks to having many other, nicer things to do.
And it was a cold but sunny week, after a weekend with inches of snow coming down on us. I must say I really love winter in NY. It can be freeeeezing cold out there, but the sun is almost always shining. That makes life much more easy and gives you more energy, although some people here disagree, I know. But for a Dutchie, who is used to the cold, grey, rainy days typical for Dutch winter, the difference of the sun being there makes it great!

Walking through Central Park on one of these winter days, I wondered if New Yorkers would be trying to stand, walk and maybe skate on the ice of the different ponds and lakes. I found out pretty fast, that is rarely the case. Standing next to a lake in the middle of the park I couldn't stop myself testing the ice by kicking it firmly to wait and see what would happen, according to Dutch tradition. The ice appeared to be strong enough, it didn't give a crack. I decided to stand on it, looking around for people that potentially could rescue me, if needed. The ice was snowed under, you couldn't see it, which is always tricky, that's another Dutch tradition...
Once standing on the ice it gave me the feeling of a small but glorious victory, I walked around a little bit and went back on main land again. What a great experience!

Walking a little more through the snow I was amazed by the number of people that are still running their rounds in these cold and slippery circumstances, although some changed their running shoes for cross country skis!?

Click here to see how beautiful Central Park can be in winter shape and the squirrel that posed for me...

Obama inaugurated - Change will come?

Today the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, was inaugurated as America's first black president. This means a lot to many Americans who have high expectations and hope he will bring the necessary change in these bad economic times.

I watched his inaugural speech at the office together with many of my colleagues and hundreds of people watched the ceremony at Times Square. Apart from taking the oath where he slightly stumbled being mislead or being nervous, which I don't blame him, Obama once again appeared to be an eloquent speaker with a strong message. I sincerely hope he can and will change the situation in this country indeed...
Millions of people, standing on Washington Mall in the freezing cold, attended the ceremony in Washington D.C. and all national TV channels were broadcasting live from very early in the morning and are still continuing to do so while I'm writing this.
At this moment the Obamas are attending 10 (!) different inauguration balls, starting at the Neightborhood Ball where they danced very close together while Beyonce sang for them. A lot of celebrities like Shakira, Mary J. Blige, Faith Hill, Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder and Sting will be performing at the different balls across town.

After the party tonight, tomorrow will be the first full day of serious work in the White House for Obama, I wish him all the courage and wisdom in the coming years to come. And what happended to former president George W. Bush? This afternoon he headed back to his Texas ranch and began his post-presidential life, finally...

A miracle on the cold river...

This afternoon we got the news in the office that a plane had crashed just a few minutes ago in the Hudson river around 50th Street...close to the office and not far from my apartment buiding!
Immediately we started looking at the websites of the New York Times, MSNBC and CNN. And indeed, there it was on their pages: BREAKING NEWS: US AIRWAYS PLANE CRASHED IN HUDSON RIVER. The first pictures showed a floating plane in the middle of the river, surrounded by rescue boats and ferries that were there to take the passengers from the plane!

Unbelieve, some fear and curiosity were my first reactions, how did this happen and how fortunate this plane didn't crash into a building...and were the passengers surviving getting out of the plane in one of the coldest days of this winter season? It reminded everybody of 9-11 of course, but this seemed less harmfull as we saw the passengers getting out of the plane and onto the life rafts, the plane still intact. All broadcasted live on TV and internet, accompanied with a lot of excitement, I am in the US...

This picture shows how the situation was pretty soon after the plane made its emergency landing on the river. The passengers coming out and standing on the wings to be rescued.
Eventually all were saved and few were injured, at the end of the day the pilot is a heroe as he managed to get the plane landed onto the river with two (!) damaged engines, after it struck a flock of birds. He did a hell of a job! New York is relieved after this "miracle", and so am I.
And the plane? Still floating in the river along Battery Park City...

The full story on MSNBC

Finding a new NY apartment

Finding my more definite apartment wasn't that easy although the housing market has softened, "thanks to" the deteriorated economic circumstances in this country and especially this city, hit by financial turmoil as one of the financial centres of the world.
Manhattan consists of very different neighbourhoods with their own charm and characteristics. When searching for an apartment, it's important to know in which area you want to live and stick to what you think is important. And...NY apartments are well known for their little size and crappy maintenance... Anyway, to me the most important things were to be close to Central Park, to be able to walk to work and have daylight in the apartment. After looking into different possibilities I decided to live on the more west side, close to park and work: One Columbus Place, at the corner of 59th street and 9th Avenue, next to Columbus Circle which forms the South West corner of Central Park.
The apartment is part of a high rise building, 52 floors in total, and I'm on the 14th floor...facing south with a view on the Midtown skyline (towards 7th Avenue, Times Square).
It's a so-called 1BR (1 Bed Room) apartment with a separate kitchen and bedroom, apart from the living room. All three rooms have big windows facing south with a lot of light coming in during the day, one of the most important reasons for me to choose this one.

Here are some pictures to get a first impression, still unpacking as I moved in this week:

Living room

Sunny kitchen

'Spacious' bedroom

Happy New Year!

In New York, New Years Eve is a big happening and at the same time it's not a big happening, or at least it's different then I'm used to celebrating it. The major difference is made by the fireworks, which are simply illegal here. Compared to the Dutch way of celebrating the New Year, the American version is much more quite, thanks to this. I must say I missed the fire crackers and other great fireworks, including their smell and noise!
Here in Manhattan the "big thing" is to see the crystal ball drop at Times Square that is broadcasted on national television and includes the countdown of the last minute towards midnight. But you must be little crazy to see it happen with your own eyes...about 6 to 8 hours in advance you should be at Times Square, waiting there for the rest of the night in the freezing cold!! Amazing how many people still do that...

Rosario, in NY for this week, and I had decided that we were crazy, but not totally out of our minds, so instead of going to Times Square we made sure to go for a New Year's party in club Tenjune, one of the hotspots in Meatpacking these days. The party was a great way of starting the New Year 2009! With the traditional champagne, dancing and drinks we enjoyed this special evening super mucho!!

WE WISH YOU A HAPPY 2009!!

Christmas Break in Mexico

During the week of Christmas I've been on a break, a regular thing to do in the US around Christmas and New Years to celebrate the end of the year with family and friends.

In my case this was in Mexico, to spend some quality time with Rosario, in both Acapulco and Mexico City. Great to explore the land of Guacamole, Taco's and nice and warm weather! Acapulco is a holiday paradise on the west coast, that has developed over the years around a beautiful bay. If you are planning to go, we highly recommend the restaurant Becco al Mare, a fantastic Italian restaurant with stunning views over the bay and a wine list to dream of...

Acapulco

Mexico City is a monstrous big city with wonderful parts and darker sides, often right next to each other. Traffic is horrible, El Periferico is stuck almost every day, except on Christmas Day, so we took advantage to discover the city that day.

We had a wonderful Christmas diner with Rosario's family in La Hacienda de los Morales, an old Hacienda that wasn't part of the city when built, but is now almost in the middle of it, in the Palenco neighborhood, one of the more green and nicer areas in the city. Next to celebrating Christmas and sightseeing we met lots of Rosario's friends and family, a lot of times in combination with having lunch or diner. Getting together in Mexico means that there will be food, music and dance waiting for you around the corner, 3 important parts of Mexican culture...I super enjoyed!!

Christmas diner