so, what's on dmentedboy blogger ? everything dmented about jxe's travels. here, there and everywhere.
hey bernice.
so this one is for you, as promised. when i received your text message the other night (your morning), the one u commented about the photos in nyc, i was like gawd, "ting lei mm shun !" haha. but then again i definitely can understand why. anyway. i m sure all goes well down at your end. u must be like missing me heaps by now.
barcelona
thursday 6th - tuesday 11th December 2007
days 84 - 89
took the overnight flight from jfk airport to munich. all went well. didnt get to sleep much. the plane touched down an hour earlier which was nice but the plane to barcelona was delayed by 1.5 hours. so i had to fucking spend 4 hours at the airport waiting. wasnt fun at all. and what is it with europe ? haven't they heard of free wifi at the airport for the passengers ? gawd.
(barcelona: at first sight.)
(barcelona: a closer look ... )
so i arrived at the airport. caught the bus to plaza catalunya. my first impression on barcelona is that it looks like kuala lumpur. the whole colonial feel and the buildings all look grey and similar in color. hah. i was expecting to see another paris but thank gawd i was wrong. the radio was blasting "heaven is a place on earth" by belinda carlisle and i was convinced i was in heaven !
(barcelona: plaza catalunya)
(barcelona: there's no escape from jean nouvel)
i got totally disoriented when i got off the bus. the map was confusing and the street signs were hard to spot. it took me an hour to find my way to where i wanted to go when in fact that place was only 5 minutes away. but once i got the hang of it, i was in love.
one of the first thing i noticed is that the spanish looks great. they are abit fatter than the french, still they look good. again, whenever i see anyone fat and ugly, they are probably americans or married with kids or older ppl.
it goes to show unless you are american or maybe australian, 90% of the time :-
single = looking good
single + single = married with kids = fat and ugly
i must somehow detach myself from this equation. but then again i m already blessed. its not easy being 25 and still look this great.
(barcelona: center of music)
after being frozen for a week in nyc, arriving in barcelona is great. it feels great to be a place where its over 10C. it was bet 12C - 18C the whole time i was there.
(barcelona: some church's courtyard)
shopping here is great. they have a great variety of shoes. gawd, i so should have gotten my shoes from here. clothes are good too. i managed to find a really cool pair of jeans that fits. thats another plus for spain. they do cater for people that looks good with perfect proportion. i had to dig a grave for my old pair to make room for the new. oh well.
(barcelona: view from the top)
called up vicky (friday 7th december - day 85) and we had the best time. she caught up with several of her friends that night and i got to apartment hop. i got to see a really beautifully renovated studio in the old town and a beautiful large pad on the other side of town. i met up with her again on monday (10th december day 88). she showed me her office and later went to this amazing japanese-spanish restaurant for lunch. i cant stress how nice and friendly she is.
(barcelona: vicky me and some random shots)
i finally got a chance to use my spanish after months of so-call self studying. i m so proud of meself (not that i m never) that i could go into a restaurant, order everything without using any english ! woo hoo. need to go a whole lot further now.
gaudi kinda dominated this city. u see and hear of him everywhere. its very pleasant to just walk aimlessly because you never know what you might find at every corner.
(barcelona: gaudi building)
(barcelona: gaudi park)
all the hype about the beaches was really disappointing. probably because we are all spoilt coming from sydney. then again, its winter. might be worth making a trip back in summer.
(barcelona: one of many beaches)
lastly whoever told me that spain is cheap to travel is so gonna get their ASS KICKED when i next see ya ! i find france way cheaper !
xxx. j.
hey phil,
so, its almost your time to have the greatest experience of your life. hows your preparation for your america tour ? here is my final installation on NYC. hopefully my postings will come useful to you.
here we go. nyc one last time ...
museums.
museum of modern art (MOMA)
(Friday 16th November 2007 - Day 64)
go on friday after 4pm - its free ! otherwise its $20
the exhibits were ok and the space in there were ok too. this is where i bumped into eugene. of all places. he arrived in NYC one day before me and will be leaving one week before me. what a shocker.
PS1.
(Thursday 15th November Day 63)
suggested donation $5. if you dont have $5, just give them 10 cents.
cool little gallery for the up and coming artist prior to MOMA. i enjoyed the exhibits and space alot better.
(nyc: dia:beacon + ps1)
DIA:beacon.
(Saturday 24th November 2007 - Day 72)
$8 entry.
ok. 1.5 hour drive up north of NYC to beacon. i think you could catch a train from penn station @ 30th street also. but is definitely worth the trip. its an large and old warehouse converted into a museum. spatially its fantastic and the amount of natural light entering the space is just amazing. plus there is also an outdoor garden. the day we went, the weather was beautiful. that added alot to the whole dia:beacon experience. definitely the best exhibits i've seen in NYC.
chelsea galleries - FREE.
(15, 17, 18th November 2007 - Days 63, 65, 66 )
i spent 3 days walking around chelsea looking at smaller galleries. its so much fun the best part is they are all free. there are just so many of them. i think they boast around about 200+. anyway. one that stood out was this steam room @ sean kelly gallery. it was a 3 x 3 room filled with steam. as soon as u enter the room, the visiblilty drops to 10cm. you kinda feel very claustrophobic and u wonder if you should continue walking into it or leave straight away !!! very surreal !
the day nyc turned white ...
(Sunday 2nd December 207 - Day 80)
so florence and i planned to go up new york state to snowboard on this day but at the last minute, her workload escalated, so that tripped was canned. however, that morning when i woke up, it was snowing. woo hoo. the snow came to us. how cool is that ? its definitely something i would remember for life. and its also the first time i saw snow in the city. i was so excited when i woke, i literally rushed out in my pjs ! haha. also it was that moment when no one was awake yet and the snow was powdery and undisturbed. pure gold.
(nyc: pretty in white)
caught the subway to corney island. gawd that place was deserted. i m sure its really busy during summer and the school holidays. still it was worth it coz its also my first time seeing an entire beach covered with snow.
(nyc: white corney island)
the tree and the rock.
rockefella center.
(Monday 3rd December 2007 - Day 81)
ok. after all the hype i heard about this christmas tree, i went to the rock (the american way of saying rockefella) to take a look. oh boy i was disappointed. i was like that tree is tiny. go figure.
(nyc: the so-called rock)
the ny post.
30th st & 8th ave.
was told that that is the only post office that is open 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. now. that is something that works. the ultimate convenience.
i did wanted to post some stuff back becoz my bag was getting quite overloaded. but they dont do sea mail anymore and everything is on priority and it would cost me more to post than the content itself. so i said fuck you all and left.
(nyc: the right way to work)
fast food.
and the winner is .. starbucks ! there are more starbucks than any other fast food chain in nyc. i guess macdonalds is now so 90s. its actually great that they are everywhere becoz thats the place to go when you need to take a leak.
anyway fast food chains are everywhere. u name it, they got it. but i must admit, i am hooked on vanilla filled donuts from dunkin' donuts and i like the taste of wendys. also ... i found white castle !!! woo hoo.
(nyc: fast food galore)
chinatown.
you know you are in chinatown when macdonalds is written in chinese !!!
the soundwalk tour was again a blast.
http://www.soundwalk.com
(Tuesday 13th November - Day 61)
also the cheapest place for food. go to the corner of canal street and center street. this restaurant is on center street. 4 choices with rice and soup - $4.50 ! this place put hunter connection to shame !
(nyc: chinatown - a class of its own !)
little italy is just next to chinatown. if you blink you might miss it. chinatown rules !
east village.
by far my very favorite place to hang in manhattan. most interesting shops and cafes. also the best underground dvd shop is located there - kims underground video @ st. marks pl bet 1st and 2nd ave. i could have taken the entire store home.
here is where i saw a psychic.
(Friday 23th November 2007 - Day 71)
there were psychics everywhere in nyc. out of curiosity, i went to see one. she had the look of a gypsy - exactly like the ones u see on tv. very surreal. her eyes were very piercing. when u looked at her, you would think she was the real thing. but when she gave her readings, i knew she knew nuts. oh well. nyc is afterall one big show.
broadway.
they were on strike the entire time i was there. so i didnt get to watch any. sigh.
greenwich.
lots of restaurants. not my kind of place to hang out. worth taking a look but.
(nyc: east village - one cool place to hang !)
brooklyn.
brooklyn bridge.
(Sunday 2nd December 2007 - Day 80)
catch the subway to dumbo and walk the brooklyn bridge back to manhattan. best time to do it is during sunset. best view walking into manhattan. only problem was when i did it, it was -4C. gawd, i just couldnt take my time. when i reached the middle of the bridge, it was windy and i literally had to run. fuck it was cold.
williamsburg.
here is where i spent most of my time in nyc. i think i visited this place like almost everyday. definitely my favorite place in nyc. great vibe, great food, great cafes, great ppl. great galleries, great everything. simply nice. the people there even dress differently to the ppl in manhattan.
my 2 fav. place: veb cafe and superjore restaurant.
walk west towards manhattan from N7th street and you get to see the view back to manhattan. simply breath taking.
(nyc: will to manhattan from williamsburg)
queens.
(Monday 4th December 2007 - Day 82)
definitely worth taking train no. 7 to queens. very interesting experience. different stops, different cities. you could be in india, korea, mexico etc just by getting off at the right stop. its interesting how the races in nyc leaves in their respective zones and the only time and thing that bring them together is the subway. say if i get off at the mexican stop, i am probably the only non mexican blood there but when i m on the train, i see ppl of every race.
(nyc: queens - the end of train line 7)
the cheynne diner.
corner of W33th st and 9th ave.
the classic american diner look and fill where i go to get my crispy bacon fill. mmm. yum.
(nyc: one cool diner.)
there are so much more to write about but i think i should stop before i get all nostalgic again. it wasnt easy to leave new york. its no consolation but i kept telling myself ... "i am sick of the cold. i need to leave !" on the day that i left, it was snowing and the temperature was -7C. i have never been in a place that cold. ever ! so nyc was definitely an extreme yet one of the greatest experience i ever had.
xxx. j.
dear basil, michelle & susanne,
so, you bostonians ... susanne, u r too right ? well anyway, i took a break from the big apple and went to visit your city. got the chinatown bus 'feng wah' from corner of bowery and canal st for only 15 bucks one way. it went all the way to south station in boston, the same place greyhound stops. and the greyhound buses would cost 49 bucks one way. the chinese sure give good deals worldwide.haha.
i must say boston is a very beautiful city. to my surprise, its nothing like atlanta at all. people here are not fat nor that ugly. what i found that funny was the guys here either look like basil or at least have the same haircut hahaha. everywhere i turn i was like omfg. is that basil hahaha.
again its a beautiful place but coming from NYC, i think i m abit spoiled. it was not as exciting so i ended up chilling quite a bit...
Monday 26th - Thursday 29th November
Day 71 - 74
basil gave me a really good guide to follow. couldn't have done boston any better... so i am going to be lazy and quote him because i cant do it any better ..."
lets start with MIT ...
"The MIT chapel is, in my opinion, the best piece of architecture in Boston. It's by Eero Saarinen. Very compelling piece of modern architecture. However, it is much better in summer than winter, as they have a reflecting pool that surrounds it in summer, providing fantastic light effects. Still worth the trip." 
(boston: massachucetts ave bridge - on the way to MIT)
"While on the MIT campus you could also see buildings by Aalto, Steven Holl, and Frank Gehry (currently going through a major lawsuit)"
(boston: the gehry building)
i must say .. great use of stainless steel ... great photo op.
(boston: the gehry builing - LOOKS GREAT WITH ME !!!)
Harvard.
"Harvard is worth a trip just to see the campus and the community around there. There are also some notable modern architectural pieces there, the Carpenter Center being the most well known - Corbusier's only building in the US. The Moneo building should be finished by now, and there is a Stirling building (post modern) and a couple of others which would be notable but not really considered great buildings."
(boston: fall near harvard - nice !)
(boston: le corbusier's piece)
while i was here i went to a really cool burger joint called mr and mrs bartney. its voted as the burger place by time magazine. and its great. also i got adopted here. i was eating there and there was this really nice old lady sitting in front of me. we got into this really amazing conversation about our lives. there were laughters and there were tears. on not me. i m a guy and i dont cry. so anyway at the end of the conversation, she said she was gonna adopt me as a nephew. haha. and i called her aunty. we are gonna keep in touch and since she dont use the computer, i m gonna write the conventional way. how cool is that !
also i went to a talk by Francisco Mangado( Principal, Mangado y Asociados, S.L., Pamplona, Spain) Left Handed Architecture. seeing that i'll be visiting spain, i thought i should learn abit about spanish architecture.
Back bay.
"Back Bay is the most expensive shopping area in the city. A trip down Newberry street or Commonwealth Ave, or Boylston Street will give you a feel for the place."
(boston: still love them stairs)
(boston: backbay)
"Boston's two tallest buildings, the Hancock building by IM Pei and the Prudential Centre are in this area and have observation decks at the highest levels."
(boston: higher ground)
charles street.
"Charles Street is the main street trough this area, and is worth a walk, but make sure you walk up the hill as well, or down towards the water, to get a feel for the place. There is a good lunch place along Charles Street called Panificio. John Kerry, the former presidential candidate, lives in Beacon Hill. The State House is also here, and is quite a nice building."
(boston: charles st.)
parks.
"Other than this, I would say that the downtown is worth a good walk through. The parks are nice. Both Boston Common and the Gardens. You should be able to go skating at the Frog Pond in the Common, an outdoor ice skating rink. Beacon Hill is right next to this, a small area of large red brick townhouses which is the most expensive area of the city."
the park is ok i guess but was closed for renovation. yes ! a park closed for renovation. go figure.
misc.
"As an aside, if you are looking for additional cites to see, Washington is good for tourist value. You can see the Capitol building and the Mall which has fantastic museums, all free. The art gallery is fantastic. The Air and Space museum is too. So is the Smithsonian. And if you get bored with one, there's another right next door. Georgetown is really good, too. So is Dulles airport, also designed by Saarinen, but it is a little bit outside of the city. The only tip on Washington is, don't get stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time. There are some rough areas there, too."
(boston: misc pix)
"The Institute of Contemporary Art by Diller and Scofidio. It should be worth a trip as well, but I can't say I've ever been there. Boston has a regular Art Gallery as well, which is very good but not as good as the Met in NY. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is also good, and not too far away. It all depends on how much time you have. For a quirky museum, if you're planning to go to MIT anyway, is the MIT museum. It is a quick visit, and they have a fantastic collection of holograms, history of robots, and good time lapse photos. A good place to get in from the rain."
once again .. thank you basil ... you're the best !
xxx. j.
hey friends ...
so, the new sheryl crow could be heaps better but do not fret, the new cathy dennis and guy chambers collaboration (wrote and produced) is a killer track. for those you know anything about the music industry, cathy and guy has collaborated several times before. and who got the honor of recording it ? .... kylie minogue. i care nothing about kylie but the track 'sensitized' on her latest album, X, kick ass !!!! if you should only listen and buy one song from that album it has to be 'sensitized'.
in case you don't already know, cathy dennis was responsible for kylie's success with the hit singles 'can't get you out of my head' and the grammy award winning song 'come into my world'. now if the original demo of 'sensitized' gets leaked, that would be gold. guy chambers was responsible for robbie williams' earlier hits.
i have not heard the rest of the album but its supposed to boast some highly acclaimed industry songwriters/producers like bloodshy and advant and greg kurstin. and who are they ? the last time cathy dennis collaborated with bloodshy and advant, we got the grammy award winning track, 'toxic' performed by britney spears, and the last time cathy dennis collaborated with greg kurstin, we got that ultra cool electronic rock track 'catch you' by sophie ellis baxter.
back to NYC ...
live venues...
banjo jim's.
700 E9th st. at ave C
212.777.0896
subway: L to 1st ave.
3 different singer songwriter with almost similar style performing together.
(saturday, 24 november 2007 - day 69)
otto's shrunken head.
538 E14th st. bet A and B aves.
212.228.2240
subway: L to 1st ave.
(NYC: ottos with psychic drive)
this joint is where i saw the most memorable performances.
firstly ... psychic drive. these people surely knows how to rock.
http://www.myspace.com/psychicdrive (monday, 19 november , day 64)
(NYC: rikke lureduff)
secondly, a fantastically talented danish folk singer performed here on the thanks giving night. such awesome performance which left me wanting more ...
(thursday, 22 november 2007 - day 67)
(NYC: fisherman tikki trio)
fisherman tikki trio
(monday, 3 december 2007 - day 78)
luna lounge.
361 metropolitan ave. at havenmeyer street,
williamsburg, brooklyn
718.384.7112
subway: L to lorimer st, G to metropolitan ave.
(NYC: luna lounge)
this is where florence and i came to watch the finals for the 7th annual brooklyn song-writing competition. we both thought the winner wasn't the best. go figure.
(saturday, 10 november 2007 - day 55)
bowery poetry club.
http://bowerypoetry.com/ 308 bowery street, bet. bleecker and E houston sts. 212.614.0505 subway: B D F V to broadway-lafayette st,
6 to bleecker st.
(NYC: bowery club)
a place of gathering of poetry readers, music performers and anyone who loves rhyming.
here i got to see some women's group poetry readers, screening of an 80's film 'less then zero' which later some 4 bands re-imagined the entire soundtrack to the film.
(sunday, 11 november 2007 - day 56)
(NYC: bowery club again)
also watch some freestyle hip hop, where some hip hoppers wanna-bes come on stage to play freestyle pyramid, rap to a beat on the spot, unrehearsed. it was quite funny when an older women (the next performer) tried to kick them off the stage so that she could set up her band, they got into an argument and later the rap about what a bitch that women was. hehe.
(wednesday, 21 november 2007 - day 66)
nublu - east village club.
64 Ave C bet E4th and E5th sts,
subway: L to 1st ave.
212.979.9965
subway: F V to lower east side- 2nd ave
hip and trendy place for some cool electronic music.
(sunday, 11 november 2007 - day 56)
trash bar.
265 grand st, bet. briggs ave and roebling st.,
williamsburg, brooklyn 718.
599.1000
subway: L to bedford ave.
(NYC: trash bar)
we saw 2 band performed that night, the first was some rock band called 'casual acquaintances' and the second was this fantastically amazing hip hop band called 'the blend'. i am usually not into hip hop but this band totally blew me away. there were only us 3 audiences and they performed as if there were 300,000 people. simply brilliant !
http://www.myspace.com/theblendminneapolis(monday, 12 november 2007 - day 57)
zebulon.
258 wythe st. bet grand st and metropolitan ave.
williamsburg, brooklyn
718.218.6934
subway: L to bedford ave.
pretty cool bar. we went there and saw some guy doing some experimental tunes. not my cup to coffee.
(tuesday, 20 november 2007 - day 65)
pete's candy store.
709 Lorimer st, bet. frost and richardson sts,
williamsburg, brooklyn
718.302.3770
subway: L to lorimer st, G to metropolitan ave.
(NYC: pete's candy store)
definitely one of my favorite spots. nice intimate space, often free acoustic type performances. Arum Rae, Milton + Paleo + The Low Ways Quintet.
(tuesday, 13 november 2007 - day 58)
chris and i had a great time but i cant remember the name of the band.
(sunday, 25 november 2007 - day 70)
clear tigers + al duvait + spanish prisoners
(friday, 30 november 2007 - day 75)goodbye blue monday.
1087 broadway at dodworth st
bushwick, brooklyn
718.413.6343
subway: J to kosciuzzko st.
(NYC: goodbye blue monday)
nice homely trashie bar in brooklyn. very nice atmosphere, very nice crowd. great performances by : cabin + barkuna + Ekra + chet vincent + exit clov
(saturday, 17 november 2007, day 62)
the living room .
154 ludlow st bet rivington and stanston sts.,
212.533.7235
subway: F V to lower east side-2nd ave, F to delancet st,
J M Z to delency-essex sts.
(NYC: amy raasch @ the living room)
fantastic acoustic performance by amy raasch
http://www.myspace.com/amyraasch (monday, 19 novemnber 2007, day 64)
highline ballroom.
431 W16th st bet 9th and 10th ave.
212.414.5994
subway: A C E to 14th st, L to 8th ave.
(NYC: paradise lost ... urgh ! bang your heads)
eugene and i went to check out a metal band called 'paradise lost'. i thought it was a disappointment becoz the lead singer sucks. it felt as if he didn't wanna be there. the crowd was a gag though.
(monday, 19 november , day 64)
MORE TO COME : TO BE CONTINUED ...
xxx. j.
dear jxe.
so this one is for me. yes me. coz i deserve this after 3 months of writing to others and i can.so, i am a new yorker now. and i heart NY. i am gonna change the structure of my post. since this post is for me, i am going to give it back to others by providing my personal guide to others from this NEW new yorker.
there is so much to write about NYC and i have done so much. so i will be breaking the post into a few parts and will progressively upload them when i have the time.
but before that .. just alittle bit more about atlanta. when i arrived at the airport in the morning, there were no power. can u fucking believe that ? so my flight was delayed for almost an hour. its atlanta's way of tormenting me. anyway, all was good when the plane got off the ground.
FIRST THANG: GET A TIME OUT MAGAZINE !its a magazine that list every interesting event in NYC, starting from thursday to the following wednesday. it cost only 3 bucks. lots of tips and free listing.
Proudest moment :
so i arrived at la guardia airport. caught the local bus M60 all the way to the hotel. only cost me $2 ! gawd i m soooooo proud of me !
(sydney: no its bloody NYC !)
welcome to nyc. first thing i saw was the sydney harbor bridge. wait a minute. in nyc ? ok who copied who ? its the exact replica. just like i saw the white house in atlanta. some idiot built his house to look exactly like the white house in d.c. so really, you don't have to go to d.c. to see the white house. but then again. go to d.c. cross atlanta off the world map.
was bloody cold and was raining. did a power walk from chinatown through time square right up to central park south ! ended the day by going to florence's colleague's house party. very nice pad in the middle of manhattan. (friday 9th November, day 57)
time square.
(NYC: time square by night)
as soon as i walked to time square, it was dark. i was blown away by the big giant projection screen. its like a theme park minus the rides. what a feeling. they literally wrapped screen onto building facades and cut out holes for the window openings.
(friday 9th November, day 57)broadway.
ok. unlucky me. the day i arrived, broadway was on strike. 90% of the productions are cancelled. fuck fuck fuck.
nyc at a glance ...
skyscrapers.
(NYC: bricks galore)amazingly tall and massive skyscrappers made out of bricks. fucking awesome. they are not those insipid 3 stories walk-up apartments u see in sydney. eventhough i m guilty in living in on. haha.water tanks.
(NYC: no shortage of water supply)
love the water tanks you see up on every building. its almost iconic. i wonder wheres how it would look to have these tanks up the empire state building ?
firestairs.
(NYC: ride the stairs)
exactly like what you see in the movies except, they are everywhere. added to one of my list of things to do. climb one !!!
the fat green chick.
(NYC: staten island ferry ride - FREE)
wanna see the statue of liberty on a free ferry ride ?
take the subway line 1 to south ferry.NOTE: make sure you are in the 1st 5 car or the doors will not open.
once you arrive, go up the stairs into the ferry terminal and on to the ferry and off you go.
(monday 12th November, day 60)
central park
(NYC: central park .. boring !)
went to central park. got so fucking bored and left after 5 minutes. dont bother wasting your time exploring.
(monday 12th November, day 60)
went back after the macy's thanksgiving parade and had lunch with my new buddies. that was whole lot nice. still the place is boring.(thursday 22th November, day 70)
prospect park, brooklyn
(NYC: prospect park .. black or white !)
apparently the northern side of the park is fully black and the southern part of the park is fully white. you would think at this point in time, america would be a fully integrated society but no. we got off on the northern side of the park and whoa.. we were the only lighter color ones in town.
(tuesday 20th November, day - 68)
thanksgiving - macy's parade.
(NYC: macy and asses !)
got up at 7.30 to catch the parade. loads of people everywhere. apparently people started queuing up from 3.30am. idiots ! i got to see kermit's ass because most of the time i was blocked by this guy with a size 40 ass !!!
(thursday 22th November, day 70)
black friday
(NYC: people and shopping bags !)
the day after thanksgiving was major discount day. literally everyone is out shopping. some people camp overnight outside the store just so they could get those ridiculous deals. go figure.
(friday 23th November, day 71)
barcelona bar.
http://www.barcelonabarnyc.com/
923 8th Avenye (between W54th and W55th st)
new york, ny 10019 212.245.3212
subway: A, C, 1, B, D to columbus circle
(NYC: barcelona bar - completely trashed)
the one bar i went for a drink, the one night i got trashed. the place is famous for their shots.
highly recommended: full metal jacket & harry potter. and ask for linsay !(wednesday 14th November, day 62)TO BE CONTINUED ... xxx. j.
