Such a nice town.

We were only here for 2 nights, but the weather was amazing. Streets bathed in bright sunlight and wrapped in a winter chill. There was no time to visit Pixar, Apple or Alcatraz, but it was a great bookend to the America trip.

(April, 2011)

New York is America to me.

Growing up it was hard to ignore this city as we were pampered with its imagery and tales through our favourite films, TV shows and the endless list of ‘New York’ brands.

Upon landing in the concrete jungle you immediately feel its culture, modern history and its status as a remarkable melting pot of nationalities. In the end though I was a tad disappointed for not indulging in more of the ‘New Yawker’ type things like: riding the subway, eating in a diner and getting a haircut in Queens. But one place we happily stumbled upon and has ignited my passion for frozen yoghurt was a delightful little hang out called Pink Berry.

One thought that’s constantly been on my mind since this leg of the trip is an obvious observation: the vibe and soul of a place can be heightened through lenses.

(April 2011)

Photo by Phil.

Laying poolside with long islands in hand, delicious mini-burgers awaiting to be engulfed after hours of getting lost in clubs, and the fake-ness of the town that radiates an endearing charm—what’s not to like?

(April, 2011)

Original photo by Phil

Wylie Dufresne showed us where the magic happens at his restaurant wd~50, New York.

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Phil’s review

I cut Social Media from my life cold turkey for 30+ days.

You see, I used to check Facebook and Twitter at least 20 times a day. Half the time I’d open up the page and close it in a flash if there was no hint of red indicating a notification. Whenever I was out and there was a small pocket of free time I’d jump on the good ‘ol smartphone and check up on who’s been where, who’s been doing what, or who and who have just broken up.

“WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU QUIT?!” I hear the Facebook addicts scream. Look, I just wanted to go back to a simpler time when semi-useful distractions like Facebook and Twitter weren’t around, okay? I knew the risks: my Facebook inbox would pile up with unanswered messages; randoms on my Facebook would start questioning “What happened to that guy who posted random useless links?”; and event organisers would have their plans foiled because I left invitations un-RSVP’ed. I knew the risks alright. But since I live life on the edge, I seized the day and didn’t look back…

… for 30 days.

After a few days into it I realised the problem wasn’t really Facebook and Twitter all, but my undying need to constantly ‘check’. To quench my thirst for checking I turned to other social apps like Instagram and Foursquare—apps that I soon avoided too. Oh and no, there’s not much to do on Foursquare, but you can start stealing Mayorships from your friends, as well as making up places and becoming mayors of those, like The Batcave.

Some observations:

• On the first Saturday everyone was busy so I was home alone and without Facebook and Twitter, it was the most boring and loneliest night of my life lolz
• … and out of the boredom, I was acquainted with 9 Korean girls lolz
• Deleting all Social Media apps is easy. It’s having them on your phone with notifications incrementing, and having the iron will to watch and ignore them separates the men from the boys. And like a hunk of a man that I am, I eyed the notifications badge every so often and laughed at it.
• Head felt clearer—cleansed even. No longer disrupted by quick glances at notifications.
• Without Facebook taking up to an hour of my life every week-night, I filled it with productive activities like catching up with ‘The Office’ and this ancient analogue thing called… ‘reading’.
• Social Media is how the youngsters communicate these days, so giving it up entirely may be difficult. I mean, I have to resort to emailing my friends again?
• The net of friends I communicated with became very small without Facebook and Twitter, but with those I still communicated with, conversations were deeper, focused and more enjoyable.
• No longer received news as-it-happened on Twitter—can’t decide if this is better or worse though.
• Read more RSS feeds about my favourite topics: movies, digital and consumer technology

Overall, life was just a bit boring without Social Media. It’s like eating a chocolate sundae without the nuts. It’s good on it’s own, but add some nuts and it becomes superb (unless you’re allergic).

Cowboy costume for a party back in February. Fun night ; )

—

Original photos by Phil

Game of Thrones is the most engrossing television show since the incredible Mad Men.

It’s superbly written, the cast and characters are terrific, and the production value exceeds any other medieval/fantasy-based show like, um, Spartacus and Merlin. But hey, Game of Thrones has large amounts of metaphorical chests of gold catapulted at it from HBO.

The inhabitants in this world live where seasons last for decades. Empires prosper during the everlasting summers and kingdoms are frozen over with darkness during the eternal winters. To block out creepy winter-thriving monsters they have a mammoth 700 ft stone wall stretching the whole width of the continent. It’s hinted that things go ape-shit during this time because the characters tremble in fear whenever one of them dramatically utters, “Winter is coming”.

The show is so good that after introducing it to a mate of mine, he went on a sleep-deprived quest and scorched through all the available episodes in 2 days. Talk about addiction…

One critic described Game of Thrones as “The Sopranos in Middle Earth”. Except I’ve never seen The Sopranos (don’t hate me) but we all know it’s critically acclaimed and immensely popular—so it must be good. And there’s nothing too magical or anything elf-like in the show either. But there is a clever, charming yet cunning dwarf though.

And he’s my favourite of them all.

Quay’s Snow Egg is to say the least, incredible.

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Photo by Phil. Phil’s dinner photos and Quay review.

February 11-13, 2011