Going to New York Without a Laptop

In about fifteen minutes I’m hopping on a plane to New York. Without a laptop. Yeah! Time for some REAL adventures. Edial Dekker and I didn’t book a hotel or anything, we’ll just see what happens. I’m blogging the whole experience in this post. Without a laptop, yet with an iPhone.

I wanna wake up in a city….

Retrospect

Nov 3rd: So, the vacation has ended. Here are the stories I’ve blogged:

• The discovery of a great band
• Back to a sober yet pumpkin spiced life
• New York doesn’t allow you to relax
• Postmodern tourism
• How Edial got himself a NYC date
• Let’s talk about sex, and newspapers, baby
• Tattoo your mouth
• Halloween in the dirtiest hotel of the USA
• Snap shots

Oct 22, 09:57: This is a test post from the train. Almost missed the train, which is always good sign when traveling. It means adventure is on its way. You think I’m kidding? Watch The Darjeerling Limited to see what I mean.

The discovery of a great band

Oct 23, 06:29: Freaking jetlag. After fifteen hours of traveling, checking six hotels across Manhattan for a room, having drinks and singing with the pianoman at old speakeasy Bill’s Gay Nineties (54th, Park Av), beers and bands at The Suffolk (Suffolk & Rivington), two dollar beer from a can in Welcome to the Johnsons and lounging in the lobby of The Rivington – after a 30 hr day -, I’m still awake at this point. So yes, that’s when the blogging comes in. At your service. We’ve seen one of the most upcoming bands by accident: Surfer Blood (see video), our armpits were sniffed by a Spanish t-shirtdesigner and we’ve got a ridiculously expensive suite. I guess that only means one thing: welcome to New York.

Back to a sober yet pumpkin spiced life

Oct 23, 15:48): Quick update from the overcrowded yet beautiful Apple Store on Fifth Avenue. No luxurious lifestyle for Edial and me the coming four days. We said goodbye to the suite and hi to a hostel on 118th street. And we’re sharing the room with eight other people. Oh well, it’s probably the kind of traveling we’ll miss in a few years. No crazy stuff happened today, although we did meet some people who fish in the Hudson to feed their families. And Edial drank pumpkin spiced coffee this morning. Other than that, just the regular tourist stuff. I won’t bore you with that and make it up tonight. In the crazy nightlife of the Lower East Side (120 blocks from our hostel). Oh and for a great lunch in Soho, check Bread.

New York doesn’t allow you to relax

Oct 23rd 17:29: So while Edial is fixing some stuff for his company back in Berlin, I’d like to share a thought about NYC. I remember when I got here in January 2007 for my internship at the UN, I had a couple of days reserved for leisure. Man, those days sucked. I came to NY to live there and suddenly I was some sort of tourist. NY doesn’t allow you to relax. She wants you to participate. To work. To have coffee meetings and lunches. To walk fast. To hold cabs. To have take out food. Nights out with friends. NY doesn’t want you to just wander around. Just work. That’s the most efficient way of getting to know the city.

I’m thinking about that while strolling the streets with Edial. We can’t just walk around. We need action.

Postmodern tourism

Oct 26 (11:32): Having a BBQ with live music, weird people, a homeless ‘Nam veteran offering you a bite from his hotdog and a couple of Budweisers is a great way of spending the Sunday afternoon. Especially when that BBQ is taking place on Coney Island. Finishing the Sunday with a pre-Halloween party (pumpking carving) in a girls-only dorm of Bernard University is also something I’d recommend.

It’s kinda weird though, having a BBQ with raging alcoholics, hobos, and some Keith Richards look a likes. In a derelict themepark. The whole situation was so messed up that it became beautiful. As if we were in movie. There was even that one pretty girl – that everyone liked. Postmodern tourism?

(This situation still makes me laugh: on the 1 train, in Harlem. A middle aged man sings along with his iPod for ten seconds, than sort of wakes up and starts apologizing.)

How Edial got himself a NYC date

Oct 27 (15:07): As Edial and I are running down the stairs, we realize that we’re gonna miss our train. We don’t want to be late for our movie, so we’re descending so fast that it almost becomes life threatening. And useless, since it’s a mission impossible. Then, out of nowhere, two indie girls emerge. One looks willing to sacrifice an arm for getting the subway, as she holds it between the closing doors. With success. The doors open again. As we get in, the girl realizes she lost her ring during her heroic action. ,,I’m such a dick”, she shouts – with a British accent. Another traveler points at the door, saying – with a Spanish accent -, ,,your ring’s right there.” It shimmers between the rubber doors. The girl gets her ring back with a key, ignoring an angry MTA employee. Edial and I get out at West 4th street, still impressed by the scene we just witnessed. Then, as we’re about to get on the A train, one of the two girls – not the British one – makes her way to Edial. She hands him a note with her number on it – ,,for whenever he’d like to get some coffee.” ,,What the fuck, dude”, Edial exclaims – the gentleman.

That was Sunday. Now it’s Monday evening. We’re having PBR for 2 dollars in our favorite bar, Welcome to the Johnsons. Edial texted the girl a little earlier that day. Her name is Berit, yet she still accuses Edial of having a rather uncommon name. After an awkward phone call, Edial choses for the ‘fuck it’-strategy. He sends her text, inviting her to come to the Lower East Side. She doesn’t reply. Of course. Edial is pretty, sure. But it’s 11pm on a Monday night and the girl lives in Brooklyn. We continue our talks about the Velvet Underground, girls, Talking Heads, girls, and even write our own song.., about girls. Then, out of the blue, the girl emerges. SHE GOT ON THE TRAIN! I know my job, I leave. Edial got himself a NYC date. Oh what a night.

Let’s talk about sex, and newspapers, baby

Oct 28 (09:50): Last night, Edial and I had a discussion about the future of newspapers and online news. Again. We agree on a lot of points, yet there are two differences. Edial wants everything open. And I accuse Edial and the likes of not adding value to news. Luckily, we had a great discussion partner last night: Freek Staps, US correspondent for NRC Handelsblad & nrc.next. I’m afraid he was expecting to just have a beer with a colleague, yet the whole night became a succession of thought experiments. From whether you can compliment a girl with her eyes (without looking like a guy who wants to get laid) to why it feels so good to have a story in an actual newspaper (note: paper). Earlier that day I had that newspaper discussion with Robert Kloos, whose the head of the culture division of the Dutch consulate. Oh and yeah, I introduced Edial to the lovely UN ladies over dinner. All they wanted to talk about was sex. And that is, I’ve learned from a specific tv series, a very New York thing to do.

Tattoo your mouth

Oct 29 (13:37): Let’s start with some good old trendwatching. That’s exactly what Edial and I did yesterday, and something struck us as peculiar: tattoos in your mouth. It’s sort of cool, since you can decide who sees it. Yet it loses a lot of the coolness when you choose for the text: ‘I’m rat’ – like one of the girls we met yesterday did.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s focus on last nights tactics: making compliments. Freek Staps told us it’s the next big thing, so why not giving it a go in Brooklyn? We told a subway pickup artist that he had a great coat – same as mine – (for which he later thanked us via email with Love, Peace and Power). We told a Sienna Miller lookalike that she looked French – and she actually took that as a compliment (then she started asking questions about our lives, and we could only say ‘yes’ and smile. Which was weird, especially since her last question concerned whether we were square or not). The bartender had a great shirt, a great bar and really great beer. A homeless person with an Amsterdam hat, had a great hat, and ‘the girl who was rat’ had a great music collection on her iPod. How about that for giving compliments? It gave us an email from the subway artist, curses from the homeless guy, the discovery of a new trend and two heavenly minutes with Sienna Miller. Who thinks we’re gay.

Halloween in the dirtiest hotel of the USA

Looking back on Nov 3rd: Ok, so at some point Wordpress couldn’t handle the mobile blogging anymore and it crashed. So that was about if for my blogging adventures in New York. Anyhow, the last couple of days were too hectic to blog anyway. We found some Italian friends in Williamsburg, rode the subway with morning commuters – while under the influence and smelly from a night’s out -, visited gorgeous exhibitions – from Kandinsky to Rock Photography -, had a light saber fight, stayed in the dirtiest hotel of the USA (seriously!) and penetrated the security to join the Halloween parade. The last thing made us feel like rock stars. We were dressed as Jokers, carried machine guns and scared everybody by shouting ‘why so serious’ in their cameras. Many pictures were made that night, we’ve found some back on Flickr. Later that night, we joined an illegal Caribbean parade and a rooftop party in Williamsburg.

It was a blast, a wild ride. NYC had swallowed us up and spit us out on JFK Airport. We’ve just hit the streets every night, knowing it would lead to an adventure and weird encounters. From the eleven nights, it happened ten times. We’re both dog tired now. New York we love you, but you’re bringing us down.

Snap shots

Here are some photos I’ve made with my iPhone.

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