New York or 18th to 25th November

And so after packing our less than 100mls of liquids into a 20cm x 20cm CLEAR ZIP-LOCK BAG and going through a huge bunch of unnecessary and stupid security procedures we arrived in the land of the free!

To meet us was a big american flag and a line of fellow passengers going through customs. After getting our turn in front of the very serious and bored looking customs person we were fingerprinted and photographed - a first in my life... very exciting. Especially considering the fact that my fingers happened to have very faint prints, so after pushing on my fingers harder and harder, the said security guy said "Rub the finger against your forehead!" to which my natural reaction was "Why?" which was followed by another natural reaction of "Maam, place your finger on your forehead and rub it!". Seeing as I wasn't getting an explanation, I rubbed my finger and then it scanned - finally we could see the amazing land of compulsory tipping and Krispy Kreams.

To get to our hotel in downtown we caught a hotel shuttle bus and while driving out of JFK experienced our next encounter with american law enforcement. A handcuffed guy was accompanied to a police vehicle by two officers - not something you see every day in peaceful Berlin. To give an idea of traffic getting to downtown Manhattan - it took us close to three hours... but I s'pose it was a saturday afternoon. The shuttle driver was everything you expect - yelling "Go! Go! Go!" to the cars in front and pushing in wherever and whenever possible. Also while on our drive we came accross our first fat american - one of the ones made famous by our following photo series entitled "Fat Americans".



Arriving to our hotel and finding out that it is in fact the biggest and most expensive ($100USD a night) hole we've ever stayed in, we had a delicious dinner at a mexican place where they prepared Guacamole (sp?) right by the side of your table - making it the freshest one we've ever tasted.

Following is a quick breakdown of (+)positives and (-)negatives in America:

+ New York subway: it is efficient, fast and runs even at nights.
+ Food: it's like Melbourne; you can get anything, anytime and unless you go somewhere very special it is pretty affordable and tasty
+ Busyness: the city is like a giant beesnest and that is kind of nice - it makes it so impersonal that it makes you feel at home.

- Homeless people: they're everywhere, making the place seem poor and dirty; as well as make you wonder about the state of the social welfare system
- Incredibly expensive hotels, which are not actually any good
- Expensive alcohol: a glass of beer is $6,50 USD
very BIG minus - Compulsory tipping: GURRRR, can't stand it
- Wherever you go, everywhere you hear that something or rather is "something or rather (eg. taller, longer, bigger, better, smellier, etc. etc.) in the world"

Something from an advertisiment in the subway from a guy named Creflo A.Dollar:
"* are you hungry for gods help?
* thirsty for his presence?
* eager for success in every aspect of your life.?"

Oh yeah, another note on security procedures in the airport prior to our flight to LA... before security point the toilet paper in the toilets is only one (1) layer... but after security you get two (2)... I s'pose it's to help you catch all those extra liquids that you took through the checkpoint *boom boom*

And now some photos (in no particular order):







and of course no post would be complete without .... baby turtles!!!