Eyeing the Apple

This may come as a surprise but I'm not referring to my slavering over various Macs. Anyway I'm sitting in front of the computer feeling mostly awake, while my hosts have gone for a nap. Uncle Soon Guan thinks he and Aunty Lay Cheng are the ones jet-lagged, not me! :P

Anyway, we just came back from a walk around Brooklyn Heights, a few of the shops, the Promenade, Cadman Plaza Park... but I should start in real chronological order if I'm delivering first impressions.

On the plane, my transit at Frankfurt airport was rather boring. I said a few words in German but most of the staff immediately spoke to me in English making it awkward to practice my German, not that there was much to say. This is irrelevant, except for the fact that I hadn't quite yet realised where I was. It wasn't till the 'myflight' projector showed Greenland, London and New York on the map that it occurred to me that I'm farther away from home than I've ever been.

The first thing I got to see having reached the USA was clouds. Yes, we were over the country but 4000m up there ain't much to see. It wasn't till we were about to land that I saw anything... only it wasn't land, it was sea. Oh joy. The sea's a beautiful thing but it's the same everywhere. But I didn't have to wait too long, the plane went low and I finally saw buildings. And haze. *sniff*

I've already related my airport travails so I won't repeat them. I usually like exiting airports in temperate countries because the drier, cooler air hits you in a wonderful way. It didn't happen. Today was hot, though overcast, and humid. Thunderstorms forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Whoop-de-doo. I come all the way across the world to seek a change of climate and what do I get? Familiar haze and air. Ah well, Billsville will be mighty different.

On the drive home I realised I'd idealised the trees and plants a little. Expected more green but the greens and browns I saw were very much reminiscent of home. Again. But, when I heard something on the radio I almost laughed. Dietary supplement ad preceded by a disclaimer from the FDA. The ad was something about how "NT factor is the only product that can keep you young and vital by maintaining your cell membranes." Spin, spin, spin.

First food eaten in America: Mee goreng. LOL. In the car my hosts decided to get takeout Malaysian food. I can't get away can I? It was decent though. The walk was good. Got to see the Statue of Liberty, the lack of WTC, the Empire State Building (OK that was from the car), Brooklyn Bridge and the new courthouse. Various foodstuffs bought, including lemonade, potato bread, Haagen Dazs and peaches. Many stops were accompanied by "what do you want?" Typical treatment of guests. I thought we were supposed to take it easy!! :D

And so here I am back at the computer. The sun came out hotter than before towards the end of the walk. May as well say a few more things about the flight. Saw Sin City (violent as hell but good. Very noir. Didn't realise Elijah Wood had it in him to be so darn creepy.) and Kingdom of Heaven (Saladin was great, the King was great, Balian turned out to be such an anti-hero for me. I hate him. I think he's the most arrogant bastard alive. Never mind) and the rest were less consequential. I didn't get hung up on one person, thought about lots of people. Just am feeling sleepier now than when I started. Shouldn't write about people when sleepy. Could end up very weird. Anyway, failed to sleep with less-than-disastrous results, reread a small amount of Feynman. Played Tangrams for a couple of minutes at the end of the flight after I kept my books and they took back the headsets. That's about it. I think I may actually snooze a bit. Toodles.