JJBhoy Returns To New York!!
Nov 4th, 2006, 01:30 AM
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JJBhoy Returns To New York!!
Back in March 2006 I visited New York City with my wife, Liz, her brother Eddie & her sister, Anne Marie. We’re from Glasgow in the west of Scotland but rather than spend more time introducing ourselves here’s a link to my report of that visit – if you read it you’ll find out everything you need to know about us, plus plenty more that you don’t. You’ll also see that my report writing style is not exactly brief & concise so if you’re the type who likes their reports to be short & snappy it’s probably best that you look elsewhere.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34778469
The bottom line is that, like Victor Kiam & Remington, we liked NYC so much we bought the Company – or, at least, we decided to revisit as soon as possible (hmmm…not sure if that metaphor worked. Oh well – too late now).
This time round, however, we took my two teenage sons along with us too. I’d like to think that the stories of our March visit had entranced the boys so much that they decided they simply had to come & sample the delights of what NYC had to offer. It’s probably closer to the truth, however, to say that they were so sick of hearing us droning on & on about it that they thought they might as well shut us up by seeing for themselves what all the fuss was about. Perhaps more importantly, they probably figured it would allow them to indulge in their favourite pastime – spending Mum & Dad’s money.
It might help to briefly describe the boys to you;
Paul: 18 years old (actually turned 19 since we returned). Good looking and knows it. Main concern in life is making sure that his hair is right & that everyone knows how expensive his clothes are – labels must be sparkling clean & on display for the world to see. If he saw the same item of clothing in two different stores at different prices he would buy the more expensive of the two – well, it’s bound to be better, isn’t it? After had a hard year lying in front the fire watching daytime TV he started working in a bank just the week before our trip.
Christopher: 15 years old (but will be 16 next week). Red hair & freckles. Everyone calls him Diff because when he was small that was how he said his name. Extremely resourceful & will either be a millionaire or in jail by the time he’s 25 – possibly both. “Things” just sort of happen when he’s around. Not necessarily bad “things”, you understand, just, well….“things”. For example, a few years ago when Liz, Anne Marie & the boys were visiting relatives in Toronto (I wasn’t able to go) they had arranged to spend a couple of days at Niagara. Liz had phoned to let me know that they had arrived in Niagara safe & sound & that evening I was sitting happily at home in a nice quiet house having dinner & watching the TV news when it was announced that a man had gone over the Falls earlier that day (and had amazingly lived to tell the tale). I could barely watch for fear that they were about to broadcast amateur video footage which would clearly show a perfectly innocent guy taking just one step towards the edge for a closer look only to receive a quick dunt in the back from a small red haired & befreckled child. As it turned out it appears that the guy made the jump without Diff’s help (or so he says, anyway).
If you want another example remind me to tell you the story about how he got us blacklisted on e-bay when he bid £250,000 for a boat & then, unaccountably, couldn’t quite come up with the cash when he won the bid ( I mean, his pocket money is generous, but not THAT generous). Incidentally, if anyone reading this would like to buy a boat get in touch with me at the usual address. I can do you a good deal – say somewhere around £249999?
We chose mid October for our visit because it coincided with Diff’s school holiday week and as it happened, it also meant that we would be in NYC for my birthday. Not that anybody was remotely interested in that. Previous readers may recall that Liz & Eddie are not the most adventurous of travellers & when I was organising the trip their prime concern was that we did NOT, under any circumstances, fly out on Friday the 13th.
A wee cautionary tale; Back in July I had found a great deal flying direct from Edinburgh to Newark with Continental at £290 & so we all agreed that, yes, we would go for it. Eddie was the only one whose credit card could take the hit of 6 flights & so it was decided that he would come round to ours one night to make the booking online. On the night, however, there was something good on TV and so we postponed our plans for 24 hours. You’ve probably already guessed where I’m going here. When we logged in to make the booking the price had shot up to over £400.
As it happened we ended up flying with American Airlines via Heathrow at £370 each. Not a bad deal but when you consider that we could have had a direct flight at £80 a head cheaper, the moral of the story is clear – if you find a good deal that suits your plans, jump on it. It probably won’t be around for long.
Oh dear – almost 1000 words in & we haven’t even left home yet. Maybe in the next instalment….
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34778469
The bottom line is that, like Victor Kiam & Remington, we liked NYC so much we bought the Company – or, at least, we decided to revisit as soon as possible (hmmm…not sure if that metaphor worked. Oh well – too late now).
This time round, however, we took my two teenage sons along with us too. I’d like to think that the stories of our March visit had entranced the boys so much that they decided they simply had to come & sample the delights of what NYC had to offer. It’s probably closer to the truth, however, to say that they were so sick of hearing us droning on & on about it that they thought they might as well shut us up by seeing for themselves what all the fuss was about. Perhaps more importantly, they probably figured it would allow them to indulge in their favourite pastime – spending Mum & Dad’s money.
It might help to briefly describe the boys to you;
Paul: 18 years old (actually turned 19 since we returned). Good looking and knows it. Main concern in life is making sure that his hair is right & that everyone knows how expensive his clothes are – labels must be sparkling clean & on display for the world to see. If he saw the same item of clothing in two different stores at different prices he would buy the more expensive of the two – well, it’s bound to be better, isn’t it? After had a hard year lying in front the fire watching daytime TV he started working in a bank just the week before our trip.
Christopher: 15 years old (but will be 16 next week). Red hair & freckles. Everyone calls him Diff because when he was small that was how he said his name. Extremely resourceful & will either be a millionaire or in jail by the time he’s 25 – possibly both. “Things” just sort of happen when he’s around. Not necessarily bad “things”, you understand, just, well….“things”. For example, a few years ago when Liz, Anne Marie & the boys were visiting relatives in Toronto (I wasn’t able to go) they had arranged to spend a couple of days at Niagara. Liz had phoned to let me know that they had arrived in Niagara safe & sound & that evening I was sitting happily at home in a nice quiet house having dinner & watching the TV news when it was announced that a man had gone over the Falls earlier that day (and had amazingly lived to tell the tale). I could barely watch for fear that they were about to broadcast amateur video footage which would clearly show a perfectly innocent guy taking just one step towards the edge for a closer look only to receive a quick dunt in the back from a small red haired & befreckled child. As it turned out it appears that the guy made the jump without Diff’s help (or so he says, anyway).
If you want another example remind me to tell you the story about how he got us blacklisted on e-bay when he bid £250,000 for a boat & then, unaccountably, couldn’t quite come up with the cash when he won the bid ( I mean, his pocket money is generous, but not THAT generous). Incidentally, if anyone reading this would like to buy a boat get in touch with me at the usual address. I can do you a good deal – say somewhere around £249999?
We chose mid October for our visit because it coincided with Diff’s school holiday week and as it happened, it also meant that we would be in NYC for my birthday. Not that anybody was remotely interested in that. Previous readers may recall that Liz & Eddie are not the most adventurous of travellers & when I was organising the trip their prime concern was that we did NOT, under any circumstances, fly out on Friday the 13th.
A wee cautionary tale; Back in July I had found a great deal flying direct from Edinburgh to Newark with Continental at £290 & so we all agreed that, yes, we would go for it. Eddie was the only one whose credit card could take the hit of 6 flights & so it was decided that he would come round to ours one night to make the booking online. On the night, however, there was something good on TV and so we postponed our plans for 24 hours. You’ve probably already guessed where I’m going here. When we logged in to make the booking the price had shot up to over £400.
As it happened we ended up flying with American Airlines via Heathrow at £370 each. Not a bad deal but when you consider that we could have had a direct flight at £80 a head cheaper, the moral of the story is clear – if you find a good deal that suits your plans, jump on it. It probably won’t be around for long.
Oh dear – almost 1000 words in & we haven’t even left home yet. Maybe in the next instalment….
Nov 5th, 2006, 07:26 PM
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Your reports are so much fun to read. Please post more! I will be in NYC to celebrate my daughter's 16th b-day and my husbands in 2weeks. Please let us know what you did on your vacation with the boys.
Leigh
Leigh
Cindy
Nov 6th, 2006, 05:30 PM
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Our internal UK flights were provided by British Airways as one of American Airlines codeshare partners & the flight from Glasgow to London Heathrow passed by uneventfully. Although I have flown to Heathrow on several occasions this was the first time I had connected through there & it was not a particularly enjoyable experience. We walked so far just get to the bus connection from T1 to T3 that I half expected to turn a corner & find myself back in Glasgow again. The Flight Connection Centre proved to be a bit of a zoo but I guess the increased security measures can only be viewed as a necessary evil.
When we eventually got to T4 and found the AA gate there was quite a commotion going on. On the way there I had noticed a fellow traveller who was getting quite a bit of attention as he made his way to the gate in front of us. People were pointing at him as he passed but I just put this down to his rather outlandish appearance. He was wearing a white leather jacket which was designed like a deck of cards (he had a pretty good hand across his shoulders although I think I would have folded with what he had on his left arm) & a pair of red jogging trousers which were so baggy & voluminous that he could have accommodated the entire string section of the London Philarmonic Orchestra complete with instruments. Believe me, these trousers were so baggy that they made MC Hammer’s look like a skintight leotard.
The most remarkable thing about this gentleman’s appearance wasn’t his jacket, however, nor was it his trousers. It wasn’t even his shock of thick black hair which looked for all the world as though as though someone had just run 10000 volts through him. No, the thing which struck me most about this guy was that he was wearing a clock on a cord around his neck. And I don’t mean a small discreet timepiece – I mean a proper clock about the size of a small inner plate.
When we got to the actual gate itself, however, it became clear that the other passengers (or at least the Americans amongst them) were interested in this man because of who he was rather than how he looked. The younger passengers in particular seemed excited to see him & several of them took pictures on their cellphones. I was dying to know who he was but I also knew that if the curiosity was killing me this would be only a minor discomfort, a mere fleabite, compared to how Liz would be feeling. The idea that someone famous was around & she had NO idea who he was would be simply unbearable for her & I knew that if I waited long enough she would eventually crack. Sure enough, although she tried to maintain some degree of disinterested composure it wasn’t long (6.8 seconds to be exact – her personal best) before she dropped the cool façade & begged another passenger to tell her what was going on.
It turned out that our flamboyant fellow passenger was Flavor Flav of the hip hop group Public Enemy & those in the know will be aware that the clock round his neck is his “signature”. He seemed very friendly, posed happily for photos & looked genuinely interested in meeting his fans.
Although our plane was boarded well on time we seemed to wait an age to get clearance for take-off & we were already almost an hour behind schedule by the time we got airborne.
The flight itself was very enjoyable & although we were still behind schedule when we arrived at JFK we were very impressed by American Airlines.
All that was to change when we got into the terminal, however….
Jim
When we eventually got to T4 and found the AA gate there was quite a commotion going on. On the way there I had noticed a fellow traveller who was getting quite a bit of attention as he made his way to the gate in front of us. People were pointing at him as he passed but I just put this down to his rather outlandish appearance. He was wearing a white leather jacket which was designed like a deck of cards (he had a pretty good hand across his shoulders although I think I would have folded with what he had on his left arm) & a pair of red jogging trousers which were so baggy & voluminous that he could have accommodated the entire string section of the London Philarmonic Orchestra complete with instruments. Believe me, these trousers were so baggy that they made MC Hammer’s look like a skintight leotard.
The most remarkable thing about this gentleman’s appearance wasn’t his jacket, however, nor was it his trousers. It wasn’t even his shock of thick black hair which looked for all the world as though as though someone had just run 10000 volts through him. No, the thing which struck me most about this guy was that he was wearing a clock on a cord around his neck. And I don’t mean a small discreet timepiece – I mean a proper clock about the size of a small inner plate.
When we got to the actual gate itself, however, it became clear that the other passengers (or at least the Americans amongst them) were interested in this man because of who he was rather than how he looked. The younger passengers in particular seemed excited to see him & several of them took pictures on their cellphones. I was dying to know who he was but I also knew that if the curiosity was killing me this would be only a minor discomfort, a mere fleabite, compared to how Liz would be feeling. The idea that someone famous was around & she had NO idea who he was would be simply unbearable for her & I knew that if I waited long enough she would eventually crack. Sure enough, although she tried to maintain some degree of disinterested composure it wasn’t long (6.8 seconds to be exact – her personal best) before she dropped the cool façade & begged another passenger to tell her what was going on.
It turned out that our flamboyant fellow passenger was Flavor Flav of the hip hop group Public Enemy & those in the know will be aware that the clock round his neck is his “signature”. He seemed very friendly, posed happily for photos & looked genuinely interested in meeting his fans.
Although our plane was boarded well on time we seemed to wait an age to get clearance for take-off & we were already almost an hour behind schedule by the time we got airborne.
The flight itself was very enjoyable & although we were still behind schedule when we arrived at JFK we were very impressed by American Airlines.
All that was to change when we got into the terminal, however….
Jim
