A New York Birthday (and the curse of the free pour)

We lived it up this year!   It was more like a birth-month than a birth-day – I was very spoilt as the parcels from home started arriving a week before the big day.  Thank you to everyone who sent something, it was much appreciated and made me feel very loved.  I now have enough Australian chocolate to last until Christmas, and thank goodness, because I think I’ve mentioned already how limited the local options are!

I was lucky enough to have Chez here from Aus for a visit and it was her birthday only a week earlier so her, Ash and I went out on the town to celebrate – here's the photo evidence of the evening:  

First bar – the Peninsula Hotel, Roof top bar with views over 5^th Ave.  The weather wasn’t promising with some spitting clouds but we persisted and sat outside to enjoy a cocktail and some bar nibbles – 3 drinks plus a tip = $100!

Onto the next one – around the corner to the Plaza Hotel Champagne Bar, 3 drinks and some more bar nibbles (popcorn!) in opulent surroundings, another $100!

Finally, a taxi ride down to the Standard Hotel roof top bar, otherwise known as the Boom Boom Room!  (google this to get the idea…) .  This time the bar is inside with floor to ceiling windows reminding me of the Shangri-La in Sydney, and you feel like you need shoulder pads in this very lavish décor, leather seats and chandeliers that look like the 80’s.  There is even a spa inside the bar! This is a great spot with views of the Hudson and Manhattan skyline – the best view of the Empire State building is from the unisex toilets, when you sit you are facing a floor to ceiling window 1m in front of you.   Another 3 drinks, and you guessed it – about $100!   I think we all agreed these won’t be regular haunts for us here in NY – or we would be broke pretty quickly – but we enjoyed ourselves.

So here is where I should tell you that in NY (I can’t talk for the rest of the States) definitely has no liquor laws about the measurement of alcohol into drinks, ie/ a shot of vodka at home is a shot of vodka.  Here the drinks are, or at least taste like, at least ¾ glass of vodka!  It makes for a very strong drink, sometimes not even pleasant in taste, and well, lets just say you don’t need many to feel very light headed!  So on this night, having only snacked on the hotel provided, and really not very nice nibbles, by now we all had the munchies!

It was about 11pm on a Tuesday night and the evening took a downgrade (at least in average price) as we headed to the Corner Bistro (www.cornerbistrony.com), which happens to be right across the road from where we live and many people say has the best burgers in Manhattan, for a late meal.

The small hangover the next day (after only 3 cocktails!) made for a long day at work, but it was worth it - a night to remember - thanks Chez and Ash :)  I’ve set the standard high to celebrate all my future birthdays!

PS.  My birth-month continued the weekend after my birthday when Ash and I flew to Bermuda for a long weekend – the blog to appear soon.   And my pressie from Ash was a glider flight when we are in Vegas later this month – I’m very excited, there isn’t many adventure activities I haven’t done, but this is one of them - I’ll share the photos and story of that too!