the popsicle project: 157 new york new york day 1, 2, 3

Hello! My travels have gotten me right across the other side of the world, starting off in none other than the Big Apple. It has been such a fantastic experience so far, nothing can really describe the scale and vibe of Manhattan, you just have to come here.. Bar the ridiculous jet lag, we've been off to a pretty good start. Read on if you want to hear about lots of food and some quite potentially boring-to-you-but-exciting-to-me stuff.

We arrived on Wednesday morning, and after a much needed nap at our Brooklyn apartment Mel and I anxiously made our way into the big city. We spent the afternoon around Midtown - basically had a wee mousey around, discovered the amazing Bryant Park and Times Square and a peek of shopping. For a city of this urban scale and density, there are a delightful number of parks and plazas which pleasantly pop up.

Day two saw us also sleep in ridiculously late, and since Pat was arriving in the arvo we decided to keep local and try out the local cafe Olea one block away. Very tasty and BIG cafe/Spanish/Mediterranean inspired foods, and it seems to be happenin' at every time of day and night which must say something. Patrick arrived and our apartment seemed to shrink even more - is that even possible?? This time we ventured into Williamsburg - the hippest neighbourhood in Brooklyn where all the hipsters and youth etc etc hang out. It was really lovely - like Fort Greene where we are, the houses are all street front and continuous with beautiful big trees lining the footpath. There was quite an array of food on the scene, and also some pretty funky vintage/new and second hand shops. We decided on the most exciting fusion I had yet to experience - Korean Tacos! They were delishhh! Fish tacos, spicy tofu tacos, potato battered tofu with soybean sauce, and for the main a mildly spicy pork belly burrito - suuuuch a good explosion of flavours - you get the tangy chinese pork belly flavour mixed in with beans and rice and salad etc. nom nomzzzz.

Today was MoMA and the American Folk Art Museum - Mel's dream. We got some pretty curious looks from the supervisors as we spent the time peering into every single detail of the building and maybe one sideways glance at the art. The building is being demolished soon because MoMA have bought the site and it is not making any money :( But at least we arrived just in time! MoMA was pretty epic - my favourites would probably have still been the permanent exhibitions of the well knowns - Warhol, Lichenstein, Pollock etc. There was also a really amazing Architectural drawings exhibition on featuring Mies and Le Corb to name a couple, and a heads up of the Summer Pavilion winners at PS1 (going on Monday). There were a couple of markets around the city and I also bought some pretty. fab. glasses. Had some ramen for dinner at Sapporo - good food and size, bad service.

Tomorrow we explore SoHO! And July the 4th is looming. Plans?

The first meal...