FYI - it rains in New York City too.....

Today, it rained. And rained. And rained. From the window of our apartment, we can see the rain still teeming down, so we were in no hurry to get moving. We had been invited to lunch by one of the 'friends' (Emily Vann) from the local congregation invited us to lunch.

We had to pick up a few things to take from the store, so we braved the rain. We were going to walk the 10 blocks, but decided against it. Our trusty umbrellas that I bought before we left (mind you, they were NOT CHEAP) are not coping too well in this weather - they are turning inside out and not really doing what they are designed to do (that is - keep the water off). So, we caught a cab. Best $6 I've spent so far. We got in the cab and asked 'Kya aap Hindi samajte hai?' and the driver had this look of bewilderment as if to say 'Why are those words coming out of your mouth?' In case you didnt know, Kylie and I are learning Hindi back home, and this taxi driver looked Indian, so I thought I would give it a go. Turns out, he was from Bangladesh, but he knew Hindi. He was amazed! 

Emily had quite a small apartment and had invited about 14 people including the CO and his wife, so we had a nice time meeting everyone. There was a large spread of many different dishes - but one that caught my eye was Cornbread. 

I was excited to try it. In case you havent tried it before, its like cake, but made out of cornmeal (I guess.) So, it was nice to have cake during the meal before waiting for dessert. We had a great time with the friends, but then it was time to go.

On the way back home, I decided that I wanted to go into one of the mens clothing stores that we have walked past every time we go to the subway. Its really strange - the windows are dressed in a way that mens clothing stores used to be dressed in the olden days, so it looks really old fashioned. But, the clothes are really cool. And, in this street, there are three of these stores - and I have seen NO ONE in the street wearing a suit (except me). It just seems so out of place. So, I went in and there was a well dressed gentleman from the Côte d'Ivoire (via France) who spoke English very well and another girl who thought she was speaking English, but I couldnt understand a word and an Eastern European gentleman who was on the phone the whole time. I really wasnt in the mood to try anything on because it was so cold, so I ended up buying two shirts for $30. I asked Kylie 'Do you like them??' Her response? 'Only you could get away with wearing those Bruno!' I guess thats a compliment. There is a sign on the suits that says 'Buy 1 get 2 free' so I will have to investigate further over the next 2 days.

We were going to go home, but decided to venture into Manhattan and look for some items that Kylie needed an what better place to go to get out of the rain than Macys? What did Kylie need? Despite my protestations, Kylie didnt bring a scarf - so I allowed her the use of my scarf (I know, I am a good husband). Additionally, this morning, after we crossed the first road, Kylies shoes filled with water, leaving her squelching around for the rest of the day. She noticed that a lot of women wear gumboots, so she needed a pair to wear. And, her head was getting cold, so she needed a hat of sorts. So, we made our way to Macys. Did I mention that it was still raining? A lot?

Our flimsy umbrellas are about to end up in the bin.

Have you been to Macys in Manhattan? Its the biggest store Ive ever been in. Its like shopping on a vastly different scale that I have ever seen. There were THOUSANDS of people in the store, and probably more than usualy because of the rain. It was CRAZY!!! Having said all that, it was not really conducive for 'shopping' so we didnt buy anything (strange, I know). 

It was too much for some!

We'd had enough of the rain, so we headed underground (along with the tens of thousands of others with the same idea) and saw a sign for KFC. We were craving some KFC chips, so Kylie ordered what we would usually order at home of a snack - a large chips and a pack of chicken bites. What came back to us was not what we were used to.

First of all, the size - the large in the US is about three times the size that we are used it. I would estimate that there was about a kilo inside the box. It was unbelievable. You know when you order 10 pieces of chicken and it comes in a box? That was the size of the box.

Secondly - we opened the box and they were not chips, but wedges. 

This is what we were expecting to recieve. The box in Australia is a little different, but these are chips (we even said fries to make sure that they knew what we were talking about.)

This is what we received. A kilo of them. They were ok, but they were not what we wanted. We ate a few and left the rest, thouroughly disappointed! Weve been googling images of them to post in this blog and we have come to understand that you can get a cheese sauce over the top (sorry, I just vomited in my throat). 

Back on the train and back home by 6. We were really really tired (sorry, I know that you are getting sick of hearing about my first-world problem) so I went to bed for a nap at 6:30 and didnt wake up until 5 the next morning. It rained all night, and we slept through dinner too.

Today, we are going to try a French Patisserie near the subway station for brekky and then head into Manhattan again. Hopefully the rain holds out - we really want to explore Central Park, so hopefully we can do over our last 2 days. We are seeing Les Miserables which I am really excited about!!!