new york, new york!..in four hours
| September 20, 2007 | Posted by caroline under humour, personal, storytelling, travels, Uncategorized |
i hadn’t been to New York since i was 12, so as soon as my dad said that there’s a health and beauty show he had to check out, i jumped at the offer to accompany him..
a–because i haven’t been there in sooo long and i was smitten by the city when i was young
b–i really do enjoy long road trips–even 11hrs..and my dad would not have gone without me when it was so last minute..
c–haven’t spent time with my dad since i got here. needed to clean up that drift.
with a couple of hours notice, i was pretty much ready to go..
road trips are probably the one form of travel i find most appealing. i prefer buses and carpools over trains and planes, too. sometimes, if i feel like talking to people, i do…but most of the time, i sorta hole myself up with a book or just stare out the window at the scenery for however many hours we’re on the road. new york state is a feast for the eyes, eh. i was gluttonous, sometimes skidding off the road as my eyes were drawn to the levels and green. i was born to be a truck driver, but my parents won’t let me! grr..
i wasn’t driving the whole way.. i spent the whole 22hrs on the road (11hrs each way) writing in my head..aha..i was so scrambled when leaving that i left my laptop at home and didn’t bring ANY paper!!!!
i also got to listen to a hell of a lot of radio..which is fine by me..i love cbc radio!
and, of course, i came upon some sicck self-proclaimed lefty show as we left the city, which had this professor of middle eastern studies i’d never heard of before..Prof. Samer Shehata..i suggest all the SPHR kids start contacting him to do a talk, he was very convincing..
my poor dad, and, well, everyone who is associated with me..i’m such a show and teller..i write everything down and then i demand feedback and esp. criticism…he had to listen and respond to all my questions and comments on…everything..don’t worry, one day it will pay off and i will have a party to celebrate it…with a table for the guests of honour..
i also heard this story on dollar stores..now, as we know, my parents are in that industry..they are wholesale suppliers/importers/buyers of gift products and novelties for dollar and discount stores..
i was sure the dollar store consumer report probably came out because of the China fiascos..mind you, my dad just brought a motor bike back from china and i will probably learn how to drive it..will i die? not sure..will i choose the bike over the m3? not sure either..cause either could kill me. it’s freakanomics, baby.
now, when i heard the lead for the report, i was bracing myself on an anti-dollar store tirade..buuuut here y’go, check it out. my father, the dollar product king, agreed…and shut me up when i said i would never give up on dollar store products..http://www.wtopnews.com/index.p
yea so what was i doing in new york..lol..i don’t even know..we got there, ate in queens:) i really liked queens..really really liked it. it was very homely, exactly as i used to envision new york when i read and re-read the godfather..(the movie showed it well with the part..2? when vito first moved to NY)..i saw balconies, clothes strung outside..old men on bicycles getting nosy at construction sites..i guess these things are everywhere, but for some reason i expected this billboard-fanged monster, armed with traffic and skyscrapers…which is exactly what manhattan was at first glance..
so now i gotta go back, cause if that’s all there is to manhattan, something’s gotta be done.
new york didn’t feel so large when i was a kid. seriously, this time, i felt like a speck. really. i hate feeling like a speck. my motto used to be ‘i want to meet every single person in the world..twice.’……but you know, new york really dulls those high hopes. i can pretty much do that, here. but wow, that’s one huge city to tackle.
so i will hang out in queens when i go back there. which wil be very soon. Wicked, the musical, is playing in nyc. some people may remember my obsession with getting tickets last year..it is now revived..i will see this musical…
thinking of going down there sometime in october or november..with tan tina and amanda..if they support the idea. cough cough?:P amanda i wonder if u got this far..
oh yeah so i went to new york cause there was this health and beauty trade show at the javitz centre. apparently my dad plans on going every year and never goes to it cause shit comes up.
i thought it would be kinda cool to check out..umm..it was okay though..i mean, i think if i appreciated makeup and perfume, sure..the display cases were pretty inventive though..as they always are at trade shows..since i bloody grew up at them..
yeah so i ended up checking out two aisles and then i sat down and listened to different seminars on marketing and consumer needs in the health and beauty industry.. i learned about everything from 3d packaging to different abilities and needs in a soap or cleanser..to..probiotics..hehe..
it was actually very informative..i really think this 3d packaginng will pick up..there’s a great article about it in enroute magazine..though i’m not sure i like the magazine itself? about how..touch is a sensation unexplored by marketers..and our other senses are exhausted in terms of advertising..soooo now they’re going to exploit our sense of touch..YEEESSS…watch out y’all..
yea anyway i had a few flattering movie moments..one, where i was approached by a..freelance designer? while on the phone and handed a business card with the statement, ‘you’re beautiful, call me, we’ll work together’..hehe and i, in movie fashion, responded, ‘yes darling i’ll call you, we’ll definitely talk’…i don’t even mind if his stuff sucks, i’ll make a friend for my next trip down…
the second movie moment was straight out of a hindi film..complete with the indian guy! he was hot, i’ll admit..tall, dark, dreamy..in a suit..men in suits!!! they were everywhere..maybe he was a brown nick angel:P i was having a ball with him, glancing back and turning away mischievously as he stared, “his deep penetrating eyes drilling holes into my bosom”…oh, i’ve read too much smut in my time…he’d inch closer, i’d giggle, and then finally i just took out my phone and pretended to talk on it..yes, i run in fear when guys approach me. i really like to be the one to pass the glances.
i always feel like i have to be professional at trade shows..all the older men used to flirt with me when i was a kid going to my parents’ shows..they’d slip me their numbers when my parents were with clients..but i would play dumb and just change the subject. what was i going to do, smile coyly and twirl a ringlet in front of my mom? so they could relive their youth with me? i save that shit for schmooze nightclub on a lonely friday night..
k wow i’ve written a lot..and i’m hungry..s i’ll go to sleep..
btw we left early because the trade show was weak and we got what wanted from it…plus i was getting really stressed out about some work i needed to finish here..which lead to me sulking..and if i sulk, a storm is surely brewing..but it was cleared up on the road with a swift text message from abroad..:)
on a totally different note, i am SO SO SO SO pumped from all the messages and email i’ve received this week. i spent the whole 22hr ride fantasizing and formulating ideas..ahhh i feel results are not far..
