peachythoughtsuk-blog

[peachythoughtsuk-blog]

NYC Pre Christmas mooch about

So what started out being an idea to go on a spa day for my cousins birthday, turned into a surprise trip for her somewhere in Europe and ended with us actually going to NYC for 4 days. It was so much fun surprising her but really hard to justify dragging her out of bed at 2am without knowing WHY!!!

Anyway, rather like my Japan blog, I want to just do a list of our best bits in hope that it might inspire others heading to NYC. We did a mix of tourist must see’s and some of our own off the track stuff too. There’s still SO much to see of New York, I will never tire of visiting. 

First I want to recommend Norweigan Airlines if you are not going for the usual British Airways / American / Virgin sort of vibe. It was excellent value for money, pretty comfortable lovely new aeroplanes, and we flew out of Gatwick, which is so much easier for people like us coming from Kent and South London. Its supposedly a budget airline, but after a year of flying around the world in premium BA, I really couldn’t fault Norweigan.

SO here goes... the bits I need to list about our trip....This is quite long so i’ve sectioned off the food spots from the ‘doing things’.

Firstly there’s nothing wrong with staying in Midtown, and near to Times Square. Its such a central point of the island that it makes nothing too far away or too troublesome to navigate the subway to. So that’s one of my top tips. If you’re looking to see a lot, don’t stay in one of the smaller neighbourhoods if you want easy access to more stuff.

FOOD

MIDTOWN EAST BREAKFAST | COMFORT DINER | 214 E 45th St

We arrived, dumped our bags, and felt a desperate urge for PANCAKES, and just any food, and tea. If you want a truly authentic diner for breakfast, lunch or dinner, that isn’t decorated like a total cliche, with friendly staff and a cosy atmosphere, this is for you. Be aware that it gets super busy at weekends if you go at brunch time, we were forced to grab a burger one morning at Wendy’s due to this and it was a whole new experience, but one we wouldn’t want to to change. (for comedic reasons)

MIDTOWN EAST BAGELS | ESS-A-BAGEL | 831 3rd Ave

OH MY SWEET SWEET LORT. This place is the bomb. We queued for over 1.5 hours for these bad boys but my were they worth it. We’re not sure if it was particularly busy being mid morning on a weekend, so can’t advise on the best time to go for queues but it was so worth it anyway. There is a separate express queue if you are just picking up bagels and toppings and taking them home or into the office. The family run place has not been changed inside since what looks like the dawn of time. As you are queuing there are simple to read menu’s with all the different types. We went for a salt beef and a salmon & cream cheese, both classics, cant go wrong. It was so good. There are many decent bagel spots in the city, this one featuring on a lot of guides, and we can see why. You’ll have to keep your eye open for an empty table at busy times.

NOLITA ITALIAN | EMELIO’S BALLATO | 55 E Houston St

Wow. Now my cousin is half Italian who’s grandad owned a restaurant. My dad used to have a place in Puglia so we’ve eaten a lot of local cuisine, so we can kinda say were Italian food snobs, a bit. I was a bit nervous of getting dinner around Little Italy as I know there are many tourist restaurants. If you want the real deal, head here. You will wait outside for a table during busy periods. We naturally headed for dinner around 6pm as we had worked up an appetite in the shops and got seated right away. You cannot make a reservation. You will find the owner standing at the kitchen door shouting at his staff and keeping an eye on the service and food going out of the kitchen. The walls are bare plaster in places with old photos and wine bottles everywhere. The setting is perfect. You also get free bread which is to die for. The house wine is also spot on. You’ll pay a little more than average but the food is by no means average. There’s no point eating in Little Italy if you’re not going to do it properly. Prawn Linguine was absolutely delicious. 

WILLIAMSBURG DINNER | MEATBALL SHOP | 170 Bedford Ave Brooklyn

No fuss Meatball restaurant with decent cocktails and Ice-cream cookie sandwiches for desert. Need I say more? There are a few Meatball shop’s across the city but our favourite was Williamsburg, because Williamsburg is the shit. Its definitely a great hang out spot full of quirky shops and good vibes, go! and once you’ve finished buying everything in every shop, have some meatballs. You can choose which style of meat, a sauce, and how you want them i.e on spaghetti, in sub, with a salad on the side.... perfect. OH and they play just hip-hop and trap. Eat your meatballs along to Drake and Jay Z.

OK ENOUGH OF THE BANGING FOOD ALREADY!!

STUFF YOU SHOULD TRY AND DO THAT ARE TOURISTY

Ok so there’s heaps of stuff to do, and the ‘tourist’ stuff is ‘tourist’ stuff for a reason, its brilliant. Go up the Empire State if thats what you want to do, I wont discourage you, its DOPE. However, we wanted to do a mix of the norm and some other vibes.... top things to do that others will vouch for - CENTRAL PARK... we did a Horse and Carriage ride, expensive, touristy but mega fun and so magical if its snowing. See John Lennon’s Strawberry Field’s whilst you’re at it. STATUE OF LIBERTY... if you’ve never seen her take the free Staten Island ferry past her and then come back again, she’s a beauty and she’s SO New York, plus she will be pissed to know you went all that way and didn’t give her a wave. TIMES SQUARE...It’s garish and weird and busy and kinda gross but its also one of those WHAT THE FUCK moments. Empire State is great but for better views go to the Top of the Roc. (Rockefeller Centre) I did this before, not on this trip. The New York Public Library is not only free, but absolutely stunning, you must go, and look up at the ceilings when you get there.

STUFF YOU SHOULD TRY AND DO THAT IS POSSIBLY A LITTLE LESS TOURISTY / OBVIOUS...

Visit Brooklyn in general. Dumbo, Williamsburg, Bushwick. Go to all of these places, you can do it in one day.

Ok in Bushwick I have to mention... go eat pizza at Roberta’s, it’s the bomb. The fact that the place looks like a total abandoned dump from the outside is exciting alone. You’ll find it on Moore Street. Thanks to cousin Jess for that tip off. This area is also amazing for graffiti, vintage stuff and there is a cider house. 

I’d recommend walking the Brooklyn bridge from Manhattan over to Dumbo via Jane’s Carousel. It’s going to take about 35/40 mins stroll to get across the bridge and down to the carousel. It’s such a cute spot and it is there that you can get amazing skyline shots looking over at Manhattan. Not to mention the views from the bridge too. The carousel costs a few bucks to ride and was built in 1922, it’s brilliant.  Dumbo itself is a lovely little area to explore, we found a great bookstore and a little bar which we stopped at for a hot toddy. Williamsburg has amazing clothes and accessories shops, lots are quite high end and expensive but not in an ‘Oxford Street’ big brand name sort of way. It makes for interesting browsing if you’re not up for spending lots, but there are some little hidden gems and vintage shops which wont break the bank. If you have a well kept beard, you will find many a beard oil and comb here also, but its not even pretentious, its just a nice place to be. Head for Bedford Ave and get lost from there. 

We ran out of time to visit the Highline Park and a few other bits and bobs so there will deffo be another visit on the cards for the future. I don’t think you can ever get bored or run out of things to do in New York. We crammed in a lot for 4 days, I am sure I have left out some key things and I could definitely elaborate on all of the above and bombard you with photos... but I will leave most of it for you to discover yourself when you visit the Biggie Apple. 

A few extra tips for those who are visiting...

-Use the Subway. It’s so much faster and easier. Get a Metrocard. You can share the card between two, it will deduct each one way journey each time you swipe.

-Take the airport shuttle, its super cheap and actually really easy, your hotel will know details of your nearest stop in the city, you can buy tickets from the bus stop attendant.

-Be aware some hotels charge taxes on top of the rate. Same goes for a lot of shops, taxes will be added at the register. 

-Walgreens is great for a laugh, there is always some character causing a scene when I go in... its also a good place for camera film, drinks, cash, medicines / cosmetics etc plus there is literally one on every street.

-When planning your trip have a look at a map of Manhattan and get to know which attractions and activities are in which area. Group things together to see and do based on the areas you are in, or you will be up down and across the city all day. Learn that roughly, Statue of Liberty is at the very bottom and close to Ground Zero and to one side you have the Brooklyn Bridge. Central Park is waaaaay uptown from there and kind of in the middle you have Empire State, Times Square etc.... I found it much easier to know ahead of time roughly where the obvious places are so that you are not trying to move across too much of the city in one day :)

Love you NYC xx

[peachythoughtsuk-blog]

The most random party of my life.

The ‘On This Day’ section of facebook has inspired me to write another blog telling the story of the most random party I’ve been to (so far) in my life. Now I don’t get star struck really. I get more excited about seeing soap stars. Like if I saw Phil Mitchell in PoundLand or something, but....

On this day, 2 years ago, I was an excited wreck because the beautifully talented artist I was tour managing, Andreya Triana, was performing live on the return of TFI Friday... only like, one of the best shows of the 90s EVER.

So we are at the studio and I get my photo taken at Chris Evans’ famous desk. The band smash a few tunes out, with Noel Fielding mingling around and Duran Duran in the green room with us. We are all so hyped as we had been told that the TFI ‘After Party’ was always next level after recording ends.

After recording Chris Evans invites me and Andreya to his local pub instead of the studio bar. In order to be polite, we go along, telling the band we will be back after one glass of wine.....We were in North London, I think around Primrose Hill sort of vibes. We have a glass of red with Chris and his lovely wife and friends, and then out of nowhere Chris stands up and proclaims that we must follow him to a party. Andreya and I agree again to politely go for one, and follow Chris down the road to a secluded gateway. 

We were going to a halloween themed party at some mansion, to this day I cant remember the geezers name who’s party it was. On arrival there are coffins and skeletons all in the courtyard, the place looked boom. We have our coats taken and head in through a massive glass door into the kitchen where bar staff are waiting to make us whatever we want. We settle for Gin. Chris goes off somewhere so we decide to head in to one of three living rooms in the house which has a massive half circle sofa that could seat at least 20 people. 

Standing in the corner, rather nonchalantly, is Mick Jagger. We give eachother that ‘play it cool, wtf is going on’ look and sit along the side of the room. Chris then comes back and shows us around the place a bit, and informs us that the paved courtyard in the middle of the house is in fact a hidden swimming pool. Pretty cool, bit James Bond. 

I turn around to find a seat and notice Javier Bardem at the dining table with some mates and Bradley Cooper standing with some famous model at the side. At this point I’m like, ok, this guy is obviously a big deal and everyone here is famous apart from me and Chris Evans’ lovely mates who are also doing the ‘play it cool, wtf is this madness’ eyes at me. 

I go to the other bar. Yeah there were two bars. I need alcohol so I can pretend I’m cool like everyone else. I have to push past this dude with long hair and apologise to him. When I turn back with my g&t I realise the man in question is in fact Bob Fucking Geldof. At this point I feel like I’m in some sort of Red Nose Day sketch or something, where every time the front door opens another celebrity joins the scene.

I get chatting to some hippy bloke that owns a fleet of Yachts. To this day I want to poke myself in the eye that I lost his business card. I had lost Andreya too for a while, I think she had discovered the ‘Dirty Burger’ food stand outside. When she returned for some reason I remember us trying to dance the salsa, at which point Noel Gallagher shimmies past us joining in. We ask him if he wants to learn a routine with us to which he replies something like ‘You fucking what? cant dance me, you’re alright laaaaaaa’ maybe not the laaaaa bit. He looks much shorter in real life but has a good taste in leather jackets and wasn’t a total knob even though he was trying to be a knob.

At this point I’m thinking, who’s left to turn up at this gaff? its like Madame Tussauds in here!

I go for a wee with some legend bloke who I’m hoping was definitely gay, and on my way out of the loo I notice a large bus has just pulled up outside the gates. Someone opens the front door and in walks ALL OF U2. Bono in his little muggy glasses as well that he wears. I’m like, what? U2. They’ve just played the O2 Arena and then rocked up here on their tour bus.... ok.

i find myself in a conversation that I can’t remember anything about and Bono agrees with me about something. I felt a bit bad in that moment as I’ve always considered him a bellend.

I go upstairs and bump into someone I toured with one time who’s dad is Mr Dyson, as in the guy who invented the Dyson vacuum cleaner. I was more star struck to see him if I’m honest, proper small world. I think we were checking out the upstairs terrace when Bono appeared again, proclaiming that the outside terrace is definitely not a place you could get away with taking a slash.

So now I find Andreya again, and we have our second Dirty Burger of the evening. It’s clear we are both hammered so we agreed to try and Uber and slope off. Luckily we avoided the 20 paps outside, I don’t think they realised who we were with our dressed down attire and excellent Ubering skills. 

I wake up the next morning feeling like satan’s arsehole and thinking WHAT THE FUUUUUUU happened last night, and then when I am scrolling online I come across this article to confirm that it was real and that Chris Evans’ is a total G.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3298384/Bradley-Cooper-girlfriend-Irina-Shayk-leave-U2-party-hand-hand-mingle-music-royalty-including-Bono-Mick-Jagger.html

[peachythoughtsuk-blog]

We need to talk about Sea Pollution.

So this weeks blog idea came when I received my quarterly update from the charity I support and donate to - Surfers Against Sewage https://www.sas.org.uk

I want to keep all my blogs as short as possible, but there is so much I could write on this subject! The idea though is just to bring things more to peoples awareness the best I can.

The first thing to remember is that plastic is BAD. However, we have to live in reality that it’s kinda unavoidable in every day life unless you are super strict and have the time to think about it. But the more we take reusable water bottles to work, say NO to straws in bars, and take the time to put plastic packaging in the recycling bins at home, the less we damage the planet and the animals living on it. These are just 3 simple and easy ways to help out.

So what about sea Pollution? Well, ocean plastic pollution is one of biggest global environment threats of our time.  Theres a new ‘Continent’ in the Pacific, called Wasteland. Its made entirely of plastic, and its FIVE TIMES the size of the uk. Throwaway plastics either end up in landfill never to decompose, or make their way into the water across the land, only to choke our oceans and marine life. It’s on Wikipedia and ITS MINGING.

“Over 1 million seabirds are killed by ocean pollution each year. 300,000 dolphins and porpoises die each year as a result of becoming entangled in discarded fishing nets, among other items. 100,000 sea mammals are killed in the ocean by pollution each year.” - (taken from www.conserve-energy-future.com)

To start, if we can boy-cot single use plastic as much as possible, we can help to combat this issue. If you can cut out or cut down your use of the items in the below photo (taken from Pipeline magazine) that would make a massive difference. I think its easy to order a take out coffee and not think twice about where the lid is going. We’ve already seen a change in the charges for plastic bags in stores, but this is pretty pointless if we still continue to use them and the other products shown below so much in every day life. 

Another way to help out the oceans at least is to do a mini beach clean each time you take a day trip to the seaside. When you leave for the day just take even 5 mins to collect up any rubbish you see on the sand on the way back to the car. If we all do a little bit it will go a long way. If plastic is going to continue to be part of our lives, it needs every chance of being recycled. I don’t want to see another youtube video of an endangered sea turtle with a plastic fork wedged deep into his nostril. I won’t post the link, its awful. These are the kind of things that are happing simply by forgetting to throw away your takeout packaging when visiting the beach. Nobody wants to be walking on the sand to discover broken beer bottles or sharp cans that can be harmful to dogs and small children. There are group meet ups and beach clean up days, if you live near the ocean or fancy doing a bit more you can also set one up yourselves -Organise or take part in a clean up.

Nobody is the perfect recycling environmentalist, and everyone is busy! I am not writing this vowing to never purchase a plastic water bottle again, but I do have to remind myself a lot to make more effort to help this planet. I hope this blog will help you too. The Ocean is a vast and beautiful place. It is an alien land to most who do not spend time in it, so sea pollution is not always in the forefront of people minds. As a surfer, spending time bobbing around in the deep water has brought all this to my attention. I’ve paddled past a clump of plastic bags before, scared that it was an octopus, but in reality I don’t know which is scarier. 

Another massive problem that ANYBODY who enjoys spending time at the beach in the UK really needs to be aware of is the unregulated sewer overflows that dump raw and dangerous sewage directly into our oceans where people bathe.  Untreated sewage and wastewater frequently discharges into the ocean which significantly reduces water quality in the surrounding areas. The ‘Safer Seas’ service sent over 244,124 free text warnings across the bathing season in 2016 about poor water quality across over 300 beaches in the UK and Wales. 

“By the year 2050, globally, 10 million people could die annually because of antibiotic resistant bacteria – found to be present in our coastal waters.”(Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, 2014)

This is no joke now. Surfers Against Sewage are calling for more urgent action to address on-going sewage pollution at our beaches. You can download the Safer Seas Service app to get updates here which is well worth doing if you enjoy holidaying with your kids on our beautiful UK coastline. No one wants to be swimming amongst poo.

If you have read this blog and found it at all useful, please could you take a few moments to sign the ongoing petition  Protect Our Waves. 

A few reasons why (bullet points taken from - www.sas.org.uk)

Waves are under threat from 3 sources: new structures and developments, pollution including sewage and litter, and restricted access.

No specific laws exist in the UK to protect surf spots.

According to the water industry itself, the number of Combined Sewer Overflow (CSOs) around the UK is around 31,000. Many of these are completely unregulated.

The amount of marine litter found on UK beaches has increased almost two-fold in the last fifteen years.

A plastic bottle may persist in the marine environment for more than 450 years if left on a beach.

Waves are important to coastal communities in 4 ways: economically, environmentally, culturally and socially.

You don’t have to be a surfer to become a member of SAS or to donate money, you can also do so by buying merchandise. How cool is this charcoal filter water bottle !! I’m not affiliated with SAS to promote their charity or their products, but I back them all the way and I am going to try my best to make more changes, starting with remembering to say NO to the drinking straw!

Thanks for reading, surf on x

[peachythoughtsuk-blog]

The future is a concept, it doesn’t exist. There is no such thing as tomorrow. There never will be, because time is always now. That’s one of the things we discover when we stop talking to ourselves and stop thinking. We find there is only present, only an eternal now.

Alan Watts (via fyp-philosophy)

<3

[peachythoughtsuk-blog]

Japan 2017, my first blog.

Hey! I have been thinking about writing a lot over the last few years. At school I was always writing short stories and poems, and I’ve struggled over the years to work out where to start again with it all. On returning from Japan yesterday I decided it would be a cool idea to share some little snippets of my adventures from time to time and the wonderful things I discover along the way. I travel a lot as a tour assistant for a band, so I am often on long haul flights and zipping around.

My jet lag so far hasn’t been too bad, but I feel genuinely exhausted after a hectic tour schedule across New Zealand, Australia, South Korea and Japan. I stayed on after the tour for a short holiday in Tokyo, Kyoto and some beach spots. I don’t want to make this a travel tips blog as such, more just a few random things I took away with me from this trip that I feel could be of interest to others.

So here were some of my favourite discoveries…

Umeshu Soda - particularly the little ‘Suntory’ brand ones you will find in pretty coloured cans in the supermarket…. Umeshu (梅酒) is a Japanese liqueur made by steeping ume fruits in alcohol (焼酎 shōchū) and sugar….basically OH MY!! it tastes soooooo good and its low in alcohol, around 3%, the perfect summer drink. It’s simply plum wine and soda, and I can only describe it as tasting like some sort of alcoholic Shloer. I brought some plum wine home with me to try, although I don’t think it will turn out as nice as the canned stuff which seems more syrupy, and likely super bad for your teeth.

Takeshita street, close to Harajuku station in Tokyo. The place is busy busy busy, and I cant think of a better street name. So if you find yourself in Tokyo, this is a must visit. I wont go on about the details as this place gets mentioned in every Tokyo guide, but if you want cat related tacky gifts, toys, plastic food ornaments, cute socks and a cat petting cafe.. look no further. Cat Street is also close by (nothing to do with actual cats) for shops like Adidas, Patagonia and basically just every store that would make you have a complete ‘Why haven’t I won the lottery’ meltdown. Oh yeah, the cat cafe is called ‘Mocha’ and its at the start of Takeshita St (the train station end) on the left up some stairs. I felt the cats were well looked after and happy which is something I am always wary of when it comes to attractions like this. 600 yen for 30 mins of fluffy cuddles.

Teppanyaki and Okonomiyaki. Japanese cuisine is obviously next level but you haven’t lived until you’ve eaten at a Tepppanyaki place where they cook on hot iron plates. Okonomiyaki is some sort of god like pancake based feast that must be tried, it involves egg (obvs.) meat, noodles. It’s an extremely good hangover cure….so I’ve been told, ahem. 

Mount Kurama, Kyoto. VIBES. Wether you are a spiritual person or not, this place will bring you ultimate peace and great energy. It is worth the journey, which is a train and a funicular (fun!) and then lots of walking up stairs. The mountain is known as the birthplace of the holistic healing art - Reiki. In the early 1900s Mikao Usui meditated for 21 days on the mountain and received healing energy which was the start of the Reiki discovery. He meditated near the top of the mountain at a site called Osugi Gongen. You can stand at a central point outside the main temple and soak up the lovely energy there. Also you will find lots of shrines with different purposes i.e there is an area to wish for a good relationship / happy marriage. In this area there are many sacred trees that grow 2 trunks from one root, hence being the ‘relationships’ area of the mountain. There are also trees where you can tie ribbon wishes, or write on the back of little wooden plaques and they burn them during ceremonies.

For the surfers out there, I spent two days in the waves at Taito, Chiba on a longboard soaking up the sun. It can get busy but everyone there is local and very friendly. Look out for local surf legend Kenny, on a fluorescent pink board and wetsuit. So famous they call the wave ‘Kenny’s Left.’ On the days I surfed the water was very placid. It’s a beach break and seemed safe and suitable for beginner surfers also. Its not very commercialised though so don’t expect to see a lot of board hire places around…maybe in a few years! The amazing thing is that this area is only just over an hours drive out of Tokyo. If you do find yourself in the area, stop off for a coffee at ‘Port Of Call’ its a rad little place.  (Japan, 〒299-4502 Chiba Prefecture, Isumi, 岬町中原192-3)

Mitsutomoe - this is a very important symbol in Japanese culture. I discovered this by asking Ray, a local guy and friend of a friend, about his tattoo which turned out to be this very symbol. I asked if it was the ‘ying/yang’ symbol and he explained to me how it was very similar. I promised to research about it and now i’d like to share it with you. The name tomoe (pronunciation: toh-moh-ay) means turning or circular,  which refers to the motion of the earth. It is in fact related to the yin yang symbol, and has a similar meaning, representing the play of forces in the cosmos. A mitsu- tomoe reflects the threefold division of ‘Shinto’ cosmology, and is said to represent the earth, the heavens, and humankind. I suppose it shows the importance of the balance between all. You will often find the symbol on taiko drum skins and roofs of temples, it was also adopted by the samurai’s. As the symbol comes from the ‘Shinto’ religion I will now research more into it.

Ok so I think that is probably enough for my first blog and who even knows if anyone is reading this! but if you are here, thank you! I hope you may have found something interesting amongst my typing. Just as I sign off I’d like to say how grateful I am to of experienced this wonderful country. I was particularly taken back by how much pride, care and attention to detail everyone gives you when serving you in whatever way, be it in a shop, a taxi or restaraunt. The Japanese really do take pride in their work and being respectful to others which I truly admire.

Have a positive rest of your day,

Arigato! x (thanks, in Japanese if you didn’t know)