NEW YORK, NEW YORK!

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, so good they named it twice! OH IT's been a busy and exciting time!

WELL HOWDY! How're yall dwin today?

Yes, I'm here in the good old US of A, otherwise known as Amurka, as they say here in the Southern YOUnited States. To be precise, in Raleigh, North Carolina, famous for where the Wright Brothers did their inaugural flight and the history of aviation was born.

We've done so much, and eaten even more, as is evidenced by the ever-increasing waistline and tight jeans. The weather has been kind most times, unseasonably so, I am told, because the famous fall leaves have NOT turned to their usual glorious colours as they should have by now. BUT the past couple of nights have been quite chilly, and last night it was expected to be frosty and 40s (F).

However, the days are sunny and relatively warm at about low 70s, and we are having so much fun here. The US is still cheap to live in - sometime cheaper than Penang! - and here in Raleigh there is so much space that the city really sprawls. Shopping malls are HUMONGOUS, so large you have to drive around from one store to another. That, really, has been my only saving grace - the fact that I have been walking around browsing through all the GOODIES. And goodies there are indeed, wonderful things and knick knacks and CLOTHES ... phew. The only thing holding me back is not so much the money (although there's that to consider of course) but the fact that we are limited luggage allowance-wise. And of course Customs as well!

But let's start with when we arrived in The Big Apple aka New York a week ago - the queue to get through Immigration took over an hour, but we got there in the end, and took a cab in to Manhattan for a flat rate of USD45. By the time you add a tip (mandatory 10-20% here really, which is a bit of a shock for us out-of-towners who just aren't used to it) it's USD50. But the bus or subway in would have cost USD20 each anyway, so it was worth it for the extra USD20 to get us door to door.

We stayed at the Seton Hotel which is on E43rd and Lexington, an old fairly knackered place but at least it was ensuite and very near the theatre district, because we were going to see a show the next night. At USD240 a night, it was one of the cheapest we could get - and no consolation of course but NYC has the most expensive hotels in the world.

Early the next morning we took a walk to Times Square, to have a look around. It was busy, packed and full of bleeding tourists ... !!

The weather was COLD, so we rode the subway to Ground Zero, now a huge site undergoing massive reconstruction. There is a Memorial Centre which sells souvenirs and stuff to raise money for the project, which had photos and films about the terrible incident. It was all very sad and poignant. I bought a small fridge magnet just to add my little contribution!

As for the food, it was actually quite good (why else do you think the old weight is creeping up!!)

We found a small diner on the way to Times Square the next morning and ordered pancakes and bacon for breakfast - and would you believe it came with THREE thick (and fluffy) pancakes, and loads of maple syrup and cream cheese. Umm hmmm it was GOOD ... but filling and fattening. No wonder the average American is overweight, and quite a number of them are massively so. In Malaysia I have to wear L or XL - here I am classified petite, XS or size 4! Everything is disposable of course, from the crockery to the cutlery, cups and plates.

DINNER was at Sam's Place, on 132 E 39th St, a small friendly Italian restaurant just round the corner from the hotel, early as we had to get to the show.

It's run by Sam The Caesar Salad was probably one of the best I'd ever tasted, crunchy, sharp and sweet, and for mains they made me a gorgeous Prawns and Spag, my favourite, and Mac's Tortellini was excellent. They were SO good we gorged ourselves as you can see from the empty plate but hey at USD25 a plate, we had to!

ARABIAN NIGHT IN BATU FERRINGHI

HAD A FABULOUS NIGHT LAST NIGHT, and all courtesy of Sigi's at Golden Sands Resort. It was the first of what will hopefully be MANY special nights organised by John Brock, their Kiwi Executive Sous Chef. And the weather, thankfully, held off, although having said that it was just as well it rained during the day cos that cooled the evening down considerably.

If you'd seen them preparing during the day you would have marvelled at how much they achieved; they really put a lot of thought and imagination into the whole thing, and managed to achieve quite the right ambiance because it the transformation was amazing - it was like happening on an oasis in the middle of the desert! There were canopies above and colourful cushions and carpets on the floor you could loll on; low tables and loud Arab music.

The serving staff were all dressed quite imaginatively, although some were so authentic I wouldn't have liked to meet them in a dark alleyway ... I could almost see them chopping my head off with a silent swoop of their curved sword (OK, OK, my imagination is running a bit wild!). You could almost imagine you were a Bedouin in a desert somewhere in the Middle East ... and I almost expected to see a camel appear in the horizon ... except for the fact that the sea was splashing away just a few metres from where we were!

There were raffles, an amazing snake charmer who mesmerised not just the reptiles but also the audience I think, some fire eaters who were unfortunately too far away for us to see but who were I'm sure good; even a henna artist, magician and a great band from KL whose retro oldies got quite a few off their backsides to bop away - including moi who was trying to dance away some of the calories I had imbibed.

Because there was a LOT of food, all Middle Eastern: donner kebab (which was quite delish) and barbeques including a whole lamb on a spit, stuffed vine leaves, rice, an excellent Moussaka, some hummous and other dips, breads, baklavas and other sweet puddings. I think John and his fantastic crew outdid themselves. That together with the free-flow wine (which was good stuff and not the cheapo cheapo plonko one sometimes gets at dos like these) and beer really got the party spirit going, I can tell you that.

There was also an interesting "Best Dressed" prize and 4 ladies vied for the position: to be crowned, they had to do an individual dance in front of the audience. OMG I would sooner have died but they were all very game and in fact rather good, especially the first one - but the last contestant was absolutely fantastic and really should have won but it was all in good fun cos they all won some fabulous hotel stays. I was nowhere near winning although I did consider popping a teatowel on my head ... !!!

It was a great night, and I can safely say everyone had a ball.

If this is a sign of things to come - and they are planning at least 3 more before year end to which I hope to receive invites again (hint hint) - then I can hardly wait. Well done guys, and I look forward to the next one!