Day 8 pt 1 Breakfast and goals

After all the heavy stuff we have been eating, i was really feeling like a homely breakfast. A short trip to the local organic market yielded 3 plastic bags worth $90 full of fresh and wholesome food. I got eggs, pork chops, fresh bread, cheese, tomatoes, strawberries and baby apples. The only thing remaining was the skill to transform these crude commodities into the potentially delicious meal i was craving. Luckily for me i had mastered this skill- so i put all the ingredients on the table...and yelled at Bec and Daisy (who were still asleep) to turn them into breakfast. Breakfast was absolutely fantastic- but nothing that cant be experienced in Sydney without the same ingredients- so i wont bother with the details.

After breakfast we aimed to see central Park since we hadnt been there yet and it is a hugely iconic feature of this great city. The streets are really amazing with their christmas decorations. Cartier (the building wrapped like a present) was blaring out a beautiful christmas carol and nearly every shop window had a christmas themed display whilst the streets were lined with flashing illuminated trees giving the city an incredible sense of culture. Our first deviation from the central park plan was TIFFANY & CO- whose shop windows were the most extravagantly decorated in the street. Though the jewelery isnt really as incredible as it is hyped up to be- especially compared what we have been seeing this past week.

As we were looking around the store, our pleasant browsing turned hostile when a salesman, who took his job far too seriously, got angry at us for asking to see more than 1 piece of jewellery at a time. We wanted to get a closer look at some money clips (yea- its not even jewellery) in a display case and asked the salesman to pull out the plastic mould which held them. In a pompous and condescending tone the man responded to our request with 'which ONE would you like to see?' i said, confused at his tone 'all of them- i want to see them close up' 'no, you cannot...i can only permit one at a time- which ONE would you like to see'. With a polite smile i pointed at the top money clip, which was than placed on a velvety blue tray and lifted to the top of the cabinet. After staring blankly at it for 20 seconds, I than proceeded to point at every other of the 6 money clips, one at a time, from the top to the bottom, whilst the salesman's rage began to slowly manifest into steam and sweat. After the last clip, i told him they were all really ugly and turned and walked off a couple of steps before blurting out into loud mocking laughter.

Despite the salesman's rudeness, the store is still a very iconic symbol of NYC and we couldnt leave without getting the famous heart or padlock with the proverbial 'return to Tiffany & Co. NYC' logo carved into it- though Bec was much more excited with the blue box, red ribbon packaging than with the fine jewellery it contained.

Our next deviation from the central park plan was the world famous toy store FAO SCHWARZ where we found a muppet workshop which allowed you to design and order your own muppet. Needless to say, this is my Tiffany and Co equivalent, so i promptly took my place in a queue of which I was at least 1.2 metres taller than anyone else- it was worth it.

By this stage we had burnt through the daylight hours and central park had transformed from the beautifully playful oasis to a dark and sinister rapists poaching grounds.