June 2011

Not much to report for the last day in New York. After a 5am wake up and 6am breakfast, the shuttle bus arrived after 7am to take us to Newark Airport.

After witnessing how New York traffic operates, I won’t complain about Sydney and Brisbane traffic for a long time. Our driver was an absolute nutbag! Squeezing a van through a narrow gap between a dump truck and a coach looked near impossible, but he did it… while hurling abuse at the bus driver. If the shuttle cut someone else off, he’d shrug it off.

We arrived at Newark, and trying to check in, we realized we were at the incorrect terminal, which was on the other side of the airport. After dropping our bags at the check in, the monorail ride to the correct terminal had a resemblance to Tron, with the windows rimmed with blue and red neon lighting. Our flight was packed with kids, so we scored the exit row seats. My long legs can stretch!

The in-flight entertainment wasn’t too shabby, until after 20 mins, they asked for $. Austin Powers, anyone?

As we touched down, we were trying to find a taxi, when a guy runs up and grabs Reece’s bags. I turn around to chase him, then discover it was the taxi driver himself. Embarrassed much?

Welcome to Orlando! Complete wet!

We arrive at 3pm to Universal, and we stroll around CityWalk. Themed restaurants and cinemas surround us.

We can’t investigate the theme parks until the next day, and with limited WiFi, there will be limited updates.

Here’s to 3 days at Universal!

Location:Hollywood Way,Orlando,United States

No video diary today.

This morning after a massive breakfast of an egg and “cheese” omelette, fruit loops and bagel, we headed to the NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza for a studio tour.

If you were thinking a 30 Rock style with pages similar to Kenneth, sadly it doesn’t happen that way. Our 2 Pages, sounded less than enthusiastic to give us the tour, probably because they’ve done it a few million times and heard as many Kenneth jokes around. There was no photography allowed, so all I got was the shots before the tour.

We were shown the studios of Dr Oz, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and Saturday Night Live. I was mesmerized that only a panel of glass separated myself from the studio where Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Tina Fey and others made their careers flourish. 36 years of comedic history, all on a single platform.

We went into a smaller room where they showed us how makeup was put on their actors for SNL, then we were taken into a smaller room to do a mock news report.

After the tour, we hit the studio store, and bought up big. From Community merchandise, to FRIENDs and Seinfeld, House and Saturday Night Live, I was in heaven.

After dumping the stuff off, we headed to the Harry Potter Exhibition, which once again – no photos. Reece & Pete got a thrill out of it, but it went all over my head.

After which, we headed to Planet Hollywood for burgers and beer. The food was average, but it filled is up. The movie displays were impressive, but nothing spectacular.

After the fill-up of food, it was 2pm, and headed back to the hotel for a cat nap. That cat nap went until 11:30pm… We’re still getting used to the time difference.

Tomorrow, we’re trying for David Letterman, and take a stroll down to hopefully Moby’s Cafe and the WTC. Fingers crossed!

Location:8th Ave,New York,United States

Who would’ve thought getting to the airport via train would be hectic?

The train at Leumeah said the airport train was coming, then as it arrived, the v/o said it was to Granville, so we didn’t hop on it. Turns out it was the airport train…

So the conductor told us to get on the next train to Glenfield, get off there and take the express to Central, and back track to International airport. We did it with slight confusion, but arrived with 4 hours to go.

As we checked in, our flight to NY had been changed to stop off at SF instead of LA. After a few printed corrupted tickets later, we checked in with 3 hours to go. Time for duty free… Chocolate anyone?

Only eating breakfast since 6am, we treated ourselves to something healthy: Maccas.

Might as well get used to it…

Awaiting our flight now, so this will be the last post for about 28 hours.

Location:Perimeter Rd,Mascot,Australia