A trip to the US without visiting the famous Macy's store would be like visiting an aquarium without seeing the whale. We set off early in the morning - about 9:30am! - to see the world famous department store on 34th St. On our way to the subway in Times Square, we notice the set of Good Morning America and stop to take some photos. I can't see anybody at the anchor desk in the set but it feels right to take a couple of snaps anyway.
We arrive at 34th St right on 10:00am. Fortunately for us, the shop doors to Macy's are just opening. They obviously need sleep-ins, too. The waiting crowd rushes in like there's an invisible stock take sale. We make it through one of the doors and the very first thing I notice is the pay point. How exciting: near-field communication! You can pay for your items with your Google wallet by enabling NFC on 
your phone. Fantastic! Can we have this in Australia, please? Can the iPhone have it installed, please? Can we have it all now, please?As we heard on the bus tour, Macy's was the largest department store in the world until the Japanese opened one to beat it by an extra floor or two. In response, after a day (or a few days) Macy's converted the next highest non-retail office floor to a retail floor, reclaiming the title of the world's largest department store. So it is huge. Everything is laid out similar to Myer: fragrances on the ground floor, then upwards for men's clothes, women's clothes, shoes, children's clothes, McDonald's on the children's floor - naughtily clever, electronics, and luggage. Spread over nine floors with a couple of buildings covered, that's a huge amount of stock.
It is now October and the Christmas stock is on display. A section called Holiday Lane has Christmas trees, tinsel, baubles, angels, stars... everything you could ever want, all in colour-coded sections. It is a beautiful display. I'm sure as I get older, the years get shorter and Christmas comes around earlier.
Next on the agenda is the park-like piers near Christopher St. I've been here once before with Leo in 2005 and I really enjoyed the area. Today a little chilly, grey, and windy but I'd like Mum to see them all the same. My trusty iPhone's compass points us in the right direction. This area of Manhattan is very quiet and peaceful. I could see myself living here for a while. We arrive at the pier and the weather temperature has been dialled down somewhat. The pier sports a manicured lawn, large sunshade umbrellas, and seating. We walk to the end of the pier that juts into the Hudson River. On the way back, a young couple are having professional photos taken of them kissing on the bench. The poor girl is dressed up beautifully but her dress is for summer. The air is cold and blustery so she has to hold her dress down to her knees to combat the gusts of wind. We have to go back to the hotel to ready ourselves for Wicked, the show.
I'm leaving my camera at the hotel since photos won't be allowed at Wicked. We pick up our laundry from the stereotypical Chinese laundry a few blocks away. We quickly change for the show and catch a train up to the Gershwin Theater on 50th St. Tickets are reserved and there's no problem finding our seat. Shortly after sitting down, the lights dim and the show begins. This is Mum's first theatre show.
The show is great and the intermission is as important for us as for the actors. A drink of alcohol before the show really gets those hormones going that continuously shout: "you need to go to the toilet! you need to go to the toilet!" The show ends and we're starving now. The audience leaves the theatre and spills out on to the adjoining streets. However, we're not alone. There are some crazies around. One old homeless looking guy slowly limping along with a cane is shouting at someone on the other end of the phone line. He then boggles his eyes as he leans towards Mum's face and yells: "You f*cking c**t! Whatchu want? F*ck you! You b*tch!" I'm totally dumbfounded and worried that Mum will freak out. She laughs. She laughs harder! It seems crazies are her thing. As we reach the end of the next block, a Latino woman finishes crossing the street and is yelling at someone on the phone: "You tell that b*tch that she's mine! I'll f*ck her over! Let me at her!" and so on. All we can do is laugh. People must think we're crazy. Upon entering the next block, another person begins to pull a phone out of their pocket. We burst into laughter. It's starting to feel like people are pulling out guns when they touch the trigger on their mobile phones.
We find a place for dinner and enter. It's great to have a belly laugh. There happens to be a free comedy show in the back bar but I think we've had our fill of comedy tonight. Nothing could top the off-the-cuff shows that we've encountered.
Pics of the day
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