"Whats better for me, toast with philly or a pop tart?"

** Before I continue with the story of my overseas adventures, it seems Stef has decided to risk giving her Aunts heart attacks and share the story of her drink spiking incident, therefore I see it only fit to tell the story from the un-drugged point of view;

After realising Stef had been in the bathroom for a good 20 minutes, we decided to send out a search party. Not only had Stef been vomitting (un-heard of in Stef's books) but she had suddenly turned mute. Wouldnt (couldn't) answer any of our questions and had a worried look on her face.

Finally, "I feel weird...I think someone spiked my drink."

As usual, I flew into fully fledged panic mode, even screaming at some guy trying to talk to us "NO FUCK OFF, FUCK. OFF."

I managed to get Stef to dribble where her wallet was, got our coats from the cloak room and carried Stef downstairs. After a cheeky snow-gutter-vomit incident, Sabrina- sensing the urgency of a situation, hailed down a limo and promised the driver Stef wouldnt spew in his car.
Another cheeky gutter/vomit senario later and we finally had her home.

We spent the rest of the night encouraging vomitting, swearing at whoever was responsible, keeping Stef awake with cold washers and slapping and eventually, danced whatever was slipped into her drink off to Vampire Weekend.

It was a scary and awakening event and we were all thankful that we were in a group who would never leave anyone alone for too long.

Stef slept like a baby well into the next day while I set my alarm every hour to check she was still breathing.

* * *

SINCE then, however things have been far less dramatic.

Highlights of late:

• Jess and the Byrne family arriving. Not having seen Jess for 3 or so months, it was very exciting to have our fellow BFG back with us to play. Her parents shouted us dinner (first proper meal we'd had in a while) and we took Jess and her brother Matt to Times Square and the MnM super store for a taste of what was to come.


• Museum of Modern Art. We dared to attempt to go on a 'Free Friday' which was hectic but well worth the hour wait in the line. It was very exciting to see works by artists such as Picasso, Van Gough, Monet, Worhol and Pollock...some of the most famous artworks in history. We also found Magnolia Bakery which is the famous cupcake bakery from Sex and the City, however we're still yet to try one as the line is always around the block. That night, we managed to get tickets to a session of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which was amazingly done...especially the part where they managed to make Brad hotter than he was back in the 90s.


• Christmas Day. We spent xmas at our friend Josh's house in East Village with about 9 other Aussie orphans. Lunch turned into more of a dinner as we all sat down to two roast chickens, a lamb, ham and a table covered in salads, breads and roast veggies. Numerous wine bottles and some terrible games of Pictonary later and it was time to play our Secret Santa game. The idea; everyone brought a present worth $15 and we all put it in the hamper and picked out another one. Some presents were genuinely good eg. the rubix cube alarm clock and Obama figurine...others, such as the ones Stef and I landed ourselves, were some hand cream and soap (bought from the shop downstairs) and a constipation care package complete with laxatives, 'Good Friends' cereal and toilet paper. Merry Christmas? The Aussie flag and blanket of familar accents made the day all the more enjoyable.


• Another highlight was one of the first days we got to spend with Jess. We started the day off with a trip to this secret burger joint we'd heard so much about. It's all hush hush (and the locals prefer is that way) but the story is, you go into one of the fancy resturants and in the lobby, hidden behind a curtain with only a small neon burger sign as signage, is the best burger joint in town. They werent lying. The place is as big as Sabrina's living room and packed to the brim. As soon as we got there, there was a line all the way out the door. The walls are covered with famous people's signature's such as Samuel L Jackson's recommendations of the "Best burger in NY!" We then decided to check out the John Lennon memorial at Centeral Park and after much goo-ing and ga-ing over the cute little squirrels, we found it. Jess and I then proceeded to break conformity and ruin the line by getting down on the ground and hugging the 'Imagine' for a photo. We then found our way to the Upper East Side for a spot of gorging at Dylan's Candy Bar. Nothing can describe the look of pure ecstacy on my face as I came face to face with my dentist's worst nightmare. Chocolate covered Oreos, chocolate covered cookie dough, sugar rock candy, an entire WALL of gummie lollies, sour straps, those little christmas chocolate balls, grape flavoured gummi bears....there was THREE levels of this place, the top level being a ice creamary. The walls were adorned with giant gummi bears and candy canes and every single song that came over the loudspeakers was lollie themed, from Candy Shop by 50 Cent to Candy Man by Christina. Needless to say, we all walked out of there 34kg heavier and feeling a little sick.


• Ice Skating at Byrant Park was also an experience. After sussing out all the different rinks around NYC, we decided Byrant was our best option and minus the 45 minute wait in the line, ended up being another highlight right up there with Venice Beach. Stef was, of course, a natural and was zooming around with the best of them. Jess and I however were a little bit slower on getting our ice legs. In fact, I never managed it. The rest of the crew took great delight in watching me grasp onto their sleeves for dear life and scream at anyone who came too close to me. The giant christmas tree and minus something degree weather made for a scene right out of the movies.


• NYE (last night) was another eventful night out in the city that never sleeps. Drinks and nibblies at the apartment at 4pm meant we were well on our way to a big one before we even realised it. Jess was actually already on the water's before we had decided to make our way to the main event, 230th on Fifth (http://www.230-fifth.com/). Having paid $140 for Option One, we were in for a night of free alcohol and "enough hors d'oeuvres" to fill us up ontop of their rooftop courtyard...which would have been awesome, had it not snowed again during the day. It was worth every penny. Balloons filled the room, free NYE party hats and tooters were given out on arrival and the view included a up close and personal view of the Empire State Building. The rooftop courtyard ended up being the place to be, thanks to the stylish huge red dressing gowns provided for our warmth and warm alcoholic beverages the upstairs bar was serving. As usual, Jess, Stef and I started the dance floor and everything from then on in is a little hazy, right up until the moment I was holding Jess's hair back while she vomitted. After half an hour or so of partying in the bathroom, Stef and I carried Jess down the stairs (she had a cheeky spew in the bar's pebble feature in the lobby on the way out) and to her hotel room, where we, through giggles, tried to explain to her mum what had happened. Leaving Jess in the capable hands of her parents (Sorry we brought your daughter home catatonic!) we made our way back to the party only to find the group of friends were were with had dispersed. Woke up this morning feeling like a sack of rubbish and lounged around the apartment until we felt it was vital to fetch Gatorade from the BP downstairs.

At the moment, its minus something and freezing cold outside. Sabrina gets back tomorrow with her boyfriend Coolie and Jess moves into the apartment for a few nights after her parents leave so the times can only get sweeter.

When in Rome right?