Day 36: Memphis, USA

It's been nearly a month since my last post and so much as happened. Here's a quick recap:

• New York City
  That was an amazing trip! My sister found this great hotel (The Belvedere on 48th Street, between 8th and 9th Ave) right on the edge of Hell's Kitchen within walking distance to everything! Five days isn't enough to see the entire city but we made a good attempt. We covered midtown quite thoroughly, Chinatown and Greenwich, and quite a bit of Upper East Side. I spent about a half day each in MOMA and the Metropolitan, and left breathless! And thanks to Book Girl, I found The Strand and its corridors and shelves of books. Oh my! Thank goodness I was on a budget or I could have done serious damage there. It reminded me of Foyles in London with books all over the place. On our last night we went into Queens for a Filipino dinner with G's aunt and uncle - great food, great company. And oh! the food in NYC is hands down, the best in the world. Even the little delis on the corner serve great food. There was one we went to near Time Square for a takeout brunch - what an amazing spread. And G tackled the infamous Carnegie Deli's pastrami and cheese on rye. Now that was HUGE! I love New York and I can't wait to go back!
• Projects x 2
  I finally completed a small project for a non-profit organisation. It was incredibly crazy for the past 2 weeks. Here I am, on vacation yet I was working nearly as hard as in my last job! Haha! There was a fundraiser on 15 June and it was a success. Monies were raised, awareness created, and everybody's happy.
  And...I've got another freelance project from home! It's some copywriting for a website there with 10 articles due every month. Yippee! Thanks Angela!
  
• Job Hunt
  I've engaged the services of a reputable employment agency here in Memphis to help me with my job search. They've been successful in placing people from other countries in the US, and even work to do so after their client has to return home. Cross your fingers for me.
• Other stuff
  Other than all the above, life in Memphis has been sweet. With G working on his PhD projects nearly everyday, I wake up in the late mornings to get my fix of the news on cable (gawd, but cable here is a couch potato's dream!), read, surf, prepare dinner... Oh, and thanks to Lesley for the tip off of the Memphis Library book sale. We came away on the last day with a big brown bag of books for just $3!! These include many hardcover versions of Agatha Christie, Garrison Kellior and others. We've been to the Peabody for Sunday brunch and saw the ducks in the lobby, popped into Davis-Kidd bookstore (I think, better than B&N or Borders!), visited the Apple store in Germantown to worship at the Mac altar (haha!) and buy a iPod/camera connector, and planning a road trip to Houston and Phoenix for July 4th week. Woohoo! Oh yes...before I forget, I'm extending my stay in the US till 4 August. So I'll be here for the launch of the last Harry Potter book on 21 July.

And that's it...in a nutshell. I'll be on line more now. I've taken tons of pixs and am trying to find a way to display them online...stay tuned for that.