randomscribbles

just came back from nyc a few hours ago. there was the annual company meeting at the ny office i had to go to. there were 4 of us, and it was the first time i travelled with my co-workers. at first i was kinda iffy about the whole idea of having to spend extended hours with them, but it turned out to be a lot of fun!

the hotel & the restaurant...

we stayed at the paramount, a funky boutique hotel in times square. oh, i just love that place! when i waited in line to check in, enjoying the sight of some really cool-looking retro furnitures at the lobby, some 80s disco music was blasting from the speakers, and i just can't help thinking that i should be holding a martini glass or something... it felt like i was hanging out in a club instead of a hotel's lobby. the elevators interior came in different colors; blue, purple, red, green and orange. the colored lighting was very dramatic, that it's kinda hard to have your eyes open inside the elevator. our rooms were really cute and comfy, with really nice chairs that i would just love to steal for my apt!

our hosts were kind enough to treat us to dinner that night to da nico, a cozy italian restaurant in little italy with an outdoor garden dining area, where they served unbelievably delicious, authentic italian dishes and fabulous wine. i still have very vivid memories of how good everything tasted... it's ridiculous, i mean, even our free bonus of fruits and fried dough at the end of the meal were good!

the waiters had thick italian accents and were very friendly. they called all their female customers bella... and apparently they keep themselves entertained by humoring their customers. me, for example. i was just looking around searching for the restroom, when a waiter passed by. unsuspectingly, i asked him where the bathroom was, and he answered, in all seriousness, "i'm sorry, bella, but we don't have any restroom. we're under construction right now, and you would have to find some other place if you need to go. there are a few restaurants around here that you could try." i just looked at him, trying to look for signs that he was just joking. but he just stared back innocently, until i said, "aw, c'mon, please tell me you're joking. you must have a restroom, right?" seeing my desperate expression, he finally laughed and gave me directions. but, it didn't end there. as i was making my way quickly to the potty, i passed our waiter, and recognizing me, he stopped me and asked where i was going. i answered, and he said, "why are you going that way? the restroom is the other way!" "oh really?" i said, and already made half-a-turn toward the direction he pointed, when he said, "yes bella, it's under those trees right there." yup, quite an entertaining group of waiters, indeed.

after dinner, i called some of my friends and we met up at the hotel. we ended up hangin out with my co-workers and some of their friends at the hotel's bar, which was kinda small but cute. the walls and ceilings were literally full of all kinds of chalk drawings and writings... i tried rubbing the chalk off just out of curiosity, but it wouldn't come off. i guess they put another layer of stuff over the chalk to protect it from people like me. :P

paul hammer...

there were this couple who told really funny stories, you'd think they came out straight from a seinfeld episode. they've been living in nyc for about 7-8 years, and during their first few years, they lived in some pretty crappy, ridiculously tiny apts in manhattan. one particularly funny story was when they lived in this tiny 1-bedroom near soho, that wasn't even really a 1-bedroom, cuz it just had the main room and a small loft space up a few stairs, with no doors whatsoever except for the little semi-door in the kitchen that separated the kitchen sink and burners from the shower, which closely resembled a phone-booth. if you're so inclined, you could practically take shower while flipping your burger for dinner.

ok, so now you can picture how tiny the apartment was. oh and btw, they were paying a dirt-cheap rent (for ny standard of such a strategic location, of course) of $1,350 for that little place ('why?' is my only question). there were 3 official occupants at the time, but at one point for 2 weeks, there were four people living there. yes, 4 people. the couple, who lived in the loft; the roommate, who lived in the main room and slept on the sofa; and one other person who basically lived on the floor, right between the sofa and the front door.

the fourth one was a friend of a friend of a friend who came claiming that he was from london, and was gonna stay just for a few days until he could find an apartment in the city. his name was paul hammer. on the 2nd day he lived there, he added his name on their mailbox and changed their answering machine to include his name, too.

by the end of the first week, he didn't show any intention to move out, but bought a whole bunch of spices instead. now, you have to understand that spices mean longevity. you don't buy spices like oregano, bay leaves and such, if you only intend to stay for a few days. spices mean serious cooking in the privacy of your own home. so, given the fact that he bought spices, and started to hang up his wet laundry at every possible hooks 'n nooks he could find around the apt, incl. the stairs and the couple's loft bed, naturally the couple wanted him to be out as soon as possible. especially since he never even offered to pay any percentage of the rent. but because he's a friend of a friends' friend, they thought to give it a few more days before they would say anything.

then came the day when paul hammer locked out the other roommate.

one night, he borrowed the other roommate's key, telling him that he'd certainly be back by the time he came home. well, when the roommate came home, paul hammer wasn't there, so he waited and waited and waited... but paul hammer never showed up with the key. so the poor roommate, who was very tired cuz he worked at a local tv station with late-night shift and really needed to sleep, finally went to his parents house. now that was the last straw. the next day, he packed up all ph's belonging into boxes �spices and all� and told him in no uncertain terms that he had to get out at that very moment.

it was uncomfortable, cuz it turned out that he never actually started looking for an apt yet. but after a few hours of waiting for his friend to pick him up, paul hammer finally left, leaving with them his huge phone bills to london (that they finally had to pay cuz there's no way to track him down), and they got his mails and voice-messages for almost a year afterwards. infact, just a few months ago, the couple got a voice-message at their new place, asking for paul hammer!!! isn't that hysterical? he just doesn't wanna go away! well, they've moved several times, but always forwarded their phone number, so i guess that's how it happened. but isn't it exactly like something you would see in a sitcom, though?