14 fantastic days in New York and now sitting in an office chair. Crazy.

The places I did go and see…

Tribeca, Soho, Canal Street (shopping), 5th Avenue shopping, Saatchi & Saatchi NY, Top of the Rock, Rockefeller Centre, New York Public Library, Grand Central Terminal, U.N , Chrysler Building, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Brooklyn Bridge. A gorgeous Saturday walking in Central Park, Hotel Empire, Battery Park, Union Square, Metropoliton Life Tower, Flatiron building, Washington Square Park, Strand Book store, 3-hour boat tour around Manhattan, Empire State Building, Times Square, New York Stock Exchange, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island. World Trade Centre memorial and museum, World Financial Centre, the maddening Century 21, Museum of Jewish Heritage and Holocaust memorial, Chelsea High Line, Google New York, Chelsea Market, Greenwich Village, East Side, Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Long Island, The Charging Bull, Time Warner Centre, Lincoln Centre, American Museum of Natural History, The wonderful Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Arts, Guggenheim, Colombus Circle, New York University, Bleecker street, Chinatown, Koreatown, celebrities, Radio City Music Hall, Florence and the Machine, Yankees vs Orioles, big city living.

Food:

• Pretzel
• Hot Dog
• Italian
• Chinese
• Korean
• Thai
• Starbucks, Jacks Coffee, Dean and Deluca, Prodigy Coffee, Gotham Coffee
• Magnolia Bakery
• Chelsea Market Crepes
• Mexican
• Sushi Park
• Take out
• Dylan’s Candy Store
• Godiva chocolatier
• M&M World
• Barbeque
• Wings

So Saturday morning happened. Back for 24 hours and get the callout in the early hours of the morning. That means getting out of a comfortable, warm bed, getting dressed in a rush and running out to get to the Waterfront to prep the boat/s and launch.

The fog was quite thick and it was very nippy but that didn’t stop us from doing what we’re trained as volunteers to do; save lives on South African waters. Between us and Station 2 (Bakoven), we did a fantastic job at evacuating the 19 sailors off the trawler that ran aground.

Took some pictures from our big boat, Rescue 3 – Spirit of Vodacom. For more on the rescue, read more on NSRI’s website

Love this

Finally got to go to my first Taste of Cape Town yesterday in what was perfect weather for it at the Green Point Cricket Club.

Now typical Robyn style, I threw away my show guide along with 1 tasting glass so this post is already off to a superb start.

Straight to the food, 2 glasses in hand, definitely not enough crowns (initial thought) for the day, my first stop was La Mouette for their Butternut ravioli, mushroom, pepper etc. I’ve probably destroyed the course but it was fantastic and one of my favourites for the day. The 2 people I was with had a Penne Prawn dish from Il Leone, which they said was really nice.

On to the wine. Tasted the red, which I think was a blend from Idiom who are based in Stellenbosch. Loved that and returned for more later.

Second tasting at Bistro Sixteen 82 which was a Beef fillet with cauliflower puree peas and truffle jus. Very very nice.

Dessert at La Colombe was orgasmic to say the least. We were trying to find words for it but it failed to come over Instagram and Twitter just how good it was. Chocolate torte, tobacco caramel, Hennessy marshmellow fluff, coffee meringues and hazelnut crumble. Picture below does no justice. Seriously.

More vino.

Oh look… Cupcakes. We got played by a good saleswomen after looking at the Queen of Hearts or something mabob store with gigantic cupcakes. Lemon Meringue cupcakes. Lemon Meringue.

The last dessert was a bit of a failure after all 3 of us pulling a sad face, having just had a small spoonful. Banana cheesecake with whisky that tasted like banana dough.

Overall, it was an enjoyable experience, food and company. Spontaneity in arrangements = Sunday at the Taste of Cape Town.

While browsing through my Tumblr feed earlier, I came across these two quotes from the One Tree Hill series finale that aired last night in USA, which I thought I should share.

“It’s the oldest story in the world. One day you’re 17 and planning for someday, and then quietly, without you even noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life.”

And one more.

“Human beings are ambitious. We spend so much time wanting, pursuing, wishing. For the most part, that’s okay. Ambition is good. Chasing things with integrity is good. Dreaming. As long as the chase doesn’t diminish what we already have. The goodness we take for granted. The people we take for granted. The lives we take for granted. My life is good.”

Three weeks today will be my hatch day and I’ll be a mind boggling 28.

Three weeks and 1 day, I’ll be flying off to New York for a wonderful 2 week holiday with my best friend, touring, eating, seeing friends from school, watching Florence + The Machine perform at an iconic theatre and possibly going to Washington D.C and Boston.

Sailing a lot more lately on the great Maverick. Coming from a rescue boat with 2 Volvo Penta engines, it’s nice to have a change of pace and learn different things. Had a school of dolphins following our wake on Sunday morning. Tranquility 101 right there.

The Fox TV series produced by J.J Abrams, Alcatraz paid homage to the classic car chase scene from the 1986 movie Bullitt that featured Steve McQueen on Monday night during its season finale.

The series main character, Detective Rebecca Madsen drives an insanely hot metallic blue Mustang GT Coupe in pursuit of her grandfather, a convict that was part of the missing 300 inmates, which forms part of the Alcatraz’s premise.

As the series takes place in San Francisco, the producers thought it would be a good idea to do a homage to the original that was filmed in those streets and even that same green VW Beetle appears numerous times. It’s been said that Bullitt still features the best car chase scene on film today. Take a look at the clips below and see whether you think the producers of Alcatraz did a good job with it’s rendition.

Bullitt

Alcatraz