New York City

Me on Manhattan Beach playing guitar
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NYC was a blast! Got to see so many people plus some friends from San Francisco came to visit. Iryna was my first SF visitor and we stayed in our friends NYC flat. The first night we went out to dinner with my Dad. He brought pics of me when I was young for Iryna. And yes, I had hair back then! Why does everyone find that so funny?!?

The next day we played with Jack and Bubba (my friends dogs). Jack has a unique talent... if you sing in a high voice, he'll sing with you. Of course Iryna found this quite funny... I wish I had a tape recorder!

I'm not sure I'll ever recover from this hangover!

Me and Eric in front of my the house he grew up in Manhattan Beach. I grew up 3 houses down. So awesome to see the old hood.
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On Sunday we headed out to a bbque in Long Island to see JB and his new family. His 3 year old son Sammy is quite an active one! He never stopped running the whole 6 hours I was there. I wonder if I used to be like that? ;-)

Sadly I have no pics from my first weekend :( I must remember to take pics of everything or this blog is gonna get boring!

During the next week I stayed in Bay Ridge Brooklyn (home of Saturday Night Fever fame). I went to Blue Ribbon sushi and the next night went to Blue Ribbon restuarant where the chef made us a special meal! My friend Karen's boyfriend is the chef... and let me tell you, the man can cook! I'll need to start a diet before I even get to Europe. I also should mention that I went to L&B pizza in Brooklyn 2x. For those in the know, it's the best pizza in Brooklyn! I think I had more pizza this week than all 10 years in San Francisco!

Vicky enjoying sake in Decibel in NYC
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On Friday I went to Manhattan Beach where I was raised. We drove by the houses where we grew up and Dave and Eric and I played guitar on the beach for EB. Writing all this stuff makes me realize how much I did. No wonder I'm already so tired!

On Friday night, Vicky came in from SF to party with me in NYC for my last weekend. The woman started dancing as soon as she got here and didn't stop until she left! I had videos of this for you... but she made me delete them. You'll just have to use your imagination! Our first night we went to Sushi Sasabune which is simply the best sushi in NYC and went to Decibel afterwards (a very cool Sake lounge). It is the inspiration for the sake lounge I want to open when I get back from my travels. Saturday night was my NY send-off party. Everyone came out to say goodbye and we drank much silver Patron. Of course, it may have been too fun... I'm not sure I'll ever recover from this hangover! And I leave for Amsterdam tomorrow! Uh vey.

Allard eating sushi at Sushi Sasabune
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Well, it's time to head over the pond. I'm going to miss everyone a lot, especially Iryna. I love you baby!