40th in NYC!

The best part about turning 40 years old this November was that Patrick had booked us a trip to New York to celebrate (without our little bambino). This was my first trip away from Su Yee in 13 months which left me a bit nervous about leaving for 5 whole days. My mom agreed to babysit which was a huge blessing as Su Yee LOVES her grandma. Still we had reservations about how she would react at night-time which are not always easy with our little night owl. By the end of our plane ride to NYC it was totally clear that all this worry was completely unfounded as our little peanut did nothing but soak up all the attention from  grandma (and grandpa when he wasn't working). 

I love New York! This was my third trip to the Big Apple. Up until this point I had not really found the spirit of Christmas but with all the dazzling Christmas displays and trees decked out in lights it was easy to get into the holiday mood . 


My favorite memories from our whirlwind  trip: 

Discovering Bryant Park near NYC public library. Quaint, quiet, and slightly off the beaten path, we walked around the park enjoying a cup of apple cider, marvelling at the gigantic Christmas tree (sorry no pictures of this place), open aired shopping stalls and super packed skating rink.  

We stayed right next to the Rockefeller Plaza. The number of lights at or around the plaza was awe inspiring from the HUGE beautifully lit tree, to the  wreaths, toy solidiers and angels. The crowds were overwhelming at times but the mood of Christmas was still present. 

Skating at the Rockefeller Plaza Rink is no longer something out of the romantic movies! I had not been skating for over 5 years but I still had to try a spiral from the "good old days" when I actually could use my blades. We had a great time whizzing around the crowded rink. I started skating when I was four and I REALLY love to skate and miss it a lot so this was a real treat. 

Sleeping in....really, I have not slept in for 13 months. I could hardly believe I could sleep for that long! 

Dressing up (what a treat to wear a dress and high heels) and going to see the musical Wicked. I had not heard much about this story. I absolutely LOVED it for all the right reasons. The music, the storyline, the acting, and the costumes were fantastic. We sat so close to the stage I thought one of those flying monkeys might loose footing and land on my head! 

Travelling on the subway to the South Seaport to get tickets for the Musical  "Anything Goes" by Cole Porter was quite the adventure. The trip to the South Seaport was really about a day to explore the city. I loved the sights and sounds of the harbour. 

We walked to the Brooklyn Bridge...

...and then to China town for lunch and some shopping. 

Dragons were everywhere as they get ready for the New Year celebration

We stopped for a pastry in Little Italy AND then I found a huge sale on shoes and boots in SoHo...really couldn't get a better day! We were running out of time but managed to duck into the famous Pearl River Market to check out their chinese wares. 

The day ended back on broadway to attend the musical. It was a awesome to see a musical where they had tap dancing worked into the storyline. It was a cute love triangle plot but most of all I loved the tapping guys in the sailor suits! Teehee!





20 years ago I really, really wanted to be a Radio City Rockette. 



I had seen them dance on a special on TV and fell in love with the idea of precision dancing in fantastic costumes and absolutely wanted to be able to perform the Rockettes famous eye high kicks. I even went to lengths to learn more about the audition process. Nifty thing was that at 5'6" and trained in tap, jazz and ballet I discovered I actually met the minimum to attend the audition in New York. I was in second year university and newly married so it really didn't make sense that I actually went to the audition...and besides that I would soon find out I was pregnant! But it was always a little dream of mine to dance in the Big Apple at some point in my life. 




So in October my lovely husband purchased a Experience the Rockettes backstage tour, tickets to the show and a 2 hour dance package for my 40th birthday present. 

At a whopping 40 years old I had to try and find my sexy side for the "glamour" jazz number…

We learnt how to "open the gate" in the 40 toy soldiers number...

We danced the beginning of the famous twelve days of Christmas tap routine...

and of course I gave up 96 high kicks for the famous kickline routine... 

Did I love it? Yes, especially that it was all danced to a live pianist.This guy was so skilled he could multitask counting in the dancers, playing the music and finishing his Christmas cards all at the same time!  Our instructor has been a Rockette for 14 consecutive years and gave the young dancers very wise advice during the question and answer period. She did the math for the group...over one season (16 weeks) a Rockette does 60,000 high kicks. They have to been spectacular shape and give up a lot of life that most of us feel entitled to ...like spare time and relationships.

I loved the Radio City Rockette Christmas Spectacular show too and could understand how it has become a theatre staple for the New Yorkers. I was pleased to easily picked out all the moves that we learnt in our routines earlier that morning. 

Do I still want to be a Rockette? Heck NO...I love my 40 year old hamstrings more than I love high kicks and I certainly love my family and my life more than anything New York might have had to offer. This by far was the best way to experience the Rockettes!