Friday, October 24, 2008

Birthday month lives on in the Big Apple

Why I <3 NYC:
1. Great food

2. Lotta culture
3. Convenient metro

Why I <3 Cleveland:
Same as above, except swap short commute for convenient metro. (Health Line on Euclid Corridor is great for connecting downtown to University Circle, but I still can't ride a subway conveniently downtown from home.) Oh yeah, and Phil would never live in NYC, so I'll always heart Cleveland way more.

I point this out because Cleveland is usually an underdog when it comes to acknowledgements for #1 and #2, but this trip is giving me hope that perceptions are changing. I'm here after a long lapse (last trip was in March), and this is the first time it was easy to get meetings with food and travel publications since editors are finally giving credit to Cleveland for churning out culinary superstars like Mike Symon and up-and-comers like Jonathan Sawyer. Hooray!

I love
talking about Cleveland's food and culture scene, so this trip has been fun since most of my meetings with reporters/editors relate to those two subjects. Doesn't really feel like work, particularly when I get to try a fantastic new Mexican place like Sinigual (which I can't pronounce to save my life) near Grand Central Station for a client lunch, and get to meet up with friends for dinner and drinks. AND, bday gifts...yesssssss. (I "accidentally" ate a small gift box of Godiva just now.) Even my room number was assigned as my bday digits.

My hotel is a trial run for my Bangkok trip next month since its two locations are in NYC and Thailand. NYC location is pretty cool. Great view from the penthouse bar; however, I felt old and nerdy since it was so loud. Oh well.