Day 370 - Outstanding

Day 370. Day THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY! Who would have thought I had the attention span to blog about something for over a year. Posting a blog every single day deemed difficult with how full some days were, but posting a blog about every day was painless and satisfying. I now have a diary of memories. Forever.

This year was mine to make. When provided with an opportunity such as this, it would make zero sense to not make the most out of everything.

These experiences are down to a few people that I must say a huge thank you to;

Dad - The sounding board and the creator of all my opportunities.

Mum - The comforter and always there when ever I needed her or she needed me to be.

Janie - Kept my feet on the ground and reminded me why I am here.

Tony, Helen, Rhys, Alice, Bobbo, Harriet, Jack and Greg - For making the trip out here to see me and let me attempt to show them New York.

Vicki Downey - For opening a lot of doors  into many networks that I would have not been able to get into ordinarily.

Dr. Dennis Garritan - The best professor I have had and provider of some of the best advice that I have ever received.

Christine, Christina, Karin and Jenny - For all the opportunities and guidance they provided me with over my year working with all of them.

My Mountbatten experience is not yet over though, as I still have my dissertation and a MBA to complete. The location is none other than Bangkok, Thailand. The Curious Englishman in Bangkok however, sounds slightly seedy since Hangover 2 came out. So I may need to have a think about a new name. 

To be continued...

P.S.

At the time of writing, I am some 30,000 feet in the air. I should be in the airport lounge waiting for my supposed 8am flight back to London. The reason I have an elevated position prior to the planned time, is that I pushed my luck. I arrived at the airport around 5pm, courtesy of a cheap taxi ride. With the internet turned off at the flat, my anxious attitude to always be early and a desire to not pay $100+ for a taxi, the 16 hour wait seemed the obvious choice.

After waiting for the check in hostess to stop laughing at me and presuming I have no friends to stay with me in my last few hours, her supervisor kindly offered me an earlier flight. An instant yes on my part.

The best part about this story, is that Janie, who thinks she is picking me up at 7.40pm with Dad and Jack, will actually have a boyfriend shaped surprise stood on her doorstep around 10am. Huge thanks to Dad for helping me pull this off. As per usual, I could have not done it without him.

Day 369 - Out of Office

Penultimate day with work and the Mountbatten folks.

This. Is. Emotional!

Day 368 - Bone Sweet Bone

Not saying goodbye to Rathbones would have been sacrilege. After all, they have provided me with a lot of calories, messy hands and sore stomachs this year.

Good good. Good friends. Good times.

Day 367 - Final Moments

Three more mornings that I can wake up to this view...

and three more evenings that I go to bed seeing these reprobates last...

Day 366 - Thou Shalt Pack

Where's the Mother and Girlfriend when you need them?

You would think having lived in five different homes over the last five years, I would have got pretty good at packing my life up for the next chapter. Nope, still as reluctant.

Day 365 - A Year to the Day

A year to the day I landed in New York, dropped my bag of at the Walcott Hotel and went for a wonder. Not having a clue where I was going, I just started walking.

The first big landmark I came across was the Flatiron building. It was also where I took my first picture in New York.

This location will forever on, be one of the most memorable places of my time here.

Day 364 - Final Brunch

To ensure we all remained true to our New York experience, thirty-ish of us headed to Yotel for a send off brunch.

Mimosas, average food and exaggerated stories, not necessarily in that order or in equal quantities was the order for the day. 

There was a fellow named Harry Styles that came to play as well and send us all of back the UK in 'Styles'...

No apologies for my closing pun.

Day 363 - Quiet One

Oh my was a quiet one needed today. I haven't really drank that much this year and it really showed when I woke up with a melted brain and stomach.

After getting a grip, I mustered up the courage to eat. Looks like all I needed were carbs and caffeine. Please note that all the food below wasn't mine. I just had the almond cappuccino and cannoli. Which Janie, if you're reading was amazing. So glad you introduced me to those wonders last summer.

Day 362 - Completion Ceremony

The official culmination of our year here as Mountbatten interns, took place tonight. The awards/completion ceremony, held at the Union league club signed of on what has been a 'glorious' year.

A rather formal event, we listened to various speeches from representatives of each main body. The staff, the academics and of course the interns. The  speech read out by the dutiful Rob Martin, hit on a few points that were closer to the wire than some of the listeners would have liked.

After all the interns had collected their certificates from Dr. Dennis Garritan we sat down for the awards ceremony. I am very happy to say that I won two awards; the William. S. Ball Award for Entrepreneurship and the Earl Mountbatten Award for Global Vision. I was also nominated for the Board of Trustee's Award for Workplace Achievement.

After the ceremony, we moved upstairs to the dining hall. While the 'starved' interns were eating up, there was a slide show that rotated round with various photos of intern exploits throughout the year.

After the meal and a double check that all the wine had been consumed, we moved onto The Ginger Man (11 East and 36th St).

A fantastic night to end a fantastic year

Day 361 - Shoe Shine

After walking past this place on most days into work, I finally caved and paid the $4 to have my shoes shined.

Usually this task is both extremely messy and takes me forever. This chap did both my shoes in less than five minutes, a better job, and still managed to comment that I had very wide feet. Which got me thinking whether he was leading up to asking me for more money due to the extra land mass that he had to cover with his brush.

Apart from him stating the obvious about my plattypusitis, I might have to see if I can fit in one more polishing before next Thursday.

Day 360 - Breaking Bad

It is hard not to pay attention to the hysteria around certain events or new shows out here. The latest buzz is around Breaking Bad, as it has entered into its final season.

Curious as to what all the fuss is about, I watched a few episodes on Netflix. 

A few episodes have now rolled into a full blown addiction into the trials and trepidation's of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.

Better call Saul!

Day 359 - 10th & Willow

On 10th and Willow in Hoboken, you can get all you can eat wings for $5...

Typical that I would find this place with just over a week to go!

Day 358 - Staten Island Yankees

To add to my collection of baseball viewings, I went to see the Staten Island Yankees today.

Although baseball has grown on me over the last year, it wasn't the main reason why I caught the free ferry over to Staten Island. With our $22 ticket we got; entry to the game, all you can eat food, all you can drink soda, a hat, a jersey, a baseball bat and a ball. Not a bad haul for my first time on Staten Island.

Day 357 - Rounders

To start my Saturday I had a (not so) hearty breakfast, that was entitled Eggs in a Saddle. It consisted off a foot long panini, with two fried eggs, steak and chips. This was washed down with a few jugs of Mimosa.

To burn of this breakfast, we headed to Prospect Park to play rounders, get sun burnt and talk about how breakfast was a glutinous mistake.

Day 356 - Unofficial Leavers Ceremony

We had the unofficial leavers ceremony tonight at The Liberty (35th between 5th and 6th).

It's purpose is mainly for the awards that deserving Mountbatten's had been nominated for. These awards varied from the standard Mr and Mrs Mountbatten, all the way to the slightly more sensitive 'Most likely to move to Jersey Shore' or 'Most likely to walk into traffic'. 

The room was so dark for pictures (excuses, excuses I know).

Day 347 - Sentimental

I planned a quiet night tonight to work on my Dissertation. It ended up in a conversation with my flatmates on what we have been up to this year. 

What a city. What a year.

Day 346 - State by State

I have found a new game.

On the back of each quarter, there is an emblem and a name from a different state. I have been spending American money for almost 12 months and have never noticed this. Maybe a sign that I spend it to quick, or that I have 'bought' into their card culture. Either way, I have a hobby for the last few weeks.

Day 345 - How Many?

The apartment across the road had a fire alarm set off by accident tonight. No fire, just smoke from an over fried Twinkie or something.

To attend the switching of, of the fire alarm, there were six fire engines, one emergency unit, two police cars and all of Newport security. These has been a strong warning to ever no that in my building. EVER!

Day 355 - Off The Wall

My FroYo discovery trail continues. Today's establishment was just of Union Square. Naming itself as Off The Wall Frozen Yoghurt, it had a very similar setup to 16 Handles. The only difference is that they have a much wider range of toppings.

On (off) the wall next to the FroYo pumps, there were all different types of cereal and 'candy' available.

I wonder if Doncaster would take to FroYo. Future venture possibly.