New York once again a great experience. Anyhow, I left for Stuttgart on a Tuesday night. Me and my friends Sandy and Mano went out to this other friend of theirs where we had a few beers and watched a crappy football game. It was a good night, as we were laughing a lot and it was the perfect relaxation before my long trip. I went to bed around 1am and had to get up at 4:20 the next day as my cab was waiting for me at 4:45 to take me to the train. It’s kind of a pain to leave from Frankfurt, but if it’s cheap you gotta take the trip sometimes.
I got to the airport on time and was a bit scared because I didn’t know that I had an e-ticket. The regular tickets you buy from L’Tur need to be exchanged at the airport but their agency only opens at 9am. The Singapore Airlines lady was just smiling as she said “don’t worry sir, it’s an e-ticket”. It’s weird how this Airline keeps you happy and comfortable at all times, you will never ever experience trouble with them. I once heard that the high level of service comes from a simple policy that the airline enforces. If there is only one customer complaint for a particular crew, that entire crew gets no yearly bonus…. WOW! Not sure if this is really true, but if it was, I think it works and it seems like the crew is actually happier because happiness and kindness is responded by the same.
I was going to get the Internet access which all Singapore flights now have, but my computer was kind of dead. After I had asked for a recharge, the crew captain came to me and explained how it was not recommended to just recharge the laptop on the flight because of the surges. No idea why, but they told me that they can put the laptop in business or first to recharge, but it wasn’t recommended, so I rather watched 4 movies on this trip J Oh and by the way, you get about 100 on demand channels, COOL STUFF! Needless to say, the flight was perfect. Oh and I had better Asian food on board than I get anywhere at Asian Restaurants in my home town Germany, pathetic.
Once I had arrived in New York, I was tired from the jet lag and the fact that I only slept like 4 hours the night before my trip. I was only able to go see my friends in Brooklyn at 6pm and now it was only 10am. I decided I would head downtown to see my other friend Cree, he runs a sweet Internet joint in Tribecca. I have a very special relationship with him, honest, fun, business, advice, and support about sums it up. Not many people you get that with. Anyhow, I came to the office and received a warm welcome from all the people working there. I left my suitcase at the office and left to eat something (Chinese Tripes and Eggplant see the pics) and buy some things I needed, phone card, and something my sis asked me to send to her.
At around 2 I was back in to have coffee with Cree. Michael, one of the investors in his company was also there. This was funny because I had talked to Michael a lot before, but never had a chance to meet him in person. I went back to the office afterwards read my emails and left for Brooklyn. My hosts were as always perfect. It makes a world of difference if you actually know someone in the city and they let you stay with their family J
Anyhow, the next couple of days were work, a fantastic dinners, and most importantly the wonderful feeling that I was almost part of the team over at my friend’s company while I was there. We went for drinks, coffee and had I had plenty of chances to talk to the employees. New York is amazing in a way and I guess the Internet industry people are in general. Some of their guys are running their side business(es), so they are lots of fun to talk to.
Cree and me naturally went out a couple times and I stayed on the couch in Tribecca, just makes sense instead of taking the train all the way back to Brooklyn in the middle of the night. We did our traditional Old Homestead dinner again, which is always nice. On Saturday night I was out with one of his co-workers, the founder of SocialDiva.com, we went to a really cool place called Soho House, some upscale urban country club for the celebs and rich trust fund kids to hang out. Interesting indeed, because you don’t get this sort of thing in a small town like Ravensburg. You can only get in if you are with a member (don’t try to get one, it takes too long and probably costs too much J) Anyhow, the members enjoy a movie theater, parties, a pool overseeing the Hudson River, game room, bar/club and so on… Anyhow, this was an experience in itself, really cool place.
I spent another night out with Cree and spent the weekend walking around Manhattan. It’s beautiful and it makes me want to move there for a while, we’ll see, I am still deciding.
Now I am on my way back again as I am typing this. I don’t mind, because it’s nice to finally get home again. I will be in Rome next week and back in New York for a conference in November. I am already invited to some launch party there and will be connecting to Los Angeles and Las Vegas after that … fun.
