Having myself a merry little Christmas!

Anyone who knows me, and I mean ANYONE, knows I am addicted to Christmas. It combines all my favourite things into one big and exciting palooza - shopping slash spending, Baby Jesus, eating, present opening, retail hype - need I go on? This year was always going to be a very different year for me, namely being the only the third time (and first in 6 years) that I had been away from family on the big day. Well anyone who knows me, and I mean ANYONE, knows I was cavorting around the centre of the modern universe - NEW YORK!

Lucky that going to New York ranked very high on my all-time 'must do' list, otherwise there is NO way I would repeat the flight. 14 hours of non-stop service to a completely packed economy section left me shagged and not in the good way. I could get a job at Starbucks tomorrow after the amount of tea and coffee I dished out. There were a few grateful souls, but by and large the flight was full of people NOT celebrating Christmas, which put a slight downer on the whole affair.

NYC itself was a completely different story however. It lived up to the hype inside my head and THEN SOME. Two of my sisters have been to New York in the past year and now it was my turn to experience what I now believe to be the greatest city in the world. I spent most of the day with the Heiner family - good family friends for many years - and they made the day special for me. Just walking around with Fiona and the three kids (Isabel, Claudia and Nick) and absorbing the atmosphere and sights was simply a perfect day and a much better Christmas than I had anticipated.

I am now a few hours away from my annual leave flight to Brisbane where I will be until the 5th of January, so no blog til then.

Enjoy my New York pictures (most of them taken in the rain, a wonder my camera still functions) and I look forward to continuing the Jube Eye into 2007.


The crew hotel in Long Island - oh so suburban America!

My credit card should be very grateful Macy's was closed!

Where else can you feel the true warmth of family and home-cooked food on Christmas with three lovely children? MACCAS!

Inside, and outside, said fine-dining establishment

The set of Good Morning America (think Sunrise) and News Corporation HQ - one day Daniel, one day!

The famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Centre

Me by the tree.... and cruising down Fifth Avenue!

The outskirts of Central Park - ducks on the water, horse-and-carriages, the bridge over the lake, the driving sleet in my eyes.... oh and yeah, the massive store in Times Square dedicated to M&Ms - MAGIC!

TIMES SQUARE!