8. New York, June '98

I think most of the allure of New York to foreigners is Hollywood-related. It's a really stimulating city to live in, but I always wonder what sights there are to keep the tourist hordes busy. As you can see, Somchai's first picture request was with an NYPD car, which are world famous because of Hollywood. We've been to NY so many times I can't really remember much about this first trip. We stayed at the SoHo Grand Hotel, because the main reason we were in NY was to look at my apartment in SoHo, which was under a year long construction project. The hotel used to be the only downtown hotel, and despite its ugly new brick exterior that jars with the historic neighborhood, the public spaces have a nice vibe and the rooms are too small but not decorated that badly. But there are lots more hotels in the area now, and there's no reason to stay here now.