Holy mackerel. I just got into JFK's new Jetblue terminal a half hour ago, and I'm floored, seriously. I've never seen an airport quite like this. Here's some of its AMAZING features.
1) Edible Food.* Not a sta
rbucks in sight, but instead these little bakeries that are probably corporate chains as well, but they serve illy coffee and have real pastries like croissants and the like. Then, there's the new "Cibo" restaurants that have real sandwiches like egg salad on fancy bread with sun dried tomatoes. Or greek yogurt and honey. Or real produce! Gone are the days of drinking juice from concent
rate in airports. They also have a nice array of sit-down restaurants with super cool hipster nam
e
s like "revolucion" serving Mexican gourmet. There's at least 3 bars that have that dark ambient lighting with white
light fixtures for contrast that super's hot in clubs, but even more appealing in an airport. And there's jamba juice! That's just the beginning.
2) Strange stores that are fun to look at, at least to waste time. There's this cool Japanese stationery store called Moji or Moju, which has some unusual random things, like t-shirts in 3x3 inch boxes, or 3-d Christmas cards of cityscapes, or cool Japanese writing implements and paper and booklets. There's a Borders, which is also good to waste time in. While I was there, a little boy said to his mum, "You know what? I think Sponge Bob loves me." Mom was slightly confused, and replied, "Sponge Bob loves you? Did he tell you that? That's great honey. Now pick out a book." I was amused though.
3) Oddities: Ipod and PS2 vending machines. I never thought i'd see such a thing, but basically, you swipe your credit card (naturally) and choose from a variety of technogeek things, from ipod shuffles to ipod touches, rechargers, winning pS2 games like "lego Indiana Jones" and more. Shocking and yet amazing. There's also a natural health center called "harmony" which has homeopathic remedies, including "bach", which is pretty amazing.
Overall, I'm in total awe. The great thing about flying through NYC is the people watching. in getting off the connection plain this morning, I felt like I was surrounded by the "hipsters" that Adbusters decried in their summer issue. Twenty somethings in skinny jeans and riding boots, boys in old school plaid and skinny jeans and scarves, prepsters in Ralph Lauren and Sperry boat shoes, and more. (Not to mention the women decked out in crazy formal stuff, and of course, the required sweatpants + uggs look worn by millions). I love it. Women with mullets that should be cut immediately, women with $700 LV purses that could be from Chinatown for $7, and men with serious satchels formally known as "mangs" I think. (man+bag=man bag= mangs). Oh wait, not to mention the free internet and these cool stations all around of electrical outlets. I'm sitting at a station of approximately 50 outlets, so you could charge your ipod, phone, computer, brain... Amazing. No longer are you stuck cowering on the floor with your computer because your charger doesn't go more than a foot...or being silently covetous of the technogeek who's consuming a whole electric outlet or 4 with their gadgets, leaving yours to die... Sigh. No more!
Strangely enough, I woke up at 4:30 AM today, even though I only needed to wake up at 5:30 to get at the airport by 6ish. So...I did some yoga and meditation. And man do I feel GOOD for only getting 5.5 hours of sleep. Now I understand with monks get up at like 4 or 3 everyday. I feel like I can do anything, go anywhere, accomplish everything I need to. The world is my OYSTER! Oh wait. I'm still in an airport. I almost forgot.
Currently listening to: Mates of State, Deerhoof, Riley's "In C," the Decemberists' singles.
*I'm SO pumped to not have to eat Dunkin' Donuts for lunch. These pix are from the sushi bar and one of the regular super cool ambient bars.
