The 2nd Annual NYC GTG Of Online Watch Enthusiasts
Day 1 - Thursday, May15th 2008
Anyone who attended last years New York Get Together (GTG) can tell you it was an absolutely fantastic time - you can read my report from last year by clicking HERE and reading item #1. My good friend Milos Watchfan1 Klacko organized the first event in NYC last year in May and it was a great success, so I was pleased that my schedule allowed me to attend the 2nd iteration of what will hopefully be a long standing tradition among online watch enthusiasts.
I caught a direct flight from Dayton International airport to LaGuardia on Thursday May 15th. Dayton Ohio may be the birthplace of aviation, but its a rare thing indeed to get a direct flight anywhere from Dayton International (yes, the quotes are intentional and should be read with a note dubious sarcasm). The flight was good (read on time) and I collected my luggage, and grabbed a cab to the hotel pre-selected by Milos for the event. I will admit to some trepidation regarding the hotel selected a Holiday Inn on West 57th Ave. The last time I stayed in a Holiday Inn, I was riding in the back seat of my parents car, not quite tall enough to peer over the front seat. Come to think of it, Im probably still not tall enough. In any event, Milos assured me they had a wonderful time at the hotel last year, and the same held true for this year.
When I hopped in the cab at Laguardia I immediately noticed a drastic change from my last New York cab ride an interactive TV/PC was built into the seat. Apparently they started putting them in NYC cabs about six months ago.
The weather was very pleasant with some cloud cover
that made for a pretty skyline during the drive into the city. Traffic wasnt terribly thick, and we made it to the hotel in about 30 minutes.
My flight arrived about 6:30pm,
and I was scheduled to join friends at Del Friscos for dinner at 8pm, so I had
little time to spare. I ran up to my room, hung up my cloths and didnt even
change out of my suit I just caught a cab to the restaurant - Del Frisco's: Once inside I easily found all the usual suspects a rowdy
group of watch enthusiasts arent difficult to spot - Chung Lee, Stephanie,
Christiaan, and Chris: Chung CL Lee, (pictured above on the left in the blue
shirt) who is a resident of New York City
organized the Thursday night dinner and selected Del Friscos a fantastic
restaurant a stones throw from Radio City Music Hall: When we were seated for dinner, I had Chung Lee on my left,
and Derek & Leo Idle Swede on my right: Friends both old and new enjoying each others company and some
great watches which were brought:
Harry was just as busy taking photos of watches and friends as I was.
Yes, he's wearing two watches in this photo, and he certainly wasn't the only
one this weekend to do so!
We ordered a variety of fantastic appetizers, with Chung
Lees recommended crab meat spread and the steak tar tar I ordered being the
most delectable: As
most of us who know Chung Lee well know, hes a fashion photographer in New
York, and he surprised us by inviting one of his close friends to join us
Melissa Baker. Melissa Baker is a successful professional model who was in this
years Sports Illustrated Swim Suit issue (click
HERE to have a look).
Melissa was a little shy around us watch geeks at first, but she warmed right up
to Dereks smooth English accent and his platinum Day Date which she enjoyed
trying on: As it turns out, Melissa is originally
from Ohio so we had something to talk about besides watches. Our main course
(finally!) arrived - I
ordered the lobster tail for dinner a 20oz. beast: Dinner was fantastic many
thanks to Chung and Stephanie for organizing such a great dinner. Shortly
after midnight I said goodbye to Chung Lee and Melissa: Following the strict
tradition of a group watch photo following any gathering of watch enthusiasts,
we gathered our watches on the table for a quick shot: Most
of the crew went out with Chung Lee after dinner, but the old men of the group
(read me and Derek, who had the legitimate excuse of having been up for over
24hrs. having flown from London) headed back to hotel. Once there I found
Milos and Iveta in the bar, and we were soon joined by my buddy John Rigano, who
had a slightly later flight than I did from our home town of Dayton. We
shut things down about 2am, and then headed up for some shut eye - the weekend
was already off to a fantastic start! Please note that the Author
and this site are in no way affiliated with or related to The Rolex Watch
Company Limited. All trademarked names, brands, models and designs mentioned
herein are the sole property of The Rolex Watch Company Limited.
