There really is nothing quite like New York City. I'm sure anybody that has been here will no doubt agree, whether for right or wrong reasons. If you can't tolerant the chaotic nature of seemingly endless groups of people zipping all over the place, hearing six different languages at once as they zoom pass you while you're standing on a street corner and the smell of a subway drain you're standing on as a train thunders past underneath your feet then you're probably going to have a couple of things to complain about. But if you can tolerate it, and the over aggressive cab drivers, the odd rude person who cuts off traffic to sprint across the street and cards being flashed in front of you to go see an 'unmissable' Broadway show then the benefits are too long to count.

From the moment you step foot in Manhattan it's chaos. Whether you're walking across to Macy's to get a shirt at 11:30pm on Tuesday night, walking out of Penn Station at 7pm with a load of luggage on a Monday or just getting a breakfast bagel at the corner of 47th and 5th at 6:30am it's bumper to bumper human traffic on the walks. And it's a rush. Everybody in this city has somewhere to be, and now. We even saw a cab swipe and damage somebody's car in Times Square.

Despite that I think New York gets a bad rap for its safety and this bumper to bumper thing actually ensures you feel safer than anywhere else when taking in the scenes. The police and security and military presence here is huge.

The skyline has changed since the last time I was here. Buildings are higher and more complete in the ground zero area and other spots look different too but I guess that was always going to be case after three and a half years in a place that has more construction works than anywhere else the world. It's round the clock for city workers.

We haven't had the chance to do much sightseeing yet as yesterday we spent a morning getting our shop on at the Woodbury Common Outlets in upstate New York. This is another spot getting building upgrades and looking different from my last visit. But like before it still has its village charm and a stunning backdrop of foresty hills, and plenty of clothing discounts. We walked away with bags of clothing each but I think it would be fair to say I have a bit more colour in my wardrobe. I had no idea how much Maddi preferred black, grey and white over colour when his eyes popped at a, what I called conservative, blue pair of pants I was entertaining purchasing.

The most noticeable building update for me came in the form of Madison Square Garden. Unlike last time where the passage ways to your seats were paper thin everything now is new and state of the art yet it still maintains its historic feel. Maddi was happy to see his Mavs put the hapless Knicks to the sword last night but it provided an atmosphere that was at time so dull that I think the loudest cheer we heard in the second half was when the cheerleaders came out with the t-shirt gun. It left a lot of New Yorkers leaving cursing and booing their team, who have struggled all season. A note about stadium policy for anybody going though, take an I.D. with you if you plan to get beer. No matter how old you may look you'll get asked and not served if you say you have none. Maybe that contributed to the anger as a lot of people were getting turned away at the bar. Don't get a New Yorker mad at a sporting event in which their team sucks is something I got out of it. Going to watch their 3-11 Jets take on my 11-3 Patriots on Sunday should be fun for me, maybe not about sixty thousand others.

We're staying at a hostel on East 47th which is a bit of a walk from major attractions and we have a room about the size of my ensuite at home but for the rates we're paying at Christmas you can't beat it. We also have a huge gym so weights and cardio have been a relief for the body, even if the food intake has not improved from a nutritional point of view. We've so far sampled three pubs for meals and beers, all passing the comfort food test dangerously easily. I've also discovered Blue Moon with a slice of lemon as a new favourite beer of choice.

I won't have much to report from New York for the next day and a bit because I'm on my way Boston for a day, passing through Connecticut and some of the beautiful suburbs of the rich.