The first (of many) dates

GARETH SAYS...

So Thursday and the first official date was soon upon us.

We went ice skating in Bryant Park.
We drank cocktails somewhere posh.
And then things got interesting...

We had to be on the corner of Canal and Lafeyette at 9pm sharp.

There were about 20 other people gathered on the corner and a few film crews and photographers. In the centre of this group was a young bloke dressed in a military jumpsuit complete with helmet. Strapped across his chest he had one of his works of art. A weird stuffed monster made from roadkill that he had collected over the years. He was know as the Frankenstein of Brooklyn, and he was a taxidermy artist. We were about to go on the first ever Chinatown Garbage Taxidermy Tour.

Everyone was given a pair of rubber gloves for safety purposes and then we set off to go through all the stinking rubbish stacked up outside the Chinese fishmongers. Amy and I had a great time. We found a frogs head that then became a finger puppet as i did my Geico lizard impersonation. We have a film of it somewhere that we will have to dig out.

Amy laughed. I laughed.

This was not your typical first date. This was great.

The tour ended and we went off to get something to eat. It is hungry work going through rotting bins.

We went to Teany's in the Lower East Side as i knew Amy was a veggie. I had chilli, she had quiche that was awful.

Over coffee at the end i asked her what she was doing for Xmas. "Nothing," she said. I asked her if she like to come to England and she said YES!!

The next morning i went into work, phoned my Sister to see if it was OK to bring home a random woman who i'd met on the internet, she said yes. I then phoned Amy to make sure she meant it when she said YES. Her response was a classic:

"It's a free holiday isn't it? Of course i'll come!"

And with that the ticket was brought.

Between Monday evening and Friday morning we had met for a drink, had one proper date and brought one return flight to the UK. It was all happening pretty fast but in a great way.

When i told people about the date they rolled their eyes and said: "That is soooooooo you Gareth"

It was then that i dropped the bombshell.

"But i had nothing to do with it! Amy organised the whole thing!"

It looked like we were a perfect match!