Teo Jasmin International

TEO WENT TO NEW YORK !

		Whoop whoop ! A bulldog in New York : the paradoxical concept of the city that never sleeps welcoming a dog that always naps. But on this particular occasion Teo barely closed his eyes, having met so many of his facets in the Big Apple.
Little trip guide of Teo's first American adventure, the Frenchiest of the English bulldogs, ready to conquer the New World !

It's the corporate version of Teo who gets the call to go to NYC in the first place, for an exhibition : the Gift Fair, a few blocks from the Empire State Building. Teo Titi is celebrated since Teo Jasmin is among the brands featured in the French Pavillion, or rather, the Pavillon Français... Across the alley from the Japanese Pavillion where sushi boxes, sushi cutting boards, posters of sushi and stuffed sushi are sold, and where everyone must have killer abs since they spend their day bowing here and there anytime they have to say hello, goodbye or 'do you want some sushi'.
Teo Titi is showing its tote bags collection, and as the majority of visitors are middle aged American women, there's a lot of shouting and exclaiming around the stand : "Oh my God he's so cute" or 'Heavens ! He's adorable". In a word : true love.
After half of the Jarvis Convention Center has fallen in love with Teo and shown him billions of pictures of his American cousins on iphones, there is no denying the truth : Teo is now a French ambassador, very much like the baguette, the beret and Marion Cotillard. How French Touch !

What better way to recover than to meddle and wander about Manhattan, and Teo Racing takes center stage, happier than ever to ride his engine through the geometry of New York streets.

But after consideration, let's not. Since in New York the only thing wilder than the traffic is cab drivers, and as they're actually part of the traffic, it's a dangerous place to ride a bike.

Teo Racing quickly changes his motto : Hurray for the subway ! And don't try playing it cool in the subway either, trying to board without a ticket for instance. You would have to deal with giant tourniquets you cannot bypass for fear of severe dismemberment unless you work for Cirque du Soleil, and even more frightful, the big uniformed lady's look will make you backtrack in a second to politely buy a ticket.

But there are other neat ways to get around in New York, like the Staten Island ferry linking Manhattan to Staten Island. As we're dealing with sea farring folks now, Teo Honfleur takes the wheel and here we go for a peaceful journey along the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge.

It's a nice change from suburban commuter trains ! There are seagulls, nice fresh marine air and waves, perfect setting for Teo Honfleur. Even by -10°C... Wonder what such a voyage can look like when the elements are less cooperative, it must quite a bumpy ride and you'd need to avoid taking a
seat next to someone carrying an extra large Starbucks goblet because arriving at work with a big moka-latte-low fat-no sugar-extra cream with cinnamon stain on the tie.

The visit continues once we're back on solid ground in Manhattan and a few blocks from the riverfront is the financial district and Wall Street. Away with the rain cap and hello top hat, Rockefeller's shadow looms

It's time for business indeed. Teo Dandy, our philanthropic gentleman is supervising a croquette delivery via Fedex. In New York dogs are walked around by professional dogwalkers who handle the leash like Teo Dandy handles the monocle : with aplomb. Organization and fraternity, here is a
concept that Teo likes very much.

A sound of sirens brings us back to the reality of the New York streets. There is always a siren in the air in NYC : fire department, 911 emergency, police cars, no wonder they're always running around in NCSI, there's always something going on here !

New Yorkers must be very accident prone, attacked a lot or play with matches a lot. A big shiny red truck with yellow firefighters inside drives out of a little station around a corner and Teo Rescue is conquered : fire stations in New York resemble little houses tucked between two large skyscrapers, and there are plenty of plaques and stuff outside, because New York loves its firefighters and tells them all the time.

The New York fire department has paid a heavy tribute to the 9/11 attacks and most stations have lost men, so there very moving tributes on all the stations facades. Whenever you look to the sky, you can see the under construction Freedom Tower, where the Twin Towers have fallen. Right below,
there is a place very dear to New Yorkers and to Teo Rescue : St Paul's church, the miraculous little refuge for all involved in the rescue effort right after the attacks and from where many left but never came back. There is a little memorial inside, and however tough Teo Rescue thought he was, he couldn't help but shedding a tear. In New York heartbeats sound way louder than sirens after all.

 

Indeed New York is a world symbol for a melting pot of cultures. You can meet people from all over the world here, hear all types of languages while waiting to cross the street, taste all varieties of cooking in Hell's Kitchen, while cab drivers are all mad, wherever they are from.

This gigantic amalgamate of cultures has enchanted Teo Marley. From the black mamas of Harlem to the tiny restaurants of Little Italy and the Russian mobsters, you sometimes wonder in which country you actually are, all the while knowing full well you can only be in New York. This is a multicultural paradise and Teo Marley has had a lot of fun trying to figure out from where everyone was from, and to which accent corresponded the 'stoopid' his cab driver yelled at the cyclist stuck in his tire.

However there is one culture dominating, black culture ! Street culture is everywhere, especially in Teo West Coast's eardrums.

From the poor neighborhoods of Harlem to the legendary Bronx, street art is everywhere. This is Haring, Warhol and Fairey country, and there are as many things happening on the walls than in the streets. Art available to all, and all subject to art ! Deep huh ? Teo West Coast was so inspired that he painted out his whole hotel room (waiting for the redecoration bill now...) but Teo assumes his commitment as a philanthropic doggy, Obey your passion ! Obey your spirit !

It's time for a little break and a little snack, and the least you can say about New York, is that you have a large choice for that.

Official statistics point out to 7 million restaurants per street in New York. Including 6 million Starbucks. Honest ! You can eat anything anytime since nothing ever closes. Only in New York does the phrase 'it's 4am, do you feel like a tandoori pizza' sounds like something totally random.
Needless to say, Teo Chef was drooling all over the place. Starbucks breakfast to kick off the day, with free wi fi as an excuse to camp there and order a giant cinnamon roll. For lunch, burger joints, maxi bagels sold on every street corner, trendy wine bars or exotic restaurants, take your
pick, with only one common denominator : everything is huge ! Teo Chef's favorite spot : a cajun restaurant with fried sweet potatoes in Hell's Kitchen !

To burn out the cajun calories, how about a little action ? So off to the Madison Square Garden for a smashing game of ice hockey. The billboard : New York Rangers (scream really loud) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (booh profusely). Teo Schuss takes out the woollen hat and off we go for two hours of fun on ice.

The rules of ice hockey are not very hard to understand : you need to skate after a cookie and hit it with a big upside down broom, and if the guy from the other team is in the way, you get into a fight and then you go to
prison. Awesome ! The best thing about it all : the atmosphere. It's a violent sport with blood and hits and missing teeth and everything, but in the stadium, everybody is having a really good time. There is no hatred for the opposite team, people eat pop corn, chatter about, everybody knows everybody, it's sportsmanship and team spirit at its best. Plus the Rangers won 5-2 so there was a big popcorn and woollen hats explosion at the end.

It's nighttime now in New York and the golden rule is that you do not sleep while in New York.

There's no time for it ! Too many things to do, to see, to eat. Teo Queen now takes us to Broadway to pick a show or a musical.

It's ultimately very late, even by New York standards. Streets are deserted, phantom fumes slither out of pavement cracks, skyscrapers adopt gothic allures in the dark and it's time to go to bed, because as Teo High School points out : this is a school night !!