Day 5 to Day 9

Note: More pictures in my FB album :)

Day 5

I woke up at 830am, coz I’m flying to New York at 135pm. I had coffee and took the express bus to the airport. Apparently I’m way too early, so I sat in the airport for a few hours. I had a roast beef and cheese sandwich for lunch. I’m surprised they don’t have free wi-fi in the airport.

The immigration officer was concerned that I’m travelling alone to New York City, so he told me not to go out at night. I'm a good girl.

Both my mum and dad asked me if I’m bored travelling alone. I think they have had each other for so long that they cannot think of going anywhere without company. One day, I will look back and say “You know, I went travelling on my own for 6 weeks when I was 25. It was the best thing I’ve ever done!”

Arriving at LaGuardia Airport in New York was awful coz it was a tiny plane and I was really nauseous. The airport is the dodgiest I’ve ever seen. It always surprised me to see how awful American airports are in comparison to our Asian ones. But a nice (but unfriendly) lady at the airport showed me how to get a metro card and where to board my bus.

Although I’ve googled what bus and subway to take to go to the hostel I’ll be staying in Manhattan, I still feel unsure. After all, I’ve never been here before! That’s why I felt really happy when I finally reached the hostel safe and sound.

It’s called “Pink in the City”, an all-female hostels. My room 205 is a 2-beds room, which hopefully I wont be sharing with anyone until I checked out 3 days later. The shared washroom is also not bad. Like the name says, the hostel is sort of pink everywhere and everything. I like!!

The wireless internet is also way better here than the hotel in Montreal. I can actually upload pictures onto FB without any problems!

After I checked in, it was only about 5pm, so I decided to walk randomly. I stopped at a Thai/Japanese restaurant called Long Grain, and ordered teriyaki steak. I couldn’t finish it so I packed the rest.

I then walked to the famous Central Park, where lots of movies are filmed. It was gorgeous. Lot of people (hot shirtless guys) jogging, walking, cycling, skating, dating, bla bla. I just walked for a while, and sat on a huge rock to eat the rest of my teriyaki steak. It was getting dark so I walked back to hostel again.

I like Manhattan very much!

Day 6

I woke up at 9am, checked my gmail while waiting for the washroom. It was still occupied after half an hour, so I just brushed my teeth, changed and went out looking for a starbucks so that I can have a latte and my morning toilet time.

I walked about 4 or 5 blocks and could not find any starbucks, but I saw a MacDonald across the street so I crossed the road and had ice coffee and a sausage sandwich for breakfast. I would later realise that starbucks was actually just one more block ahead. If only I persist a little bit longer!

I then walked to the American Museum of Natural History. On the way, I past one row of market selling fresh flowers, vege, wine, pastries, etc. When I almost reached the museum, I realised that I’ve forgotten to bring my voucher for the citypass =.=

I bought the citypass from expedia.ca as well. I love the citypass. I’ve used it in the past for both san Francisco and Toronto. They usually have admission to 5 or 6 most popular attractions in the city for a way cheaper price and usually a shorter line to get in. It’s really convenient.

I have no choice but to return to the hostel. On the way, I passed by a flea market. Out of curiosity, I walked in and bought 2 early 1900s postcards, and one single page of a 1778 anatomy book. Quite expensive, but history is priceless. I was tempted to buy several of the early 1900s books as well, but books are too heavy to drag around in my suitcase. Sad!!!

When I went back to the museum, it was crazily crowded. Maybe coz it’s Sunday. I was on a long queue only to realise I have the wrong queue. Sigh. But it’s a lovely museum. It was huge too. I covered maybe 60% of it before it closed.

They have a planetarium show too, “Journey to the stars”, talking about the origin of the universe and something else. Not sure what coz I fell asleep halfway through. I was kinda tired by this time so instead of walking, I decided to take the subway back to hostel but it was super super crowded. Everyone was touching everyone else, and I was pushed numerous times. There was also a bunch of black guys with bad jokes. So I left the subway and walked instead.

I had salmon teriyaki for dinner in a nearby Japanese restaurant.

Finally I get to do my laundry today. US$2 for washer, and another US$2 for dryer. They only accept coins so I put US$20 into the coin machine for some change, but stupidly the machine gave me ALL coins for the entire US$20. A lady there thought I’m from England. I’ve spent 4 years in Canada and only 2 weeks in UK. You would have thought that I would have Canadian accent instead.

Day 7

I set my alarm for 730am so that I can beat the crowd to see the Statue of Liberty and get the first come first serve free pedestal ticket, but I woke up at 930am.

Instead, I went to MoMA (Museum of Modern Art). It is in Midtown.

MoMA has the loooooooongest queue I’ve ever seen, but luckily my citypass allowed me to cut the queue! As the name implied, it’s mostly contemporary art. Boring! I dislike contemporary art.

Now you know why...

I went there mainly to see Van Gogh’s Starry Nights, but the museum is so big I couldn’t find it.

I then went to the “Top of the Rock” (Rockefeller Centre). I’m pleasantly surprised with the lack of queue and the marvellous view of NYC. It’s gorgeous.

Of course I have to go to Chinatown, where I have a bowl of delicious porridge from the rudest waiter I’ve ever met. It’s so crowded. Lots of tourists. Lots of souvenir stores. I also passed by “little Italy”.

After that, I took the metro to see the City hall, and saw a few other lovely buildings.

The gorgeous Brooklyn bridge.

The World Trade Center in progress.

I also went to the post office to send my parents a postcard.

I then walked all the way down to see Trinity Church. Remember Nicholas Cage in “National Treasure”, where they found the treasure beneath Trinity Church? I’m a big fan!

And of course Wall street, which I adore. I sat there for half an hour seeing all the good looking guys in black suits :p

You would think I’ll be tired by now, but I decided to stop at Times square on my way back to the hostel. Times Square is magical. We’ve seen it so many times of TV and in pictures but the real thing is 100x lovelier!! It’s one of those places you have to see before you die. Hehe. I had Burger King for dinner that night.

I also did my laundry coz it’s my last night at the hostel.

Day 8

I woke up at 745am to check out of the hostel and to see the Statue of Liberty. Again, Thanks to the Citypass, I get to go on the shorter queue. A tip – If you wanna go onto the crown, you have to buy your tickets monthsssss in advance.

The ferry also brought us to Ellis Island, but I decided to skip it.

I then went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s way too big. I love the Monet and Van Gogh very much. And I love all the European-themed rooms.

Although I never get to see Van Gogh's Starry Nights in MoMA, I'm quite happy with the Van Gogh collection here.

I then walked across Central Park back to the hostel to collect my luggage. At first I wanted to take the subway to Chandler Hotel. It’s a 4 stars hotel I booked 2 nights for my birthday. Bloody expensive, but the location is much much nicer. It’s in Midtown itself. So close to the Garment District for shopping. I took my first taxi on this trip to the hotel.

My room 429 was nice. I love the washroom!!! And the ipod dock was a nice touch. The only thing I missed is a fridge, but it’s no big deal. The hotel is only one block from K-town (Korean Town). Lots of Koreans.

That night I had the best buffet of my life in IchiUmi. Imagine your wildest Japanese cuisine dream plus more. Sushi, sashimi, oysters, grilled food, tempura, udon, rice, soups, and other entrees like fish, crabs, beef, chicken. Also fruits and cakes, as well as ice creams.

Day 9

I woke up at 9am today. And it’s my birthday!!

I have a table reservation at Jojo at 12 noon so I decided not to visit any place in particular before lunch. I just went to the nearby Garment District. Yes, shopping. I went to Macy’s, but didn’t buy anything.

I bought a new pair of pink shape-up Skechers. It’s so cute! I wanted the pink D’lites but it looks kinda plain next to the shape-up (although I don’t really believe the whole shape-up concept). I just think it’s cute!

I took a taxi to Jojo. I was 10 minutes late. But I was only the second customers to arrive for their lunch prix fixe. I ordered a tuna tartare (which super super yummy) and their hanger steak. You know that OMG feeling when something tasted better than you think possible. I had that moment with my first bite of hangar steak. I’ve tasted a lot of steak in the past. After all, Calgary is the cowboy town. But the chefs at Jojo are absolutely talented. I had a berries sorbet for dessert.

I then went to Soho for a brief shopping.

Feeling quite tired, I went back to the hotel for a quick nap. I woke up at around 8pm and decided to go to the NY public library (where they filmed “The day the World Stood Still”) to see the original Winnie the pooh. But it was kinda dark at that point so I went to the Empire State Building instead.

The night view of Manhattan is gorgeous but I’m not sure if it’s worth it. There’s a total of 5 different queues to go up. There’s the security queue, ticket queue, entry queue, and elevator queue x 2. And the space is small, but the crowd is huge. You have to squeeze in between other people to get to the view. In the end, I wasted an hour queueing and less than 10 minutes watching the view.

And that is how I spent my birthday :)
Shopping. A delicious lunch. Manhattan nightview.