In Summary - New York New York!

oh the city that i dreamt so long of visiting but fate dealt a cruel blow - i fell sick. haha. yesh, a most horrendous cold which had to get worse before it got better, so i spent a good part of my time in new york sneezing and sucking on cough drops bought from the trusty cvs pharmacy.

nonetheless, new york was as exciting as everyone describes it to be, and i wished i had more time there. i didn't see the statue of liberty because the tickets were sold out! but i did manage to visit other famous new york attractions. heh.

grand central station
the stuff of folklore and romanticised by turn of the century american authors like edith wharton, grand central station (more correctly, grand central terminal) serves several lines linking new york city to other parts of the state and neighbouring connecticut. there are about 50 platforms in all and it's been operating for over a century. walking in, one is struck speechless by the grandeur of the place, the high ceiling with the star spangled banner, and simply the feeling of just being there. it's a reminder of the old money of new york, and one can imagine the upper crust of society in the 1900s mingling at the station.

united nations
the united nations building is pretty nondescript and is situated between east 4nd to 48th street. the only way to get in is to follow the tours that leave every hour or so. you are taken through the various assembly halls and lots of gifts from various nations. lots of historical facts are thrown your way, and there are exhibits about aids, land mines and other political-worthy stuff. and how can the visit be complete if you don't have a peek inside the general assembly?

security was tight everywhere, and they've got a tent where all visitors must pass through. they don't allow phototaking inside, but i was very tempted to ask for an exception because it was there that i saw the most bored looking dog ever. he was one of those k9 dogs but his handler wasn't interested in moving around. and in the new york heat, that was probably too much for the dog to bear, so he sank to his paws and barely kept even one eye open. heh.

wall streetah hah. the place where fortunes are made and lost, where people turn millionaires overnight, where the american dream begins. you can't go into the nyse(above) anymore, so the best you can do is to stand outside and imagine being on the floor, hearing the opening bell and throwing yourself into the ensuing chaos. there's something about the place that awes you, that makes you feel small, almost as if you've got no right to be there. everything about wall street was designed to impress, with an entire road lined by towering concrete monuments to money. yet there is a dignity and gravitas about the place, a certain respectability in which the people carry while scurrying to and fro, that makes you think, and hope, that one day, just one day, you can be a part of it.

brooklyn bridgea hundred and fifty years old and still standing, this bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world when it was built. it was the only land connection between manhattan and brooklyn at the time, the two new york city boroughs being separated by the east river. we walked only half of it since we had no intention of visiting brooklyn, and of all things i met my secondary school junior there! small world indeed.

empire state building
this place is best visited at night, when the air is cool and you get to look out over new york with it's pretty lights. unfortunately when we were there, it was so cloudy that we could barely make out things. on a clear night you are supposed to see even the statue of liberty. a tip though would be to get your tickets from your hotel, which we did, and we ended up jumping ahead of the queue.

times square/broadwayi got to stay just next to times square (thanks to a very special blessing heh) so i was right at the doorstep of broadway. lots of people, lots of noise, and lots of lights. even the nypd police post on times square has a huge neon sign! ticket peddlers, tour operators and imitation good sellers all vie for your attention (and wallet) and as you walk down the street, you get accosted and yelled at by people of various ethnicities and well...voices.

one must catch a show on broadway, and thanks to a tip from dr spacefan, i managed to procure discounted tickets from tkts. yesh, the tkts. went to see avenue q, a puppet show that's not for kids. (remember the list i made before i left? they were all sold out) it's a terrific show, with a shallow facade (fancy songs titled 'the internet is for porn'?) but actually lots of truisms in it. it's politically incorrect simply because it's true in almost every aspect - the temptation we face, the rutts we get stuck in sometimes, the distractions. too bad i was having such a horrid sore throat then - each time i laughed i ended up wincing because of the pain. haha.

the metropolitan museum of new yorkyes, it's the same one that has a store in suntec, and my oh my, is the best museum i've visited so far. and ten bucks (student price) it's also the most affordable. the place is huge, and contains a variety of exhibits, from egyptian mummies to chinese pottery, from music instruments to polynesian artwork. this place needs two days for a thorough visit really, so it's best to come early in the day. i liked the polynesian section because it was unique, and seldom mentioned anywhere else.on our way there, we got a treat in the form of the puerto rico day parade along madison avenue. some two million people lined the streets to cheer the floats on. a pretty spectacular sight indeed (imagine - that's half of singapore's population on those few streets alone!)

the rest of new york
my friends and i took a walk through central park, which is huge and isn't very fun to be at in the summer. then there's the guggenheim museum which was undergoing renovations while we were there. what i love about new york is the subway. it's fast, reliable, and gets you anywhere in new york even past midnight. the station interchanges are like little cities in itself, with shops and buskers, which included anything from stomp-like dustbin percussionists to opera singers to b-boys. amazing. this picture i took at times square station, and i'm looking down onto the tracks from the staircase. it's not a good picture i know, but it shows all the metal and steel that features in all stations. i especially loved the sound of the trains roaring into the staions. heh.and there it is! my travelogue is complete. what an experience it was really, to stay in los angeles for 3 weeks, then exploring two major american cities. if i've got the time, i'll do one post just on the signboards that i photographed during my time there. they're pretty interesting, america being america, so i hope to find time to share it.

for now, that's all folks!