Day 1: New York starts here 290507

We landed in NY today at 11.00am…when it is nite back at Singapore…sigh…so much for jet lag…

Security was kinda scary…u had to fill in green cards (n a blue one for each family) and pass it to the immigration officer…lucky us, we got the bulky guy tat looks like Nick frm CSI -_-…n since it was our first, we needed to leave w him our left index finger (hmm…i wonder y not the thumb?) and a camera shot of our eyes (tight security man!)…before we were allowed to proceed to our baggages n out into the arrival hall…

despite watching movies like ‘Terminal’ tat the airport looks so nice…the JFK Terminal 4 Arrival Hall had barely anthg but a food stall n electronic games (in which CW tried to con me into lending him 50cents to play)…but tat was perfectly fine, for like in any of my trips, my main purpose was to first visit the toilet…which i did…i apologise of no toilet photos this time (tight security u noe!)…but i wasn’t exactly used to the toilet, since there were obvious 0.5 cm gaps between the door and cubicle on both sides…so to put it simply, ppl can PEEK IN!!…but i understand tat it was for security reasons…

Via a pre-booked shuttle bus, we headed to our hotel, Embassy Suites, which happened to put one of a series of hotels owned by the Hilton family…of course, we got to see the actual Hilton later, which was HUGE!!!!…….so we put down our stuff in the hotel room (on the 3rd floor…so low…just above the eatery)…n headed out to explore the area ard us…i can’t remember which street we stayed next to…but i do noe tat it was a short walk to Ground Zero, Wall Street, and even Chinatown and Little Italy…we took some nice pics and got the feel of the ambience in NY…..the following r some of the things or places we visited:-

Ground Zero: This was the very site the 911 incident took place…if i’m not wrong, it is named as such for it currently has nthg there at all…the area is well-fenced and heavily-guarded by security (yes, security again), but there is a timeline next to the fence tat relayed the whole incident, before and after it took placed…the area is just above the World Trade Centre Path Station (subway stop).

Millenium Hilton: This is of course, the main Hilton hotel, which is located just opposite Ground Zero…i guess Conrad Hilton (fyi, not my cousin) had his own set of frights back in 2001…but the building is quite high and coloured with blue-black translucent glass, which makes it look really classy…really regret not going to the toilets inside.

160 Broadway Macdonald: Ok, Macs are located all over NY and in other states…but this one is the most interesting one…located at 160 Broadway, it is the only Mac with a live pianist playing (not sure consisitently) in the upper level…in my opinion, the pianist doesn’t sound like Mozart or Beethoven, but he plays contemporary music which most of the customers can easily related to…cool!

Wall Street: Despite the big huha abt it in our history books, Wall Street is pretty much….just a street, where all the financial and commercial transactions take places (in offices of course)…so there was not much of interesting monuments there…but it is still linked to a chain of food stalls like Subway and Dunkin Donuts, for all the hungry lunchtime crowd.

Chinatown: The area with the most Chinese…and some Vietnamese…but it is a very messy area…crapped and crowded, the marketplace has its usual fishy, meaty, veggie, dry foof stuffie smells…we did have lunch in a simple restaurant there, just so we could have Chinese food…not too bad, but the portions were too big.

Lalang seeds: I noe tat lalang seeds are also found in Singapore…but this is considered a rare site in NY, the place fully packed with buildings and little greenery, to have lalang seeds flying abt, looking for new grounds to settle at the start of summer…so instead of hay fever, BEWARE THE LALANG FEVER!!!

Jewish Rabbis: I hope I’m not being rude or athg, but this is my first time actually seeing Jewish rabbis…they are pretty easy to distinguish by their hats and beard…but i didn’t take a pic in case i offended them.

Trump: The Trump building…pretty obvious is owned by Donald Trump?…anw, nthg much to say abt this building…

Federal Hall: I didn’t run a check on wat this building is, but i noe tat it has a tall statue (probably made of bronze) of the 1st president of USA, General Washington in front…his face seemed kinda strict.

Some of the other places we walked passed were Brown Brothers Harriman, US Court of Int’l Trade, US Court House, City of NY, NY County Family Court, NY Law School…

The following was wat i wrote when we headed back to the hotel after our exploration:-

It is now 5.10pm in NYC, which means it’s 5.10am in Singapore…tentatively i should be sleeping like everyone else (due to the slight jet lag) but i can’t, due to my hair being wet…normally i would vow never to be the last to bathe again, but i trust i can’t complain abt it, since i’m supposed to be mature (?) abt all things…so i’m sitting on the small couch of our small deluxe suite (for 6, mind u), conjuring up tales for my blog and pretending tat i was not irritated by the fact tat everyone is sleeping except me becos no one waited for me!!……i feel drowsy but i can’t sleep, together w an all-too-silent tone ringing in my ears (as if i had tinnitus)…

Praise the Lord tat it was a blessed trip so far, though GW got into a temper hating and ignoring me cos i didn’t let her watch the Nick channel (i mean, CSI was on…and despite the fact that the suite had 2 TVs, and the one in her room was not in use -_-!!!)…no matter…

As we were heading back to the hotel awhile back, we went pass a college and a couple of high schools…n i’m suddenly recalled of my pro-kindergarten frens Justin and Julian, who both migrated to USA for nearly 10 years now….i miss them but i didn’t think i would get to meet them (i didn’t meet them though) since i believed tat USA was not a place i would go…n now, here i m in USA…i doubt i would meet them , but really it is more of a “nvr say nvr” spirit, cos God can put u in places tat u nvr request for…anw, i believe these two guys prob don’t remember me anymore, even if we met…

Tips:

1) At Immigration security, make sure ur left index finger is clean and u don’t go too near to the eye camera (which my mom did, which freaked out the officer)…

2) It is always good practice to be aware of where u are staying or visiting in USA, cos the officers may ask u to check w u…be prepared to ans them…

3) If u need a ride to ur hotel, arrange for one at the appropriate counter located at the arrival hall, for all other individuals offering rides tend to overcharge their cilents…even the airport has an announcement tat warns ppl of such cheats… the counter will help u call for the appropriate shuttle…they may overcharge too, but not too much, so just treat it as a tip n nvr take his vehicle again …

4) USA works on a system of tips…in some cases, u must tip…in other cases, just take ur own luggage to ur room or be stingy like most Chinese are XD…

5) USA traffic lights for ppl are a red hand tat flickers to tell u to stop, and a WHITE man to indicate u to walk…observe all traffic rules…n avoid roads after 5pm, where traffic gets pretty heavy…

6) Most hotels have public toilets tat u can use…we got tipped off frm tour guides later on tat the classier the hotels, the classier their toilets…this was why i regretted not going the Millenium Hilton toilet…