Mr Travel loves New York so much, he is saying it twice!! You would have heard a lot of stereotyping of New York City. They say that a murder happens every 12 minutes, cab drivers (who are either Middle Eastern or Indian subcontinent) are crazy, people are rude, you can be lying on the road dying from massive loss of blood as demonstrated by blood spurting out of your neck artery and New Yorkers will just walk over you, going about their daily business. When my cousin visited Princeton in the late 80s, they were advised that if they want to walk around New York, they should go in groups of 20 or more so that they won't get...not mugged...but killed!
In my first and so far only trip to New York in 2002, I have to say, that not ALL of it is true. You can walk in the streets at night now as it is a lot safer. Hats off to Rudy Giuliani.
For those of you who don't follow world events, Rudy Giuliani was the mayor of New York during the 9/11 tragedy. His leadership and quick actions saved many lives and will be remembered a hero in his own way.
We landed in JFK and my impression of the airport was that it was a very unorganized, dirty and unruly. But it was a beautiful summer day and we 5 Malaysians who looked like any other New Yorker didn't pay much attention to the airport. New York was a lot like home in terms of its populace make up. There were Chinese, Indians, Hispanics, etc, with the pushing and shoving and not caring...so we felt right at home.
We were taken to our hotel in Manhattan and it was just 2 blocks away from Times Square. The first thing we did was to look up our former boss who came to take us to lunch at Hoboken, New Jersey. This is another place that has been stereotyped as rundown, poor, unkept and only the vagabonds and poor folks go there. However, because everything in Manhattan is crazily expensive, working folks have moved to Hoboken where it was cheaper. AS such the place has been spruced up and it looks like one of those sunny, retirement home suburbs. It was a simple, normal neigbourhood where everyone could know everyone by name.
Our first meal in NY was.....Malaysian Rendang!!! I almost kicked my ex-manager but since he was buying, I had to swallow it (literally). The owner of the restaurant was Malaysian and he was very happy to serve us but the food is just like home! Come on I just landed! It takes at least 5 days before I start missing home food!!!
We went to a lot of places in New York. I don't wanna bore you too much so I will give you the abridged version.
1) American Museum of Natural History
This is my No.1 destination! It was history paradise (as far as I know la. I haven't been to THAT many places..humour me). There were like 6,7 stories of exhibits displaying various cultures, historical events, different animals, eras of our earth's time, fossils of dinosaur eggs, extinct dinosaurs, dioramas like you wouldn't believe and a really cool T-Rex fossil in the foyer. If you want to know what it looks like, go watch Ben Stiller's "Night at the Museum".
2) Liberty Island - Statue of Liberty
This is the ultimate symbol of friendship and freedom...to me. I was really in awe of the statue standing overlooking immigrants coming to America in search of a new life. The view was fantastic both at the summit and on the ground. This is a true fact, at Battery Park (where you took the ferry to Liberty Island, we saw Shah Rukh Khan filming with Kareena Kapoor. Don't wanna brag but we shook hands with Shah Rukh Khan...pity we didn't remember to take our cameras!!
3) Times Square
It was a really busy intersection with neon lights making the night seem like day. There were many theaters around here and at Broadway and we saw "Beauty and the Beast" the musical. I don't wanna brag but this time, I didn't snore. We wanted to see "The Producer" or some play with Antonio Banderas but it was sold out. There were tons of restaurants to choose from but we had steak almost every night and each tasted different
4) Central Park
It's a REALLY HUGE park. We took a stroll through the park on the way to the Museum and almost died of exhaustion. In the day, there were street performers, musicians, comedians, mimes and really weird folks who wear their clothes inside out and go around trying to tell you something about the state of the politics. We were lucky we could still walk fast then.
5) Empire State Building
It's the view that was worth the trip up. The elevator was a bit worrying since it was an old elevator, so we were a bit concerned about the cables but a gorgeous view indeed.
6) Flushing Meadows
This is apparently a very Asian communal suburb so there were lots of oriental food and shops. The US Open stadium was also here. We took the subway everywhere but we did skip Harlem. In the morning we strolled around the Bronx which was a bit like Kepong in the old days. Scary like hell!!!
7) New York sight seeing bus
It was an open double decker bus that took a route pass every sight in NY.
8) Wax Museum
You seen one, you seen them all!
We didn't just spend time in NY but we did hang out at Woodsbury Common and at a very quaint couple's B&B. Stay tuned for next part but for now, I have to take the stage in a musical entitled "The Chindian's Dilemma"! Up Curtains!!!
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