To get around NYC, we took the subway which runs 24 hours a day. The way some people described this transport was terrifying, like how dangerous it can be or how easy it is to get lost. It turned out all right, the key to it is to figure out if you are going uptown or downtown, and note the letters or alphabet of the line. Sometimes there are express trains too, and you may miss your stop. Each ride would cost $2, but you can get a day pass for $7 which is worth your money. The subway in Manhattan runs under the ground, and there are no doors separating us from the train. You can jump right onto the tracks! The interior of the train looks pretty much like the MRT in Singapore. Every station has the station name made of these mosaic tiles, pretty eh? But do take note, there are no fancy escalators around, you have to climb the stairs all the way (Maybe you can find the lift if you are lucky). It made me realised how spoilt we are in Singapore!
We spent a good part of day 2 at NYC Chinatown, and truth is, it did not leave a good impression on me. It just seemed messy, and the smell -of roast duck, mixed with smelly water by the road and rubbish. On the pavement I had to fight the crowds (mainly Asians), and when it came to crossing the small roads I had to watch where I stepped. But for the sake of dim sum, it was quite worth it! All that cost us $21, costly by Singapore standards. The photo in the middle panel, right hand side is of a yam puff, shaped as a duck. Ain't it so cute! We also stopped by the highly recommended Chinatown Ice Cream Factory to see what the fuss was about. The Husby had red bean ice cream, and I had much raved about lychee sorbet. His ice cream was too milky, and mine was too sweet. I guess all these flavours are not exotic to us, but perhaps to the Americans. We also stopped by Aji Ichiban to get some sour plums and snacks, yummy! Seriously, I have not seen so many Chinese in a long while! It was hilarious because the waiters at the dim sum place could not decide if they would speak to us in English or Mandarin.
Next up was some shopping at what was voted the #1 Discount store in New York 2006: Century 21 Department store. There were many bags/clothes/shoes on sale, but I did not find what I was looking for. The photo on top left hand side was taken opposite Ground Zero, where Century 21 is. Right now there seemed to be a lot of construction going on around Ground Zero, and it is somewhat sad to know that human remains are still found on the site. It was running late, and we popped into the nearby MacDonald's for lunch. To my surprise, there is a guy playing the grand piano at this fast food joint! (Top right hand side) We then walked all the way back to the City Hall Park, as shown in the photo at bottom left.
This is the Brooklyn bridge, said to be one of New York's most recognized landmarks. It spans the East River and connects Manhattan island to Brooklyn, and is elevated above the roadway for pedestrians, skaters and bicyclists. We only made it to half way across the bridge to the first Gothic arch, as we were running out of time. That alone took 20 mins to get there. We could see the Manhattan Bridge (Middle panel, left hand side), as well as the skyline of downtown Manhattan, probably of the financial district (Middle panel, right hand side). As you can see, it was warm too! We then headed back Manhattan. Someday I would love to walk all the way to Brooklyn! Scroll right down to the bottom of my blog to see a panoramic photo of the view from Brooklyn bridge.
We spent a good part of day 2 at NYC Chinatown, and truth is, it did not leave a good impression on me. It just seemed messy, and the smell -of roast duck, mixed with smelly water by the road and rubbish. On the pavement I had to fight the crowds (mainly Asians), and when it came to crossing the small roads I had to watch where I stepped. But for the sake of dim sum, it was quite worth it! All that cost us $21, costly by Singapore standards. The photo in the middle panel, right hand side is of a yam puff, shaped as a duck. Ain't it so cute! We also stopped by the highly recommended Chinatown Ice Cream Factory to see what the fuss was about. The Husby had red bean ice cream, and I had much raved about lychee sorbet. His ice cream was too milky, and mine was too sweet. I guess all these flavours are not exotic to us, but perhaps to the Americans. We also stopped by Aji Ichiban to get some sour plums and snacks, yummy! Seriously, I have not seen so many Chinese in a long while! It was hilarious because the waiters at the dim sum place could not decide if they would speak to us in English or Mandarin.
This is the Brooklyn bridge, said to be one of New York's most recognized landmarks. It spans the East River and connects Manhattan island to Brooklyn, and is elevated above the roadway for pedestrians, skaters and bicyclists. We only made it to half way across the bridge to the first Gothic arch, as we were running out of time. That alone took 20 mins to get there. We could see the Manhattan Bridge (Middle panel, left hand side), as well as the skyline of downtown Manhattan, probably of the financial district (Middle panel, right hand side). As you can see, it was warm too! We then headed back Manhattan. Someday I would love to walk all the way to Brooklyn! Scroll right down to the bottom of my blog to see a panoramic photo of the view from Brooklyn bridge.
Alas, by 4.30pm we were back in Chinatown awaiting our bus to take us back to Baltimore. On the bus, I could not resist taking this photo on the left - does it remind you of Singapore? Somehow it reminds me of some flats in Redhill! The journey back took longer than expected, as there were many cars.
NYC was truly a great experience, and I definitely would love to go back again. There are still so many things to do, like take the free Staten Island Ferry to view the Statue of Liberty, explore Brooklyn, visit the Grand Central Terminal and marvel at its ceilings, go up Empire State Building, take the Roosevelt Island Tram, visit Rockefeller center, complete Central Park and the list goes on! Of course there would be more food and shopping too, how can we miss that?
Would anyone like to join me? =)
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