New York, New York
"A city so good they decided to name it twice......."
Enough of procrastination, 2 months since, so here i go again. And i promise a much detailed account. Ha. Of course also for remembrance sake...
A picture speaks a thousand words, but i speak a million words...
Day 0 (31 July '07)
Dragging our luggages out of our apartment, it was finally time to say goodbye. A lot of unwillingness, but still it was time to go. Our 3-month stay was coming to an end....
Reached Pittsburgh station at 1am!::Sleeping condition
From Sandusky to Cleveland and along the way to Pittsburgh, we finally reached New York City after a grueling 13 hours bus journey...
Day 1 (1 August '07)
Even though we were very tired, we still have to walk about 10 streets down from the bus station to our hotel entirely with our luggages.....
Checking in to our hotel::The very small room
And we couldnt just sleep. So after refreshing ourselves, it was time to explore the city....
Our first stop was at Macy's, a departmental store that claims to be the world's largest store. It is about 2.1 million sq ft as compared to Singapore's Vivocity 1.1 million sq ft. Indeed, Macy's is so big we didnt really see everything. Besides, it has 8 or 9 floors and the entire building is divided into the Women and Men section. However, stuffs were too expensive also...
So we continued walking up the streets of New York. In fact, it is not difficult to navigate around NYC since the streets are laid out in grid style, and every streets and roads are labeled accordingly - the horizontal roads are 'Street' while the vertical roads are 'Avenues'.....
Broadway posters::Empire State building at back::Times Square
The streets of NYC are indeed vey crowded, bustling with activities. High-rise buildings are aplenty, very loud and colourful...
And NYC has several flagship stores or concept stores that are so huge and can occupy 2 to 3 storeys. Just like the Hershey's store, it sells nothing but chocolate and related merchandises...
And after the short self-tour, it was time to begin our bus tour. We did pay for it though. And it brought us round NYC, visiting landmarks and famous attractions...
St. Paul's Chapel::Trinity Church::Rockefeller Center ::Empire State Building
Of which Rockefeller Center is worth mentioning. Because it consists 19 commericial buildings, and it is so large it is said to be like a small city with everything one can find..
Then it was time to board the Staten Island Ferry. It was just a boat ride that goes to that island, but our purpose was more of seeing the Statue of Liberty from afar...
The interior and has a small snack bar in the middle::The southern point of Manhattan
Eh.. where is the Statue? Coming......
Nice lighting effect by the sun I thought, but small Liberty::Still very small yah
And then we went to the Wall Street and greeted us were even more high rise buildings...
Walking between the towers::With the police
When we approached the police for a photo-taking request, one of them thought for a moment and asked where are we from. Then one of them asked the other, "So are we on war with Singapore?" Of course no right. Then they smiled and agreed. What a sense of humour.
Next, to the World Trade Center site. Nothing's left. Just construction work going on for the new center. And the sky has turned dark and our tour has ended at around 8.15pm. So it was time for us to venture the vibrant streets again..
Then we went to the M&M's store. It was 3 storeys and sell M&M's and other chocolates. Also has lots of M&M's related merchandise like towels, key chains etc etc. Quite interesting. And it sells lots of different colours of M&M's as you can see below....
Columns of tall M&M's dispensers, all different colours
The night of NYC is very attractive. But it is also very crowded, just like our Orchard Road. And the traffic is also very horrible....
And after much deliberation, we finally had our dinner at Burger King only at 10.30pm. We were almost dead from hunger....
A full stomach. Priceless.
I wondered if it was good or bad because since our first time at Burger King, it has become our favourite fast-food in New York, or rather USA......
Day 2 (2 August '07)
This day was our own exploring day. Equipped with an unlimited Metro card, our main goal was to utilize it and see as much as we can....
The interior::The train
Well, the subway is very complex, has more lines and stations than Singapore's. But it is quite convenient with the subway actually.
Our first stop was back to Times Square again. Seems like we couldnt get enough of it. But our main aim was to buy the discounted Broadway tickets....
Big Apple in the middle of road::See the amount of Broadway shows New York offers
But we were too early, the place wasnt open, so we proceeded to the Empire State Building! Thankfully i managed to book and printed the tickets online, we managed to skip the queue for ticketing and proceed directly to the queue for the lift.
The ticket queue which we skipped::Some security personnel trying to stop me from taking photos
So we took the lift to the 80 floors first, then queued again for another lift that would take us to the 86th floor observatory that is 320 meters above the street. It is open-air but unfortunately has fences up....
Fenced up!
The vast Central Park at the center
A pity it is fenced up::A group photo
The weather was real hot and we didnt stay long. After shopping for souvenirs, we left but not without queuing up for the lift again. Nonetheless, the view was great, maybe better at night but the view wont be 'camera friendly'. As you can see, NYC is full of towers and buildings, way crowded then Singapore's Shenton Way... Ha
Last picture before leaving
Then we rushed to get our Broadway tickets. Because they sell discounted price, so all shows are first come first serve. When we reached that place, TKTS, tickets for Phantom of the Opera had sold out. Disappointed. So we decided to go to the theater and get Phantom tickets directly. But the cheapest ones were sold out also. At some point of time, we even thought of getting the front seats which cost over US$100. But thankfully no. Went back TKTS again, queued about 30 minutes and finally managed to get Les Miserables tickets at US$59.50 each. Well, original price was US$111.50, so it was worth well afterall.
And the entire ticket purchasing process took like 1+ hour, just by walking to the various ticketing places. Time for our lunch/dinner at 5pm! After much deliberation again, ended at some eatery which thought was cheap...
Our tickets finally!::Lunch/Dinner place that sells mainly sandwiches
We still had 2 hours to spare before the start of the show, so we walked around, while using our subway card as well.
Went back to Rockefeller Center again to find the Nintendo World but sadly it wasnt open to public at that time. Then ventured along the famous Fifth Avenue that is one of the most expensive streets in the world. Many branded boutiques are found on both side of the road. But we didnt have much time to explore anyway. But we came upon the NBA Store that has unique store layout and it was quite fun in it too. Then there was Disney Store which i didnt go because i was busy at the Abercrombie and Fitch!
NBA Store::Part of the team!
Well, the Abercrombie store is a flagship store, meaning it is the best of the chain. Indeed, it is huge, 4 storeys high and the interior atmosphere is like a nightclub, with loud dance music, dimmed lightings and their sales persons are like models. As i only have 15 minutes to shop, i totally forgot to take any photos. Anyway, the experience was very unique, something that one definitely cannot find in Singapore. But the stuffs are too expensive - a polo tee that costs US$60! I only bought 1 T-shirt for US$24.50 though....
Then, it was time to rush to the Broadhurst theater for the Les Miserables show. We managed to reach 15 minutes before the start of the show at 8pm. Our seats were not that bad, quite close to the stage in fact.
It was my first time watching a show like this and yet i did it in New York. Very original yah. And initially i thought it was quite funny since the casts do not say their lyrics, they sing instead. Yes, a simple line has to be sung with tune and feelings. And the center stage has a round revolving floor that allows the casts to move and run, much like moving from one scene to another. And when they set the props, all they have to do is to put it at the back of the floor, and in a second it will rotate and viola, it is at the front now. Very impressive.
The theater that looks very normal outside::After the show
Seated, waiting for the start::10 mins to show
The story is very touching. The acting is very good. The singing is very professional. The theater was full house. No wonder it is the 'World's Longest Running Musical'...
After the show, we were back at Burger King again for some dinner/supper at 12am...
Day 3 (3 August '07)
This day was planned to be a shopping day, because we were going to the factory outlet in New York! In fact it was Woodbury Common Premium Outlets, somewhere northwest of NYC, about 1 hour drive away.
But of course we aint driving. We would take a bus there from NYC, but it costs US$39 for a round trip. Pretty expensive actually. So initially, we planned to take the first bus at 8am++ and will reach there in time for the opening of the stores. But ended up waking up late...
Anyway, we had our breakfast first at this small shop, hidden behind some scaffoldings at a corner of the street - Gray's Payaya. It was this small paper stuck onto the shop that attracted me to try their breakfast...
Very colourful interior::My burger
A burger for only US$1.50. Considered cheap in NYC. So i had a sausage burger with egg. It was simple, but tasted well.
We proceeded to get our bus tickets and with time to spare, walked around again...
Pins at Hard Rock Cafe::Penny press at M&M's
So we reached the outlets only at 12.30pm. It was very late since we only left 8 hours to shop. For the record, previously a group of us spent 8 hours at an outlet that only has 40+ stores and we still wished we had more time. This time round, 8 hours for 220 stores? Impossible....
So this time, armed with a map, we knew what we want, which stores to visit and where they are. Time wasting was undesirable...
There wasnt Banana Republic in S'pore when we left for USA in May::My first victory
For the first 2.5 hours, i practised restrained - just bought an A|X t-shirt.
For the next 1 hour, lunch time to recharge.
Nothing appealling at DKNY::My 2nd victory
For the next 2.5 hours, i sensed the need to buy - Polo Ralph Lauren polo tee and t-shirt.
For the next 0.5 hour, i patiently waited at a bench near Levis because the 2 girls were missing when they didnt meet at the Levis after going washroom, while KR went to find them. And i got bored, so i began my artistic sunflower photo-taking....
The bench where i sat and waited::The blooming sunflower
I see yellow only::我等到花儿都榭了(Waited till the flower wilted)
For the last 1.5 hour, i panicked. Stores were closing soon and we had to rush since we only covered just 1/2 of the entire place. And the worst thing to happen was to rain heavily at 8.30pm. We were stuck. We still had to catch our last bus back to NYC also....
Gucci still with exorbitant prices after sale::Our last shop before it rained
So in the end, i still have a few stores that i intended to visit but didnt manage to. My biggest regret was failure to visit the Camper store. I had wanted to buy this brand probably 5 years ago but didnt simply because the shoes selling in the only branch in Singapore can cost over S$150 then and in fact, S$200 now. Well, maybe my consolation is that i couldnt afford the shoes there since afterall they arent cheap. But then we were at outlet stores leh. Never mind....
And we took the bus back and finally went to White Castle for our dinner. Another fast food restaurant selling fried chicken, but it was cheap...
The attractive box::3 Big, crispy chicken, yum yum!
Then we left the restaurant with our food shortly after we started to eat. It was going to rain. But bad choice made, it rained just within 3 minutes after we left. We were stuck again.
Someone finished the drumstick while waiting!
Nonetheless, managed to go back to our hotel after 15 minutes of waiting and were savoring our chicken.
At the end of the day, had a hard time packing my luggage.... Ha.
Original price US$170. Sale price: US$10. Must buy! In fact, this brand in S'pore is selling at S$200 - S$300 for pants/jeans.
Day 4 (4 August '07)
It was our last half-day in New York! Despite sleeping late (thanks to packing our luggages), we still woke up early to check out from our hotel. With about 2 hours to spare before our bus to the airport, we did some last minute shopping again...
But first, a visit to our favourite eatery - Gray's Papaya. This time a combo that includes tea costs just US$1.90. And we wandered around, hopefully can find some bargains...
In fact, our main aim was to buy that famous 'I Love NY' t-shirt. After 30 minutes of walking, we finally saw it.....
Anyway, bought some t-shirts and souvenirs from that shop and then, it was time to head back to our hotel. Somehow, got lost a bit and we ended up in Korea!
I can read that - Jung Mu Ro barbecue!
It was Korea-town actually. Too bad, we didnt have enough time to explore. Back to hotel, lugged our luggages and proceeded to the bus-stop. I had a hard time finding the bus-stop especially with the 20++kg of stuffs with me and the hot weather....
Loading luggages onto the bus::Reaching the airport at the US Airways terminal
Still, managed to board the bus and get to La Guardia Airport in time. The flight was short (2+hr), transit at Charlotte, North Carolina and reached Orlando, Florida in another 2+hr flight...
The travellator at Charlotte::Passing shops::At Charlotte Douglas International Airport
Looking out on flight to Orlando::The glaring sun::Landed at Orlando
To my horror, my luggage top handle has broken. That was bad. But YL's torn handle was classic. Ha. She managed to get a new duffel bag free-of-charge though....
My luggage with missing handle::Torn and tattered
Next, boarded the Disney's Magical Express bus from the airport directly to our hotel in Disney World! Good service, saved us from carrying our luggages around.
This way please::Boarding the Magical Express::Star-lit seats
The spacious and comfy room::Cute washroom
And we reached the Disney's Port Orleans Resort - French Quarter, washed up, and slept to replenish some energy for another fun-filled day at Walt's Disney World - the world's largest theme park resort, about 1/6 the size of Singapore the next day....
P.S. I took 2 weeks to draft this, so i guess the next post will appear in 2 weeks time... Ha
Previously:
The Very Last Week
Reminiscing Cedar Point...
Niagara Falls Trip
Cincinnatti + shopping Trip
Trip to Aurora, Ohio
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