Day 10: New York

Time passed by so quickly that I didn't realised it was already the 10th day of us traveling until when wrote the topic for this post. Anyways, the original plan was for us to wake up at 6.30am, but it didn't materialised because all of us were just too tired. By the time we woke up, it was already 9am and we hurriedly got ourselves dressed up and head to the hotel's lobby for the free continental breakfast (did I mentioned that our hotel comes with free breakfast too?) that was provided (which ends at 9.30am). The moment we were done with our breakfast, we headed back to our room to complete our half done morning chores. Without wasting much time, we were out on the streets and walking towards the nearest subway station again. Another long subway ride awaits us, and this time, it would be the longest yet because we are suppose to arrive at the very last station of our subway line. As usual, I slept through most of the ride.

After a close to 45 minute subway ride, we have finally arrived at the World Trade Center station (curios that it's still called the WTC station even though it's already not there) and the end of the subway track could be seen.


The end of the subway track

The moment we exited the subway station, the first thing we saw was the Ground Zero itself (the very place where the WTC once stood). Below are 2 pictures of Ground Zero.





It was saddening to know that thousands of people died on that very place itself, hopefully never such thing of that scale would ever happen again. That area of Manhattan was also known as the Financial District promptly because of the businesses and economics which are situated there.


The Dow Jones Building (also the World Financial Center)


One of the streets of the Financial District

Close to the place was also the Battery Park (which most of you guys wouldn't know), which is the place where you can take a ferry to Liberty Island (still don't know?) where the Statue of Liberty stands :).


Battery Park

We were so excited about going to Ellis Island that we immediately bought the ferry tickets but we didn't realised that we are not allowed to enter the statue itself because they had ran out of tickets for it for the day (the tickets are free but given on a first come first serve basis). When we were aware of that, we wanted a refund on our ferry tickets but the lady at the counter told us to come back at 8am the next day and we might be given the entrance pass.


Statue of Liberty from Battery Park (at least I got a picture of it :p)

And so, we didn't spared much thoughts to that after that and continued our walk to the famous Wall Street (don't tell me you had never heard of it!).


The Wall Street itself


Me touching the bull's balls at Wall Street :p


Another part of Wall Street


The New York Stock Exchange building (back)


The New York Stock Exchange bulding (front)


The Trump Building (remember You're Fired? :))

After our inspiring walk at the Wall Street, we took a subway to the Brooklyn Bridge area to have a look at the famous bridge with our own eyes.


The Brooklyn Bridge (car passage)


The Brooklyn Bridge (human passage :p)


A view of Brooklyn from the bridge


A view of Manhattan from the bridge

The walk across the bridge wasn't a very long one, but half way past the bridge, it started to drizzle and we were caught with our pants down. We hurried quickly to the Brooklyn end of the bridge and found our refuge under the bridge itself.


The Brooklyn end of the bridge :)

And the rain just got heavier and we had no choice but to run all the way to the nearest subway station and we boarded a subway. Our next stop was at 5th Avenue of Manhattan (the rain haven't even subsided a bit) and we had no choice but to wander the streets from shade to shade. At first we wanted to look for the biggest Apple Store but we didn't had a slightest idea of which part of the street it was, (in fact which we later got to know that we were walking towards the wrong direction of the street) we just gave up and stopped by at a Mc Donald's to have our Tea.


A picture of rainy New York


The St. Patrick Cathedral at 5th Avenue

After we were done, we headed to the nearest subway station and while at the entrance, we saw the map of Manhattan and got to know where was the Apple store, and naturally we wanted to take a subway back to 5th Avenue (we were already far away from 5th Avenue and it was raining outside). After we boarded a subway train, we were told that certain parts of the tracks were closed due to a malfunctioning subway carriage. We tried different ways of getting to 5th Avenue (by transferring from line to line) but in the end, we just gave up (because it seems that we just can't get to 5th Avenue by subway at that time) and exited the subway station at 50th Street. It was still raining heavily but right outside the subway station was a shopping mall, we didn't hesitated and entered the mall right away.


The Mall that we entered at 50th street


The inside of the mall


A picture of outside taken from the inside of the mall

After loitering at the mall for close to an hour, we were ready to move again. This time back, we wanted to try our luck at the subway station to see that if there's a way for us to get to 5th Avenue, and apparently, we were lucky and the subway services were back to normal again. And so, we headed back to 5th Avenue and we ran in the rain just to get to the Apple store (I thought that we were crazy). At the store, we tried out the iPhones (I just wish that I could lay my hands on one) and iPods (the usual stuff we always do when we visit an Apple store). After we were done fiddling with those gadgets which we can only dream off, we decided to call it a day, and so again, we ran in the rain to the subway station at 5th Avenue and took a subway ride all the way back to the Jamaica-Van Wyck Station.


A part of 5th Avenue during the night

On the way back to our Hotel (it was still raining and that's the sign of Hurricane Hanna heading towards us but might later weaken to a Tropical Storm by the time it reaches NY), we dropped by Wendy's to get some burger for my dinner. By the time we got back to our hotel, it was already 9.30pm and we washed ourselves up and prepare ourselves for another hectic tomorrow.

Day 9: Washington DC - New York

After a memorable 3 days at Washington DC, the day for us to leave for New York City has finally arrived. I was up earlier than the rest in the morning as I headed to Mc Donald's again for my breakfast. Once I was done with that, I proceeded to a camera shop to obtain a pouch for my camera (which I was eyeing since the day before). It was already close to 9am when I returned to the apartment, and by that time, all of them were ready to leave and so am I (I did my packing before I went out). So it was how we're going to the airport as how we came into the city, by subway and then a shuttle bus to the airport. By the time we checked in to our flight, it was already 11.30am (our flight was at 12.25pm) and we didn't waited long at the departure terminal before we could enter our airplane.

Again, I spent most of the flight time catching some precious sleep but before I could get enough of them, we had already arrived at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.


Again, we left our airplane by stairs.


The arrival hall of JFK airport

Now the moment of truth, we were not able to find and reserve a hotel for our trip to New York, and it was only at the airport that we started asking around and making calls to hotels. But luckily, the airport has a service where u get to contact all the hotels within it's vicnity for free. And so we utilised that service and started making calls to all the available hotels on the directory. After nearly an hour of hunt for a hotel, we finally found one which has a pretty good rate and was nearby a subway station (we needed the subway because a hotel in Manhattan will cost a bomb and the subway was a means of transport for us to move around). The Hotel that we had decided upon was Super 8 Motel located in the Queens region near the airport and we got to the hotel by the hotel's free shuttle service from the airport. But there was something that all of us were really upset about, Damien at the very last minute told us that he won't be joining us as Anna will be coming to New York too, so it was only the 3 of us left (I won't want to discuss more about this). And so we arrived at the hotel and took a room for 4, for 4 nights, which will cost us USD 139.99 + tax a night, pretty reasonable considering that we are in New York.


A picture of our room

As usual, we took some time off to settle down and wash ourselves up and it was around 5pm, that we decided to roam the streets of NYC. We took a short walk to the nearest subway station (which was the Jamaica Van-Wyck Subway station).


Our hotel from the outside


The streets in front of our hotel


The entrance of the Jamaica-Van Wyck Subway station

At the subway station, we got ourselves a Metro Pass which will last us a week of unlimited subway rides (which cost USD 25). So, our destination was to the all-famous Chinatown of NYC, and after asking for some directions, we boarded the train which will take us to Canal Street, which was near Chinatown. It was a long 30-45 minutes trip (wasn't really sure of the time) and I slept through almost half of it before we arrived at the Canal Street Station. The moment we stepped out of the station, we were awed by the sight of the city itself, the very city that you always get to see on TV. Below are a few pictures of the streets nearby the subway station that we arrived at.











After a short walk, we had reached the Chinatown of NYC, and we realised that, when most of the billboards started to have Chinese characters on them. And the feeling was as if we were back in Malaysia, where the streets are littered (haha), and people selling stuff by the roads, and of course the noise of the crowd. Below are a few pictures of Chinatown NYC.








Little Italy, which we had a short walk but came back out into Chinatown



Our stomach again started to call when we saw rows after rows of shops selling Chinese food, and finally, we decided on a shop which we couldn't resist as we spotted them selling 'char siu' (BBQed pork). And so, we all had 'chicken rice style (like in Malaysia)' for our dinner.


This is my plate of char siu and duck meat rice (MMMM, delicious, after 3 months)

Once we were done with our dinner, we continued our journey. At first, we had this crazy idea of walking all the way to 42nd Street but it wasn't long before our feet yield to the distance of the walk. And so we decided to take a subway ride instead to the 42nd street. Below are some pictures of New York which has started to get dark.







After a 15 minutes subway ride, we had finally arrived at the 42nd street Times Square station. The moment when we stepped out of the station, we were stunned (I ran out of words to use already :P) by the sheer beauty of the sights and sounds of the 'City that never sleeps' at the 'crossroad of the world'. The place was magnificently litted up with colourful billboards and lights, and was filled with people. Below are a few pictures that you guys will definitely enjoy :)


The exit of the Subway into 42nd street






Me & Hard Rock Cafe of NYC :)








Hersey's store of NYC


The famous Broadway musical theater.

After hours of walking and picture taking, we've finally decided to call it a day, and so it was a long ride back to our hotel but with the knowledge that we've achieved a milestone...