New York City, the City That Never Sleeps

The entry back into the States was smooth, getting into the border town of Buffalo, New York. The plan up to this stage was for the Greyhound bus to take me from Niagara Falls to Boston via a New York City stopover. What I realized that dawn during my stopover at the Port Authority Bus Terminal was that I could use that ticket to Boston after seeing New York, since I knew that some International Housers were here that weekend. Although the Port Authority toilets were nasty, I managed to look at least partially presentable for another big day in the travel scene. The moment I stepped out into the open, it was like nothing I'd experienced before. The time was morning rush hour on a Thursday, and the business people and cars seemed to have sardine fins. Up to this point, I had always over-estimated the distances shown on city road maps. However, my early failure at an attempt to squeeze through rush hour pedestrian traffic while walking the length of Central Park carrying my backpack and 30kg bag in order to reach Hostelling International just proved to me how much I under-estimated the size of the Big Apple.

I got a call from friends that they were on the ferry that was Liberty Island-bound. It was a clear day out there, and the ferry ride gave me great views of the Statue of Liberty, and the Manhattan skyline. Mohit apparently saw "the Hoff" during his previous visit here, but I wasn't so lucky. After seeing the famous gift of the French, we proceeded to Ellis Island, the once famous conduit for immigrants into the country.

The Wall Street Bull on the south side of Broadway had with it, many very interesting and socially censorable human poses with the photos of it taken. Yes, the bull is male, obviously.

The block where the World Trade Center once stood was amazing to see. I could imagine one of the world's tallest buildings (a duplicate of them for that matter) standing at that very spot. It was still hard to believe that what was in front of me was what remained of the colossal work of mankind.

Thinking of taking pictures around the World Financial Center, we saw guards standing firm outside all padded and suited up (including helmet), holding what were definitely sub-machine guns (what looked like M4A1s). We did not think of pointing our cameras after that.

Walking down Wall Street, we saw the New York Stock Exchange, and its smartly-dressed stockbrokers.

Going further east, we reached Brooklyn Bridge. This famous suspension bridge is iconic of New York. We walked across the bridge to downtown Brooklyn, when it started to rain.

That evening, spontaneity ruled and what I thought would be a get-together of 6 or so I-Housers became a reunion of over 12. They seemed to come in pairs, two by two. An unorganised, spontaneous reunion after a week, in NYC! We had great affordable dinner at Little Italy, and with that, a great time with a lot of laughs. I love surprises and randomness like this.

That night, I explored Times Square while the neon was in full swing. Bright lights complimented the yellow of the cabs that plagued the streets, and the atmosphere reminded me of Las Vegas. White horses carrying people in carriages, stalls selling various sketches and souvenirs on the footpaths, and flashly-dressed men and women on their way to a Broadway musical or Madison Square Garden were pieces of Times Square that I remember.

The next morning, Min and I each hired a bike to cycle around Central Park. I can admit that I mastered the taking-photos-while-cycling skill. The park was beautiful and huge. I hear that it is bigger than the Vatican City and Monaco.

We decided then to cycle out of the park and go into the famous black neighbourhood of Harlem. It was surprised at how peaceful the place seemed compared to my expectations. I did catch a glimpse of elementary school kids having a scrap, and yes, I saw some street ballers too.

Columbia University was just west of Harlem, and the campus was nice, matching its Ivy League reputation.

Later that afternoon, I went to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which is world-famous, if not the world's best, modern art museum. Works included Vincent Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" and Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon".

Empire State Building was next, and I was on the deck in time for the sunset. Contrary to the Sears and the CN towers, the Empire States Building had an observatory deck outside. The wind chill led to only the bravest staying out there for lengthy periods of time. Jose (I-Houser from Spain) was in a t-shirt and shorts. His satisfaction from seeing the views came the quickest (unsurprisingly).

Getting up on the Sunday morning, we went to the American Museum of Natural History (again, the best in the world of its kind), which was more my type of museum (compared to MoMA that I didn't have much prior knowledge of). "The Night at the Museum" starring Ben Stiller was a film that was based on this very museum. The giant T-Rex that we expected at the entrance was replaced by two other dinosaur skeletons, but we did see many other movie characters, including "Dum-dum" (the Easter Island statue). The museums here in New York are gigantic, and to properly see them, I'm sure the average person will need a few days each. They are very well made, I must admit.

After having a cheap lunch at a Chinese buffet restaurant (very cheap), I went to my last place-to-see in New York City, which was the United Nations Headquarters. After taking some politics classes at UCSD, it was great timing and a great chance to take a tour. It was awesome to be right inside the actual Security Council Chamber and the General Assembly Hall.

Nearing dusk, I boarded the bus that would take me to Boston. I expected Boston to be very different to New York City, after hearing that it was so much more peaceful and relaxed. To be honest, I needed a little bit of that after the horn-beeping (literal and figurative) of the last few days.