And now, for the post you've all been waiting for!

NEW YORK, take II

Tuesday 27/3/07

I arrived at the hostel at 3 and immediately started talking to one of the girls in my room. At this stage, at the beginning of my trip, I had planned to make a friend at the hostel to hang out with in the evenings or something. The beginning of our conversation, after the initial greetings, went like this:
Me: So, did you just get here?
Her: Yeah. I have a daughter you know. (Because I would know, of course)
Me: Oh, really? That's nice.
Her: Yeah, but she lives in Virginia. I don't take care of her.
Me: Oh, OK.

Should've clued me in on the sort of person she was. Not that abandoning your child to persue the supposed "bohemian lifestyle" she kept telling me she was living makes you a bad person. No, wait....

Anyway, she was nice enough, and I don't like eating alone, so we had lunch and then she decided to accompany me on my quest for tickets to Les Miserables. She was really bugging me, because she had apparently lived in Manhattan for 3 years (said the girl living in the hostel) and knew everything there was to know about it, and because I didn't know the cross-street for the theatre she was getting annoyed at me. I told her repeatedly that she didn't have to come with me, that I was more than happy to find the place on my own. I actually was pretty sure I knew where the place was, seeing as it would obviously be in the theatre district, and since it was W44th St it would be near Times Square. But of course, because I didn't know the cross street, I knew nothing. (Meanwhile, when we got there it was totally where I knew it would be.)

I couldn't get tickets for that night (I was trying for standing room because I'm poor) so I said let's go shopping on 5th Ave, so we went there, and I said we should head uptown because that's where all the shops were (like Tiffany's and Saks 5th Ave), but the girl said that they're all downtown, because she knows Manhattan. Guess who was right???? In the end we walked more than 40 blocks back to the hostel because we were headed that way anyway, but not before stopping at an internet cafe because the girl had to post something for work. I was totally confused, because she'd told me that she worked in a call centre, so I had no idea why she had to post something on the internet. Turns out that this was for her other job. Her I-give-relaxing-massages-in-the-nude-but-I'm-not-an-escort job. Ah. She needed to post her ad on craigslist.com. Yeah. These are the people I attract.

Anyway, she was really annoying me, so I was glad when she got a call and had to go to work. Let's just say it wasn't her call-centre job. Oh, and not before asking me if I wanted to come, so I could make some money while I'm here. "Sorry! Can't - I just want to vacation. I need a break from work..."

I saw a few things that day that I had wanted to see at least.

The Flatiron Building

Washington Square Garden. For those of you I've told the story to, those are the guys that were, in the girl's words, "playing some weird ball thing. You'd never see that anywhere else in the world, that's Manhattan for you." They were kicking a soccer ball around. Only in New York!!!! (You guys have to come here! Look at the crazy things they do in that crazy city! /sarcasm)

Wednesday 28/3/07

So I got up early and had an overpriced breakfast near Grand Central Station. Realised that I was at Grand Central so took a photo of the famous main terminal.

There are constellations of the zodiac signs on the ceiling. Wow. I dunno. I was just kind of unimpressed, especially since everyone says it's a "must-see". Frankly you're life wouldn't be any better or worse off if you hadn't seen it.

Then I went to the UN building. Here's a pic of the Chrystler Building on the way:

Ooh, pretty!

Here's the UN building:

Ooh, ugly!

I did a tour of the place. It was really interesting.

Here's Natalia, our guide. She's from Columbia, hence the clothing.

We went and saw all the conference rooms they have, like the Security Council:

Economics Council:

And the one we normally see, the General Assembly:

After that I decided to go to the Museum of Natural History. I'd been there last time but had seen hardly anything, so I wanted to see it again. Unfortunately, I still didn't have that much time (just three hours), and I still didn't see everything, but I got to see something that I'd REALLY wanted to see last time, but didn't:

Hey, dum dum! Give me gum gum! (Night at the Museum fans, anyone?????)

Here's how hot I looked that day. That's what 3 hours' sleep and hot lil ME looks like. Rowr! (I just felt like I had no photos with myself in them. It may have been for the better, judging by this one...)

That night I accomplished one of my main goals, which was to see a Broadway Musical!!!!! I got standing tickets (smack bang in the middle) to SPAMALOT! for only $21.25. It was just so funny and I was so happy to see it. I'm not that big a Monty Python fan, but this is the sort of thing that could make me. ;)

Thursday 29/03/07

Woke up early and went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You might remember that I had also been to this museum last time, but I loved it. This time I was there from 10:30 - 2:30, and I still barely scratched the surface.

Some of my favourite artworks:

Monet

Elizabethan Bedroom (not an artwork, but a work of art! Perfectly reconstructed - I WANT!)

Van Gogh

Monet.

It was a lovely day wandering the museum. I would have stayed even longer, but I had tickets to go see THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART, my favourite fake news show. =)

It was a funny episode and I was so excited to be there. =) So Thursday was a good day.

Friday 30/03/07

So, Friday was the day that I was going to meet up with Jemma, an au pair from Australia who I know here in Chicago. She was meeting up with two friends from home in NY, and staying with me until I went back to Chicago. That meant having to switch hostels. When I booked the hostels I was really just worried about cost, and whoever would take me for the time I was there. The hostel I'd stayed at up until now was in the East Village (14th St) and cost me US$37 per night for a 6-bed dorm. The hostel I had to go to was in the Upper West Side (83rd St), was costing Jem and I US$29/night for a two bed private room. I still cannot believe the price difference, especially when I got to the new hostel and there was an semi-detached room off our bedroom with a full-length mirror, a sink, a fridge and a microwave, not to mention DOUBLE BEDS!!! Value for money. =)

The hike across town on the subway with my suitcase was not so fun though. Everyone knows that I have no idea how to pack light, but I had a valid reason - April in NY is completely unpredictable! The first day I was here the weather was in the high-20s, then it just kept getting colder and colder, and on the last day it got down to about 10 (still not as bad as the weather now though!).

Jemma hadn't arrived yet, so I thought it was the perfect time to explore Central Park a little and maybe get some window shopping in on 5th Ave.

Pics from Central Park:

Belvedere Castle

Me at Turtle Pond

The Plaza Hotel - Home Alone 2, anyone?

Turtle Pond and the Upper East Side

After this I wandered along 5th Ave and went to FAO Schwarz. I'm not a little kid, but I have the maturity of a little kid, so it was so awesome! I didn't have a chance to have a go on the giant keyboard, but I did wander through it all and wanted to buy EVERYTHING, especially the lifesize stuffed wooly mammoth they had. ;)

Jemma called while I was in there so I made my way back to the hostel. We had lunch, then went to meet up with her friends at Times Square. This was late in the afternoon by then, so we decided to watch a movie (Blades of Glory), went to a bar, then made our way to this comedy club to have a laugh. Some of the comedians were very funny, some were very not, but at least it was something to do.

Saturday 31/03/07

So Saturday we slept in a little and then headed uptown to the Seinfeld diner for brekkie. Saturday was my least favourite day of them all because I ended up playing tourguide and seeing a bunch of things I'd already seen last time.

Here's Jemma and I on the way there:

After that we went back to the World Trade Center site (like I said, least fave day) and spent far too long for my liking there and in the chapel across the road.

From there we went somewhere I actually wanted to go: Wall St.

Here's the NY Stock Exchange:

After this we went to Greenwich Village so Jemma could see Carrie's stoop and so I could get more cupcakes from Magnolia's Bakery. I was the only one game enough to brave the huge line, so I split up from the others. This was actually the highlight of my day. Once I got my cupcakes I could window shop to my heart's content, and didn't have to worry that I was boring anyone.

I met up with the others back at the hostel at 6 and we spent forever trying to decide where to go. This was SO frustrating, so I ended up grabbing my travel guide, seeing there was a pub close by and said we were going there. It was pretty boring, and I had to get up at 4am the next day for my flight, so I left at 10:30pm. I couldn't sleep at all that night. I fell asleep at 1am and woke up at 2am when Jemma got home (not her fault but her bed's fault for being weird and squeeky) and didn't sleep again after that.

Sunday 01/04/07

Eventually got up because I was bored of lying and waiting for sleep to come. Got a taxi to the airport, went to United, waited in line for 40mins to find out that my flight was operated by US Airways and I had to go there. ARGH!! Seriously, this was the most stressful morning EVER, made worse by the lack of sleep and the COLD! I had to powerwalk with my suitcase, handbag and cupcakes literally 2kms to the US Airways terminal, only to wait in line for another half hour because the people at the counter was super slow. All the while I was stressing that it would be too late to check in my bag. Finally got to the counter at 5:15 for the 6am flight, and luckily they let me check my bag. Spent about 15 mins at the counter with the lady because she couldn't find my details (stress levels: rising) and eventually it was found and everything was done.

Here's how I looked after my ordeal and an hours' sleep at the gate:

I know. HOT.

Here's a photo of Manhattan at dawn from the plane:

Manhattan is the really packed strip in the middle.

Anyway, I slept a little on the plane home, but it was hard cos I had to stopover in Pittsburgh for an hour and a half. Fun. But other than that it was all good. Got home without any hassles. Here's Chicago from the air:

I don't know if you can click on the pic to enlarge it, but if you squint through the clouds, you can see the Sears Tower dwarfing everything. I realised as I was flying over that this would be the last time I flew into Chicago for a very long time, if not forever! The next time I see it I'll be flying OUT!

So yes. Overall my trip was FABULOUS. I realised that I actually like traveling by myself so I can do things my way, unless I'm with someone who loves museums as much as I do. :)

I didn't get to sleep when I got home because I had to wash my clothes so I had something to wear to the concert that night, which is the next post. Sorry this took so bloody long!!! I hope it was worth it.