New York
Trip Start
Jun 14, 2005
1
21
Trip End
Aug 20, 2005
New York, New York
Friday, August 12, 2005
Got here (NYC) without a hitch. Was quite scared something was going to go wrong since it was with american airlines. Takes quite a while to get from JFK to the hostel, but its only 2 metro journeys, at $7, which is cool. First thing i noticed when i got into the airport was the heat. I was expecting it to be quite warm, but its boiling here, almost like grenada. Very humid as well. Someone told me this has been a bit of an abnormal summer for NYC, not usually this hot and muggy.
But anyway, got to my hostel, in a really cool cosmopolitan area of the city. Is in the east side of mid-manhattan so really close to everything. Lots of eateries and bars around as well. The hostel itself is really cool, very layed back and friendly. Had to sleep in a different dorm for the first night, only coz i decided to arrive 1 day early. But after not sleeping for about 36hours, went out to the pubs and clubs. Went to this place nextdoor called the Cellar. Is just ur average bar i guess, but it has the most awesome arcade game ever - Buck Hunter II. Basically u just go through states of america shooting deer with a pump-action shotgun!! :) U have to reload ever shot which is sooo much fun. The deer then run across the screen, but be careful not to shoot the does or u lose. So $3 gets u a full tour and we normally play 4 player so the game goes on for about half an hour. But u can get special prizes for shooting all 3 bucks on each level - triple buck bonus! Grrrr! Yeeeeehaa.....caught me a buck! Anyway, thats where we usually start off most nights.
That first night we ended up in the strangest club ive ever been in. Was down in what looked like an old wine cellar - the walls were bare brick and there were recessed arches that looked like they once had a wine barrel in it, now turned into seating area. All of that was quite cool, but then looked into the middle of the floor to find que of people getting their hair cut!! with a proper hair dresser! Whats that all about?! They got shit haircuts as well coz it was really dimly lit! Weird! Every sort of person passed through as well. Started off as a heterosexual club, then became completely gay, then lesbian! :S There was also a mute barmaid, and i order to get a drink u had to talk to someone else sat next to them, who then passed on the order. For some reason i ended up getting 3 olives with every drink, so idea why.
So the next day was a bit of a slow start, naturally, but ended up heading downtown. Went straight to the ferry at the tip of manhattan to go to see the statue of liberty. Ended up getting on a ferry to staton island instead of ellis island. So got taken miles and miles away into the middle of nowhere, but it was free, and it went right past the statue of liberty (which is tiny!!! how annoying). NYC is really hazy as well. Dont know if its like that all the time, but by half distance to staton island, u couldnt see the city for haze. So, once i got back to manhattan, went for a wander up to the world trade center site. I didnt know quite what to expect, but it certainly gave me some sort of emotion. Coz when ur walking through all the sky scrapers, u cant see more than a few blocks infront of u, and then u are all of a sudden there, this massive expanse of nothing-ness, and just a enormous hole in the ground! It was quite morbidly touristy, with scrats trying to sell u the history of the towers, but still, it was a moving sight even tho theres nothing to see. They must have been huge when they were around. Got a look at what they plan to build in memory of the towers, tallest building ever, looks really good. Would be good to come back when its done. So from there i went east to brooklyn bridge. Very cool bridge even tho its really old. Just loads of cables going everywhere. Actually, its exactly like those drawings u make when u cross straight lines to make a curved edge, only 100ft bigger. End of day one
Today, i went back to the bridge to get some photos after camera died yesterday. Then went uptown to the empire state building. Longest ques in the world inside, but it was airconditioned which was a life saver. Has been incredibly hot today. was 100 degrees yesterday, but even hotter today and more humid. Still not like grenada, but in the close confines of buildings, people and subways, its unbearable. So eventually got to the top of the building. Again was very hazy so could only see as far as central park, but views were still awesome. Somehow they allow planes to fly a few hundred feet above the tower (americans - they dont learn do they!! Someone should just crash a plane into the viewing platform to teach them a lesson) Anyway, was just about to leave when i tipped it down, so hopped into a bar inside the building and had my first buffalo/bison burger! Yeeeha. Was really nice actually.
Em, then headed to times square and broadway which just put plainly is mental!!! Lights, people, cabs, everywhere!
Next day was a total right-off!!! Previous night i went to the Cellar to play some more Buck Hunter with this new korean guy. Had a few beers then a few games, then a few more beers, and then a few more. Got totally and utterly trashed on newcastle brown ale! Dont remember anything at all the next morning but am reliably informed that i was violently sick! My bowels are being somewhat unreliable as well. But hey, guess an international med student has to leave their mark on New York. The bar tender was a bit weird about the whole newcastle brown ale tho. I was telling him how ur supposed to drink it in half pints. He couldnt accept this at all, or get it into his head and just kept saying, we only sell stuff by the pint. I was merely trying to explain a custom to him. Anyway, needless to say the next day was spent in bed! Ventured out once to buy a coke but was pushing the limits and quickly returned to bed.
Today (my last day) ive been shopping down 5th avenue, got something rather nice for my mum (have to wait and see mum). The street is awesome with loads of top designer shops. U could spend a fortune there so easily and come away with next to nothing. Passed the Rockefellar center and had a quick nosey inside. Its got loads of stuff in it, including NBC studios and a shopping mall! Then popped just down the road to the worlds only NBA store! How cool! Shooting hoops, badly, in a shop. Em, then went up the rest of 5th av to central park. This place is huge!!! Its not just one park as well, theres loads of them, each with lakes, trees, ball parks, plazzas etc etc. Took me about half an hour just to cross the width of the thing! Its all very nicely landscaped as well and once ur in the middle of it u forget ur in a city completely. Bit bizarre tho in some of the areas where u stand infront of a really beautiful lake, and there behind it are 10s of massive sky scrapers. One of the parts of the park (strawberry fields) on central park west was donated by john lennons wife. Oko noko boko foko gecho lennon (or whatever the fuck shes called). If u cross the street u get to dakota house (where he used to live, and where he was shot outside). In the park theres a tiled area on the ground, in the middle of which simply reads "imagine". Quite nice except for the swarms of americans thinking they own him and the shitty portable aluminium railings put around it to stop the swarms-of-americans-thinking-they-own-him running all over it. Still, quite cool to be able to say ive been to where john lennon was shot, if not a little morbid :S
So im now timewasting back at the hostel waiting to go to the airport. Should be back tomorrow mid day. When im back i will upload the rest of the photos and videos, plenty more cool ones to see.
So cyas all soon and hope uve enjoyed my elective :)
Andrew
