Finally - The Big Apple (day 1)

Finally, we are in the Big Apple!! haha... This is where the REAL Big Apple Story should start - in New York City itself!! hahas... But we really had mixed feelings when we arrived. Now i truely understand the saying "so near yet so far". To our dearest friends in wildwoods that is. Near cos we are still in the States yet far cos we can't see them everyday like we used to. That feeling sucks... serious.

Luckily, our dearest Ecuadorian friends decided to come with us to NY~ makes it 3 less ppl to miss BUT only for 3 days... and because they were with us, now we miss them even more!!! sighs... Not forgetting, a BIG thank you to Tommy for helping us find our way to the hotel and giving us suggestions on places to go...

leaving wildwoods at 2am, we reached NY at 7am...

Some pictures... on the bus, can tell i'm damn tired hor? But Pato insisted on taking a photo... eeks... at Dunkin Doughnuts where we had breakfast and lotsa iced coffee to keep us awake. Yes, even i, the non coffee drinker, had to drink coffee... lack of sleep lar... and at Madison square park. we reached at 7am but check in time was noon. so went to walk around a bit first. hehe

Us in front of our hotel... Actually, across the street. Think we were blocking the entire path with our luggage.. But then again, tourists wad... always taking pictures. =P

With lotsa time in hand (before we can check in) we went to walk around our neighbourhood. Lots to see and lots to do...

The Streets of NY... many many shops... and of cos, the famous fifth avenue!! with all the branded names...

The Subway

The NY Subway... our main mode of transport in NY. Cabs are too ex so yar, subway is the easiest and cheapest. hehe... But the subway there is SO confusing... look at the number of lines they have!! So many colours. and the stations are kinda dirty. our MRT is still the best, clean and new! hee

Empire State Building

The Empire State Building... not really impressed by it though. haha... expected it to be more wow but its really jus any other building in NY. jus that it sticks out cos of its height but other than that, nothing much. haha

Wall Street

Wall Street - where the entire world's economy is dependent on. the American flag is damn HUGE lar~ hoho. even though we were there after working hours, there were still a lot of ppl. its not the busiest financial district for nothing ehs? and of cos, the famous wall street bull. who can forget this famous bull? its really outstanding alrite, can't miss it for nuts. in the middle of the road and there will always be tourists taking pictures there (jus like us)..

Chinatown

Chinatown, where we finally saw stuffs that are common at home... and the only place in the States where you will find lotsa chinese words... haha

Saw this while we were walking. Singaporean restaurant?!?! of cos must go in!! Miss home food so much! the food turned out not too bad, not as good as back home but of reasonable standard... the ba kut teh was pretty good. the rendang beef and satay was not bad. the only thing is the teh bing. omg~ dunno taste like wad sia. too sweet!!

Ground Zero

Ground zero... Sept 11. there's nothing left there now. jus an empty space. nothing much to take. so take the surroundings. Some of the buildings are still not repaired since that day. and the area is still undergoing quite a bit of constructions. the demage is really huge!
guess this is the most solemn place in the whole US? who can forget the shock and aftermath of Sept 11? there's this timeline showing the series of events which took place on Sept 11. reading that alone made us feel the grief all over again... one minute of silence to those that left on that tragic day....

*after one min* yups so this is the end of our first day in NY... din go to many places cos we were kinda tired from the travelling and lack of sleep. Day two coming up~ but before that, here's a little preview...