22nd May 07 - New York City Day 2


2nd day at the Big Apple was packed with activities, coz according to our itinery-planner (a.k.a. les) we've tons of places to visit.

even towards the end of may, weather was still unbearably cold, at least to me, coz i'm more of a sun-person. so here we are! me and les, decked out in our "spring" clothes...

i still think his ski cap look kinda silly on him, but he insisted that he looks cool... hahah...

right next to our hostel, is a 24 hrs Dunking Donuts which we buy everyday for breakfast and supper. i've never eaten so many donuts in 4 days before. but it was supa shiok! coz i love love loveeeeeeee donuts!

24hrs Dunking Donuts

porno photo :: donuts for the 2nd day

we went to times square for a walk, just to look at how the place is. it's basically like spore's orchard road, but much nicer. as weird as it'll sound, i think times square has more ambience for shopping, haha... somehow the entire area is more happening, and the best thing is, it has damn lot of nice lightings at nite and the shops close aft midnight everyday!

and this is probably the funniest photo i've ever seen on this trip.

we went ahead to Wall Street just to take a look, becoz you've heard so much abt Wall Street and its hustle bustle, you juz have to go and take a walk around even tho it sounds so boring haha...

like wat i said, the best thing abt US of A is the architecture of their buildings. they're more den magnificent, and one thing i dare to say, spore will prob nvr come up with buildings of such calibre.

some of the buildings along Wall St

bottom left photo, there's this building that looks like it's half disappearing. till now, we still haven figured out why it looked that way.

somehow we ended up in front of this broken sculpture, that i tot was still under construction or something. but it turned out to be a sculpture that was in front of World Trade Centre and was destroyed by the 911 incident so they moved it to another location to protect it or something. sounded really cool.

"The Sphere"

some photos we took while walking around...

the golden bull :: the guys and its arse

we seriously wanted to buy from the ice-cream van, coz it feels so american to do so haha... not till we saw the price, it's USD5 for a bloody ice-cream.

went on to Brooklyn Bridge, which if i didnt rem wrongly, is the bridge that links Manhattan to Brooklyn. nothing fascinating abt it, but the view from the bridge is nice enough for us to go all the way up. and apparently, it's a really popular place for ppl living in Manhattan to jog around.



but re-visiting the site and seeing them still vigorously trying to re-construct the same magnificent building, suddenly it hits you again how real everything was, and how not-so-long-ago it was too. when i was there, juz staring at the construction goin on, all i could think of was the number of lives that were taken away from this world, right at the spot where i was standing.




as if Ground Zero was not depressing enough, we stumbled upon St. Paul's Church, which was dedicated in memory of ppl whose lives were taken away during the 911 incident. if Ground Zero was depressing, i find no words in me to describe the ambience in St. Paul's Church.

it's solemn, devastating, and throws reality back into your face.




the church was really beautiful, exactly what i imagined a church to be like when i read fiction books abt america. the interior of the church beats any other churches i've ever seen in spore, hands down.

as much as i'm not christian, i've always fantasize abt having a church wedding. it juz seemed really romantic to exchange vows and rings in front of everyone, and the priest, which u dun see in chinese traditional weddings.

and this! is the kind of church u can totally imagine urself getting married in.




everyone in the church was juz lookin really solemn, and the whole place is juz devastating.



there were a few notes and poems written there, that can really tear your heart. it's especially heartbreaking when you read wat the children wrote for their parents who were victims of the 911. i swear, i nearly cried.

this is cruel reality, thrown rite into your face, and a harsh reminder of how lucky you are to be alive on this world.

and we left a few heartfelt words on the scroll...




and carried out some gestures, to show that we care...



St. Paul's Church is by far my favorite place i've visited in US of A so far, and the one that left the deepest impression on me, becoz you feel so much when you're in the church...

it was Trinity Church next, becoz those two churches are actually sort of linked to each other, or affiliated, if u put it in another way...



we had a simple meal after that, bought off from the roadside stall which is surprisingly good! it was kebab with rice, that cost USD5. yes, this little thing cost that much.

but it was sooooooooooooooo gooooood!!!!!!



oh and this is kinda out of point, but i gotta post this!

i nvr knew that Statue of Liberty is located on another island off Manhattan. I always tot it's in Manhattan itself.






there was nothing much there actually, we were there mainly to take photos. and it'll be kind of weird if u've been to America, but not to the Statue of Liberty haaz...



and! i think this is a really reaaaaalllly schweettt photo!



went to the souvenir shop, which was a hoot. there were tons of interesting stuff there. i bought a liberty bracelet and a mini statue of liberty! so cute can.


anyway, to digress a little to food. we ate at the cafe there, which has obviously jerked up prices, but we were too hungry to care. the food was surprisingly really good, and really worht it.



on the ferry back to Manhattan, me and les met this Irish guy and started chatting to him...

Irish guy: so you guys here on vacation?

Les: yea, we are.

yada yada yada...

Irish guy: so, are you guys planning to marry here?

Les: oh sure, we are...

Irish guy: really? you gotta invite me...

Les: yea we will, if you bring booze...



the night was spent at Empire State Building...
I have no idea why, but the nite we went, Empire State Building will only be closed at 2am, which is really good news, coz we got there pretty late.

and trust me, the Empire State Building is as magnificent and as beautiful as it is made out to be.