We're back in New York again, arriving in the evening from DC. We're back to where we started our East America trail. This was a city that we had looked forward throughout the journey. The life, the action, the retail expedition and not to mention the art and music scene which makes this city just so much alive 24 hours.
We had two more days with the tour group until we will be on our own with our itenarary. And we do recommend you that if you're wanting to explore New York, forget about going with tour groups. You can easily hop on the tour buses here and get New York tour passes which allows you to pace your own journey.
Early morning, these ducks were already at the pier to catch the taxi ferry for a date. She's more popular than any leading superstar although never won any emmy or an oscar. But she's one that many had even risk their lives to reach to where she is standing.
She's known as -
THE STATUE OF LIBERTY
Located on a 12 acre island, the Statue of Liberty was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States and is a universal symbol of freedom and democracy.
She was dedicated on October 28, 1886, designated as a National Monument in 1924 and restored for her centennial on July 4, 1986.
Ellis Island is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and is federal property partly within the territorial jurisdiction of the both the States of New York and New Jersey.
The morning was abit cloudy so we didn't get a good background sky and the drizzle doesn't help either. But Pearl seemed to be enjoying the cool breeze and was happy to be in her coat.
What spoils the scene was a group of loud tourists that was so annoying which their bickering just resembles a bunch of screaming chimpanzees. We can't even hear the loudspeaker properly and ended up reading the brochures of each site later on.
New York's sykline will never be the same again after 911. The lost of the World Trade Centre is still felt today. One taxi driver told us that without the twin towers in the skyline, its like a missing jigsaw puzzle.
Another 2 images that you would always see in movies are the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge, one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States, stretches 1825 m over the East River connecting the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Today, it becomes an iconic structure and of course for those who "lived" through the Sex & the City series, this image is definitely a scene.
Since 2001, the Brooklyn Bridge has been restored to its status of "If you see the Brooklyn Bridge, you know you're looking at New York City."
One thing that we didn't manage to do was to have a walk along the Brooklyn Bridge but Pato and Sylar sure had a blast of a time "serenading" with these mega structures.
It was mid week and walking along Wall Street was quite an experienced. Being in New York, what amazes us was the finds of many landmarks and iconic images that you would often see in the movies and in sitcoms.
Wall Street is a street in lower Manhattan, New York City and runs east from Broadway to South Street on East River, through the historical centre of the Financial District.
You know you've arrived when you see that elaborate marble facade structure with the state flag at the intersection.
After 911, this street is closed to moving vehicles and only passable for pedestrians. And so the ducks walked on.........
Opps...we digress....Well, its hard not to stop and take "notes" since New York is full of adverts, billboards and....
hotdog and kebab stands!!!!! You got to try it and savour that hot piping sausages and kebab meats. This surpass any fastfoods. No worries of getting hungry or thirsty during your long walks or shopping trails as every corner you'll bound to meet one.
Yes, there are Halal stands to be found. You'll get the assuarance from the guy behind the grill who are mostly from the Middle East.
We can't remember which street was this but this was walking towards the old site of World Trade Centre. There are quite a handful of carts but this particular one that Pato picked served great lamb cuts and hotdogs.
For the next few days, these stand had became our "quickies" before we find our proper meals. And so far we have not suffered any diarrhea or flaming sh*ts.
The above was the surviving fountain sculpture in front of the World Trade Centre. Notice the dent on the top of the globe.
When our coach dropped us in front of the United Nations secretariate building, most of us were wondering what exactly were we doing here. A lot of us (including us) were not keen doing this visit (since most of us were already gearing for shopping...)But this was one of the best site that we visited whilst in New York. If you have time, do take time to visit.
The UN was founded in 1951 and has its headquarters in New York... so they say. The site is not on US territory, but an "international zone" which even has its own stamps and post office.
And of course, these vainpot ducks managed to squeeze some time to put their mark on the UN stamps. Yes, its legit and can be use whilst in the building. Problem was, we didn't bring any of our friends and relatives addresses so forget about sending out postcards!!!
The UNITING painting is one to be admired for. It represents the linking between one nation to another around the globe. Mentioned at the scene, the Uniting artwork is s procession of 37 canvases descend from the 75 feet high ceiling at the United Nation's main lobby cascade forward gradually until they arrive at the General Assembly "courvoisier" stairs.
The artwork continues external part of the building.
Although we had just under 2 hours spent at building, the visit was educational yet instill some degree of fun for us. Not to mention shopping in the United Nation's building does help to fund some of their activities. We call it shopping for charity.
The rest of the afternoon had us roaming the streets of downtown Manhattan. Best way to experience the scene is to just get lost.
But seriously, once you master as to which street you're at - whether you're at the Fashion Ave, Broadway street or at the Times Square, in time you'll get the hang of it easily trying to find your the street vs the avenue you're looking for.
Just to warn you, the building number sometimes does not go along a running number sequence. You could be in the right street but still couldn't find the building number. Worst, unless its an landmark building like the Empire State building or the Rockerfella Centre (which is now the GE building) the buildings here don't have a name. They go by the building number, but because sometime its not in sequence, you'll find youself circle around the block to find it........
But somehow when we're not trying to find that particular building, by chance, we would stumble upon it......so its best to go with the flow
We just have to take this shot. This was one of our tour group member, an elderly couple which we call Pakcik and Makcik. They've got a long list of Coach stuff from their children and relatives. Oh yes, once you've looked at the price tag in the US, it can be very FATAL!
Of all the many brands, this one in particular seems to keep a similar price tag around the world. But then again, who's counting when you're already in a shopping frenzied.........
We were warned about the expense of taking a cab ride in New York, but we gave in after our feet got so sore of walking and walking. This is one thing you'll see everywhere in the streets of Manhattan. People walked and walked and walked. They have the best slim figure ever with all that walking.
Through our experience, we found that generally the cab drivers are helpful and will try to take the shortest best possible route and if he thinks you could save a little by walking a wee bit to your destination rather than being stuck in the traffic, he will ask you if you don't mind walking.
We were really amazed by the endurance level the locals can walk from block to block. We thought a block is simply from one traffic light to another but nooooooo its several buildings and several traffic lights.
Standing at Times Square platform was just a moment that you just have to savour. Do a 360 degrees turn and watch the surrounding, hear the sounds and manifest onto that colourful billboards and witnessing that LED Nasdaq tickerboard streaming away LIVE!
The trip to the Woodsbury Factory Outlet was the one many had been aiming for and saving their dollars to sinfully donating away to each boutique's cash register.
Now this is no ordianary factory outlet. Its a classy factory outlet. All boutiques of the many labels you could possibly imagine can be found here and rock bottom prices.....Plus what's new in store at where we came from is already in the factory!!!!
It does not matter that it chose to rain that day whilst the whole lot of us were lugging away with our purchase.
Our advise is, come during weekday so you don't have to beat with other groups and locals that come for weekend shopping. We had the whole neighbourhood to ourselves. Yes, there were still other shoppers but at least you don't have to queue in front of the Coach shop!
And, if your agenda is to shop, allocate a day for this exercise. Even then, its still not enough!
Next, go and study the factory outlet map which you can download in the internet. If you're a strategic shopper like Pato, prepare your "attack" by highlighting the stores of your priority and descend your way to the least.
Apart from the discounts in stores, you'll get additional if you collect your discount book at the Information counter. If you found something you like, don't think twice and forget about thinking "I'll come back again to this store again" because you might not make it.
After the 2 shots of Pato and Pearl, Sylar was kept away for the rest of the day.................get the picture??
It was also our last day with the tour group since we've decided to spend some time longer in the Big Apple.
Usually, Pearl would specifically do some homework as to where we would like to stay but we were too busy this time and left it to the travel agent hoping that they would find a suitable location. Because we wanted to stay in downtown Manhattan itself, we thought staying at the Pensylvannia Hotel was quite alright. Yes, we are fussy when it comes to hotels but we didn't mind of something non fancy this time round since we will be out most of the time but this hotel was something out of the managable range.
Forget about Pearl having her 4 minimum pillows. The sight of the room and the corridor could come out from a Hollywood horror movie! It was said to undergone some renovation works but we think its far from over. What exactly did they renovate? Changing a door knob perhaps....Lesson learn - check TripAdvisor !!
We just have to check out from the hotel immediately and were lucky to get ourselved into W Hotel right smack in Times Square (at least WIFI is working) but could only get to our rooms at 10am the next day.
For now, we have to brave through the next 7 hours before we get the hella out of this dump! No, even after extra 2 luggages of shopping spree could not console our souls being in here.....
