New York, New York
It’s been a few days of pause from blog. We have a good reason: NYC has been a chaotic maze! Both Blue Eyes and our new traveling friend, Jarmo (who touched down at JFK on the same day as us) have been to NYC couple years ago but still it wasn’t easy for us to navigate and move about.
ENTERING THE US
I was initially anxious about touching down at JFK after hearing several unpleasant stories about interrogation and checks so I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t as scary as I imagined it to be. The custom officer asked me many questions (blue eyes passed after one question!) about my trip – what’s the purpose of the stay, where am I staying, how much do I have, when am I leaving and what I do for a living. Our bags were not checked or inspected and within 45 minutes we were out of the airport. The transfer to NYC was simple – we took a shuttle bus that cost $18 per person, which dropped us at Port Authority Bus Terminal (the main station in the city). Jarmo was drinking coffee when we found him at the café inside the station.
THE ACCOMMODATION
I booked us a flat in New Jersey that I found on Airbnb but much to my disappointment, it’s not exactly the entire flat that we rented. It was more like a guesthouse as we share the kitchen with five other guests who also rented the rooms from the Indian couple. It costs us $120 per night and for three persons, that’s $40 per person, which was within our agreed budget. The location was decent as it’s a 10-minute bus ride to Times Square but we found out traffic could be horrendous and waiting for the bus is no fun. Also it costs $2.70 per way per person. I wonder if I should have just rented a place right in NYC instead. Nevertheless, we liked the wifi the most because it works very well and the speed was awesome! I watched two episodes of Criminal Minds on CBS online 🙂 Tip: Stay in Manhattan; pay a bit more for the convenience.
A funny moment: On the second morning, I decided to make scrambled eggs. The kettle was already on the stove and as I heated up the pan for the eggs, a loud beep burst into the air! I went to ask blue eyes to come and check, and as he did, our landlady Frida came running down. She was shocked and asked if there was a fire since the alarm rang. Blue eyes managed to shut the alarm and Frida quickly switched on the cooker hood and opened the window so the smoke could get away. Fortunately the firemen didn’t come 😉
FIRST IMPRESSION
Personally, NYC for me has been quite stressful. The city is huge and the transportation system can be confusing. We’ve only got on buses punctually twice in all the five days that we’ve been here and that’s because we boarded in New Jersey. Buses and trains in NYC itself don’t seem to follow schedules. Tip: If staying in NYC, buy the one-week pass for unlimited use of subway and buses. The first night when we arrived, we waited for 30 minutes for the bus. Over the weekend, construction on some of the tracks resulted in less trains running and we were swamped at a station full of people waiting for a train to arrive – we didn’t get into the first train because it was too full and had to wait another 15 minutes for the second one. On a positive note, we were very fortunate that the weather has been very kind to us over the six days in NYC. With the exception of 8C and raining on Thursday, we had mostly days in the teens with a bright sun 🙂 That makes the picture taking much easier and walking out was a lot more pleasant.
SIGHTS & SCENES
After the second attempt, we finally managed to visit Liberty Island on Saturday. The first time, we were too late for the ferry – less frequency during winter. The second time, we decided to take the ferry from New Jersey side, which was supposed to be a train ride to Liberty State Park. TIP: Ferry from New Jersey side to Liberty Island is less crowded compared to taking it from Battery Park in NYC. But be ready to walk from Liberty State Park to the ferry terminal.
We were told that there was a free shuttle on weekend; unfortunately the shuttle bus didn’t come and we decided to walk for 2-km to the ferry terminal. Fortunately a taxi stopped and we paid $10 for the trip. TIP: If staying in Union City, the taxi ride to Liberty State Park is $25-30; saves time and ease of convenience.
The day was sunny enough and the view was gorgeous. The ferry ride also includes Ellis Island, which we did not visit. The Statue of Liberty shone brightly in green under the sun. Interesting fact: The statue is green because it is made from copper and oxidization over time turned the colour to green.
On coming back, we stepped out on the NYC side instead to continue our day trip. The ferry dropped us off at Battery Park, which is a nice park to walk around. There are many people jogging and the view to the waters was again amazing. We took a break and bought pretzel and hotdogs – not very good and way too expensive for $12.
Blue Eyes wanted to see the famous Guggenheim Museum – the one in NYC is the first in the world. It’s a collection of Modern Art, which I thought was too abstract for my taste. We paid $18 per person and we finished the tour in less than an hour. TIP: Visit Guggenheim for free for two hours on Saturdays after 5pm.
Central Park & Broadway
Central Park was just opposite so we took an evening as the sun starts to set around 4.30pm. I understood now why the park is so famous as it is a nice change from the skyscrapers and high-rise buildings around. There’s a huge lake in the middle of the park, named Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir after the famous former First Lady. The park is home to 24,000 trees and autumn is probably the best time to watch the colours of nature – bright yellow, orange, green, brown and red leaves everywhere! Autumn happens to be our favourite season too 🙂
We didn’t finish touring the whole park because we’ve had a long day and my recovering ankle started to be painful. So we took a detour and went to the nearest subway to Times Square. I had wanted to watch a musical at Broadway but Wicked was not on sale and the queue for Mamma Mia (on 40% discount) was too long. Mentally I was exhausted and the sight of having to queue for some time for tickets dampened my interest – in hindsight, perhaps I should have been more persistent since watching a Broadway musical was something that I really wanted to do in NYC. Now I guess I’d have to wait for the next trip to NYC (unsure if there’d be one …) 🙁
On our last evening in NYC, we finally found enough energy (after postponing twice earlier) to check out Brooklyn Bridge and I’m really glad we did it 🙂 The bridge is gorgeous on that night was the skies were clear and reflections of lights from the skyscrapers and bridge were just amazing. NYC is certainly a city that never sleeps! There’s an area at the Brooklyn Bridge Park that gives an overview of the bridge as well as the skyline of Manhattan. The walk on the bridge was quite short – about half an hour to 45 minutes depending on how many stops one takes. We couldn’t see the entire view while on the bridge as some parts were on restoration works – it is one of the oldest bridges in the US – but where we could, it was well worth the walk. Fortunately also, we had a warmer night of about 13C so the walk was quite easy.
BEST MOMENTS
Personally, my best moments in NYC were with friends, both old and new 🙂 Jaime so happened to have a flight to NYC about the same time and we managed to hang out at Times Square on Thursday – Korean lunch followed by drinks and rooftop party! Then, we met Sue at the laundromat and she kindly invited us over for a Sunday breakfast. We got to know her family and had a wonderful time sharing travel stories. Sue’s husband loves to travel too and have been to many places – they spent a month in Hawaii when Sue’s parents were visiting! We also met Jarmo’s friend, Usher who brought us to a Nigerian restaurant in Brooklyn for dinner. That was quite an experience to discover the taste buds of Nigerians 🙂 The conversations at the dinner table was interesting – I learned a lot about Nigeria – and I’m inspired by Usher’s enthusiasm for change and contributing in his own capacity to make that change.
In a city like New York, it’s so easy to lose sight of the faces and lives. There’s always so much to do, so much to see and so many places to go. But meaningful moments are usually those shared with others – those who travelled with us as well as individuals who we meet along the way. I’m glad NYC had many of such 🙂
