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Posts tagged ‘United States’

Dec 6

Key West, the weekend GETAWAY

We wanted to do a drive while in Miami and what better place to check out than Key West. It’s on the most southern part of Florida and boasts of cozy homes and blue seawaters. It’s the perfect weekend getaway from the hustle and bustle of Miami.

I like Key West. It’s an easy place to be. The drive to Key West from Miami South Beach takes about 4 hours and 30 minutes. Due to its location as a tourist destination, Key West offers many options to gather information. Jarmo wanted to check out some music stores but he didn’t find what he wanted to buy. Nearby the music store was a IT repair shop and blue eyes asked if they could fix his external hard disk, which couldn’t be read. The shop technician changed the cover for the hard disk and it’s all good again!

I initially booked Navy Lodge Key West for our one night stay. It’s offered by the US Navy and unknown to me, is only reserved for US army members and their families. Guests of the lodge have to be registered at the Navy Base Station before being allowed to enter the premise. We went to the station as directed and were caught by surprise when told there’s been a mistake by the (online) system – since we’re civilians and non-American citizens, we’re not allowed to be on base and our reservation shouldn’t have gone through.

What a hiccup! Here we are at sunny Key West with no place to stay for the night. Thankfully, the lady at the counter was kind enough to point us to some options and suggested us to check online at the nearby McDonald’s. The Tourism Centre gets discounts and offers free booking service and Elissa, who picked up my call, booked us a place at Silver Palm Inn for $149 per night. Silver Palm Inn turned out to be a wonderful stay (blessing in disguise!). Service was great and staff was genuinely helpful, and the room came with a nice breakfast, we took by the poolside.

One of the suggested itineraries while in Key West is to watch the sunset by Mallory Square. You know the saying that goes, “the best things in life are free” and this proves to be true for the sunset at Key West. It was a beautiful way to welcome the evening as boats came back to shore on the back of the setting sun. People around were in good mood. Live music was playing and we’re having beer, enjoying the arrival of the calm evening.

The Old Town of Key West is located on the main street of Duval, which is a walking distance to Silver Palm Inn at Truman Avenue. There are many boutique guesthouses, shops, pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants along Duval Street and the old American homes turned commercial were beautiful for picture taking. The nightlife is exciting and lively. We took dinner at The Hog’s Breathe and went barhopping after that – our IDs were checked every time; apparently this is the rule to ensure no underage drinks. The rooftop bar that we visited had one or two female guests baring their boobies! Needless to say, we all had a real good time while in Key West – we’re well rested and we saw some beautiful sights.

Nov 25

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Welcome to the Capital!

Washington can learn a lot from drug addicts.

A quote from an advertisement on TV, it highlighted the amount of debt that the government was piling up, borrowing predominantly from China, the so-called ‘drug pusher’. The ad warned that the addiction could be detrimental to the country’s state of health.

Washington is a city of such; where anyone who has a cause would come and say it here. Being the capital of administration – home to the White House, Pentagon and Capitol Hill, Washington is the centre of authority, or “seat of power”, where policies are written and critical decisions are made. No wonder one of the first things we saw upon arrival was “Occupy DC” – a demonstration camp at McPherson Square in protest of capitalism.

Coming from NYC, Washington feels so much calmer and peaceful. The transportation system – buses and metro – is much easier to understand and the ease of commute is much appreciated after the chaotic rush in NYC. One only difference that we found was in NYC, one can use one metrocard for 3 persons while in Washington, every passenger needs to have his own card.

The location of our accommodation (Residence Inn Vermont Avenue) is a plus as it’s in downtown DC and only 10 minutes walk from McPherson station while 15 minutes from the White House.The first two days in Washington have been cold and wet. We spent Tuesday at the National Air and Space Museum and Wednesday in Georgetown, a nice neighbourhood with many shops and boutiques. On coming back to the city, we were stuck in a huge traffic stop for almost 20 minutes. Police were everywhere and vehicles weren’t allowed to move on, as the enforcement officers cleared the road for the President, who sat in one of the 15 cars that drove pass after that. Quite an experience to witness such scene!

The Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts offer a free one-hour performance every evening at 6pm. We managed to catch one on Wednesday evening and it featured a female hiphop violinist, Miri Ben Ari. She’s one sexy lady! And one that plays the violin and makes hip hop music, what a combo! Some of the pieces she played were way too hip for my taste but there were also some pretty good songs. Later in the evening, we took a stroll to see the White House and Washington Monument as we’ve been told that they’re nicely lit up at night.

Our last day in DC was blessed with sunny blue skies – just perfect for the Thanksgiving celebration. It’s still cold at about 8C but the sun is very much welcomed after two gloomy days. Roads were almost empty as many people were away for the holiday. Museums nevertheless are still opened and we took the opportunity to check out Capitol Hill and National Mall – most of the major monuments and buildings are located from here all the way to Lincoln Memorial (distance: 2.5 miles), such as the Capitol Building, National Art Gallery, Smithsonian Museums, Washington Monument, Memorial of World War II and Lincoln Memorial.

Awesome day, calm walk, warm sun, what a way to end our trip in Washington 🙂

Nov 23

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Boys, Skies & Space

What is it about men with planes and going to the moon?

It’s been rainy days in Washington and we decided to spend our first full day in Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum. My initial plan was to take it easy, spend 2-3 hours in the museum and then to come back to the hotel and the laundry done before dinner with Paula.

What was NOT in the plan was how excited the guys were with the museum. The minute they stepped in, they became like little boys. They wonder in awe of the place and after 3 hours, we only managed to cover 3/4 of the lower ground floor. I was secretly hoping they’d wanna give up and go home, but they insisted that they want to see the top floor too.

So what a girl gotta do? Well, I decided to go back first and let the boys continue their exploration in the museum. And guess what, they didn’t come back until 5.30pm, ie. they spent almost 5 hours in the museum, and they cheekily told me that they didn’t finish seeing everything – “there are beautiful planes upstairs that we didn’t get to see!” – and they want to go back the next day (sheesh!) …

Guess in every man, there’s still that little boy who wants to see the moon or fly a plane 😉

 

Nov 22

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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

Liberty Island

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.

Battery Park

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.

Guggenheim Museum

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 …) 🙁

Brooklyn Bridge

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 🙂

Nov 21

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What I would do differently if I were in NYC again

  1. Rent a flat right in Manhattan – New Jersey is close by 10 minutes bus ride but the waiting is quite tiring.
  2. Buy the one-week pass for $29 for unlimited use of trains and buses (this doesn’t apply for New Jersey!) – we spent a hell lot of $$ for buses and trains – cost $2.70 per bus ride per way; $2.25 per train ride per way.
  3. Find out how to read addresses in Manhattan – first of all, Manhattan is divided into Uptown, Midtown and Downtown. The map of Manhattan is a grid; south to north is always called Avenue and East to West is always a street; 5th Avenue is right in the middle; to the right is east and to the left is west.
  4. Download the subway map to my phone – it’s not easily available at stations and it’s damn stressful to look for one every time.
  5. Spend 45 minutes each night to plan the next day; saves a lot of time from getting lost or taking the wrong train in the wrong direction
  6. Visit Union Station for performances/gigs by aspiring artists
  7. Walk on the Brooklyn Bridge while the sun is setting and take a break at Brooklyn Bridge Park
  8. Pay a visit to UN headquarter
  9. Visit Guggenheim Museum after 5pm on Sat to enjoy the two-hour free visit
  10. Watch a Broadway musical
More on NYC soon!
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