good, good, good, good vibrations
Day 3
1020 Arrive outside MoMA. See queue. Rush to end of queue.
1021 Realize that is not the end of the queue, there is in fact another part snaking all around the building.
1022 After a frantic call to awaken Andrew, join end of proper MoMA queue. Overhear that MoMA isn't open yet. Queue has begun to move rapidly, so we decide to wait it out.
1025 See others go thru same process of joining the misleading first part of the queue, then watch their eyes widen with shock and dismay at the sight of the queue.
1035 Various ppl try to hawk us CityPasses to bypass the queue.
1050 Reach the head of the queue! It's $12 for students to get in.
1130 Join a most enlightening tour of the Painting galleries, which includes explanations of some of Van Gogh's and Matisse's works.
1215 Get separated from the rest; wander around MoMA myself. Handphone rings; get shushed by museum officers who seem to be swarming every room, even though the noise level there could hit about 100db.
1240 Glimpse Starry Starry Night!! Only my favourite Van Gogh. Pity it seems to be everyone else's fave too, everyone's crowding around trying to take as many flash photographs as possible before being scolded. Feel quite sorry for the other neglected paintings in the room.
1340 We miraculously converge and head off to Columbia University.
1425 We emerge from the subway station and are greeted by familiar names (Aristotle, Homer, Plato et al.)
1430 Go photo crazy.
1435 Meet Andrew's friend Raymond who brings Dolly for a lecture. Proceed to wander around campus with Jem and Sh.
1557 Weak with hunger, we stumble in Starbucks.
1603 Dolly calls. We decide to try calling Andrew for the umpteenth time, to find out where that diner that has sthing to do with Suzanne Vega is.
1610 We figure out where Tom's Diner is. Unfortunately Raymond has disappeared to collect mail and is uncontactable even with handphone.
1630 We eat!
1645 Sh is disappointed at the of condiments in NY restaurants.
Waitress (asking Dolly which soup she would like): "Vegetable or cream of broccoli?"
Sh: "Do you have BBQ sauce?"
Us: ???
1700 Raymond shows us St John's Cathedral. Almost break the door opening it with overenthusiastic vigour.
1545 We sub it down to Times Square, and reunite with Andrew, Jess and Co.
1815 Yaoxian leads us to a Japanese restaurant "which I have never tried before, but I hear it's good" playing Communist tunes.
1930 We head off for my first ever Broadway musical - Rent!
2220 Emerge from theatre beaming. Decide to find ColdStones for ice cream.
2310 We are the last customers to be let in. We devour a Nights in White Chocolate, Banana Split/ Strawberry thingy and a Mud Pie Mojo (the latter was by far the best in my most biased opinion).
2350 Sub back to hotel for a hearty gossip session.
Day 4
0900 Hp alarm rings; fumble around and hit Snooze.
0910 Hp alarm rings again; groan and decide to get up.
0911 Step into a puddle of icy cold water on bathroom floor.
0912 Realise that toilet is flooded over; perform some precarious acrobatics that involve climbing atop the toilet seat and swinging over to the bathtub to brush my teeth.
0920 Climb out and find note from Dolly saying that toilet is flooded.
0930 Retreat downstairs to use bathroom in hotel basement.
1030 Maintenance comes armed with a toilet plunger. Apparently the toilet is only clogged, despite Dolly insisting "the toilet's broken". We decide not to overuse the toilet anyway.
1050 Andrew calls to say he's already at the subway station. We are still in the hotel room.
1115 Meet and wander around looking for Chelsea Market.
1130 Call Robin and wake him up to ask for directions.
1145 Discover the right building. Hungry, we waltz into the florist's to admire morning blooms.
1250 Hungrier still, we stop by a fresh produce supermarket. Dolly buys dried plums.
1210 We decide on Hale & Hearty soup with fresh baked bread. The former is expensive but good; the latter just good.
1240 The crepe place has no nutella for the nutella crepes I order. We settle for an Almond Chocolate Croissant instead.
1250 The nice lady at the chocolate store gives us free chocolate waffles! Check out the photos for our Choc-aids
1330 Find our way to the UN.
1405 There are no flags! I maintain that it is laundry day at the UN.
1430 Embark on a tour with a funny blue-sareed lady.
1530 Tour of cool rooms ends; browse souvenir stores.
1430 We finally tear ourselves away, laden with dreamcatchers, posters, children's books and things.
1710 We find Rockefeller Center of the many flags and small skating rink, wihch turns out to be the home of NBC Studios or sthing. We are not in time for the studio tour.
1830 Spectacular dinner of pizza and pasta, followed by much chocolate-revelry at Serendipity's down the street.
2130 We drop stuff back at our hotel and then decide to spon the Empire State Building (hereafter known as the ESB).
2210 We arrive at ESB, only to find the line closed. Sh and I vow to wake up early to line up the next day for tickets... but end up surfing Friendster.
Day 5
0745 Repeat of Day 4's waking up events (minus floodwater).
0830 Sh and I set off for ESB 3 blocks away; get waylaid by nice bfast offers. Andrew queues while we buy aromatic coffee.
0930 Finally, we have tickets.
1000 Joined by Dolly and Jeremy.
1040 We join the queue up to the observatory.
1100 I wonder what happens to claustrophobics in the line.
1101 I wonder if I should pretend to be a claustrophobic.
1130 Many circuitous lines and elevator rides later, we arrive at the top of ESB, only to find that it is hailing, yes HAILING.
1200 We venture out anyway; the view is gorgeous if a bit limited, thanks to snow flying in our faces at 90mph.
1230 Retreat to the indoor observers' gallery/ souvenir store; Sh proceeds to buy up every keychain in the place.
1330 Sub to Brooklyn in search of Yaoxian and NY's best cheesecake.
1420 Junior's does indeed have NY's best cheesecake!
1450 In view of the bad weather, we reluctantly give up the Staten Island ferry/ Statue of Liberty/ photo frenzy and emabrk on an equally ambitious plan to see Ground Zero and see more musicals.
1520 Stop by St Paul's Cathedral, which houses a memorial for those who died in 911.
1550 There is a jarring and poignant absence from the Manhattan skyline where WTC used to stand. Unfortunately, we are soon forced back underground by the strong gales that threaten even my trusty Chicago umbrella.
1630 At Times Square, we vacillate at TKTS, then finally decide on Good Vibrations, a high-school-kids-vacation-in-California musical featuring Beach Boys songs.
1700 Browse in MTV Superstore (nothing much really), TOYS 'R' US (indoor Ferris wheel thingy, giant giraffes, lego Statue of Liberty), Virgin Superstore (AMAZING jazz and Broadway collections). Get veyr depressed cos I can't afford anything.
1810 Meet Dolly's ex-suitemate for dinner.
1830 We almost dine at Ruby Foo's Dim Sum and Sushi Palace (pity we didn't, we have the same namesake! but the line was too long) but wind up in Maxie's Restaurant instead.
1850 To avoid the $3 sharing fee, Sh and I get tiramisu (it wasn't half bad, except for the calories).
1955 Exit Maxie's and run down the street, reaching our theatre 5min before showtime.
2210 Charged up by the high-energy performance, we head back to the hotel to pack for tmr's flight.
Regrets, I had a few...
Didn't shop
Ate too much chocolate
Didn't meet up with Robin or the many ppl who told me to call them up
1020 Arrive outside MoMA. See queue. Rush to end of queue.
1021 Realize that is not the end of the queue, there is in fact another part snaking all around the building.
1022 After a frantic call to awaken Andrew, join end of proper MoMA queue. Overhear that MoMA isn't open yet. Queue has begun to move rapidly, so we decide to wait it out.
1025 See others go thru same process of joining the misleading first part of the queue, then watch their eyes widen with shock and dismay at the sight of the queue.
1035 Various ppl try to hawk us CityPasses to bypass the queue.
1050 Reach the head of the queue! It's $12 for students to get in.
1130 Join a most enlightening tour of the Painting galleries, which includes explanations of some of Van Gogh's and Matisse's works.
1215 Get separated from the rest; wander around MoMA myself. Handphone rings; get shushed by museum officers who seem to be swarming every room, even though the noise level there could hit about 100db.
1240 Glimpse Starry Starry Night!! Only my favourite Van Gogh. Pity it seems to be everyone else's fave too, everyone's crowding around trying to take as many flash photographs as possible before being scolded. Feel quite sorry for the other neglected paintings in the room.
1340 We miraculously converge and head off to Columbia University.
1425 We emerge from the subway station and are greeted by familiar names (Aristotle, Homer, Plato et al.)
1430 Go photo crazy.
1435 Meet Andrew's friend Raymond who brings Dolly for a lecture. Proceed to wander around campus with Jem and Sh.
1557 Weak with hunger, we stumble in Starbucks.
1603 Dolly calls. We decide to try calling Andrew for the umpteenth time, to find out where that diner that has sthing to do with Suzanne Vega is.
1610 We figure out where Tom's Diner is. Unfortunately Raymond has disappeared to collect mail and is uncontactable even with handphone.
1630 We eat!
1645 Sh is disappointed at the of condiments in NY restaurants.
Waitress (asking Dolly which soup she would like): "Vegetable or cream of broccoli?"
Sh: "Do you have BBQ sauce?"
Us: ???
1700 Raymond shows us St John's Cathedral. Almost break the door opening it with overenthusiastic vigour.
1545 We sub it down to Times Square, and reunite with Andrew, Jess and Co.
1815 Yaoxian leads us to a Japanese restaurant "which I have never tried before, but I hear it's good" playing Communist tunes.
1930 We head off for my first ever Broadway musical - Rent!
2220 Emerge from theatre beaming. Decide to find ColdStones for ice cream.
2310 We are the last customers to be let in. We devour a Nights in White Chocolate, Banana Split/ Strawberry thingy and a Mud Pie Mojo (the latter was by far the best in my most biased opinion).
2350 Sub back to hotel for a hearty gossip session.
Day 4
0900 Hp alarm rings; fumble around and hit Snooze.
0910 Hp alarm rings again; groan and decide to get up.
0911 Step into a puddle of icy cold water on bathroom floor.
0912 Realise that toilet is flooded over; perform some precarious acrobatics that involve climbing atop the toilet seat and swinging over to the bathtub to brush my teeth.
0920 Climb out and find note from Dolly saying that toilet is flooded.
0930 Retreat downstairs to use bathroom in hotel basement.
1030 Maintenance comes armed with a toilet plunger. Apparently the toilet is only clogged, despite Dolly insisting "the toilet's broken". We decide not to overuse the toilet anyway.
1050 Andrew calls to say he's already at the subway station. We are still in the hotel room.
1115 Meet and wander around looking for Chelsea Market.
1130 Call Robin and wake him up to ask for directions.
1145 Discover the right building. Hungry, we waltz into the florist's to admire morning blooms.
1250 Hungrier still, we stop by a fresh produce supermarket. Dolly buys dried plums.
1210 We decide on Hale & Hearty soup with fresh baked bread. The former is expensive but good; the latter just good.
1240 The crepe place has no nutella for the nutella crepes I order. We settle for an Almond Chocolate Croissant instead.
1250 The nice lady at the chocolate store gives us free chocolate waffles! Check out the photos for our Choc-aids
1330 Find our way to the UN.
1405 There are no flags! I maintain that it is laundry day at the UN.
1430 Embark on a tour with a funny blue-sareed lady.
1530 Tour of cool rooms ends; browse souvenir stores.
1430 We finally tear ourselves away, laden with dreamcatchers, posters, children's books and things.
1710 We find Rockefeller Center of the many flags and small skating rink, wihch turns out to be the home of NBC Studios or sthing. We are not in time for the studio tour.
1830 Spectacular dinner of pizza and pasta, followed by much chocolate-revelry at Serendipity's down the street.
2130 We drop stuff back at our hotel and then decide to spon the Empire State Building (hereafter known as the ESB).
2210 We arrive at ESB, only to find the line closed. Sh and I vow to wake up early to line up the next day for tickets... but end up surfing Friendster.
Day 5
0745 Repeat of Day 4's waking up events (minus floodwater).
0830 Sh and I set off for ESB 3 blocks away; get waylaid by nice bfast offers. Andrew queues while we buy aromatic coffee.
0930 Finally, we have tickets.
1000 Joined by Dolly and Jeremy.
1040 We join the queue up to the observatory.
1100 I wonder what happens to claustrophobics in the line.
1101 I wonder if I should pretend to be a claustrophobic.
1130 Many circuitous lines and elevator rides later, we arrive at the top of ESB, only to find that it is hailing, yes HAILING.
1200 We venture out anyway; the view is gorgeous if a bit limited, thanks to snow flying in our faces at 90mph.
1230 Retreat to the indoor observers' gallery/ souvenir store; Sh proceeds to buy up every keychain in the place.
1330 Sub to Brooklyn in search of Yaoxian and NY's best cheesecake.
1420 Junior's does indeed have NY's best cheesecake!
1450 In view of the bad weather, we reluctantly give up the Staten Island ferry/ Statue of Liberty/ photo frenzy and emabrk on an equally ambitious plan to see Ground Zero and see more musicals.
1520 Stop by St Paul's Cathedral, which houses a memorial for those who died in 911.
1550 There is a jarring and poignant absence from the Manhattan skyline where WTC used to stand. Unfortunately, we are soon forced back underground by the strong gales that threaten even my trusty Chicago umbrella.
1630 At Times Square, we vacillate at TKTS, then finally decide on Good Vibrations, a high-school-kids-vacation-in-California musical featuring Beach Boys songs.
1700 Browse in MTV Superstore (nothing much really), TOYS 'R' US (indoor Ferris wheel thingy, giant giraffes, lego Statue of Liberty), Virgin Superstore (AMAZING jazz and Broadway collections). Get veyr depressed cos I can't afford anything.
1810 Meet Dolly's ex-suitemate for dinner.
1830 We almost dine at Ruby Foo's Dim Sum and Sushi Palace (pity we didn't, we have the same namesake! but the line was too long) but wind up in Maxie's Restaurant instead.
1850 To avoid the $3 sharing fee, Sh and I get tiramisu (it wasn't half bad, except for the calories).
1955 Exit Maxie's and run down the street, reaching our theatre 5min before showtime.
2210 Charged up by the high-energy performance, we head back to the hotel to pack for tmr's flight.
Regrets, I had a few...
Didn't shop
Ate too much chocolate
Didn't meet up with Robin or the many ppl who told me to call them up
aethyrs made a splash at 4:56 pm
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