Toronto > Montréal > New York City > Philadelphia > Washington, DC. July 7, 2008 - July 24, 2008. Distance travelled: 11079km. Photo count: 1430 + another 884 from my cousin Carly.
[Note: Sorry that I haven't updated for a million years. University has been brutal as hell and I haven't got time to update this long entry to entertain... well almost nobody. But hey, it's finally finished. So hurray!]
It has been quite a sizable time gap between this entry and the last entry I posted... Almost two months, to be exact. And roughly three weeks later than I said I would post this travel log. Yes, I do apologize for that, things have changed drastically over the last couple of weeks with University and some other bruhahas that's been bugging me for a while... Oh well, now that things are clearing up a bit now (although I am in the middle of a lecture break...) I am presenting you my trip I had in the summer to the East Coast. It was a great trip, as you may have already noticed...
I am guessing some of you might be wondering why I had this trip. Erm, I don't know... Fun? Actually, in all seriousness, I've always wanted to go to New York City for a lonnng time -- probably because of all the Friends episodes I've watched. So when I found out that my cousin, Carly, might be able to come to Vancouver for a visit, I had a little brainwave... Things that happened afterwards were history.
At first I just thought that we could just visit Toronto and New York City, considering that these are the two places I want to go... Okay, maybe that's not true. New York City is the only place I really really wanted to go, but since I've got a bag of cousins in Toronto and I haven't met most of them for a long time, that's in as well. Carly had other ideas though, so that's why we also went to Montreal, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. as well. Which is good, because I loved them all.
Here's how the trip went: The first stop was Toronto, and then through Kingston to Montreal, New York City, Philadelphia and the final stop, Washington D.C.
Before we begin, keep in mind that this will be about as long as the New Testament and with more photos than an IKEA brochure. If this overwhelms your computer and it's frozen right now, get a faster computer. If this overwhelms you, however... I can't help you. Go read a cartoon colouring book or something.
First stop: Toronto, Ontario. July 7 - July 10, 2008 Area: About as big as the Universe. Population: ... Still lower than that of Hong Kong. Weather: Summer's "Holy crap, my hair is on fire!"; or Winter's "Orrrh shrit my tongue iss sttuck to the metall pole..." Industry: TSE, also known as the Toronto Stock Exchange. (Hmm, wonder where they got that name from...) Import: Immigrants. Export: Canadians. City motto:"Hey, let's be like New York!"
Toronto City Hall.
Day 1 (July 7, 2008): Arrival > Chinatown > Downtown So first stop, Toronto. After a dreary four-hour flight to Pearson International Airport, we were greeted by Aunt... Something and Uncle... Something something. My apologies, I usually refer to them as the slightly more cantonese "kau fu" and "kau mo" -- which means my mom's brother and his wife. Although to be honest, I have so many relatives in Toronto that I've lost count of how many of them I was going to meet before I got there.
In short, I've got 5 cousins, a couple aunts and uncles, and my 93-year-old grandma also reside in Toronto as well. So this first stop is more of a visit to my mom's side of the family, and to have a taste of the biggest city in Canada.
Immediately after getting out of the airport could I sense the utter vastness of Toronto. The 12-lane wide highways all over the city, actual skyscrapers (unlike those pathetic ones in Vancouver) in the background and the amount of traffic on the road -- If you are not confident in your own driving skills, don't even think about driving on Toronto highways... You're likely to die either of a) a heart attack; b) a car crash; or c) a car crash resulted by the heart attack. People here drive like Italian businessmen with their hair on fire. Or the equivalent of a regular Vegas cab driver.
Other than that, the first day was all business actually -- Dining with the relatives, visiting grandma, all that stuff. It's nice to see that grandma is still quite healthy despite her age though, and certainly my relatives were all kind enough to have us over. Although we headed over to Chinatown for dinner... Which wouldn't be my personal choice. In short, it was like going back to China all over again... Which is not surprising really, for a city that has FIVE Chinatowns. Still not as impressive as Vancouver though, considering that the city of Vancouver is actually just a big Chinatown itself...
As for Downtown... It's hard to poke the fork in. You get a sense that Toronto is desperately trying to be like New York -- With their own versions of Time Square (it's called Dundas Square in this case) -- It's just not cool at all. While they've managed to copy the urban feeling of New York, there just isn't... Energy. You don't get a sense of busyness on the street. While some areas in Downtown looked staggering, with landmarks like the CN Tower and the oh-so-cool City Hall, some area near Downtown Toronto -- Especially Chinatown -- looks messy even. It's as if Toronto went to New York during research and ended up copying some crappy old area instead. The glamour is just not there.
Carly, grandma and me. She's 93 years old (my grandma of course) and still thinking quite well. Although our way of communication mostly consist of us yelling at grandma so she could hear what we have to say.
Chinatown. It's just like being in China... Things were dirty and the streets were always crowded.
A tour around Downtown -- Thanks Tom for showing us around.
Dundas Square. To be honest it's still a bit far-fetched to call it Time Square-wannbe...
Day 2 (July 8, 2008): Toronto > Niagara Falls And so we move on to day 2. After a lunch with cousin Selena and her lovely daughter, we embarked on a journey to the utter inevitablility that is Niagara Falls. It was like when I visitied Grand Canyon in 2006 really: You drive for a couple of hours, oooh-ahhh over the nature's incredible yet exquisite craftsmenship in producing this scenary for about 10 seconds, and then you head on home. Oh! I finally managed to get my hands on 2 tickets of The Dark Knight in IMAX, a day after the New York premiere at... Well, 6 o'clock in the morning. Shows how ridiculously popular it is.
Finally got my hands on two tickets to the Dark Knight in New York... Damn, it was hard.
Selena's daughter... Erm, I forgot her name. Sooo cute though.
She didn't seem to be fond of her... Erm, uncle.
On the way to Niagara Falls. Note the super-wide highway that is Highway 401.
Carly snapping away at Niagara Falls.
Okay, I'll admit it -- It's quite a sight to see two major waterfalls.
Inside Niagara Falls. Basically you pay about 20 bucks to get in and see water running down in front of you. And getting wet.
Niagara Falls at night was such a nice place to be. If you got tired of watching this, you could try your luck at a nearby casino as well. Considering that I have the luck of a stone, it was rather foolish of me to think that I'd win anything by gambling with 5 bucks.
On a sidenote, after we headed home that night, we discovered that Carly, my dearest cousin, has a stunning ability to clog toilets. Feeling embarrassed (for her that is, I was laughing hysterically at this point), she didn't want to tell our relatives. The tricky part is, we looked all over the washroom and there wasn't any plunger in sight. So being an advanced, sophiscated 21st century persons as we are (... were), we went on Google. The result of that was the both of us locked in the washroom, kicking the bejesus out of the toilet so that whatever's stuck inside would... Well, unstuck itself. Yeah.
And no, it didn't work out.
Day 3 (July 9, 2008): Wonderland > Dinner at Selena's The hotness scale finally reaches unbearable: 30-something degrees temperature, with sunlight competent enough to melt diamonds. No matter, it was when Thomas, our other cousin, took us to Wonderland. Now I know what you're thinking: It sounds like a 5-year-old's playground. Well, no it isn't. I had so much fun that day that I didn't take photos of the theme park, because all the roller coaster rides (and there were millions of them) ranges from highly entertaining to downstraight suicidal. It was definitely the most fun I've ever had in a theme park.
At night time it was dinner with the cousins. I haven't met a lot of them since I was a baby so... Yeah you could say that I didn't know most of them until then. Great dinner though.
The cousins.
More cousins -- well all of them actually. With me and Carly in the front.
Carly, me and Clement in 1994.
Carly, me and Clement in 2008.
Day 4 (July 10, 2008): Downtown > Financial District > Distillery District > Greyhound Bus Station Nothing special really. I toured around Downtown and took some pictures. Met with Alex though, and he seemed to be doing really well in Unversity of Toronto. That bastard. Lesson learned: There really isn't much to do in Toronto. After hanging around for about an hour in Chinatown-Downtown area, we went to watch Hancock instead.
Yonge street by Dundas Square. Apparently Yonge street is the longest street in the world, with a whopping distance of 1,896km long.
And of course with tourist attractions like these, you'll see a lot of street artists.
For dinner we went to this Richtree Restaurant in the Financial district area. It was rather nice actually, like a food court but a lot fancier. Although I had a feeling that I was already having too much food in Toronto... Don't blame me, for a guy living alone in Surrey, any food that doesn't give me food poisoning is good food...
Before we take off, we spent a bit of time at the Distillery District as well. Which is like a Granville Island in Toronto really -- things are pristine, fancy, and sadly overpriced.
Distillery District.
After a bit more looking around, it was time to head over to Montreal, the French part of Canada.
Toronto was nice, but maybe I've lived in Vancouver too long to properly appreciate this place. What more appropriate than how my cousins described this situation: Vancouverians and Torontonians hate each other.
Second Stop: Montréal, Québec. July 11 - July 13, 2008. Where: East of England, across the English channel. Oh wait, that's France... Breakfast: Poutine. Lunch: Pountine. Dinner: Hell, I'll have more poutine please. Drink: Anything with caffeine. Coffee here is more common than water. What they'll probably say to you in a local restaurant:"vous aiment plus de café avec ce poutine?" What I said: "... eh?"
Jacques Cartier Bridge. Or pont Jacques-Cartier if you're desperately French.
Day 5 (July 11, 2008): Arrival > Downtown > Old Montreal Apparently, Quebec French (or le français québécois if you're that anal or French) is different from the French French that's spoken by... Well, French. Although this fact really didn't help me at all, considering that I know neither, and the fact that English language, although still being used, is not as popular as I've anticipated. I found that out when some random strangers approached me on rue Sainte-Catherine and assumed that I was a le français québécois speaker and started blabbing in front of me.
This part of Canada is the only part I've been in that doesn't feel like being in Canada at all. I don't know, maybe the greyhound bus driver took us to France instead in the 8 hours I've spent sleeping on that bus. It really felt like I was in Europe for holidays, and it was rather nice.
Upon arrival early in the morning, what's better to do than going for a local breakfast? Well... other than dropping our million-ton bags at the hostel. Although assuming that most Quebecois are willing to spend 7 dollars for an omelette with some potatoes would seem kind of... Well, insane. Before we've even got on our seats, the waitress almost automatically assumed that we're there for a cup of steaming hot coffee... Which explains why everyone in the restaurant were sipping their coffee while reading thier books / newspapers / magazines. While having breakfast.
By now you'd imagine how everyone is taking it... slowww... and... easy.
Sip away...
What's better than having your breakfast French style?
Simon meets the Simon's. Apparently it's quite popular.
After breakfast and a bit of walking around in Downtown, I officially surrendered to my fatigue and took a 5-hour nap at the hostel. Okay, so it wasn't really a nap. But oh well. By night time I was READY TO EXPLORE... Although Carly was dead like a stone in her bed.
Old Montreal.
Expensive cars everywhere...
Left: La Tour de la Bourse. Okay screw this French technicality. It's the stock exchange tower. Right: An accidental shot when I lifted up the tripod when the camera was still taking the picture... Turned out rather nice though.
Day 6 (July 12, 2008): Old Montreal > Old Port It's more exploring the Old part of Montreal again on the second day. This European feeling, however, is getting stronger and stronger as we progressed towards the Old Port, one of the most popular place in the city. Home of a million pubs and restaurants... Although most of them are so expensive we'd have to sell our kidneys to get anything to eat.
Although the restaurant we did go to was one of the most expensive meals we have ever had in our life time...
Dinner of the day for Carly: Some... chicken with potatoes.
And here goes my dinner: Cooked Salmon with rice. This thing costed me about 25 dollars CAN... For that I expected a dance out of it. One of the best meals I've ever had in this trip though.
rue Saint-Paul. The streets were filled with people because, as it turned out, there were a series of fireworks showing at night with participations from different countries in those two weeks. It was Portugal's turn that night I believe.
Montreal City Hall.
Place Jacques-Cartier jammed with people at night, waiting for the fireworks.
The harbour view was pretty nice.
The fireworks were so much better than those mini-explosions we had in Vancouver...
Bonsecours Market.
Day 7 (July 13, 2008): Old Montreal > Notre-Dame Basilica > Eaton Centre > Greyhound Bus Station Last day. Well... Basically everything in Montreal were visited. So we went back to Old Montreal again and did... Basically nothing. We finally got a chance to visit the Notre-Dame Basilica though, although for a church, one would've expected to get inside with just a donation. Turns out they charge everyone a ridculous 5 dollars to get inside... Oh well. Better than having nothing to do.
One observation though, I didn't realize how clean everything is in Montreal. Unlike Vancouver, there isn't a part of Montreal visiters should avoid. There aren't any remotely dangerous parts in Montreal, there weren't even that many hobos and weirdos walking around mumbling. Streets were cleaner than my bedroom and people were nicer than the Pope. At one point, I was standing on the street holding a map wondering where I should go next, when this car literally stopped on the road (with other cars patiently waiting behind) and asked me if I needed help in finding my way.
The famous Notre-Dame Basilica. One has to come to this place personally to really see how damn impressive this place is.
Montreal subway. Note the wheels underneath the car. Weird huh? They're no quieter than any other subway though... Nor being more comfortable.
Anyways, since we had nothing to do, we went to watch "Wanted" after every ideas are burned in our heads. A waste of time I know, but hey, at least it was a somewhat decent movie.
And then it was another 8 dreadful torturous hours on the bus...
But man, I love Montreal. I seriously wouldn't mind coming back and have those French breakfast while sipping coffee again. Yes, even if I could do those things in Vancouver.
Third Stop: New York City, New York. July 14 - July 19, 2008. Smells like: Strong body odor in cabs, unmarked bills in the Financial District, and used sewages in Chinatown. Sounds like: Horns. And lots of swearing. Looks like: Everyone inside Manhattan have the potential to become a candidate on The Apprentice. Really?: No. They'll get fired. Drinks like: More like drunk. Walk to any subway station after 10 at night and you'll know what I mean. Likes: Hotdogs. Even though they're rubbish and overpriced and not as good as the ones we have in Vancouver. Dislikes: Anyone from California.
The Manhattan Skyline.
Okay, before we begin, may I just stretch a point here -- I promise that I won't go on about how much I love New York. Now, that's an extremely easy mistake to make, considering that I had watched so many footages of New Yorks from movies, television shows, magazines, newspaper columns, books, the internet, and so on. It's hard, I tell you. I was about 8 years old when I watched the glamour of New York City in Die Hard: With A Vengence. And then there were thousands of other Hollywood movies, TV shows... Friends, for example. Visiting the Friends apartment and the restaurant in "Seinfeld" are one of the many goals I wish to. Along with visiting the Statue of Liberty. And Wall Street. And walking around in Times Square. And doing all the things I did in Grand Theft Auto IV. Okay, maybe not.
BUT I LOVE NEW YORK.
Okay, sorry. When I got to Manhattan though, it was almost like a dream come true -- Actually, it was a dream come true. You could say that I was more or less a New Yorker before I have even been to New York, and that says something. I was so excited at one point that I planned on where to visit just by playing Grand Theft Auto IV all day. I was expected to be clubbed by Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, beatened by King Kong, eaten by Godzilla, only to be spat out and get eaten by that monster in Cloverfield, and then get drowned in The Day After Tomorrow style, blown to pieces by meteors in Armageddon, and then again in Deep Impact. All this only to be rescued by John McClane, Die Hard style. All this, before a mutated disease takes over and wipes out the population in Manhattan, and waiting for Will Smith to rescue me like he apparently did in I Am Legend.
Wow. I wonder how New Yorkers feel now when they watch endless footages of their city getting destroyed in movies. "Pffft, that's nothing. In Deep Impact, our city was in utter ruins!" Why would anyone live here? Ahh, I know why.
BECAUSE I F**KING LOVE NEW YORK.
Sorry.
Day 8 (July 14, 2008): Port Authority Bus Terminal > Chelsea > Times Square > Fifth Avenue > New York Public Library So finally, we're here in New York. The bus ride was increasingly unbearable the more hours it took. Doesn't matter, when I got there I was ready to rock... Except I was dead tired. When we got to the Port Authority trying to get to the hostel via the MTA system (the subway system), the map Sandy, our cousin, provided us in Toronto didn't help that much at all.
To illustrate my point, here's a rough representation of the New York City Subway map.
Okay. Maybe "rough" is an understatement. But even this is not too bad, compared to the actual map:
To make matters worse, each coloured line, instead of representing ONE subway line, actually represents three -- all with different destinations, some with express lines, etc. Imagine finding your way out with a subway network like this. It was more confusing than rocket science. All those hours I spent on playing video games to "familiarize myself with the city" were useless. It's just impossible. It's worth noting that the amount of people in the MTA at 7 in the morning were remarkably high, and the most amazing thing is -- wait for this -- CAUCASIANS WALK FAST! Now, I've always thought that walking fast to the border line of running (as in you walk about as fast as a car, but you're still walking) has always been Hong Kong people's trademark. Oh no. People were walking fast in all diections, like protons in a particle accelerator.
By now, you can imagine that a guy like me, carrying 40 pounds of stuff in my bag that's about as big as my body, were having such great fun lugging around in the subway station with the population of China inside the station.
Although we were dead tired but didn't want to waste time sleeping at the hostel for the entire day, we decided to go for a walk in a nearby attraction: Times Square.
Yep -- advertisments as big as the floor plan of the Pentagon, and yellow cabs -- this is definitely Manhattan.
Walking towards Times Square on 42nd Street. This is about the most glamourous McDonald's I've ever seen in my whole life. Inside, there were disco lights, massive flat-screen TVs and a stereo system that won't embarrass millionaires.
Times Square. Streets were filled with engine sounds, police sirens, and car horns -- Mostly from cab drivers.
When there's a police station in the middle of Times Square, you'll know that they mean business -- police presence is everywhere. In Times Square alone, I saw about 20 cop cars either parked or driving around with officers inside. In Manhattan, and I am not exaggerating, you'll see about a cop car every block or so.
Damn, I am glad that I don't have to drive here.
This is the sort of stuff that you'll only see in America. Cowboys in their underwears sitting on people's laps with their guitars. The cop standing beside him seemed to be hugely entertained.
After a bit of walking, we were tired and decided to go to only place we could think of that provides free internet -- The New York Public Library. Although the wait was more than an hour to get our hands on a computer.
Speaking of which, when you go to a place like New York, be prepared to get your bags checked. They even have metal detectors and security checkpoints at the library.
Heading back to the hostel on the MTA. It was surprisingly clean inside. Although the sounds and squeaks of the trains would certainly deafen you.
Day 9 (July 15, 2008): Central Park > Park Avenue > Fifth Avenue > Upper West Side. Honestly, I don't know why I was there. Oh! I remember! Because my cousin watched Enchanted and decided that Central Park is about the best place one could go to in Manhattan... We were merely there to retrace locations in the movie, while singing, "How does she know..."
It was a great park nonetheless. It would've been better if I didn't forget to charge the batteries for my camera. A part of me died a little when my camera gave up on me while I was shooting in the middle of Central Park. So for the rest of the day I was lugging around with my heavy-duty camera equipments while touring in one of the biggest parks in Manhattan. Great.
That aside, having a bike ride in Central Park was fun enough. Although the weather was hot enough for me to bake a cake outside.
After walking and riding around in Central Park, we celebrated with even more walking on Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue. Cue in death. Carly wanted to go to Tiffany & Co. just to take a look at supposedly the world's biggest diamond. And as it turned out, the diamond was in the middle of a tour in South Korea. Cue in second death.
I took like, two pictures and the camera died on me. From this point on, all the photos taken that day was shot with Carly's small digital camera.
I think this is the place where all the people gathered together and sang in Enchanted.
Bike rides. =D
Carly snapped a picture of me when I wasn't looking. Sneaky...
The Apppppple Store. It was one of the coolest buildings I've ever seen, with the entire structure mainly built in glass. The actual store, on the other hand, was underground.
It's also worth noting that the day I passed by the Apple Store, it was also the first day of the release of the iPhone 3G. See all these people lining up? They're all here for the iPhone. The queue stretched over a couple blocks at least. Impressive indeed.
Ah-ha! Now this is the place I've wanted to go for a long time. Starred in the classic sitcom Seinfeld (the exterior shots at least), this restaurant was the hang-out place for Jerry Seinfeld, Elaine Benes, George Costanza, and Cosmo Kramer, until the show's end in 1998.
Real life v.s.Watching it on my iPod.
I've never been so happy to eat at a restaurant before. No, not because I am a fan of Seinfeld. I ordered a 14 oz sirloin that night, which came with a salad, a soup, vegetables and meshed potatoes. All at the cost of 14 US dollars. Well, of course -- It wasn't exactly the KEG -- but it was still absolutely delicious and definitely one of the best meals I've ever had.
Day 10 (July 16, 2008): Statue of Liberty > SoHo > Greenwich Village > Friends Apartment > Yankees Stadium > Third Avenue > Rockefeller Plaza
What else could it be? Really, other than the world's most famous statue of them all. The lady statue has been tested through time ever since she has step foot in America, from utter destruction to decapitation, the statue has experienced them all. And the best thing is? She keeps coming back.
Don't believe me? Take a look at this.
The statue in Cloverfield, with New York City in total destruction.
The statue in The Day After Tomorrow, with Al Gore somewhere inside New York City.
And yet here it is again, the Statue's head in Deep Impact, floating around the streets of Manhattan.
And yet, here it is. It was a bad thing, really. If the statue was really destroyed like in the movies, we wouldn't have to wake up at 6:30 in the morning just to catch the first ferry in Battery Park to Liberty Island. We wouldn't have to wait for an hour to get inside the statue through security checkpoint under direct sunlight too. Oh well, since we're here...
View from Battery Park City, looking at Downtown Manhattan.
Snap away. As soon as the statue was in sight, everybody got their cameras ready. Even Lindsay Lohan doesn't get publicity like this.
Inside the statue, right before the museum tour starts.
The museum featured some of the best cultural references of the statue. Dated back from the World War years with the Liberty Bond, to my personal favourite on the right -- and you'll never guess what this is about -- an advertisement from the Peace Corps. When I looked at the poster I thought that they wanted all the immigrants to leave the country...
Okay, so the Levi's one was pretty darn good too.
Under the statue in direct sunlight. Get your sunblocks ready.
Me and Carly on the statue. I am noticably tanned at this point...
A failed attempt to imitate the greatness of the statue... I am not sure if the statue looked that constipated.
Other than that, it was definitely the most jam-packed day we had in this trip. We went to 7 different destinations in one single day, from Manhattan to the Bronx. After spending about three hours on Liberty Island, we went back to the shore and proceeded to SoHo for (at least that's what we heard) great shopping experiences and fancy restaurants. The subway that took us there led us straight to a street that devides Chinatown and SoHo. What scared us initially was then, of course, Chinatown, being the first sight we saw when we thought that it was SoHo we were in.
Chinatown, like many other Chinatowns all over North America, was dirty, crowded, and... Well, dirty. Soon as we kept walking though, we entered SoHo with a sigh of relief. Home to the late Heath Ledger, there were literally nothing but galleries, fancy furniture stores, and artists studios. No restaurants though, and certainly not that great of a shopping experience -- Unless I'm planning to spend 3000 dollars on a couch that looks like a question mark. Or something.
Carly didn't feel like having Italian food that day, but Italian restaurants were all we could find in SoHo. Ridiculously expensive too, considering that we paid 30 dollars for lunch. Amazingly, this is probably the only place in America where the restaurants won't offer you a refill after you paid 3 dollars for a glass of coke.
Fabulous place for shooting pictures though.
Ahhhh. Grand Theft Auto IV. Now that's the kind of advertising I like.
SoHo. Buildings wre all in different colours and the walls still attract graffiti -- which is not really a bad thing.
More taxis racing for the yellow light.
After a lot of searching and looking around, we finally found the (exterior of) Friends Apartment! Before, some locals scoffed at us for our (... mostly my) determination to look for the Friends Apartment when the only thing I knew was that it was on Grove Street, and nothing else.
Well... If it wasn't for Google Maps I wouldn't have made it there...
The Yankee Stadium. The only reason I was there was because Carly wanted to go there before they build a new one.
I don't even know when she started caring about the Yankees... O.o"
Dylan's Candy Bar on Third Avenue. It was one of the biggest and fanciest candy shop I've ever seen in my life.
Their sundaes could induce a heart attack, but well... JUST LOOK AT IT. How can you say no to this? Actually the price tag would help -- It was $9 dollars a cup.
Third Ave, just outside Dylan's Candy Bar.
After a bit more sitting around, we walked (yes, walked -- 10 blocks was actually a lot longer than it sounds when the both of us were on the edge of collasping from all the walking) to one of the tallest buildings in New York, the Rockefeller Plaza.
A trip to "Top of the Rock" was around 20 dollars, which is a bargain really, considering that the sight of New York from the top down is not something you see everyday.
Unless you go on the Empire State Building. However, it'll be a mistake to do that, and I'll tell you why later.
South-West view of the Rockefeller Plaza. New Jersey is right across the river.
This view is simply spectacular. The building with the blue lights on the top is the Empire State Building.
We were waaay too tired to walk all the way back to the subway station. So we took a cab through Times Square back to the hostel.
Day 11 (July 17, 2008): [Note: Carly's Birthday] Wall Street > The World Trade Center Site > United Nations Tower > Empire State Building Another early day. On the dot of nine a.m, we were at Wall Street attempting to catch the view of business people in suits rushing into the stock market... If only they went to work at nine. When we got there, everyone was pretty much inside and Wall Street, instead of being occupied by stock brokers, was jammed with travelers instead.
The New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street.
Sitting in Starbucks at the corner of the street, I realized something: Revolving doors were everywhere. You know, the ones that won't turn around no matter how hard you try and push it, and when it does go, it'll go around fast enough that you will never escape the vortex of death and just run around in circles. Starbucks had one, New York Public Library had one, subway stations had one, and Rockefeller Center had a thousand of them. What's wrong with normal push / pull doors?
The... Bull. I am sure it was named a lot more interesting than I can remember.
After a brief visit to Wall Street, we headed to the destination I've waited to go for a long time: Ground Zero.
I can't express how utterly damn sad it is to not be able to go see the World Trade Center myself. The total destruction of the two great towers, and the amount of people who died because of a small group of people's misguided religious beliefs. When we got to Liberty Street (where World Trade Center used to be), things seemed normal enough. However, walking closer towards Ground Zero and you could almost immediately sense the grief among the people who were visiting.
They say that everyone remembers where exactly they were and what they were doing when they caught the news on September 11, 2001, and I can't tell you how true that is. It still seems like yesterday when I watched the plane crashed into the second tower. I was in grade 7 still.
What's even more sad is that the United States, one of the greatest countries in the world, can't even rebuild something monumental and spectacular 7 years after the event in 2001. When I got there, it was still a giant construction site.
It was sad indeed.
This is where the Twin Towers would've been if they were still here today.
The WTC Gallery -- Definitely worth a watch.
A debris of the plane that crashed into one of the towers.
RIP.
Well, to light things up a bit, we went to the UN Tower afterwards to look at... Well... Whatever's inside.
The main meeting hall inside the United Nations Tower.
Afterwards, it was time to go up the other tall building, King Kong style. Yes, the Empire State Building. I would've climbed all the way up, but you see, it was a bit nippy that day...
What a big mistake though, and you'll see why.
After paying 20 dollars. one would've expected to go on the very top of the tallest building in New York. And yes -- it was still impressive enough to ride an elevator from the ground floor to the 80th floor in under a minute, but that's the problem. 80th floor. For twenty dollars you get to go up to the 80th floor only. When you get to the observation deck, you'll see this:
WHAT A RIP-OFF!!!!
And to make matters worse, the observation deck was surrounded by bars so that people would, oh I don't know, jump off? So you can't really take a picture normally, but to stick the camera through the gap of the bars to take a somewhat decent picture.
That said, it was scary enough to look down...
The sunset across the Hudson River in the New Jersey side.
Back to Tom's restaurant again, because we both loved it so much. Carly making a wish right before I stole her birthday cake. Happy birthday!
Day 12 (July 18, 2008): NBC Studios > Grand Central Station > Brooklyn > Brooklyn Bridge > Times Square Back to Rockefeller Center again, for my second-part visit to the NBC studio. This time I was the only one there because... Well, Carly couldn't be bothered waking up early in the morning to watch a studio that produced TV shows she's never heard of in Hong Kong. Home of the Today Show, Saturday Night Live, and NBC news... Although hardly anyone cares about the set of NBC news. SNL alone was enough of a reason to go to this studio, really.
And no, I didn't see Alec Baldwin wandering around 30 Rock.
Rockefeller Plaza.
The NBC shop. Fans of Friends and Seinfeld (like me) would love it here. This is a place for you if you like Heros and The Office too.
How many characters can you spot from here?
<The set was fun, but no photos were taken because apparently I would infringe the copyright law if I took photos of them...>
HAHA. I can't wait.
After meeting up with Carly, we decided to head over to Grand Central Station before heading off to Brooklyn for the famous Grimaldi's Pizzeria our cousin Sandy told us all about back in Toronto. Apparently it's the best pizza place in New York. Well, we'll see...
When we got off the train at Grand Central Station and on our way to the platform, guess who we saw on the way to the concourse:
Michael Jackson... Midget version.
Hey, don't laugh. This guy can attract more crowd than the actual Michael Jackson. Everybody in the subway station literally stopped for 3 minutes just to see him break-dancing around, massively entertaining us. Impressive too.
Anyways, yes. Grand Central Station was pretty much everything you'd expect from a train station, but a lot more beautiful and constant streams of people walking by.
It was more of a stop-and-go visit, but oh well. It was worth a look actually.
So the best pizza in the New York City then, and in the United States even? What's better to do than to check it out in South Ferry in Brooklyn then, located right under the famous Brooklyn Bridge. We should've done a bit of research before we went, really. Because Grimaldi's is not only one of the best, and also one of the most popular Pizzeria in New York City. To make matters worse, the pizzeria doesn't take reservations. You want a slice of pizza? Get in line down the street.
We were utterly staggered by this, and since we're in Brooklyn, there's no turning back. When we started queuing, there were about 20 people in front of us. Time passed and more and more people lined up to get into the restaurant. An hour later, there were still about 30 people outside when we got into the restaurant.
And you know what? Sandy was right about it being the best pizzeria.
The pizza was, in one word, brilliant. The pizza was baked in a coal-brick oven, the cheese was fresh and not too salty, the pie was not too thick that you'd have a hard time eating it, nor is it too thin that you can see through it. It was crunchy, tasted like heaven and smelled like a dream. That was some damn good pizza right there.
And everybody in the restaurant seemed to agree with me too. I've never seen a western restaurant so crowded before. It would've made much more sense if it was a Chinese restaurant though...
A view of Manhattan from the Brooklyn side. The view was, again, fabulous.
On-ramp to Brooklyn Bridge. The walk across the bridge was a lot longer than we anticipated...
Me on Brooklyn bridge.
A final visit to Times Square. Times Square in night time is just so much better. Eventful too. I almost got knocked over by a guy resisting arrest, while being chased after by about 15 cops. Seeing that many people running across Times Square with cars doing a million miles per hour was surely entertaining enough.
And then we dragged ourselves back to the hostel in preparation for a movie I've waited for a long long time: The Dark Knight.
Day 13: (July 19, 2008): AMC Lowe IMAX Theatre > Penn Station > Philadelphia, PA.
THE DAY I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! Well, what is more exciting than getting to watch The Dark Knight in New York in an IMAX theatre? Yes -- it premiered on July 18, but I wasn't fast enough to get tickets to the premiere... Well, one day late is certainly good enough. What's not so good, however, is that the screening is at 6 in the morning. Yes, 6 in the morning. Because every single theatre in the United States were pretty much fully booked up to 2 weeks for this movie. Insane, isn't it? The theatres had to do extra screenings to fulfill all the demands, and it was still sold out.
Basically... Well, we got up at 4:20 in the morning to make sure that we could secure two seats in the theatre. Carly slept at around 2 and me... Well, I slept at 4. It was regrettable, but who can blame me? I was so excited to watch the movie that I didn't sleep.
By the time we got to the theatre, there was still a good hour to go until the actual movie starts. Guess what? The theatre was already 2/3 full. People arrived in costumes too. I saw a couple of clowns and 2 or 3 faithful Joker-lookalikes. The movie? It was amazingly outrageously perfectly breath-takingly extraordinarily spectacularly brilliantly time-stoppingly (not sure if that's even a word, but oh well) and side-splittingly perfect.
I LOVE THE DARK KNIGHT.
I even wore my Joker t-shirt to watch the movie. You wouldn't believe the amount of positive publicity I got when people saw me wearing a joker t-shirt on the street.
Apologizes for the lack of photos. I was waaay too tired to take any photos that day and after the movie, we went back to the hostel to make up the lack of sleep, before taking the bus at 11:30 in the morning to Philadelphia.
We woke up at 11 in the morning, leaving us with half an hour to pack up and get to the bus station 20 blocks away. It was thrilling.
The Verdict:
Anyways, the verdict? Well. If you haven't figured out how much I absolutely (hmm I missed this word in describing The Dark Knight) love New York City. It's full of energy, the views were brilliant, it's lively, and it's NEW YORK CITY. I just can't describe how great this city is.
The New Yorkers weren't half-bad either. A lot of times, they are portrayed as self-loving a**holes who will swear at you if you get into their ways in the movies... Which is partially true itself. New Yorkers don't make good (in terms of manners) drivers, and certainly some people in business suits in the middle of Manhattan still behave like street thugs. Some of them were quite rude indeed, but there were also tons of people I interacted on the streets who were nice and friendly enough to have a conversation. Gotta love that New York accent too.
Oh, except the massive ticket-booth lady working at the MTA subway stations. Crap, you don't want to mess with them, unless you want a 200-pound lady charging at you with words sharper than armour-piercing bullets from an AK47.
In conclusion though, if you haven't been to New York City before, go there now. You'll love it.
Fourth Stop: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. July 19 - July 20, 2008. Not to be confused with: Paedophilia. Motto: The City of Brotherly Love. No, I am not kidding here. National Sport: Fighting. That's the kind of brotherly love you'll get. For real?: Hell yeah. Rocky's got his arse kicked so much here that they made a statue in memory of him. Transportation: Non-existent. Heatlhy food: Non-existent. But who cares when you have cheesesteak? Air-conditioning: Non-existent. Notable for: Heat strong enough to melt time. Maybe that's why they fight so much.
Independence Hall.
Day 13 (July 19, 2008): Market Street > Hostel > Whitman Plaza (Apparently) > Some other places we stumbled on by mistake > Pat's Restaurant > South Street. After 5 days of intense walking-about in New York City, Philadelphia felt more like a walk in the park in comparison. It was a nice little break from the densely populated Manhattan really, although through a search in Wikipedia tells me that Philadelphia is actually the 6th most populated cities in the United States. Hmmmm, certainly didn't feel like it.
Quite amazing then, to find out that Philadelphia is a city that, despite the relatively short distance, (an hour and a half away by bus -- which costed us an amazing $3 for a ticket!) seems and feels a lot more southern than any places that's located in the North... If you know what I mean. In that hour and a half, it felt like I've travelled 12 hours to a city that is vastly different in culture. The city is a lot more laid back (felt a tad like Vancouver actually), people are walking a lot slower, and you don't hear the sound of horns and jackhammers anymore -- which makes it a lot more quiet. Although that could be contributed by the fact that we had hearing damage after spending a week in New York.
In short, it's everything that New York City isn't.
Don't get me wrong though, it's not a bad thing at all. Although it is worthy to mention the fact that nothing much worthy is to be found in Philadelphia -- except for its Philly Cheesesteak and erm, the Liberty bell. Which is largely a very old bell that doesn't make any sound anymore because of a crack. What's so special about it? I don't know either.
Market Street.
Anyways, our very first goal was to find the famous Philly cheesesteak, which was recommended by almost everyone who has ever been here before. There're only two restaurants that produced good cheesesteak, as we're told -- Pat's and... Something else which wasn't Pat's.
So we headed off in search of the restaurant. We were hungry, it was brutally hot and nothing could satisfy us more than a good dinner. There was a problem though -- Amazingly, the transit service here is even worse than the ones in Vancouver (which feels like it's operated by a bunch of monkeys already) -- it took us a whopping 2 hours to get to a place which was 20 minutes away from our hostel.
We first stumbled on a mall. We didn't know what it was. The bus took us there and apparently that was the final bus stop -- we missed the restaurant somewhere on the way. Then, even more amazingly, we were told by the bus driver that there wasn't any buses that goes back up to where we came from. To make matters worse, there weren't any cabs on the street either. So we had to take another bus which took us to some other places we didn't belong. And then another one.
The problem is, the trip itself didn't take long, but the wait of the bus did. It takes a ridiculous half an hour for a bus to show up. During which, however, we had a chat with the locals who turned out to be one of the most friendliest people we've ever met in our lifetime. Certainly a lot better than the fuck-you attitudes you'd normally get in New York City. (I love NY still)
Anyway, 2 hours after we set off, we were finally there.
Pat's King of Steaks.
What a Philly Cheesesteak looks like with American cheese. (Taken from Wikipedia)
It turns out -- despite the word steak -- a Philly Cheesesteak is more of a sandwhich which contained bits of steak thinner than the paintwork of a 1980s' Lada. It was then showered with American cheese, which was more like... liquid cheese. Initial impression, therefore, wasn't good. It looked a bit gross, actually.
After eating it, Carly and I exchanged glances, and it says a lot really. The steak, despite the sheer thinness of it, was pretty good. (Better than Subway at least) The bun was not bad too. I made a mistake, however, by ordering American cheese with my sandwich, and it was a bit... Gross. Other than that, it was not bad. It was incredibly filling too. After having the sandwich I was full already. My cousin? She didn't even finish hers. (If I remember correctly)
When we got there, Pat's was filled with people. Tourists presumably.
Heh. They even teach you how to order a cheesesteak in true American fashion. (Taken from Wikipedia)
After the dinner, we concluded the day by walking around on South Street, which was largely a bar-restaurant slash shopping area. We didn't do much shopping though, as our wallets had a money hemorrage in New York City... Bloody hell.
South Street.
Day 14 (July 20, 2008): Liberty Bell > Constitution Square > First Bank of the United States > Washington DC.
Didn't do much today, frankly. After 2 weeks of intense viewing, we were a bit tired. Instead, we conducted a more-or-less relaxed walking tour around the historical Philadelphia, which as you may or may not know, is where the Declaration of Independence was signed. The first bank in the United States is here as well, apparently. It's called... Well, First Bank of the United States.
So we did all those. Other than that, nothing much happened.
Liberty Bell. It's been around since 1752 apparently.
Independence National Historical Park.
Hell yeah!
It was a good day indeed.
PS: If you're ever going to Philadelphia from New York City, or just travelling around the East Coast for that matter -- try taking Megabus. It was as good as -- if not better than -- taking a Greyhound. A ticket from NYC to Philadelphia, as mentioned before, was $3 per person. A ticket from Washington DC to New York? $1 per person. Of course, you'll have to book a reservation at least 2 months prior -- but it's great news if you're backpacking. Take notes, Vancouver transit.
Final Stop: Washington, District of Columbia. July 21 - July 22, 2008. Kinds of people here: Two -- Lobbyists and Hobbyists. The latter are mostly in the White House. Current resident: George Dubya Bush. How did he get here?: Apparently a miracle happened in Florida in 2000. Greatest contribution: Bringing peace to Iraq. [citation needed] Main industry: Politics. Or is it a really good game of Risk? Political Parties: Every night! With liquor and everything! Next resident: Some guy called Barack or something. His cabinet: Purchased from Ikea.
Reflecting pool, viewed from the WWII memorial.
Day 14 (July 20, 2008): Greyhound Bus Station > Harrington Hotel. After a tedious ride provided by Greyhound, of which the driver got lost twice in the middle of the night in pouring rain (and people were visibly grumpy), we finally got to Washington, DC after 3 bloody hours. This time, however, we weren't able to find any hostels available. So we stayed at a hotel. It wasn't particularly expensive or luxorious, but after more than a week of living in hostels, it felt like we were in heaven. "Proper beds! Proper television! Proper private washrooms!"
I haven't had a better sleep since.
Anyways, The nation's capitol. A place where every decisions that affects America and the world are made... Which is sometimes unfortunate. Still, after a good sleep, we were hoping to visit all the usual stuff -- the White House, the Pentagon, the lots.
Day 15 (July 21, 2008): The Pentagon (rejected) > International Spy Museum > National Archives Building > The United States Capitol > The White House (rejected) > Washington Monument > Reflecting Pool.
The bastards.
This is what we were thinking when we realized that the Pentagon -- a place where we wanted to go for a long while -- was blocked off to all tourists unless they make a reservation 15 days before. So we took the metro to the Pentagon for nothing, really. It was so vast that I couldn't even see the full exterior. So no photos, sorry. If you don't know what the Pentagon looks like, you should start watching some news...
On a sidenote, the Washington metro is one of the best subway systems I've ever seen though. The interior is well designed, the train station is quiet (which is rare for a subway station) and the trains are fairly comfortable and quiet too... Unlike those old squeakers in New York. Stepping into a subway station in Washington DC and you'd feel that you've entered the international space station.
If this is not the fanciest subway station you've ever seen, I don't know what is.
Still, with half a day gone (by the time we woke up in the morning, it was lunch time...), we still had... Actually, not a lot of places to go actually. To start with, there weren't that many tourist attractions in DC other than the usual stuff, and more than half of them are government-related... Which means you probably won't be able to get in unless you've been cleared that you're not a terrorist or something. Museum tours are fun though. We stumbled on this International Spy Museum, which is dedicated to espionage and displayed some of the coolest technologies I've ever seen. Romanticized? Maybe, but it was definitely worth a watch.
The FBI headquaters.
National Archives Building. Yes, I am a Batman fan-boy. That joker T-shirt gave me so much popularity though, since everybody either a) excited to see the movie; b) excited to talk to someone about the movie; and c) want the T-shirt as well. When I wore that in the New York subway, some guy even said "Why so serious?" in a perfect Joker voice. Brilliant.
The national archives then. It's a place that stores every documentations (at least that's why they said -- who knows what they don't want us to hear?) are displayed to the public, like president speeches, personal letters to the president, news archive, so on. You'd be amazed by the letters people sent to former presidents.
The original copy of the constitution, declaration of independence and the bill of rights were also here too.
Inside the national archives, with Carly reading the brochure.
The Constitution. Predictably, it was worn out and you can't really read the words clearly. After all, this piece of paper is over 200 years old.
The United States Capitol. Lots of decision-makers here...
At last, the White House. After a failed attempt to get into the Pentagon, we expected to not be able to get into the White House either... And indeed, we were right about that. Visiting the inside of the White House requires you to register over a month prior your visit. So this is as close as we could get... Which doesn't seem so bad...
... Until you discover that there're bars around the front lawn, which makes it even more pointless. Oh well. We were hugely entertained by a resident (sort of) in front of the White House though:
President Bush probably doesn't like him as a neighbor, but who cares?
^ Pure awesomeness. Wonder if that guy will stick around when Barack Obama takes over the steering wheel.
Washington Monument. We would've viewed it at the other side of the reflecting pool, but we were hungry and tired. So we didn't.
Indeed, it was beautiful. Looking at the Lincoln memorial from the other end of the reflecting pool sure was an excellent way to conclude this entire trip.
Day 16 (July 22, 2008): Union Station, Washington DC > Penn Station, NYC > Port Authority, NYC > Greyhound Bus Terminal, Toronto > Toronto Pearson International Airport > Vancouver International Airport > Home.
First of all, congratulations if you've made it this far to read my longest possible post ever on Xanga. Give yourself a round of applause and a pat in the back. No, there isn't a price if you did read them all. Hopefully my effort to make this post interesting has entertained you though, as it sure didn't for me... Writing this much is hard work, and it makes it even harder when a week ago I wrote 9900 words in essays and take-home finals for University. All in less than two weeks. It was brutal and tiring, and it all makes me want to have this trip over again.
Indeed, I am glad I had a trip like this. University has been intense before I embarked on this trip and this was the break I needed to destress myself, and it worked. All five cities have been amazing...
BUT I STILL BLOODY LOVE NEW YORK.
Okay, somebody stop me.
In all seriousness, backpacking like this is the best form of a trip possible: You get to decide where you want to go, how long you want to stay there, and you get to plan everything by yourself (okay -- it could be a nuisance for some people). Sure enough, it was fairly economical too. Can you travel around five major cities in North America without paying more than a couple hundred dollars in total? Not really. Hostels weren't as bad as it sounds too, as the hostel we had in Montreal and Philadelphia were both fantastically clean and comfortable. Plus, all those money you saved by living hostels and taking bus rides mean that you could spend a little bit more on good dinners and cab rides so you won't break your leg by walking around too much.
With bus rides, it'd be a better idea if you can book midnight shifts around 12am-ish, so for overnight travelling you could sleep your long-haul bus rides away and be to the place you want to go by the morning. If you're like me though, it wouldn't matter because I can never sleep when I am sitting up... So it was a torture still.
Make sure you do bring a bag as big as possible though... My 60-litre backpack was close to exploding when I jammed everything inside. Well... To add insult to injury, I bought a couple of books. Which I didn't read at all during the entire trip... And I lost them in New York City. Ouch.
That said, this is undoubtedly one of the best trips I've ever had... Until presumably I have my next one to, oh I don't know, California?
Restaurants: Richtree Market Restaurant (Toronto Financial District) Any restaurants you can find in Montréal. Tom's Restaurant (Morningside Heights, Manhattan) Dylan's Candy Bar (Third Avenue, Manhattan) Grimaldi's Pizzeria (Old Fulton Street, Brooklyn) Pat's King of Steaks (South Philadelphia) Hard Rock Cafe (Washington, DC.)
Other than that... Wikitravel -- Everything you'll possibly need when planning a backpacking trip. Megabus -- Super-budget travelling with quality better than Greyhound.
Simon meets the Simon's. Apparently it's quite popular.
Old Montreal.
