Weather: Very warm when we first came. It's oddly hot in the sun, but as the city is highly composed of rather tall buildings, there was an abundance of shade. So much so, that I actually found myself wishing to be on the sunnier sides of streets. "Sun shine... on my shoulders... makes me HAPPY." Odd, eh? I'm usually not the sunniest of people. The buildings increase wind as well. Excessively so actually. It makes riding on a roofless double-decker bus quite an adventure. Chilly, to say the least. Amusingly, the weather is predicted to be quite lovely the day we leave (and it was) and the days after.
Food: Expensive. Seriously, a piece of cheesecake is about $10 uptown. A small pizza with nothing but cheese is $14. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting McDonalds. There are over 300 Starbucks... and only 19 gas stations. Price and outstanding quantities aside, the food is great. I've had goat, steak and kidney pie, and cheesecake and fish 'n chips that actually BEAT Bobby Flay's. Do you know who Bobby Flay is? You should. But ever since Saturday, my grandfather has spoke of what he views as an excellent place called 'Papaya Dog'. Just today (Tuesday at the time) we ate there finally. I don't know what the title put in YOUR mind, but I was imagining a hotdog covered in papaya, or a hotdog made of papaya. Guess what? It isn't. Just a regular hotdog restaurant. Good hotdogs mind, but no exotic fruit. Oh well, its probably for the best, right? Again, it's Tuesday, and we've only had Chinese once. Did I mention we're staying in ChinaTown? My suggestion... avoid the food is possible. Ask me to show you a picture I have of the eggs on my phone. Something interesting to add... the people here are obsessed with Scandinavian water. Every SINGLE bottle of water I've seen someone carrying (which is obviously quite a few) is Poland Springs. And there is a bottle of water of Norwegian water in the hotel room if we want it... for $8 dollars. Thats why Norway does so well you know. They sell our fool selves their damned water for $8 fucking dollars a bottle. That shit (water) is gonna be more precious then oil some day, mark my words.
Planes: If you don't know that I hate them, then you obviously don't know me. It made me sick to fly both there and back. I have nothing decent to say about them.
Trains: I love the subway. I would get rid of my car and take the metro everywhere if I could. The ones in NYC are filthy though, like nothing I've ever seen. I'm not neat freak, and it freaked ME out at first. Disclaimer: OCDs must avoid Metro at all costs. But they really are as crowded as the movies make them out to be. Drives one nuts at first, but no one really smells all that badly, so you get used to it.
Automobiles: So... many... taxis!!!! Very busy. Only 19 gas stations, remember? Unless you have loads of money, theres no reason to own a car in the city. Subways and buses are more then sufficient. And cheaper. Streets lights... They don't matter here. They're just pretty lights on a stick. But once I figured out that they (the people driving) weren't outright malicious and they weren't out to get me, it wasn't so bad. Ignore the taxi speeding towards you. So long as you don't stop and stand in the middle of the street, you'll be fine. Speaking of 'fine'.... There is a $350 fine for honking here. Obviously, it's pretty quiet at night then. Well, save the sirens.LOADS of police cars, ambulances, firetrucks, etc. Tour buses kick as by the way. Some tour guides were really funny... some... weren't. I liked Artie. He's 19, and stayed back by the bus and talked to me while everyone else went to get ice cream. Ice cream at 9pm, 50 degrees out. I ask you... *rolls eyes* Anyway, really nice guy.
People:
Temperament: Yeah, I've seen the movies too; people in NYC are assholes with irritating accents. Let's expand on this stereotype, shall we? We were here for about 4/5 days. In the time we were here the were 4 shootings, an attempted rape and murder, not to mention the robberies. You're aware of how crowded the city is. People have places to be, and a time to be there. Do NOT get in their way. And good god, don't try to start up a conversation with a stranger on the subway. But I gotta say, if you need help, they're there for you. Pull out a map and look confused, and you'll have 4/5+ people offering to help you. They don't treat you like a stupid tourist either. They're self-oriented, fairly shy, but all around good well intentioned people.
Accents: I love accents, I love listening to other speak with them, and to try to mimic them. Al except the NY accent. I hate it. I wish I could convince all the NY accented people trying to give us directions would just grunt and point. Regardless, I've heard more Chinese, Spanish, French, and ... I don't even know what half the shit I heard was. But to hear a black person speak Chinese, and a Chinese person speak Spanish with a Chinese accent was amazing.
Appearance: Fascinating. Endless so. If you like girls, there are loads of real cute Asian chicks here. If you like guys... don't come here. Stay home, or go to Toronto. I was... disappointed. There aren't any 'goths' here either. I put on a fishnet shirt, and suddenly people are giving me a 2/3 inch space when they walk, which is a hell of a lot more then compared to any other time. Amused me, it did.
Did you know that I wrote this on paper randomly throughout the trip before I typed it, and I'm having a rather difficult time reading it all... Moving along though...
Entertainment:
Natural History Museum: This is the one Ben Stiller's 'Night at the Museum' was done from. It's... huge. Immeasurably so. We... obviously that an exaggeration. Of coure you can measure it, you can probably find the exact size on the internet if you really wanted to. But I don't. And you probably don't either. Just trust me, it's big. Four floors. And crowded, full of annoying little children screaming it... whatever language they prefer. The museum has massive collections of dinosaur bones, jewels, art, artifacts... you could easily spend the whole day there. We didn't.
Indian Museum: Self descriptive, no? Too much security though. Seriously, you touch the walls (BARE mind you, no art work) and alarms go off. We managed to do this three times. The artifacts were cool. The giant wooden wheel with stones, sugar packets, spam cans, and medical syringes seemed out of place though.
Bodies: Nine fascinating rooms filled with preserved organs and skinned humans. Literally, these 'people' are... er, were real, have no skin, and all the muscles, bones, tendons, veins, nerves, etc were fully visible. I was torn between fascination, revulsion, and hunger. The room of fetuses was particularly interesting, and were the disease and tumor ridden organs.
General: There is a museum for everything in NYC. Modern art, history, police, subways, amusement parks... and sex. Yes, there is a museum of sex. No, I didn't go in. Don't be silly, I went to NY with my grandfather. How fucking weird would that be? I did make sure to grab a brochure though. Did I spell that right? But the museums are expensive, $15-$40 a person. If you want cheap entertainment, find yourself a comfortable seat on a bench of subway, and watch the people. Endless amusement. Sitting and feeding pigeons is fun too. I'm yet to catch on though.
Epilogue: Nice place to visit? Certainly. I'd go again. It's surprisingly easy to navigate once you 'get' it, and even if you don't, someone with an interesting accent is sure to help. Better place to live? FUCK NO. It's dirty, expensive (A 1 room apartment can cost anywhere from $800 to $3000 a month) and you'd be wise to learn Chinese, Spanish, and/or French. And keep a pair of fishnets and mace on you at all times, just in case. ^.^
We're finally landing. These damn flights make me so sick. I dunno what I'm gonna do when I get home. No subways, nothing to do at 11pm. Oh well, there's always next year. And Toronto, theres always Toronto. Anyone interested in taking a trip North of the border?
