Today is the last day of my adventure!
We are going to the Bronx Zoo today. I can't wait to go to the zoo! The original plan was to go to the Empire State Building, but that didn't really appeal to me.
I am excited!
This zoo has snow leopards, platypus, and camels.
Oh my.
I am very exited! I keep saying that! I guess that's a sign that I should post this!
I'll take a lot of pictures.
I hope the platypus is out.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Catch-up
Oops.
Got a little behind.
Apologies. A lot has been going on!
We'll see how far I get with this tonight.
I'll start with yesterday.
Well, we were supposed to take a ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island that morning. But we got there and the lines were huge - all coiled around the block all over. The estimated wait was three hours or something. Then a work boat capsized near the Statue of Liberty and there were all these helicopters and the ferries were ultimately suspended until future notice.
We decided to try again today and instead we went to the Natural museum of History.
The museum was HUGE. I mean, there was really no way that we would get to see it all, so it was pick and choose. We were scheduled for the noon planetarium show, so until then we just hung out on the first floor, reading about the Big Bang and measuring our weight on various stars and planets on these little scales. Then we went In this special elevator up to a large dark waiting room where we were lined up against the walls before being funneled into the "Planetarium Sphere", to which we were directed by a creepy GlaDOS voice.
"Please file into the Planetarium Sphere. Do not linger in the exits. Remember, there is no bad seat to view the universe."
The planetarium show was very good. It was about stars. There wasn't that much that I hadn't already read, but it was presented in an extremely cool way all the same.
After a short lunch in the cafe thing, we headed towards American Mammals.
...
The exhibit was very impressive, but disturbing. There were the most complex dioramas of animals. Full of very large, very real taxidermies. And gosh was I disturbed. Ugh. I mean, it was amazingly detailed, but... I mean seriously. They had baby tigers in there. Not just tigers. Otters, deer, lions, buffalo...
I mean, who would go out and shoot a family of tigers to stuff them and put them in a case and label them with a plaque about how endangered they are? I mean, if I was a tiger, I would not want may premature body to be forever staring out at a ton of gawking children with eyes that aren't even mine.
How as that even legal? It isn't. So how did they get them? I mean people have taxidermies rhinos and stuff from before that was illegal, but who would want a stuffed baby tiger in their living room? Who would go out and kill them? How would the museum acquire five stuffed baby otters that just happened to be lying around on eBay?
...
Enough ranting. Point being, that was disturbing, but the exibits were well done nonetheless.
There were exhibits on different cultures - ancient cultures from each continent - that were very cool.
And the mineral exhibit! It was HUUUUUUGE!!! I had to walk around in ther forever to see al the cases. Minerals are so cool. The bubbly ones and the cubic ones and the puffy ones, and the gems.... I really love opals. Black opals, fire opals... All of them. Amazing.
There were tons and they were all amazing. I do have pictures.
And that was that!
The museum was cool, I think. I wish I could have seen more of it. But I have not gotten over the baby tigers.
We went back to the hotel through central park, which was cool. The weather was nice so we just hung out by the lake and talked. On the way we purchased a bag of c- um, vegetables. Yeah. From a cart. Then we went to our hotel to rest.
The dragon fruit was just sitting there. In a bowl. On the table.
And I was like, you know what, let's eat this thing. And I just had this instinct to peel it. So I did and inside was this slippery white oval thing completely peppered with small black seeds. We cut it and each took a piece.
I went first.
It was weird.
Kind of like a soapy kiwi, but very mild, not really sweet, kind of a faint hint of diluted citrus. It was almost as if it could be triggering every taste bud at once, but so barely that you could barely tell. It was just really confusing. Each bite bamboozled me all over again.
I guess the after taste is a little sweet. Maybe. Or maybe it's sour. Or savory.
Point being, we needed to rest up for what came next.
Broadway.
YAAAY!
Exciting-ness. First we took a bus into Times Square where I walked around feeling small. It was packed at people, and I got rather phobic, but the space was so big that it helped a little, although that doesn't always help. I guess the buildings were so tall that it really worked out. Of course all the buildings were glowing and sliding and buzzing.
Plus Nokia was releasing the new smartphone in about half an hour and so there were all these TV cameras and I sort of jumped around in front of them. Then I realized I was in a tight pack of people also jumping around and I freaked out.
After a while we started walking to the theatre.
We were seeing Wicked!
I had neither seen nor read Wicked previously (Although I got the gist of it) so this was a big deal for me. I wasn't quite sure what it would be like.
It was AMAZING.
We had a cluster of seats at the very edge of the fifth and sixth rows. I was worried this would be really irritating but it was actually great viewing. We couldn't see all of the set on our side going into the stage, but that really didn't matter. Overall I think the seats were great, if not possibly the best we could have hoped for (closer to the middle) but I was able to really lock in. No tall person was blocking my view.
The curtain was a map of Oz. Above the stage was the large dragon clock thing. The curtain went up and it started writhing and glowing. It also did that when magic happened.
The show was captivating. It was wonderful. Everything about it. The costumes, the set, the effects, the actors, the characters they played, the singing, the dancing... The plot.
The actors were wonderful. Glinda. Was. Hilarious. I feel sorry for anyone who did not get to see that actor. She was just spectacular.
I was able to really lock in to Elphaba.
By the end I felt so glued. I was really feeling the emotions. Sometimes when I watch a movie and something dramatic happens, I tend to unconsciously mirror the facial expressions of the characters. I'm happy to say that did not happen, but I was really moved.
Our actresses for Elphaba and Glinda were Jackie Burns and Chandra Lee Schwartz.
(by the way, I noticed that blogger actually recognizes Elphaba as a word! Yay!
I think my favorite song was Defying Gravity. It was all good though.
Yay.
Then today we tried the ferry thing again. We got there nearly an hour earlier and the lines were nearly as long ( it seemed at the time ) But we waited it out. The whole hour and a half of it. Then a security tent. Then finally the ferry.
It was very fun on the fairy. I was slightly worried that I might become seasick, but I didn't, and I really enjoyed the motion of it actually. It was really windy.
Then we passed the statue of liberty. Not much to say about that. You guys all know what it looks like. Well, it looked like that. I did find the torch very impressive. Big and gold and shiny - torch like! The Statue was very impressive. Although I have to say, I just have always pictured it a lot bigger up close. I mean, it is very big. But I guess I have to be right against it to get the full effect I'm looking for.
We did not get off at that stop, instead going to Ellis Island, where we walked around in the museum for two hours. It was Scotland day or something, because these guys in army suits came marching over with bagpipes to play as we got off the ship. Then these Scottish dancers danced around outside. Scottish dancing is a lot like Irish step dancing, only a bit more in the legs, generally more in place, and I found the movements a little more geometric in the legs.
There were also three harpists playing gigs inside the museum.
And a bunch of Scottish flags outside.
Always, the museum was cool, but in a way I felt it kind of lacking. I had hoped to feel that sense of connection through history, feeling the space and the floor where thousands of immigrants - including Zaslaws (or Zaslofskis or however their name was then) - had poured through to a new country. But I just didn't get that. There were fancy glass doors and the floors and walling had been redone and I didn't feel connected at all. I couldn't plug this new remodeled space into Ellis Island. It just wasn't that space to me. As if some people decided to wreck Ellis Island and build a museum in it's place.
That made me a little sad.
Anyways, after the first floor and part of the second, I was worn out, so I rode escalators up and down for a bit and then went outside to listen to the bagpipe people until I was supposed to meet the grandparents in the lobby at three. But I went in the lobby early and it turns out my Grandparents were worn out too, so we leapt onto the leaving ferry.
There are three ferries. Miss Liberty, Lady Liberty, and Miss New York. We rode the liberties to and from. A ferry comes every twenty minutes.
Then we got back to rest up for our Seder, which would start at 4:30.
Got a little behind.
Apologies. A lot has been going on!
We'll see how far I get with this tonight.
I'll start with yesterday.
Well, we were supposed to take a ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island that morning. But we got there and the lines were huge - all coiled around the block all over. The estimated wait was three hours or something. Then a work boat capsized near the Statue of Liberty and there were all these helicopters and the ferries were ultimately suspended until future notice.
We decided to try again today and instead we went to the Natural museum of History.
The museum was HUGE. I mean, there was really no way that we would get to see it all, so it was pick and choose. We were scheduled for the noon planetarium show, so until then we just hung out on the first floor, reading about the Big Bang and measuring our weight on various stars and planets on these little scales. Then we went In this special elevator up to a large dark waiting room where we were lined up against the walls before being funneled into the "Planetarium Sphere", to which we were directed by a creepy GlaDOS voice.
"Please file into the Planetarium Sphere. Do not linger in the exits. Remember, there is no bad seat to view the universe."
The planetarium show was very good. It was about stars. There wasn't that much that I hadn't already read, but it was presented in an extremely cool way all the same.
After a short lunch in the cafe thing, we headed towards American Mammals.
...
The exhibit was very impressive, but disturbing. There were the most complex dioramas of animals. Full of very large, very real taxidermies. And gosh was I disturbed. Ugh. I mean, it was amazingly detailed, but... I mean seriously. They had baby tigers in there. Not just tigers. Otters, deer, lions, buffalo...
I mean, who would go out and shoot a family of tigers to stuff them and put them in a case and label them with a plaque about how endangered they are? I mean, if I was a tiger, I would not want may premature body to be forever staring out at a ton of gawking children with eyes that aren't even mine.
How as that even legal? It isn't. So how did they get them? I mean people have taxidermies rhinos and stuff from before that was illegal, but who would want a stuffed baby tiger in their living room? Who would go out and kill them? How would the museum acquire five stuffed baby otters that just happened to be lying around on eBay?
...
Enough ranting. Point being, that was disturbing, but the exibits were well done nonetheless.
There were exhibits on different cultures - ancient cultures from each continent - that were very cool.
And the mineral exhibit! It was HUUUUUUGE!!! I had to walk around in ther forever to see al the cases. Minerals are so cool. The bubbly ones and the cubic ones and the puffy ones, and the gems.... I really love opals. Black opals, fire opals... All of them. Amazing.
There were tons and they were all amazing. I do have pictures.
And that was that!
The museum was cool, I think. I wish I could have seen more of it. But I have not gotten over the baby tigers.
We went back to the hotel through central park, which was cool. The weather was nice so we just hung out by the lake and talked. On the way we purchased a bag of c- um, vegetables. Yeah. From a cart. Then we went to our hotel to rest.
The dragon fruit was just sitting there. In a bowl. On the table.
And I was like, you know what, let's eat this thing. And I just had this instinct to peel it. So I did and inside was this slippery white oval thing completely peppered with small black seeds. We cut it and each took a piece.
I went first.
It was weird.
Kind of like a soapy kiwi, but very mild, not really sweet, kind of a faint hint of diluted citrus. It was almost as if it could be triggering every taste bud at once, but so barely that you could barely tell. It was just really confusing. Each bite bamboozled me all over again.
I guess the after taste is a little sweet. Maybe. Or maybe it's sour. Or savory.
Point being, we needed to rest up for what came next.
Broadway.
YAAAY!
Exciting-ness. First we took a bus into Times Square where I walked around feeling small. It was packed at people, and I got rather phobic, but the space was so big that it helped a little, although that doesn't always help. I guess the buildings were so tall that it really worked out. Of course all the buildings were glowing and sliding and buzzing.
Plus Nokia was releasing the new smartphone in about half an hour and so there were all these TV cameras and I sort of jumped around in front of them. Then I realized I was in a tight pack of people also jumping around and I freaked out.
After a while we started walking to the theatre.
We were seeing Wicked!
I had neither seen nor read Wicked previously (Although I got the gist of it) so this was a big deal for me. I wasn't quite sure what it would be like.
It was AMAZING.
We had a cluster of seats at the very edge of the fifth and sixth rows. I was worried this would be really irritating but it was actually great viewing. We couldn't see all of the set on our side going into the stage, but that really didn't matter. Overall I think the seats were great, if not possibly the best we could have hoped for (closer to the middle) but I was able to really lock in. No tall person was blocking my view.
The curtain was a map of Oz. Above the stage was the large dragon clock thing. The curtain went up and it started writhing and glowing. It also did that when magic happened.
The show was captivating. It was wonderful. Everything about it. The costumes, the set, the effects, the actors, the characters they played, the singing, the dancing... The plot.
The actors were wonderful. Glinda. Was. Hilarious. I feel sorry for anyone who did not get to see that actor. She was just spectacular.
I was able to really lock in to Elphaba.
By the end I felt so glued. I was really feeling the emotions. Sometimes when I watch a movie and something dramatic happens, I tend to unconsciously mirror the facial expressions of the characters. I'm happy to say that did not happen, but I was really moved.
Our actresses for Elphaba and Glinda were Jackie Burns and Chandra Lee Schwartz.
(by the way, I noticed that blogger actually recognizes Elphaba as a word! Yay!
I think my favorite song was Defying Gravity. It was all good though.
Yay.
Then today we tried the ferry thing again. We got there nearly an hour earlier and the lines were nearly as long ( it seemed at the time ) But we waited it out. The whole hour and a half of it. Then a security tent. Then finally the ferry.
It was very fun on the fairy. I was slightly worried that I might become seasick, but I didn't, and I really enjoyed the motion of it actually. It was really windy.
Then we passed the statue of liberty. Not much to say about that. You guys all know what it looks like. Well, it looked like that. I did find the torch very impressive. Big and gold and shiny - torch like! The Statue was very impressive. Although I have to say, I just have always pictured it a lot bigger up close. I mean, it is very big. But I guess I have to be right against it to get the full effect I'm looking for.
We did not get off at that stop, instead going to Ellis Island, where we walked around in the museum for two hours. It was Scotland day or something, because these guys in army suits came marching over with bagpipes to play as we got off the ship. Then these Scottish dancers danced around outside. Scottish dancing is a lot like Irish step dancing, only a bit more in the legs, generally more in place, and I found the movements a little more geometric in the legs.
There were also three harpists playing gigs inside the museum.
And a bunch of Scottish flags outside.
Always, the museum was cool, but in a way I felt it kind of lacking. I had hoped to feel that sense of connection through history, feeling the space and the floor where thousands of immigrants - including Zaslaws (or Zaslofskis or however their name was then) - had poured through to a new country. But I just didn't get that. There were fancy glass doors and the floors and walling had been redone and I didn't feel connected at all. I couldn't plug this new remodeled space into Ellis Island. It just wasn't that space to me. As if some people decided to wreck Ellis Island and build a museum in it's place.
That made me a little sad.
Anyways, after the first floor and part of the second, I was worn out, so I rode escalators up and down for a bit and then went outside to listen to the bagpipe people until I was supposed to meet the grandparents in the lobby at three. But I went in the lobby early and it turns out my Grandparents were worn out too, so we leapt onto the leaving ferry.
There are three ferries. Miss Liberty, Lady Liberty, and Miss New York. We rode the liberties to and from. A ferry comes every twenty minutes.
Then we got back to rest up for our Seder, which would start at 4:30.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
The Journey Continues
Good morning!
It is exactly 8:00 in room 1907.
I woke up pretty early, and I've been looking out our window. It's great to be on the 19th floor. You can see everything, but it is like a pop up book rather than a map.
People are already bustling. Walking to school and work. A bunch of trucks have been driving around to deliver fruit and stuff. Taxis are everywhere already. I wonder if taxis have routes, where they drive around in circles until someone flags them down, or if they just randomly drive.
I think being a taxi driver would be kine of fun. Hearing your clients conversations. Wondering who they are and what they're doing and why they are here. I kind of like taxis. You know, in the taxi last nigh, there was a little taxi weather report on the screen, and they had this little lavender bunny bounce around the weather charts and stuff. It was so darn cute!
Pigeons are walking around....
Wow. So many people in New York. It's weird that I'll even maybe see some of them again. And they don't even know I'm here watching them.
...
I so did enot think of that while we were walking around yesterday!! Hmm. Normally I'm really aware of things like that. I will certainly be today! With so many windows, that will be a little overwhelming. So many windows. So many cars. So many people!
And all these doorst and stuff on the roofs! I pretend there are secret labratories behind the doors on the roofs. I've also been making stories for people living in the apartments behind the windows above the sto re across the street. I have them all written down. It's a soap opera waiting to happen!
I also discovered that the buses have numbers on them, like Chicago. I'll post a list later. see you after Chinatown! At least I think that's what we're doing first....
9:37 at Hotel Beacon
Wow! That was a long day!
I'm sorry I haven't updated, but this is the first time I have been home all day. I'll break the day up into sections. I guess I will publish this post after each one so you guys can ca tch at least one of them. Hopefully.
THE SUBWAY
Uuuuuugh!!!
Sooooooooo crowded. Ugh. And loud. And crowded.
There were so many people all going places. When we got on our first train, it was so packed that we barely managed to squeeze through the doors. I mean, not Tokyo packed, but crowded. very. I was in that ackward position where I couldn't quite reach any of the poles and I kept bumping into people. Eventuallyafter a couple train transitions, I managed to snag a seat on a slightly emptier train. On the next stop, the person next to me left, and I slid into the middle of the seat, feeling satisfied. Then the train pulled out and I slammed into the little barrier thing. Hard.
Several people were busking in the station. That always depresses me, even if they're happy middle class folk. I feel so guilty for not supporting them when they are giving me this music!
Anyways, I freaked out at the thought of entering the subway again, but on the way back it was rather empty and I enjoyed it. I really like motion, actually. Riding in cars, trains, planes and buses is just fun to me. We managed to stay on one local train the entire way back. It s longer on the local train, but I enjoyed it.
There's something that just seems so comforting about that being your routine to get to and from work. The subway. Public transportation. In your business suit and all that. With coffee or a scone or something that you picked up on the way.
LITTLE ITALY
Little Italy was cool.It was vey pretty and full of color. It was also full of restaurants. I'm not sure how any of the restaurants survive. I mean there is nothing but restaurants. No Italian shops or anything. Tons of restaurants.
And the guys outside the restaurants were just really annoying. They would stand outside and are all "Wanna eat here?" I mean, they were very polite (and in some cases, Italian) about it, it was just so irritating!And pointless.
I mean,you can see that I have turned down every other guy on this street. That could be for two reasons. Three, I guess.
1. I don't like Italian food.
2. I am already planning to eat somewhere. If that's you, great, you do not have any reason to ambush me. If not, you jumping out at me will not make a difference! please stop wasting my time!
3. I'M NOT HUNGRY!!!
Little Italy was cool, though. Nice and cultural. Bright and colorful.
CHINATOWN
Chinatown was extremely big! There were lots of stores with small fronts going deep into the building. They were full of sparkly colorful fans and carvings and such. Here was occasionally some stuff that wasn't really Chinese, like tourist shirts and stuff
Chinatown smelled very good. There wasn't a ton of restaurants, but the ones that were there made the streets smell nice over the heavy traffic.
We ate in a very small place. It was small, but popular. Lot's of people came there after us. It was good! I had a noodle soup with beef and herbs and stuff. The restaurant was really cool, because you could see this little staff cooking the entire time!
They would come out of the tiny kitchen thing with bowls of stuff and mash it and add seasoning on the little counter outside or whatever. This wasn't really to put on a show - they were just being efficient of space.
And then the guy in the kitchen was Hans pulling all these noodles! It was amazing. He would take some dough and just pull it into dough strands. Then he'd bring the strands together and pull husbands apart and the noodles would already be twice as thin! It was amazing. He was extremely good at it. The noodles and the soup tasted delicious.
Btw - I totally ate all the noodles with chopsticks! It was hard. I've eaten stuff with chopsticks before, but these would all wriggle out, so I had to lean low over my plate.
Anyways, then we left and kept walking, and came across the Chinatown Icecream Factory, which we had read in our little touristy book thing had the beat ice cream in NYC.
And it totally did. It was delicious! My too flavors were mocha chip and almond cake. They were both excellent, but I think I enjoyed the almond better.
We bought a dragon fruit and some large grapes from a little market someone had set up on the street.
LOWER EAST SIDE
We had a tour of the Lower East Side scheduled for 2:00, but on the way, we ran into this other small tour going inside the remaining preserved tenement building - 97 Orchid street.
We went inside and it was really cool. There was all this really old woodwork and tile patterns. Some nice metalwork on the ceiling in doorways. There were these oil paintings on the canvasy walls. The stairs were fun. You could see it was all dented and polished from being used decades.
Tenement buildings, for those of you who have forgotten your fifth grade education, were where immigrants would pile into tiny apartments with very harsh living conditions.
The tour guide was very good.
Then we met up with our own tour. We met up at this center with a bunch of books that was this education center about the Lower East Side. Then we walked around looking at architecture and temples and such. We talked about tenement buildings and construction and living opportunities and schools in Lower East Side, mainly since immigration.
There were a ton of different places of worship for many different religions. Some temples held multiple religious. The tour guide talked about Taoism and Confucianism, and I was very satisfied because I had just learned about those religions! Apparently today was a holiday (I am afraid I am not certain of the name of the specific religion. I don't want to
accidentally say the wrong one.) We saw incense burners outside this one Temple hooding a mix of religions. It was very interesting. We had actually seen people burning these shiny gold and silver envelopes in this oven earlier. Out on the street. I suspect that was for the same holiday.
We also passed a large synagogue that some photographer had built. It was pretty impressive. There was a large circular window with a design. The photograph had rearranged a Star of David to look like a camera shutter. That was great. It was subtle.
The architecture was very interesting - how it changed with the time. People just kept wrecking the old stuff and building up, higher and higher.
It was very cool, but it lasted two hours. Agh. My feet were dead, so we took a taxi to the Brooklyn Bridge, even though it wasn't that far away.
It is exactly 8:00 in room 1907.
I woke up pretty early, and I've been looking out our window. It's great to be on the 19th floor. You can see everything, but it is like a pop up book rather than a map.
People are already bustling. Walking to school and work. A bunch of trucks have been driving around to deliver fruit and stuff. Taxis are everywhere already. I wonder if taxis have routes, where they drive around in circles until someone flags them down, or if they just randomly drive.
I think being a taxi driver would be kine of fun. Hearing your clients conversations. Wondering who they are and what they're doing and why they are here. I kind of like taxis. You know, in the taxi last nigh, there was a little taxi weather report on the screen, and they had this little lavender bunny bounce around the weather charts and stuff. It was so darn cute!
Pigeons are walking around....
Wow. So many people in New York. It's weird that I'll even maybe see some of them again. And they don't even know I'm here watching them.
...
I so did enot think of that while we were walking around yesterday!! Hmm. Normally I'm really aware of things like that. I will certainly be today! With so many windows, that will be a little overwhelming. So many windows. So many cars. So many people!
And all these doorst and stuff on the roofs! I pretend there are secret labratories behind the doors on the roofs. I've also been making stories for people living in the apartments behind the windows above the sto re across the street. I have them all written down. It's a soap opera waiting to happen!
I also discovered that the buses have numbers on them, like Chicago. I'll post a list later. see you after Chinatown! At least I think that's what we're doing first....
9:37 at Hotel Beacon
Wow! That was a long day!
I'm sorry I haven't updated, but this is the first time I have been home all day. I'll break the day up into sections. I guess I will publish this post after each one so you guys can ca tch at least one of them. Hopefully.
THE SUBWAY
Uuuuuugh!!!
Sooooooooo crowded. Ugh. And loud. And crowded.
There were so many people all going places. When we got on our first train, it was so packed that we barely managed to squeeze through the doors. I mean, not Tokyo packed, but crowded. very. I was in that ackward position where I couldn't quite reach any of the poles and I kept bumping into people. Eventuallyafter a couple train transitions, I managed to snag a seat on a slightly emptier train. On the next stop, the person next to me left, and I slid into the middle of the seat, feeling satisfied. Then the train pulled out and I slammed into the little barrier thing. Hard.
Several people were busking in the station. That always depresses me, even if they're happy middle class folk. I feel so guilty for not supporting them when they are giving me this music!
Anyways, I freaked out at the thought of entering the subway again, but on the way back it was rather empty and I enjoyed it. I really like motion, actually. Riding in cars, trains, planes and buses is just fun to me. We managed to stay on one local train the entire way back. It s longer on the local train, but I enjoyed it.
There's something that just seems so comforting about that being your routine to get to and from work. The subway. Public transportation. In your business suit and all that. With coffee or a scone or something that you picked up on the way.
LITTLE ITALY
Little Italy was cool.It was vey pretty and full of color. It was also full of restaurants. I'm not sure how any of the restaurants survive. I mean there is nothing but restaurants. No Italian shops or anything. Tons of restaurants.
And the guys outside the restaurants were just really annoying. They would stand outside and are all "Wanna eat here?" I mean, they were very polite (and in some cases, Italian) about it, it was just so irritating!And pointless.
I mean,you can see that I have turned down every other guy on this street. That could be for two reasons. Three, I guess.
1. I don't like Italian food.
2. I am already planning to eat somewhere. If that's you, great, you do not have any reason to ambush me. If not, you jumping out at me will not make a difference! please stop wasting my time!
3. I'M NOT HUNGRY!!!
Little Italy was cool, though. Nice and cultural. Bright and colorful.
CHINATOWN
Chinatown was extremely big! There were lots of stores with small fronts going deep into the building. They were full of sparkly colorful fans and carvings and such. Here was occasionally some stuff that wasn't really Chinese, like tourist shirts and stuff
Chinatown smelled very good. There wasn't a ton of restaurants, but the ones that were there made the streets smell nice over the heavy traffic.
We ate in a very small place. It was small, but popular. Lot's of people came there after us. It was good! I had a noodle soup with beef and herbs and stuff. The restaurant was really cool, because you could see this little staff cooking the entire time!
They would come out of the tiny kitchen thing with bowls of stuff and mash it and add seasoning on the little counter outside or whatever. This wasn't really to put on a show - they were just being efficient of space.
And then the guy in the kitchen was Hans pulling all these noodles! It was amazing. He would take some dough and just pull it into dough strands. Then he'd bring the strands together and pull husbands apart and the noodles would already be twice as thin! It was amazing. He was extremely good at it. The noodles and the soup tasted delicious.
Btw - I totally ate all the noodles with chopsticks! It was hard. I've eaten stuff with chopsticks before, but these would all wriggle out, so I had to lean low over my plate.
Anyways, then we left and kept walking, and came across the Chinatown Icecream Factory, which we had read in our little touristy book thing had the beat ice cream in NYC.
And it totally did. It was delicious! My too flavors were mocha chip and almond cake. They were both excellent, but I think I enjoyed the almond better.
We bought a dragon fruit and some large grapes from a little market someone had set up on the street.
LOWER EAST SIDE
We had a tour of the Lower East Side scheduled for 2:00, but on the way, we ran into this other small tour going inside the remaining preserved tenement building - 97 Orchid street.
We went inside and it was really cool. There was all this really old woodwork and tile patterns. Some nice metalwork on the ceiling in doorways. There were these oil paintings on the canvasy walls. The stairs were fun. You could see it was all dented and polished from being used decades.
Tenement buildings, for those of you who have forgotten your fifth grade education, were where immigrants would pile into tiny apartments with very harsh living conditions.
The tour guide was very good.
Then we met up with our own tour. We met up at this center with a bunch of books that was this education center about the Lower East Side. Then we walked around looking at architecture and temples and such. We talked about tenement buildings and construction and living opportunities and schools in Lower East Side, mainly since immigration.
There were a ton of different places of worship for many different religions. Some temples held multiple religious. The tour guide talked about Taoism and Confucianism, and I was very satisfied because I had just learned about those religions! Apparently today was a holiday (I am afraid I am not certain of the name of the specific religion. I don't want to
accidentally say the wrong one.) We saw incense burners outside this one Temple hooding a mix of religions. It was very interesting. We had actually seen people burning these shiny gold and silver envelopes in this oven earlier. Out on the street. I suspect that was for the same holiday.
We also passed a large synagogue that some photographer had built. It was pretty impressive. There was a large circular window with a design. The photograph had rearranged a Star of David to look like a camera shutter. That was great. It was subtle.
The architecture was very interesting - how it changed with the time. People just kept wrecking the old stuff and building up, higher and higher.
It was very cool, but it lasted two hours. Agh. My feet were dead, so we took a taxi to the Brooklyn Bridge, even though it wasn't that far away.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Update from the North
Wednesday, April 4th, 1:10, Syracuse airport:
Hello, viewers! I am in the Syracuse airpot at gate 23!
I am typing on an iPad, so hopefully this will not take too long. The flight here was fine. There was barely any turbulence - none, really. Some attendant guy took me on and off the plane. I sat next to some nice Jewish physics professor on the plane. I got the window seat, because I was the first one on the plane!
I finished my first book. The plane was too loud for my iPod, so might listen to that some now.
Security was fine. Mom and Benjamin were aloud to accompany me to the gate, which was nice. I called home as soon as I got here. My grandparents were here. We went and had lunch at some sandwich place. The airport is pretty empty here, not like Atlanta, although it is pretty big.
I'll be updating this post all day as stuff happens.
I know this is very short and rather bland so far, but it will get longer and more exciting I'm sure.
Bye for now! I'm waiting in the same terminal in which I arrived.
I might call some of you later today just because I can. Short calls, Mom! Don't worry! I won't waste all the battery power.
(Heh. Just realized I forgot my iPod charger. I don't really have anywhere to plug it in, though, anyways. I'm sure it will be fine.)
GOODBYE!!!
5:53, Hotel Beacon, NYC
I'm here!!!
New York City is huge!
The flight here was short - only about half an hour long. Thus, no biscoff cookies :(
We had a nice , brief view of the skyline on the way back down. We then took a short Shuttle to the main airport. The airport was loud and rather crowded, but it only took about a minute to get out. Less. There were a ton of taxis lined up outside. All that orange cheddar color. All the same shape. The inside if the taxi was similar to the taxi I rode in Chicago, with a little barrier between the driver with all these screens and stuff.
We got into the city pretty soon. The buildings are HUGE. I'm not even talking about the skyline. All these really tall apartment buildings.I A lot of them look really old, and they have these long fire escapes. Under the apartments were all these tiny stores and restaurants crammed together. A ton of people were walking around. The sidewalks were really thick.
I couldn't stop staring. It almost reminds me of somewhere I've been, but I don't know what that place was.
There were several signs advertising stuff, but not really as much as in Atlanta. Not enough room, I suppose. One said "AGED" with a picture of the lower face of a pale woman wearing lots of makeup with an asparagus in her mouth.
There were a bunch of subway stations and stuff. The six lanes of traffic were split by this row of park like benches and tulips and stuff. A lot of people were just hanging around. In the street too. All over. No one seemed to care much. Once this group of motorcycle people screamed by on one wheel each. It was loud.
So far New York City seems fine. There's certainly a lot to look at.
We arrived at our Hotel after a long taxi ride.
It's called Hotel Beacon. The was a fancy black canopy thing outside. In front of the building were several abstract chicken sculptures. They were like these large balloon things with tiny blobby chicken heads in top.
The inside of the hotel was very furnished, with all this glass and granite and gold-painted stuff.
Our room is this neat little suite thing with classy green furniture and a very nice view.
I'll upload the pictures sometime.
Heh. Some guy just started playing jazz outside. Bu bubu bu buuuuuum.
Well, I need to go out and explore a little. Buy some food. Take some pictures.
Talk to you later!
9:23 Hotel Beacon
That was exciting. And cold.
We went to a little food market across the street where I bought raspberries. Then we walked down to Hudson River Park. By the Hudson River. Duh.
There were a bunch of pigeons and hot dog carts. And this statue of Eleanor Roosevelt.
We walked down against the river. It was cool and windy, with a nice view across the river. There were a bunch of blossoming trees against the path that were very good for climbing.
We walked against the river for a very long time. Almost an hour, probably. There were all these cyclists riding past.
Then we went by the apartment where Mom was raised until she was four years old. We sort of walked around it and I took pictures.
At this point it was around seven thirty, and we went onto Broadway to find something to eat. There were lots of restaurants open. We went to this French one that was really nice. I had some pasta with shrimp. It was a very good. All these cherry blossoms around the street kept shedding a ton of petals all over the food.
For desert I had a hazelnut moose thing with chocolate and hazelnut cream stuff.
It was AMAZING!!
Then we waited a bunch in the cold for a bus that never came. Instead, we ended up taking a taxi. We nearly got crushed by this random truck. The driver was a little wild.
Then we came home and not much has happened since then. I've read some.
Can't wait till tomorrow!
Hello, viewers! I am in the Syracuse airpot at gate 23!
I am typing on an iPad, so hopefully this will not take too long. The flight here was fine. There was barely any turbulence - none, really. Some attendant guy took me on and off the plane. I sat next to some nice Jewish physics professor on the plane. I got the window seat, because I was the first one on the plane!
I finished my first book. The plane was too loud for my iPod, so might listen to that some now.
Security was fine. Mom and Benjamin were aloud to accompany me to the gate, which was nice. I called home as soon as I got here. My grandparents were here. We went and had lunch at some sandwich place. The airport is pretty empty here, not like Atlanta, although it is pretty big.
I'll be updating this post all day as stuff happens.
I know this is very short and rather bland so far, but it will get longer and more exciting I'm sure.
Bye for now! I'm waiting in the same terminal in which I arrived.
I might call some of you later today just because I can. Short calls, Mom! Don't worry! I won't waste all the battery power.
(Heh. Just realized I forgot my iPod charger. I don't really have anywhere to plug it in, though, anyways. I'm sure it will be fine.)
GOODBYE!!!
5:53, Hotel Beacon, NYC
I'm here!!!
New York City is huge!
The flight here was short - only about half an hour long. Thus, no biscoff cookies :(
We had a nice , brief view of the skyline on the way back down. We then took a short Shuttle to the main airport. The airport was loud and rather crowded, but it only took about a minute to get out. Less. There were a ton of taxis lined up outside. All that orange cheddar color. All the same shape. The inside if the taxi was similar to the taxi I rode in Chicago, with a little barrier between the driver with all these screens and stuff.
We got into the city pretty soon. The buildings are HUGE. I'm not even talking about the skyline. All these really tall apartment buildings.I A lot of them look really old, and they have these long fire escapes. Under the apartments were all these tiny stores and restaurants crammed together. A ton of people were walking around. The sidewalks were really thick.
I couldn't stop staring. It almost reminds me of somewhere I've been, but I don't know what that place was.
There were several signs advertising stuff, but not really as much as in Atlanta. Not enough room, I suppose. One said "AGED" with a picture of the lower face of a pale woman wearing lots of makeup with an asparagus in her mouth.
There were a bunch of subway stations and stuff. The six lanes of traffic were split by this row of park like benches and tulips and stuff. A lot of people were just hanging around. In the street too. All over. No one seemed to care much. Once this group of motorcycle people screamed by on one wheel each. It was loud.
So far New York City seems fine. There's certainly a lot to look at.
We arrived at our Hotel after a long taxi ride.
It's called Hotel Beacon. The was a fancy black canopy thing outside. In front of the building were several abstract chicken sculptures. They were like these large balloon things with tiny blobby chicken heads in top.
The inside of the hotel was very furnished, with all this glass and granite and gold-painted stuff.
Our room is this neat little suite thing with classy green furniture and a very nice view.
I'll upload the pictures sometime.
Heh. Some guy just started playing jazz outside. Bu bubu bu buuuuuum.
Well, I need to go out and explore a little. Buy some food. Take some pictures.
Talk to you later!
9:23 Hotel Beacon
That was exciting. And cold.
We went to a little food market across the street where I bought raspberries. Then we walked down to Hudson River Park. By the Hudson River. Duh.
There were a bunch of pigeons and hot dog carts. And this statue of Eleanor Roosevelt.
We walked down against the river. It was cool and windy, with a nice view across the river. There were a bunch of blossoming trees against the path that were very good for climbing.
We walked against the river for a very long time. Almost an hour, probably. There were all these cyclists riding past.
Then we went by the apartment where Mom was raised until she was four years old. We sort of walked around it and I took pictures.
At this point it was around seven thirty, and we went onto Broadway to find something to eat. There were lots of restaurants open. We went to this French one that was really nice. I had some pasta with shrimp. It was a very good. All these cherry blossoms around the street kept shedding a ton of petals all over the food.
For desert I had a hazelnut moose thing with chocolate and hazelnut cream stuff.
It was AMAZING!!
Then we waited a bunch in the cold for a bus that never came. Instead, we ended up taking a taxi. We nearly got crushed by this random truck. The driver was a little wild.
Then we came home and not much has happened since then. I've read some.
Can't wait till tomorrow!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
I Heart New York
Hello, everyone! It's Julia.... and tomorrow I am flying to New York City for the first time!
Yay!
I'm not sure if/when most of you have gone.... so comment on your own experiences! Let me know if you have any... recommendations! And guess what - I'm going to a Broadway Show! I am seeing Wicked preformed live. I can't wait!
Honestly, I am kind of scared. I mean, of course it's expected that I go to the Statue of Liberty and all of that - but that prospect kind of freaks me out! I mean, just tons of people crammed up into this statue.... it scares me. But I'm sure I'll enjoy it... mostly.
Passover starts this Friday at sundown, but sadly I will not be home for the ceder - my grandparents and I are crashing some old friends of theres who live in NY City. I'm sure it will be fine. The matzah will probably taste the same - in that it doesn't. For some reason I really really enjoy matzah. Not just with all the haroset on top and stuff. Just plain. It is good.
The plan is I fly into Syracuse, meet up with Zaslaws, and then we fly into the city together.
Here's the schedule, so you guys will know what I'm up to if I don't get a chance to blog, which is likely:
Thursday
2-4 pm, Then and Now, walking tour of the Lower East Side presented by the Tenement Museum
Before, after, whatever, Little Italy, Chinatown, whatever we please. Suitable lunch :-). It's all right there within blocks. Then afterwards a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and a bit of exploration of Brooklyn Heights at the other end, having dinner there and viewing lower Manhattan at sunset.
Friday
Boat trip to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. They say allow some five ours for it all. And they say arrive promptly in the morning (like, before 11, but earlier is better) to avoid long waits. There'll be a half-hour wait for the boat in any event.
Dinner at the Stage Deli, a classic NY Jewish deli.
8 pm - Wicked
We'll have had a glimpse of Times Square navigating around the theater district, and if we haven't had enough we can have a look after the show.
Saturday
The American Museum of Natural History and the planetarium. Opens at 10 a.m. It's just blocks from out hotel.
4:30 seder at the Strausses', on 105th St. and Broadway. It finishes not long after 8:00.
Sunday
Observation deck of the Empire State Building. The 20-or-so-block walk on the Highline. A peek into the New York Public Library. A peek into Grand Central Station. All this makes geographic sense. Or we could go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the MOMA instead. We might like to see the Egyptian Temple of Dendur at the Met. It's VAST, but we have "free" admission and could go for just a bit of it, if a bit is all we want.
Monday
We have only the morning. There's an attractive bit of Riverside Park near where we'll be staying, likewise an attractive bit of Central Park. Whatever we're in the mood for.
(This schedule was provided by my grandmother in an email, with some editing by me to make it more compatible for viewers)
We're staying in a flat-hotel thing. Should be interesting.
I went out and bought two books about an hour ago and BOY is it taking self constraint not to devour both of them right now. Barnes and Noble is irritating because like ALL of the teen books are in hard copy and shelved all over the place. I miss Borders!
Also, I just redeemed and promptly spent $30 on iTunes which has been placed on my fully charged iPod.
I started my 4-D New York City Puzzle yesterday. I have completed the foam base, but unfortunately I have not had time to place in the buildings yet. I'm planning to make a stop motion when the time comes though. Maybe I'll even create a Godzilla thing.
Will I be keeping a notebook in New York City? I've been thinking about that. The verdict is... uncertain. I think that would be great to have. Like I kept with Spain. But the pressure of keeping a notebook is stressful, and I'm worried about lagging behind. So, I am going to bring a notebook. I'm not sure how much I'll write in it. But I will blog as much as I can and I'll take a TON of pictures that I'll try to post daily with captions. I'm not sure if I'll have an opportunity to load that onto a computer or something. We'll see how that turns out. I will definitely get all the pictures on the blog at some point.
I get to take Mom's cell phone to New York City! I might be posting from there some of the time.
That's really the deal with New York City... I'll be thinking of you guys! This is my first alone flight.
I'm not worried about dealing with the airport on my own and all that - but it makes me more scared of fears that are generally suppressed in larger company - like the plane crashing.
That's that!
But, on an unrelated notes - two two month-old female kittens are now officially OURS. They are reserved as of today. FINALLY! They are two young torties from a litter of four - the Girl Scout Cookie Kittens. Together they are Savanna, Samoa, Tagalong, and Thin Minty (a.k.a. Minty).
We have claimed Savanna and Samoa.
They get their shots April 15th, and we pick them up that same sunday. Yay!!!
Yay!
I'm not sure if/when most of you have gone.... so comment on your own experiences! Let me know if you have any... recommendations! And guess what - I'm going to a Broadway Show! I am seeing Wicked preformed live. I can't wait!
Honestly, I am kind of scared. I mean, of course it's expected that I go to the Statue of Liberty and all of that - but that prospect kind of freaks me out! I mean, just tons of people crammed up into this statue.... it scares me. But I'm sure I'll enjoy it... mostly.
Passover starts this Friday at sundown, but sadly I will not be home for the ceder - my grandparents and I are crashing some old friends of theres who live in NY City. I'm sure it will be fine. The matzah will probably taste the same - in that it doesn't. For some reason I really really enjoy matzah. Not just with all the haroset on top and stuff. Just plain. It is good.
The plan is I fly into Syracuse, meet up with Zaslaws, and then we fly into the city together.
Here's the schedule, so you guys will know what I'm up to if I don't get a chance to blog, which is likely:
Thursday
2-4 pm, Then and Now, walking tour of the Lower East Side presented by the Tenement Museum
Before, after, whatever, Little Italy, Chinatown, whatever we please. Suitable lunch :-). It's all right there within blocks. Then afterwards a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and a bit of exploration of Brooklyn Heights at the other end, having dinner there and viewing lower Manhattan at sunset.
Friday
Boat trip to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. They say allow some five ours for it all. And they say arrive promptly in the morning (like, before 11, but earlier is better) to avoid long waits. There'll be a half-hour wait for the boat in any event.
Dinner at the Stage Deli, a classic NY Jewish deli.
8 pm - Wicked
We'll have had a glimpse of Times Square navigating around the theater district, and if we haven't had enough we can have a look after the show.
Saturday
The American Museum of Natural History and the planetarium. Opens at 10 a.m. It's just blocks from out hotel.
4:30 seder at the Strausses', on 105th St. and Broadway. It finishes not long after 8:00.
Sunday
Observation deck of the Empire State Building. The 20-or-so-block walk on the Highline. A peek into the New York Public Library. A peek into Grand Central Station. All this makes geographic sense. Or we could go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the MOMA instead. We might like to see the Egyptian Temple of Dendur at the Met. It's VAST, but we have "free" admission and could go for just a bit of it, if a bit is all we want.
Monday
We have only the morning. There's an attractive bit of Riverside Park near where we'll be staying, likewise an attractive bit of Central Park. Whatever we're in the mood for.
(This schedule was provided by my grandmother in an email, with some editing by me to make it more compatible for viewers)
We're staying in a flat-hotel thing. Should be interesting.
I went out and bought two books about an hour ago and BOY is it taking self constraint not to devour both of them right now. Barnes and Noble is irritating because like ALL of the teen books are in hard copy and shelved all over the place. I miss Borders!
Also, I just redeemed and promptly spent $30 on iTunes which has been placed on my fully charged iPod.
I started my 4-D New York City Puzzle yesterday. I have completed the foam base, but unfortunately I have not had time to place in the buildings yet. I'm planning to make a stop motion when the time comes though. Maybe I'll even create a Godzilla thing.
Will I be keeping a notebook in New York City? I've been thinking about that. The verdict is... uncertain. I think that would be great to have. Like I kept with Spain. But the pressure of keeping a notebook is stressful, and I'm worried about lagging behind. So, I am going to bring a notebook. I'm not sure how much I'll write in it. But I will blog as much as I can and I'll take a TON of pictures that I'll try to post daily with captions. I'm not sure if I'll have an opportunity to load that onto a computer or something. We'll see how that turns out. I will definitely get all the pictures on the blog at some point.
I get to take Mom's cell phone to New York City! I might be posting from there some of the time.
That's really the deal with New York City... I'll be thinking of you guys! This is my first alone flight.
I'm not worried about dealing with the airport on my own and all that - but it makes me more scared of fears that are generally suppressed in larger company - like the plane crashing.
That's that!
But, on an unrelated notes - two two month-old female kittens are now officially OURS. They are reserved as of today. FINALLY! They are two young torties from a litter of four - the Girl Scout Cookie Kittens. Together they are Savanna, Samoa, Tagalong, and Thin Minty (a.k.a. Minty).
We have claimed Savanna and Samoa.
They get their shots April 15th, and we pick them up that same sunday. Yay!!!
This is Samoa (to be Sasha)
And this is Savannah (to be Maya)
Yay! I'll get pictures and videos up as soon as we get them - obviously.
Next time I update I'll be in the BIG CITY!!! Wish me luck!
~Julia
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